🗡️ I am the rock against which the surf crashes. Nothing can break me. 🗡️

Our angelic guests Abby and Ronnie (from @DragonsintheDetailsPod) lead the conversation on Sarah J Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series. We get into the depth and complexity of fantasy world building, the frustrating societal tendency to denigrate media and literature intended for women, the positive impact of elevating relationships written for the female gaze.

🦸 Avengers, Assemble! 🦸

Our terrific guests Taylor and Katie (of the @sistersassembled podcast) lead the conversation on Captain America and the wider Marvel universe. We get into the suggestive homoeroticism of Cap & the Winter Soldier, how franchise IP has harmed (or ultimately helped? 🤞)Hollywood, and how the Marvel Universe earned the derisive nickname the ‘M-She-U.’

🎶 Don’t stop believin’ 🎶

Our magical guest Maria leads the conversation on Glee. We get into what it means to be an intense and off-putting teen, balancing educational moments with realistic character development in television, and the heartbreak of the Glee curse

🌠 Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight 🌠

Our astounding guests Andrene and Joel (from Rewind Rewatch podcast) lead the conversation on She’s All That. We talk about the damaging 90s romcom tropes, how that period laid the foundation for the fraught gender relations we’re experiencing today and weighing the costs and benefits of monoculture vs various internet subcultures.

✨ thank u, next ✨

TW: eating disorders

Our lovely guest Lillie leads the conversation on Ariana Grande. We get into the long term impact of child stardom, the era of Tumblr ‘thinspo’ and the double standards in considering women’s personal lives and relationships far more heavily in evaluating their art than we do for men.

🍮Thank you for being a friend 🍮

Our marvellous guest Mandy Kaplan (from Make Me a Nerd podcast) leads the conversation on The Golden Girls. We get into whether the Golden Girls was borne from genuine interest in telling the stories of older ladies, or opportunistic tokenism, whether social issues ever gain meaningful traction through fictional media and how GG set the tone for comedic writing structures yet to be successfully imitated.

🧇 Friends don’t lie 🧇

Our effervescent guests Emily Jaye and V Arrow (of This Week in Fandom History) lead the conversation on Stranger Things. We get into the genius of the film references, how Stranger Things defined its own format and exemplified cross-genre writing, and whether Steve Harrington is the blueprint for the perfect redemption arc.

🔮 “There’s no such thing as psychics” 🔮

Our cracking guest Crystal Watanabe (aka @pikkotheeditor of the Rom Com Detectives) leads the conversation on The Mentalist. We get into the dubious value of the slow burn romance, the safety of watching chaotic characters from a distance (and the relief that they don’t exist in our real lives!) and the benefits/dangers of relying on one narrative thread to carry the story through seven seasons.

Our accomplished guest Amy leads the conversation on “Oh, the places you’ll go!” by Dr Seuss. We get into whether personal achievement and the ‘solo hero’s journey’ are responsible message to impart to our children, whether ‘the waiting place’ serves as reassurance or a cautionary tale and how overconsumption has enabled some truly insane movie IP merchandise.

Our ingenious guest Isabella leads the conversation on David Letterman. We get into the death of late-night television (and its resurrection in weird Youtube shows?), the necessary ingredients of a legendary comic and the evolution of the press junket, not necessarily for the better.