Supercontext: an autopsy of media

This independent comedy/fantasy comic book series wasn't intended to be for kids necessarily, but because of how savvily Jeff Smith marketed his self-publishing business, it became a hit for all-ages. We discuss Bone's impact on the library market, as well as its struggles with female representation and censorship. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Out From Boneville RASL Possessions A Tale of Sand Return of The Dapper Men Raina Telgemeier The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh The Last Unicorn Additional Resources: Interview: Jeff Smith Pt. 1 AICN COMICS EXCLUSIVE! Alexandra DuPont Interviews BONE Creator Jeff Smith!! The History of BONE & Jeff Smith Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan panel votes not to ban elementary school book series Mix of tradition, fantasy comics pays off for artist The Jeff Smith Interview

This mainstream television series may be about the afterlife, but it also serves as a platform for defining our morality here in the real world. We discuss the team behind its creation and how they crafted a narrative that avoids political correctness, while teaching us about ethics and positivity in a time of political trauma. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Science... For Her! Let’s Get Physics Y’all EXPERIMENTING with Megan Amram The Lifeguard They Remain The Prisoner Brooklyn 99 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  Additional Resources: Kantian comedy: the philosophy of The Good Place The Complicated Morality of The Good Place The Good Place: how a sitcom made philosophy seem cool Talking to a Philosopher About ‘The Good Place’ The Good Psychology In 'The Good Place' How Will NBC's 'The Good Place' Tackle Religion? How ‘The Good Place’ Became an Antihero Antidote ‘The Good Place’s Optimism Is a Salve for Despair in the Trump Era 'The Good Place' Helps Normalize Interracial Relationships ‘The Good Place’ is The Most Woke Sitcom on TV ‘The Good Place’ brings representation and genius-level comedy to the small screen

This 2011 award-winning work of literary fiction has been celebrated by everyone from academics to Rolling Stone. But we look at it in light of its cultural expectations, from a "high brow" publisher, to its timidity about engaging with ethnically diverse characters. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: A Visit From the Goon Squad Burn Collector The Loom of Ruin Commonwealth Run White Jazz American Tabloid The Cold Six Thousand Additional Resources: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan – review “Goon Squad”: Jennifer Egan’s time-travel tour de force CS Note: Salon’s site is so full of ads and video overlays that I could barely read the article as it slowed my computer to a halt. HBO Sets Pulitzer Prize Winner 'A Visit From The Goon Squad' For Series Treatment Strong, M. J. (2018). Found time: Kairos in A Visit from the Goon Squad. Critique, 59(4), 471-480. Cowart, D. (2015). Thirteen Ways of Looking: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. Critique, 56(3), 241-254. MOLING, M. (2016). "No Future": Time, Punk Rock and Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. Arizona Quarterly, 72(1), 51. “Water, Water Everywhere,” By: WHELDON, WYNN. Commentary. Nov2017, Vol. 144 Issue 4, p60-62. 3p. “Big Novelist: Jennifer Egan,” By: Heller, Nathan. Rolling Stone. 5/31/2012, Issue 1158, p66-67. 2p. Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses A Visit From The Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan, By: Godfrey, Laura; Egan, Jennifer; Herbert, Marilyn; Bookclub-in-a-Box (Firm). [England] : Bookclub-In-A-Box. 2012. eBook., Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)

This 1967 movie was called "the death of cinema" by its creator, and operated as a critique of both capitalism and mainstream films. We try to understand how a man as notoriously malicious as Godard was to his cast and crew, could also use this platform to argue for a better world.   Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Magic Christian Trouble Every Day Guido Crepax Ravenous Maximum Overdrive Jim Jarmusch Hal Hartley David Cronenberg Additional Resources: Revolution & Car Crashes: 5 Things Learned About Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Weekend’ From The Criterion Collection’s New Release Are You in a Film or in Reality? Jean-Luc Godard's 'Weekend' Will Have You Wondering Jones, Kent. Sight & Sound. Feb2016, Vol. 26 Issue 2, p46-51. 6p. 5 Color Photographs, 5 Black and White Photographs. Flashback: Weekend – Jean-Luc Godard’s assault on bourgeois values from 1967 Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) Two Weeks with “Weekend” Breaking The Rules - The French New Wave Godard’s Comic Strip Mise-en-Scène

This debut EP from a legendary Boston punk band has been held in critical reverence for over 30 years. We look to how the songs were written, recorded and distributed to try to unpack what it all does (or doesn't) mean. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Signals, Calls, and Marches Mission: Control! 24 Hour Party People The Cat and The Cobra Songs About Fucking entertainment! No Pussyfooting Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Additional Resources: MISSION OF BURMA Mission of Burma  Signals, Calls, and Marches SIGNALS, CALLS, AND MARCHES AllMusic Review by Mark Deming Mission of Burma: Signals, Calls, and Marches / Vs. Artist Biography by John Dougan The secret of Mission of Burma’s longevity? Never having the chance to suck. Mission impossible  The story behind the legend of a seminal Boston band

This comic about archaeologists uncovering the secret history of pop culture took Warren Ellis and John Cassaday 10 years to complete. We discuss its interrogation of genre, intellectual property and history, in light of the cyclical nature of the comics industry some 20 years after the project started. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Planetary League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Nemo Trilogy StormWatch Black Summer All-Star Superman New X-Men RED Transmetropolitan Castlevania Additional Resources: WHY PLANETARY RULES THE WORLD The cynical superheroics (and hopeful humanity) of Warren Ellis' Planetary Beautiful and Unique Snowflakes: Warren Ellis' 'Planetary' ‘PLANETARY': DIGGING UP THE BONES OF THE GENRE COMIC Telling Stories About Storytelling: The Metacomics of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis

This Amazon television show is about comedian Tig Notaro dealing with tragedy in her Mississippi hometown. But we discuss how its theme of demystifying the South was partially derailed by the corporate pivoting of its distributor and the sexual misconduct of some of its producers. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: One Mississippi Nanette My Dead Parents The Electric Woman Fun Home Are You My Mother? Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch: Tales from a Bad Neighborhood Additional Resources: Review: Have You Heard the One About the Grieving Daughter? The Heartbreak Comedy of “One Mississippi” Why Tig Notaro Took on Sexual Assault in Her Amazon Series Is One Mississippi Tig Notaro’s Love Letter to Her Hometown? Tig Notaro: Louis C.K.’s Forced Departure from ‘One Mississippi’ Was ‘A Huge Relief’ tig notaro and stephanie allynne's 'one mississippi' showed me the love i was feeling Why Did Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu Kill a Bunch of Alternative Comedies?  

This first part in the Jerry Cornelius saga is literary science-fiction that challenges the politics of its time through transgression. But we find eerie parallels to our current zeitgeist and wonder if Cornelius is the perfect device to question our thoughts about subversion and morality. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Final Programme Casanova The Adventures of Luther Arkwright & Heart of The Empire The Prisoner The Invisibles Sebastian O. The Time Traveler’s Wife Money Additional Resources: Harrison, A. (2015). “I think Tolkien was a crypto-fascist”. New Statesman, 144(5272), 40-43. Moorcock's Achievement and Promise in the Jerry Cornelius Books Interview with SFWA Grand Master Michael Moorcock The Final Programme by Michael Moorcock How we met: 43. Michael Moorcock and Andrea Dworkin

This psychological thriller about an unethical photojournalist has us asking all kinds of questions. Are we complicit in the horrible narratives of the news? Do supportive families enable creative storytelling? And if the qualities of a villain are synonymous with "success" now, how do we tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy?   Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Nightcrawler There Will Be Blood The Master Michael Clayton Heat Get Shorty Additional Resources: Nightcrawler: a moral dilemma of our own making 'Nightcrawler' Reminds Us That Capitalism and the Media Have Gotten Worse Dan and Tony Gilroy of ‘Nightcrawler’ Talk Media Ugliness In The Digital Age: Q&A ‘Nightcrawler’ and the new face of entitlement Rembrandt Lighting Through the Lens Glass: ‘Nightcrawler’ Filmmaker Dan Gilroy on Car Chases, Screenwriting, and the Internet’s Latchkey Kids Oscars: Dan Gilroy Taking Creepy ‘Nightcrawler’ Deep Into Race With Sterling Directorial Debut "This Is a Cautionary Tale": An Interview With Dan Gilroy of 'Nightcrawler' Nightcrawler: How Dan Gilroy Made The Most Original Film Of The Year Interview: Dan Gilroy Interview: ‘Nightcrawler’ Director Dan Gilroy Talks Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Elswit & Sociopaths “I Did Not Want a Character With an Arc”: ‘Nightcrawler’ Filmmaker Dan Gilroy on His Oscar Nomination, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Crime Scene Photography Riz Ahmed winning rave reviews for new film role Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘Nightcrawler’ Gets California Incentive Cannes: Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Nightcrawler' Sparks Bidding War Rene Russo on Nightcrawler, Career Regrets, and Not Having a Sex Scene With Jake Gyllenhaal

This deconstruction of the superhero genre was mired in legal debacles and intellectual property battles for decades before we could get a chance to read it. We look at that convoluted history, in light of Alan Moore's attempt to reimagine and criticize the themes of superhero comics. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Miracleman: A Dream of Flying Planetary Supreme: Blue Rose The Vision Understanding Comics Additional Resources: https://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2011/09/miracleman-neil-gaimans-writers.html https://icv2.com/articles/comics/view/1057/miracleman-heads-court http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2004/02/last-legal-post-for-long-time.asp https://www.cbr.com/mcfarlane-responds-to-marvelman-news/ http://forbiddenplanet.blog/2009/the-mighty-moore-marathon-part-three-of-padraigs-talk-with-alan-moore/ https://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/17/the-original-writer-formerly-known-as-alan-moore/ https://nerdist.com/why-alan-moores-miracleman-still-matters/ https://www.tor.com/2011/10/31/the-great-alan-moore-reread-marvelman-miracleman-part-1/ https://observationdeck.kinja.com/why-marvels-miracleman-isnt-alan-moores-marvelman-1447594301 https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/69fm5n/what_are_the_best_deconstructionist_and/?st=jijj8nlu&sh=9182a032 https://web.archive.org/web/20090905013308/http://www.mania.com/alan-moore-reflects-marvelman_article_117413.html http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/miracleman-marvelman-alan-moore-comics-dream-of-flying.html