Supercontext: an autopsy of media

This 2015 comic series is an attempt to tell "the ultimate H.P. Lovecraft" story, so we dive deep into the cold, clinical research process behind it. We also discuss this story's relationship with sexual violence, racism, American mythology, capitalism and... comic book fandom. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Providence Additional Resources: Interview: Alan Moore on Providence, Jerusalem, League and more – Part 1 All About Alienation: Alan Moore On Lovecraft And Providence Alan Moore Heralds Providence: ‘It’s Time To Go For A Reappraisal Of Lovecraft’ H.P. Moorecraft: On the Ending of Providence PROVIDENCE Artist JACEN BURROWS On His Long Collaboration With Alan Moore, Adapting LOVECRAFT, More Providence: Lovecraft, Sexual Violence, and the Body of the Other The Road To Providence Innsmouth Gold: Providence Sales Data American Dread: Alan Moore and the Racism of H. P. Lovecraft Pickman’s Apprentice: An Appreciation of Jacen Burrows

This 1986 horror film adapted an H.P. Lovecraft story into a transgressive "video nasty" about repressed sexuality. We learn about the production methods that brought its "pineal glands" to life, while discussing Lovecraft's fear of sex in contrast with From Beyond's smashing of taboos. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: From Beyond Additional Resources: 30 YEARS LATER, FROM BEYOND IS LOVECRAFT AT HIS KINKIEST The Cult 80s Horror Movie That Foretold Our Augmented Future Corliss, Richard. TIME Magazine; 12/1/1986, Vol. 128 Issue 22, p74,  Sharrett, C. (2015). Lovecraft Today. Cineaste, 41(1), 27–78. A Man’s Home… Transgressive Sexuality and Slimy Creatures 'From Beyond (Collector's Edition)' Stuart Gordon’s Shock Treatment Race, Sexuality, and Procreation in H.P. Lovecraft Film Adaptations The Posthumous Pornification of H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Sex: or The Sex Life of a Gentleman Wisker G. (2013) “Spawn of the Pit”: Lavinia, Marceline, Medusa, and All Things Foul: H. P. Lovecraft’s Liminal Women. In: Simmons D. (eds) New Critical Essays on H.P. Lovecraft.

This 2016 novel explores sci-fi and horror in the 1950s from the perspective of an African-American family already accustomed to prejudice and dread. We have an uncomfortable conversation about how it addresses H.P. Lovecraft's racism and the question of whether a white author should tell stories about the black experience. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Lovecraft Country Additional Resources: Matt Ruff's "Lovecraft Country," where the horror is racism (not racist) The Big Idea: Matt Ruff Shadows Over America: Matt Ruff and Victor LaValle Take on Lovecraft and Race Talking with Matt Ruff about science fiction’s racist past Cthulhu Gon’ Slay: Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff Real-world and mythical terrors get equal billing in Lovecraft Country

This 1988 Japanese anime film broke the bank with its high production budget, but it is still remembered for its masterful artwork and deep themes about adolescence and post-war dystopia. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Akira Additional Resources: Akira: The Story Behind The Film ‘Akira’: Looking back at the future Akira: The Tortured History of the Unmade Live-Action Adaptation 30 Years of Akira: The Triumph and Legacy of a Legendary Film ‘Akira’ Is Frequently Cited as Influential. Why Is That? How 'Akira' Has Influenced All Your Favourite TV, Film and Music

Thanks to our Co-producer Miriam Meaney for this week's topic! This 1964 collection of short science fiction stories shows a writer in conflict with his own genre in the wake of horrible family tragedy. We discuss Ballard's interest in psychological inner space and speculative fiction to better understand his role in the history of literature. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: J. G. Ballard on Amazon Additional Resources: The New Science Fiction Strange fiction A brief survey of the short story part 26: JG Ballard Four Stories: "The Drowned Giant" by J.G. Ballard | Weird Fiction Review 'The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard' - Los Angeles Times The Catastrophist The haunting science fiction of J.G. Ballard Ballard, James Graham (1930–2009) BOOKS Remembering J.G. Ballard's Science Fiction Legacy JG Ballard: Extreme Metaphor: A Crash Course In The Fiction Of JG Ballard The Corner of Lovecraft and Ballard J. G. Ballard, The Art of Fiction No. 85 Wilson DH. J. G. Ballard. Urbana: University of Illinois Press; 2017.

This album from 2000 came out more than 20 years into the career of this genre fusing music group. We look at their commercial apex and their struggles with racist expectations to understand what led to this attempt at a new beginning. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Fishbone albums Additional Resources: The Red Hot Days of Fabulous, Funky Fishbone HAY, C. (2000). “Psychotic” Fishbone Goes Hollywood. Billboard, 112(9), 12. Fishbone & the Familyhood Nextperience FISHBONE "Fishbone & Fishbone Back on Its Mission FISHBONE Seminal funk game-changers in town Ska-Punk Rockers, Way Ahead of the Curve LIFSON, A. (2011). A Fish Story. Humanities, 32(1), 6. Fricke, D. (1991). Black and bruised. Rolling Stone, (614), 68. Biggs, Jimmie. “Growing Up Black in the White Punk Scene.” New York Amsterdam News. 6/30/2005, Vol. 96 Issue 27, p17-17.   

This 2017 Netflix television show is a critically acclaimed fictional depiction of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling that were popular in the 1980s. We discuss how the show's creators handle representation of stereotypes while also criticizing the worst of America's fears. Additional resources: Get in the Ring: How ‘GLOW’ Recreates the Golden Age of Lady-Wrestling TV Why ‘GLOW’ Creators Made Women’s Wrestling Series How the Original G.L.O.W. Wrestlers Helped Shape the Netflix Hit ‘GLOW’ Fight Coordinator Chavo Guerrero Jr. on Getting Wrestling Right Obsessed With ‘GLOW’? Meet The Real Female Wrestlers Who Inspired The Show How accurate is Netflix GLOW series? Original GLOW girl Tina Ferrari weighs in What GLOW Gets Right About Pro Wrestling “The Slow and Sudden Rise of Marc Maron,” Newsweek Global. 6/29/2018, Vol. 170 Issue 24, p26-33. Glowing Past: Netflix's "GLOW" costume designer on '80s trends and the evolution of sneakers, FN: Footwear News. 7/16/2018, Vol. 74 Issue 22, p10-1

This 2014 collection of short horror stories shows a prolific author experimenting with different tropes and genres to find wonder in making sense of the world. We discuss Jones’s unique writing process to understand the importance he gives horror. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: After the People Lights Have Gone Off Additional Resources: Book Review: After the People Lights Have Gone Off – Author Stephen Graham Jones After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones Stephen Graham Jones ~ After the People Lights Have Gone Off Haunted Reading Interview: Stephen Graham Jones Stephen Graham Jones on writing horror and its inverse, romance Interview: Stephen Graham Jones on The Weird One Month of Reading Stephen Graham Jones: A Primer Consuming, Incarcerating, and "Transmoting" Misery: Border Practice in Vizenor's Bearheart and Jones's The Fast Red Road[1] We are Stephen Graham Jones, author of AFTER THE PEOPLE LIGHTS HAVE GONE OFF and Richard Thomas, Editor-in-Chief of Dark House Press—this is our AMA, so ASK US ANYTHING! In Convo With Stephen Graham Jones Senses All Turned Up: An Interview with Stephen Graham Jones Curbside Splendor Under Fire by Authors, Goes On Publishing Hiatus Native American literature’s shapeshifter

This 1985 fantasy film is remembered fondly by our generation, but may not hold up under re-examination. We look at the studio process it was made under, while thinking about how it tries to subvert our expectations of fairy tales. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Ladyhawke Additional Resources: 20 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of Ladyhawke History, Fantasy, and Weird Armor: Ladyhawke Is Ladyhawke the Best Fairy Tale of Them All? The Hawk, the Wolf, and the Mouse: Tracing the Gendered other in Richard Donner’s Ladyhawke In Defense of ‘Ladyhawke’ Lessons Every Filmmaker Can Learn From Richard Donner The Wolf, the Hawk and the Avant-garde Musician: Interview with Andrew Powell

This 1998 horror manga depicts a Japanese town that plunges into chaos in the face of the symbolic spiral. We look at how Ito conceived Uzumaki, while struggling with big philosophical ideas like nihilism, rationalism and routine, meticulous dread in the face of our cosmic insignificance. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Uzumaki Additional Resources: The Junji Ito Interview: A conversation with the creator of Uzumaki Black illumination: the unhuman world of Junji Ito The Horrific Mechanations of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Uzumaki Uzumaki: Junji Ito’s Phenomenal Art and Lackluster Storytelling Into the Spiral: A Conversation with Japanese Horror Maestro Junji Ito The Grotesque Tales of Junji Ito — Part 3: Uzumaki “Uzumaki” Is a Horror Classic That Will Leave You Spinning THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL: THOUGHTS ON LOVECRAFTIAN SPIRALITY AND ITO’S UZUMAKI INTERVIEW: THE LEGENDARY JUNJI ITO TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW ANIME COLLECTION AND MORE