Supercontext: an autopsy of media

This 1975 children's book by Roald Dahl is about class conflict and an idealized relationship between a child and their parent. We talk about Dahl's notoriously disagreeable personality while trying to reconcile it with this genuinely joyful story. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Danny, The Champion of the World Additional Resources: Roald Dahl. By: Kelleghan, Fiona, Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2018 Danny the Champion of the World Summary & Study Guide The Ambiguities of Growing Up: Danny the Champion of the World https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/stories/a-e/danny-the-champion-of-the-world Words & pictures. Creative Review, 02621037, Mar2012, Vol. 32, Issue 3 THE CANDY MAN. By: Talbot, Margaret, New Yorker, 0028792X, 7/11/2005, Vol. 81, Issue 20 Roald Dahl. By: Lee, Stephan, Entertainment Weekly, 10490434, 10/10/2014, Issue 1332 Worlds of WONDER. By: DORN, JENNIFER, British Heritage, 01952633, May2014, Vol. 35, Issue 2 The first Roald Dahl approved BFG illustration is whizzpopping

This 2017 graphic novel is a memoir about growing up, figure skating, and coming out of the closet. We talk about how Walden approached the project with guidance from her editor while we look at the comics industry as a whole and the tensions between the book market and the direct market. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Spinning Additional Resources: Tillie Walden on the Queer Characters and Emotional Turmoil of Her New Comic, I Love This Part “Everything I Had to Say about My Life Is in That Book”: An Interview with Tillie Walden How LGBT Ice Skating Graphic Novel 'Spinning' Defies Definition Tillie Walden: That In-Between State Spinning’s Tillie Walden on the Power of Pursuing and Ending Childhood Dreams Women make history, and receive overdue recognition, at 2018 Eisner Awards ‘Spinning’ is a heartfelt graphic novel about figure skating and teen life Surprising New Data Shows Comic Readers Are Leaving Superheroes Behind All-Ages Week: The Direct Market vs. The Book Market

This 2018 concept album is about reckoning, celebrating, and reclaiming what it means to be American. We discuss how Monáe uses her platform to advocate for queer and black women while working with big record labels to also produce commercial success. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Dirty Computer Additional Resources: Janelle Monáe Bends More Than Gender In Two New Videos From 'Dirty Computer' Why Janelle Monae’s ‘Dirty Computer’ Film Is a Timely New Sci-Fi Masterpiece Why Janelle Monáe Put Her Music on Hold to Take Hollywood by Storm Prince apparently wrote the synth line on Janelle Monáe’s new single How Janelle Monáe Found Her Voice Janelle Monáe On Her Dirty, World-Dominating Year Unpacking the meaning of ‘Dirty Computer,’ in which Janelle Monáe finally gets to be herself Janelle Monáe on the meaning of "Dirty Computer" and what she promised her grandmother

  This is a special repost of the first episode of our Patreon-only series, SuperKINGcontext. Stephen King's first novel was adapted into this 1976 cautionary movie about adolescence, bullying, and female representation by a team of middle-aged men. How does the male gaze impact this story that is so often referred to as "feminist"? Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Carrie Additional Resources: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/04/carrie-stephen-king-horror https://web.archive.org/web/20000510093031/http://www.briandepalma.net/carrie/carrint.htm http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/pj-soles-reminisces-about-the-original-carrie.html https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/03/carrie-stephen-king-brian-de-palma-horror-films-feminism https://cinephiliabeyond.org/four-decades-later-brian-de-palmas-carrie-stands-one-capably-crafted-horror-films-time/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10474858/Carrie-the-growing-pains-of-a-horror-classic.html https://sites.google.com/site/cultoddities/home/carrie/carrie-1976/press/sissy-spacek-interviews https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/11/03/carries-prom-scene-an-oral-history-part-one https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/11/04/carries-prom-scene-an-oral-history-part-two  

This political comedy podcast makes over a million dollars a year from its Patreon subscribers alone. We try to unpack how it gets made while learning more about the personal values associated with the "dirtbag left." Chapo Trap House podcast on Soundcloud Additional Resources: Meet Chapo Trap House: The Funniest and Most F**ked Up New Podcast About Media and Politics THE RADICAL CHEEK OF 'CHAPO TRAP HOUSE' Chapo Trap House are the Vulgar, Brilliant Demigods of the New Progressive Left Explaining the ‘Chapo Trap House’ Podcast to the Uninitiated Liberals are making bank on a site called Patreon. The right calls it "hipster welfare." What Will Become of the Dirtbag Left? Is This the Stupidest Book Ever Written About Socialism? Chapo Trap House subreddit quarantined for allegedly encouraging violence SOCIALISM IS BACK, AND THE KIDS ARE LOVING IT. Reason. Aug/Sep2019, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p55-52. 4p. 2 'The Voice of the Dirtbag Left': socialist US comics Chapo Trap House Chapo Trap House: Socialism for the Extremely Online

This 2015 comic mixes folklore and magic with science and technology. We discuss how each creator brings their own experimentation to the project, and how it's been received by the comic book industry and its more philosophical readers. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Injection Additional Resources: Warren Ellis' Freaky Scifi Comic Series Injection Gets Optioned for TV Exclusive Interview with Injection’s Warren Ellis INTERVIEW: Warren Ellis talks about ‘Injection’ without crying AN INJECTION OF WARREN ELLIS IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Matt Chats: Declan Shalvey on Wolverine, Injection, Learning from Scripting Comics, and Why He Brings up ArtCred Less What's at Stake with Warren Ellis's 'Injection' INJECTION #1 TALK WITH WARREN ELLIS, DECLAN SHALVEY & JORDIE BELLAIRE Take Control Of Your World: Revisiting ‘Injection’ By Ellis, Shalvey & Bellaire [Sci-Fi Week] Read More: Take Control Of Your World: Revisiting 'Injection' [Review]  https://injectioncomic.tumblr.com/ BELLAIRE & SHALVEY: ART & COLOR, WORKING IN CONCERT [GALLERY] INJECTION #2: LETHAL DECOMPRESSION [CLOSE READ] Haug H. The Alchemical Singularity: Magic and Technology in Warren Ellis’s Injection. Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction. 2019;48(132):22

This collection of non-fiction essays attempts to define two modes of storytelling by providing examples of each from popular culture. We talk about how Fisher's argument fits into our larger discussions of horror stories and how his definitions may be useful for considering the end of capitalism. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Weird and the Eerie Additional Resources: The Revolution Will Be Weird and Eerie Eugene Thacker – Weird, Eerie, and Monstrous: A Review of “The Weird and the Eerie” by Mark Fisher Making Sense of “The Weird and the Eerie” In Memoriam: Mark Fisher why we quit: tariq goddard on leaving zero books Toward a Theory of the New Weird  

Thank you to our Co-producer patron Kevin Wetter for selecting this week's topic! This 2009 TV show, helmed by Joss Whedon, was meant to be a thematic exploration of identity and sexuality but many have argued about its problematic story. Was that because of corporate interference or Whedon's own issues with feminist representation? Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Dollhouse, Season 1 Additional Resources: Adams, Pippa. Women in Science Fiction: Opportunities and Constraints of Representations in Postfeminist Worlds Joss Whedon on Comic Books, Abusing Language and the Joys of Genre JOSS WHEDON TALKS FIREFLY, DOLLHOUSE AND LEAVING TELEVISION The Mind-Transplant Script Whedon Wrote Before Dollhouse Anderson, D. (2016). Echoes of Frankenstein: Shelley’s Masterpiece in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse and Our Relationship with Technology. Slayage, 43, 1 Kitchens, J. (2016). Object Entanglements: From Postmodern Subjectivity to Posthuman Thingness in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Studies in Popular Culture, 38(2), 1. Rogers, S. (2011). Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 22(2), 153. Avni, S. (2008). Inside the Dollhouse. Mother Jones, 33(6), 88–89. Jensen, J. (2008). Welcome to the “Dollhouse” Fan Frenzy. Entertainment Weekly, (997), 14. The Expired Feminism of Joss Whedon In defence of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse Joss Whedon's Dollhouse: Confounding Purpose, Confusing Identity, edited by Sherry Ginn, Alyson R. Buckman, Heather M. Porter “Fantasy Is His Business, but It Is Not His Purpose” by Alyson R. Buckman The Fascinating No-Consent Fantasia of Dollhouse and Mad Men POSTMORTEM: WHY WE HATED DOLLHOUSE. AND WHY WE LOVED IT.

THIS IS A REPOST OF A 2016 EPISODE. As the release of the film JOKER looms, we revisit our discussion about Batman, the Joker, and ambiguity. Looking back on the Batman film “The Dark Knight,” does it stand for anything? Or does it simply soak up whatever morals we bring to it? Christopher Nolan’s intentions remain mysterious, but we do our best to figure them out.   Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Dark Knight Additional Resources: JOHNSON, V. (2014). ‘It’s What You Do that Defines You:’ Christopher Nolan’s Batman as Moral Philosopher. Journal Of Popular Culture, 47(5), 952. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12181 The Dark Knight of the American Empire Hunting The Dark Knight : Twenty-First Century Batman. London: I.B.Tauris Dive Deep Into the Making of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy With This Documentary

Thank you to our Co-producer patron Miriam Meaney for selecting this week's topic! This 1985 Peter Greenaway film approaches storytelling with the perspective that there is no meaning to reality despite our organized attempts to create it. We talk about how Greenaway uses the traditions of Dutch paintings and anatomical animal studies to get this message across or frustrate us by trying. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: A Zed and Two Noughts Additional Resources: Symmetry and Structure in Greenaway’s A Zed and Two Noughts Organizing the ZOO: Peter Greenaway’s A Zed & Two Noughts Distant Voices, Still Lives and A Zed and Two Noughts: watch the double bill Alemany-Galway, M., & Willoquet-Maricondi, P. (2008). Peter Greenaway’s Postmodern / Poststructuralist Cinema (Vol. Rev. ed). Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. De Beauregard, R. C. (2010). Green Apples and Red Prawns: The Colour of Time in Peter Greenaway’s A Zed & Two Noughts ( Z.0.0.). Journal of British Cinema & Television, 7(1), 82.