Buffering the Vampire Slayer | A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast

Special Guest Hrishi Hirway joins us to discuss S7E7: Conversations with Dead People! Cassie is back in the library making Willow cry (which makes us cry), Dawn is microwaving marshmallows with poltergeists, Spike is on a date, Holden Webster is EXACTLY the kind of guy who would rise from the dead just to tell you about how your womanly mind works, and Andrew is doing very very bad things at the spooky seal underneath the high school. Also, Cassie swallows herself? It's a real journey, folks.GET VIRTUAL TICKETS TO OUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF BUFFY AT SUNNYDALE HIGHMarch 11, 2022 at 7pm Pacific / 10pm EasternAn epic evening of live music, conversation, special guests, and oh-so-much laughter broadcast live from Torrance High School!Tickets go live at 1pm Eastern: momenthouse.com/bufferingthevampireslayerLOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNETJenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comSpecial Guest Hrishikesh Hirway: @hrishihirway; https://hrishikesh.co/Buffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune+++ MUSIC"Conversations with Dead People" was written & produced by Jenny Owen Youngs and Hrishikesh HirwayVocals by Jenny Owen Youngs+++SUPPORT US ON PATREON!Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcastJust Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racismAlba Daza in Conversation with Shaunga Tagore: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-episode-in-62332906+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples.Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know that feeling when something from beneath you is devouring and you're like, really trying to sort what the hell that is so you can save the world for like the billionth time, but then some high school student puts on a mystical letterman jacket and then instead of working on saving the world you have to try to bazooka the principal to win over the love of this letterman jacket wearing hottie? Life is hard!! It is S7E6: Him and honestly, scoobies, shit is getting W I L D. LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++ MUSIC "Him" was written by Jenny Owen Youngs and Kristin Russo and performed and produced by Jenny Owen Youngs+++SUPPORT US ON PATREON!Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast Just Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are BACK, the year is 2022, and everything is coming up Anya. We go deeper into understanding Anya's origins and past then ever before, we get a brilliantly horrible CGI spider, Kristin dubs the frat house "Murdercrombie" (did she miss the perfect opportunity to say "Murdercrombie and Witch" — yes, she did) and Jenny expounds on what it means when you call someone "Lemon Drop." We hope that someday we get a spin-off show at the Vengeance Demon Offices, but until that time we will revel in one of our favorite episodes: Selfless! LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++ MUSIC "Selfless" was written by Jenny Owen Youngs and Kristin Russo and produced by Jenny Owen YoungsVocals by Sam Barbera (as Anya) and Bess Rogers (as Willow)• More on Sam Barbera• More on Bess Rogers+++SUPPORT US ON PATREON!Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast 31% OFF MERCH UNTIL JAN 19:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/shop Just Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Buffy is using all of her slayer know-how to be a guidance counselor at the new Sunnydale High and it seems that, as many might have anticipated, those two skill sets do not have significant overlap — though she is great at sharpening pencils. Spike is still feeling very very sad in the basement, Zachary Ty Bryan is here to remind us that boys (in robes) will be boys (in robes), and Cassie's death hits the Scooby gang hard because... what do you do if you know you can't help? LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++ Join us on Patreon:Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast Scoop up all of the Patriarchy-Smashing, Buffy Merch you need:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/shop Just Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism Want to read more about the history of "Land of the Free"? Here you go:https://the-avocado.org/2021/06/29/history-thread-propaganda-and-poppycock/+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode was taped LIVE and both of us were in the same place at the same time ...to talk about Season 7 Episode 3, "Same Time, Same Place"! HOW NOVEL. Will there be Gnarl impressions? Yes. Will we re-enact the entire scene between Willow and Anya with their sexy candles? Pretty much. Will we get weepy in the end when, as always, chosen family holds strong? Damn right. LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++ Join us on Patreon:Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast Scoop up all of the Patriarchy-Smashing, Buffy Merch you need:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/shop Just Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism +++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a re-airing of "Seeing Red & 'The Monster Myth,'" which originally aired in our Patreon feed alongside Buffy's S6E19: "Seeing Red" We've chosen to re-air this episode in the main feed the week after Season 7's second episode, "Beneath You," to double down on the conversation surrounding accountability, and on the nuance that exists when there is a pre-existing intimate relationship that has to be navigated in the context of harm. You’ll hear Jess talk about those who share childcare responsibilities, finances, and in other ways still have to rely on the person who has harmed them, and also hear us speak to the importance of letting the person harmed — in this case Buffy — dictate the terms of the relationship. Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, RapeThis episode contains spoilers through the end of Buffy Season 7 •••We are in conversation with Jess Clark, who today joins Alba Daza and Kristin Russo to foster a space for much-needed and nuanced conversation on Spike's sexual assault of Buffy as depicted in S6E19's "Seeing Red." We explore how media has historically shaped what we anticipate and assume about sexual assault, how this episode upends some of those tropes, and how the episode's depiction and the larger arc between Spike and Buffy can be used as a lens to explore much more beyond Sunnydale. ••• This episode was produced & hosted by Alba Daza, Jess Clark,& Kristin Russo Find Alba Daza on Instagram @alba.daza; albadaza.com Jess Clark is the Prevention Manager at Solace Crisis Treatment Center (a rape crisis center) in Santa Fe, NM and a consultant for Catharsis Productions out of Chicago. He has been doing sexual violence prevention for a decade and his work focuses on increasing youth capacity to interrogate systems of oppression, exploring queer/trans masculinites as a site of violence prevention, and supporting organizations in better serving transgender communities through policies and best practices.Find Kristin Russo on Twitter & Instagram @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.com Find Buffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagram Listen to today's episode of Angel On Top in their new feed:bufferingthevampireslayer.com/angelontopEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo Design by: Kristine ThuneLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team •••If you are able, please donate to Survived & Punished: survivedandpunished.org Survived & Punished is a prison abolition organization. We believe that prisons, detention centers, all forms of law enforcement, and punitive prosecution are rooted in systems of violence, including racial, anti-trans/queer, sexual, and domestic violence. Our work specifically focuses on criminalized survivors to raise awareness about the integrated relationship between systems of punishment and the pervasiveness of gender violence. We aim to initiate mass defense projects that will free all survivors, which would require the abolition of prisons and other systems of punishment. •••Further Reading / Papers Referenced by Alba & Jess in episode Bullying Perpetration and Subsequent Sexual Violence Perpetration Among Middle School Students The Undetected Rapist American Perceptions of Sexual Violence ••• We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Beneath You, This Episode Devours.That's it, that's the whole description. LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++Check out our Live Taping of 7.03 Same Time, Same Place:momenthouse.com/bufferingthevampireslayerJust Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism Join us on Patreon:Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast + Sign up for this season's Secret Slayer Gift Exchange + Jólabókaflóð!https://www.patreon.com/posts/58810365 Scoop up all of the Patriarchy-Smashing, Buffy Merch you need:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/shop+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, Morgan, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sunnydale High School is BACK, and so the f*ck are we!!!! Welcome to Season 7, scoobies. We've got ghost zombies, blueprints, and a brand new principal — not to mention a second ensouled vampire hiding in the basement with every single big bad we've ever met? Buckle up, buckle in, helmets on, let's do this thing. LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaWith support from consultant Mackenzie MacDadeEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++Tickets to November 13th's Virtual Live Taping of Same Time, Same Place:momenthouse.com/bufferingthevampireslayerMore on March 2022's BUFFY PROM at SUNNYDALE HIGH:bufferingthevampireslayer.com/promJust Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism +++ JOIN OUR PATREON FAMILY!!Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast MERCH MERCH MERCH:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/shop+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a part of a four-episode series surrounding 6.19 Seeing Red, Kristin curated a conversation with Emma O'Sullivan — a former Kitten Board member who met her wife on the Willow & Tara boards in the early aughts — and Jen Malkowski, our very favorite "scholar of death," who also happened to be hanging out on The Kitten Board when the show aired. This conversation is both its own capturing of queer history and also a more comprehensive look at the importance of queer representation, the impact of the death of Tara Maclay, and a celebration of Tara, Willow, and the community of queer viewership that has catalogued, spoken up, and held each other through decades of irresponsible media representation. This episode originally aired on our Patreon RSS feed, and we are now releasing it in the main feed!This conversation contains spoilers through Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNETKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comJenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comNever-ending gratitude to Emma O'Sullivan, former Kitten board member, who you can find on Twitter @osulliverse, and Jen Malkowski who writes and teaches at Smith College about digital media; documentary; death and dying; and race, gender and sexuality in media. Read more about their work here!Buffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Episode Curated, Produced & Edited by Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine ThuneRelated Reading: • The Kitten Board's "The Lesbian Cliche FAQ"• Autostraddle's List of "Dead Lesbian and Bisexual Characters on TV, and How They Died"• Vito Russo's "The Celluloid Closet" +++Just Keep Fighting: Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism +++ JOIN OUR PATREON FAMILY!!Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are heading out of the grave and into the light, dearest scoobies — it is the end, the end of Season Six! WE MADE IT!!!! Dark Willow did not destroy the world, Giles did not die (but did smolder), Dawn efficiently fought off the lobster tree demons alongside her big sister slayer just like she always wanted, Spike, um, well... also got what he (maybe?) wanted?? Hard to really SAY, but we have a lot of feelings as you'd expect and we are so incredibly grateful to have had your company in a season that took us from copper pipes to musicals to depression on the local route, if you know what we mean!! Until Next Season, AWOOOOooOOOOOoOooo!+++ LOCATE YOUR HOSTS UPON THE INTERNET Jenny Owen Youngs: @jennyowenyoungs; jennyowenyoungs.comKristin Russo: @kristinnoeline; kristinnoeline.comBuffering the Vampire Slayer: @bufferingcast on twitter, facebook, and instagramLearn more about our team at bufferingthevampireslayer.com/our-team Produced by: Kristin Russo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Alba DazaEdited by: John Mark Nelson & Kristin RussoLogo: Kristine Thune +++Learn more about the Yidaki:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/yidakiJust Keep Fighting - Community Events Calendar:https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/just-keep-fighting-spotlight-on-community-anti-racism +++ JOIN OUR PATREON FAMILY!!Advance Music, Bonus Episodes, Live Concerts, Book Clubs, wheeeee!!patreon.com/bufferingcast +++ SEASON 6 CDS ON PRE-ORDER NOW + BORED MEOW TEES ONLY THRU OCTOBER!https://www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/shop+++We acknowledge that we and our team are occupying unceded and stolen lands and territories. Kristin occupies the Lenape territories of the Esopus Lenape Peoples. Jenny occupies the Wabanahkik territory of the Abenaki and Pennacook Peoples. Alba occupies Tiohtià:ke of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. Mack, LaToya, and John Mark occupy the lands of the Kizh Peoples. Learn more about Land Acknowledgments + our continued anti-racist efforts atbufferingthevampireslayer.com/justkeepfighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices