Supercontext: An Autopsy Of Media

This movie had a tumultuous production, with constant fighting between writer Paddy Chayefsky and director Ken Russell. We discuss how their conflict influenced the end product... and the studios paying their bills. We also wonder if this movie unintentionally captures what we now refer to as toxic masculinity. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Altered States (film) Altered States (book) Additional Resources: Felperin, L. (2011). Russell pics marked by raw passion. Variety, 425(4), 7. Corliss, R. (1980). Invasion Of The Mind Snatcher. Time, 116(26), 58. Lanza, J. (2007). Phallic Frenzy : Ken Russell and His Films (Vol. 1st ed). Chicago, Ill: Independent Publishers Group. AT THE MOVIES; Ken Russell on 'Altered States' controversy. From Altered States to Altered Titles: A Close Analysis of the Title Sequence to Ken Russell's Altered States (1981) What We Mean When We Say, “Toxic Masculinity”  

  This 1996 album is heralded as the critical apex for the "post-metal" sub-genre. We discuss the hardships and trauma the band members were struggling with while recording it and how it acts as catharsis for them and their listeners. We also spend a lot of time on meaning, genre distinctions and the inability of language to describe the identity we form with music. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Through Silver In Blood Silver Blood Transmission Additional Resources: Neurotics Never Know A Chat with Neurosis' Dave Edwardson Neurosis on 30 Years of Finding ‘New Ways of Being Heavy’ Neurosis’ Through Silver In Blood is still crushing, 20 years later Neurosis – ‘Through Silver in Blood’ Turns 20 NEUROSIS' DARK PATH, DEEP BOND: INSIDE 'THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOD' AND BEYOND

This comic book about a private moon mission gone wrong is now lauded for launching the career of Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard. But, it was also responsible for Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim's publishing house AiT/PlanetLar. So we discuss their approach to balancing commerce with art, and medium with story. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Astronauts in Trouble: Live From The Moon The Making of Astronauts in Trouble Astronauts in Trouble reissue Additional Resources: Young, L. (1999). The Making of Astronauts in Trouble. AIT / Planetlar. San Francisco. PREPPING FOR RE-ENTRY WITH ‘ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE’ Astronauts In Trouble #1 Adlard, C., Smith, M., and Young, L. (2003). Astronauts in Trouble Master Flight Plan. Ait/PlanetLar. San Francisco. Astronauts in Trouble: Live from the Moon (Scanned covers) 10 Years and Counting At AiT/Planet Lar Time to Make a Movie Version of "Astronauts in Trouble" A Short Inter

This dystopian television series presents a horrifying, totalitarian society that forces women to bear children as slaves. We discuss its streaming based production and reception, and then turn to multiple articles on representation, politics, religion and intersectionality to try to provide a perspective the two of us might not normally find. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Handmaid’s Tale Children of Men Top of the Lake Y the Last Man God is Disappointed in You Spitboy Hannibal Fargo Split Infinity Additional Resources: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale Is Doing A Great Job Of Freaking Everyone Out At SXSW Margaret Atwood on Christianity, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ and What Faithful Activism Looks Like Today Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale' presents striking oppression, silent sisterhood Reflecting on the frightening lessons of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ What Margaret Atwood thinks

This crime novel follows a wandering problem-solver who always wins. We discuss why these books are so immensely popular and the vicarious consolation we get out of the hero, his nobility and his alienation. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Killing Floor Servant of the Shard The Authority Vol 1 (featuring Midnighter) Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism Lucas Davenport series The Equalizer Additional Resources: The Official Website of Lee Child and Jack Reacher FAQ LEE CHILD: THE EMOTIONAL CONTRACT OF JACK REACHER How Jack Reacher Was Built Why I love Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels The Curious Case of Lee Child  

This 1958 Orson Welles' picture has been called the last of the classic film noir era. We discuss Welles' approach to filmmaking, his conflicts with the movie studio and the thematic tensions displayed by the genre at the time. Oh, and Charlton Heston's makeup. That gets a good 10 minutes. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Touch of Evil Will Eisner Crime SuspenStories Criminal To Be a Man: Letters to My Grandson The Bridge The Element of Crime Get Shorty Cookie’s Fortune Lone Star Additional Resources: AT THE MOVIES; Dark Secrets Of Suburbia ORSON WELLES' MEMO ON TOUCH OF EVIL One of our classics is missing Beatrice Welles interview – Part 1: Treasures to be auctioned, life with Orson Welles and public misconceptions Restoring the Touch Of Genius to a Classic Touch of Evil (re-issue) 25 Minority Characters That Hollywood Whitewashed From Breakfast at Tiffany’s to Hellboy: The ongoing problem of Hollywood ‘whitewas

This British comedy series is a deconstruction of humor in a jazz-like improvisation. We discuss Lee's persona, the BBC's decision-making process and the fine lines between self-absorption, art and masturbation. In fact, we take a masturbation metaphor way too far. So brace yourselves. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, Series 3 The Thick of It Travel Man Nanette Review The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project How I Escaped My Certain Fate Something to Take the Edge Off Additional Resources: Who says you can't do jokes about religion on the BBC? Stewart Lee returns in 'Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle' Stewart Lee Live Review: If You Prefer A Milder Comedian Please Ask For One Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle roars back with more deceptive deadpanning ‘Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle’: Daring You To Like It Why I walked out of a Stewart Lee gig Where are the Thinkers? Stewart Lee in conversation wit

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 fo

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: Jennife

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” B

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

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’

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-al

This eighteen-hour continuation of a beloved twenty-five year old television series evokes emotions of both love and hate. So we discuss how Mark Frost, David Lynch and Showtime made and distributed this project while adhering to the original themes of good-versus-evil and unconventional storytelling. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Twin Peaks: The Return Fortitude  Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Pretty as a Picture Lost Highway Archie Additional Resources: Ma, Aliza. Film Comment. Nov/Dec2017, Vol. 53 Issue 6, p36-39. 4p. 1 Ewins, M. (2018). 2 TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN: DAVID LYNCH & MARK FROST. Sight & Sound, 28(1), 33-36. LUCCA, VIOLET, Film Comment. Nov/Dec2017, Vol. 53 Issue 6, p40-41. 2p SYME, RACHEL. New Republic. Aug/Sep2017, Vol. 248 Issue 8/9, p66-68. 3p. Twin Peaks Revival Back On for 'More Than' 9 Episodes as David Lynch, Showtime Resolve Stalemate Is Twin Peaks a movie or a TV show? The answer’s mo

This treatise on climate change argues that we should just accept that our civilization is going to die. We might survive however, by remembering our cultural heritage. We discuss Scranton's experience at war, as well as the variety of reactions to his claim that we should just confront our own mortality, even when we're posting to social media. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Learning to Die in the Anthropocene Scatter, Adapt, and Remember The Better Angels of Our Nature It's a Disaster Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Melancholia Additional Resources: 28 Authors on the Books That Changed Their Lives Impurity: Two Books on the Anthropocene LEARNING TO DIE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE: INTERVIEW WITH ROY SCRANTON Ison, Ray and Shelley, Monica. “Governing in the Anthropocene: Contributions from Systems Thinking in Practice?” Whitington, Jerome. “What Does Climate Change Demand of Anthropology?” Political and Legal Anthropolog

We discuss the history of this influential record in light of the band's breakup and subsequent reformation. We also examine their rhetoric of anti-capitalism in relation to the production and distribution of this album. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Shape of Punk to Come Plays Pretty For Baby The Lipstick Game Turn Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven Additional Resources: Refused New Noise Spawns Nu Shame Fauteux, B. (2012). “New Noise” versus the Old Sound: Manifestos and The Shape of Punk to Come. Popular Music & Society, 35(4), 465. doi:10.1080/03007766.2011.578523 REFUSED's 'The Shape Of Punk To Come' To Be Released As A Deluxe Edition - Apr. 7, 2010 Refused – “The Shape of Punk to Come” WHY 'THE SHAPE OF PUNK TO COME' WAS WRONG Refused is making a new album 17 years after The Shape of Punk to Come Refused Are Fucking Dead (The Last Official Press Release) REFUSED: Pop Songs for the Rev