Tune in as Sydney (@sydsbooked) partners up with the podcast for a plunge into Compound Fracture, the 2024 queer YA thriller/horror novel by Andrew Joseph White about a trans teenage boy who’s trying to figure himself out and pursue his socialist politics while fighting back against the violent and cop-enforced bigotry of his West Virginian home. The socially awkward obstacles that come with neurodivergence, mutual aid being a crucial aspect of socialism and anarchism, the oh-so-radical idea that liberals and Democrats shouldn’t be condescendingly throwing away red states and the communities within them, and parents who are trying their clumsy best to accept their trans kid comprise quite a bit of the subject matter for this episode.

TW: death, murder, violence, transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering, gun violence, ableism, police brutality, drug use and abuse, parental death (in the past), car accident (in the past), animal death, child death, physical abuse, emotional abuse, outing, sexual assault, fire, fire injury, vomiting, and alcohol

Spoilers start at 23:35

Manifesto of the Communist Party (or more commonly known as The Communist Manifesto) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Intro to Anarchism-- Q & Anarchy Episode 0 | Thought Slime

My Journey To Anarchism | Anarcha Semiyah

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Good Word:

• Sydney: Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill

• Arthur: Sterling Point

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Jumping onto the show today is Lila Riesen, who’s written her YA debut novel Free Radicals and then her YA coastal noir book Rainsong. Tolkien and Narnia fanfiction, Free Radicals being a personal representation of Lila’s Afghan ancestry, squeezing in time to write while being a full-time mom, the genre-bending and the lovable sisterhood that Rainsong offers up, and Jenny Han’s work stand out as some of the chatter for this episode.

Spoilers for Rainsong start at 22:35

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Lila’s Good Word: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison and Speculative Fiction Writing Made Simple

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Tune in as Paul (@trygraptor) hops onboard the program to discuss The Gorge, the 2025 sci-fi action thriller horror romance movie about the partnership that grows between two top-notch snipers who’ve been assigned the task of guarding a mysterious gorge. The eerie creature design, ziplining across an entire gorge and other cutesy moments in this genre-bending ride, the surprisingly varied questions that viewers could ask about the worldbuilding of this story, and arching an eyebrow at how this weaves in aspects of the military and J. Robert Oppenheimer emerge as a few of the talking points for this episode.

Directed by Scott Derrickson, The Gorge stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Miles Teller, Sigourney Weaver, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, William Houston, and Ruta Gedmintas.

Spoilers start at 26:00

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Good Word:

• Paul: The Thief of Bagdad

• Arthur: Normal

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Tune in as Rolo Tony (@PoorOldRoloTony, These Guys Got Juice, and Unsourced Wall Radio) re-collaborates with the podcast for a breakdown of The Fly, the 1986 sci-fi body horror movie about a scientist whose brilliant intellect pushes him down a gruesome road while inventing a teleportation machine. The surprising amount of time that this film spends being a tragic love story, shining a spotlight on a baboon named Typhoon, those multiple epilogues and other scenes that got excised from the final product, and the operatic gorgeousness of Howard Shore’s score make up some of the discussion matter for this episode.

Directed by David Cronenberg, The Fly stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel, Leslie Carlson, George Chuvalo, Michael Copeman, and Cronenberg himself.

Spoilers start at 41:50

The Fly - Deleted Baboon Scene

The Fly (1986) The Crappy Alternate Endings

Fear of the Flesh! The Shocking Making of The Fly (1986) Revealed 😱 [abridged cut]

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Good Word: 

• Rolo Tony: The Forbidden Room

• Arthur: Gattaca

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Tune in as Andy (Fat Dude Digs Flicks Movie Podcasts) jumps back into his guest chair to unpack Bring Her Back, the 2025 horror film about two orphaned step-siblings who tumble down a spiral of terror after falling under the care of a foster mother who seems cheerfully eager to look after them. The subtle abuse that gaslighting inflicts against its victims, authentic disability representation, Sally Hawkins’s performance being so top-notch that it could have earned her an Oscar nomination, and the Philippou brothers having an inclination towards telling the most sorrowful and bleak stories pop up as some of the conversation material for this episode.

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, Bring Her Back stars Sora Wong, Billy Barratt, Sally Hawkins, Jonah Wren Phillips, Stephen Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, and Mischa Heywood.

Spoilers start at 23:00

Black Angel Tapes

Bring Her Back (2025) - Deleted Scene: Ding Dong Dash

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Good Word:

• Andy: Absolute Batman

• Arthur: DTF St. Louis

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Tune in as Rolo Tony (@PoorOldRoloTony, These Guys Got Juice, and Unsourced Wall Radio) returns to the program to cover Dead Calm, the 1989 thriller about an Australian couple who tries to move past a devastating loss together by sailing on a yacht through the Pacific Ocean, which results in them running into danger after saving a lone man from a sinking schooner. George Miller’s involvement as a ghost director, Hughie being such a menacing creep, that over-the-top ending and how it might have benefitted from some adjustments, and anti-small dog propaganda turn out to be a few of the topics for this episode.

Directed by Phillip Noyce, Dead Calm stars Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane, Rod Mullinar, Lisa Collins, Paula Hudson-Brinkley, Sharon Cook, and Malinda Rutter.

Spoilers start at 35:55

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Good Word:

• Both Rolo Tony and Arthur: Predators (2025)

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Tune in as Paola and Nadhya (Sis Flicks Podcast) collaborate with 2CC for a review and recap of The Charm Offensive, the 2021 rom-com novel by Alison Cochrun about a dating reality show whose producer, with his romanticized view of love in hand, finds himself growing very close with the anxious and nerdy tech millionaire who’s starring in the program. The meticulously manufactured setting in which these reality shows exist, The Cheating Bisexual and other biphobic stereotypes, the tenderness of Dev and Charlie’s sex scenes, and comparing this book to Heated Rivalry land as some of the subjects for this episode.

TW: mental health/illness content, depression, anxiety attacks, OCD, homophobia, biphobia, acephobia, ableism, racism, alcohol, alcoholism, vomiting, and violence

Spoilers start at 45:55

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Good Word:

• Paola: Heartstopper, Heartstopper Forever, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and Red, White & Royal Blue

• Nadhya: The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman

• Arthur: Unbound by Peyton Corinne

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Tune in as Jessica Hart (Totally Bombed) hops back onto the podcast for a dive into The Perfection, the 2018 thriller-horror movie about a former cello prodigy who connects with a fellow student from the academy she had once attended as a child, kicking off a journey into the darkness that they’ll both have to endure. The difficulty of talking about this ambitious journey and the multiple genres it tackles without spoiling it, Richard Shepard’s askew sense of humor, applause for the meticulous cinematography, and the terror of being awfully sick to the point of vomiting in a foreign country comprise a few of the talking points for this episode.

Directed by Richard Shepard, The Perfection stars Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman, Molly Grace, Milah Thompson, Eileen Tian, Mark Kandborg, and Graeme Duffy.

Spoilers start at 22:00

Let’s Talk About the Insane Ending of Netflix’s The Perfection

Cello Duet No. 3

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Good Word:

• Jessica: Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days

• Arthur: In Case I Go Missing by R.N. Swann

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Tune in as Rolo Tony (@PoorOldRoloTony and These Guys Got Juice) jumps back onto the podcast to examine The Voices, the 2014 movie that uses black comedy, thriller, and horror to tell the tale of a plumbing fixtures factory worker whose hallucinations direct him down a path of chatting with his talking pets and wrestling with his murderous side. Rooting for Ryan Reynolds to pick bold and interesting roles, putting a dark twist on the Talking Animals trope, the psychology of serial killers, and the misogynistic violence that lurks within the outwardly pleasant Nice Guy archetype stand out as some of the topics for this episode.

Directed by Marjane Satrapi, The Voices stars Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick, Gemma Arterton, Ella Smith, Jacki Weaver, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Adi Shankar, Sam Spruell, Valerie Koch, and Paul Brightwell.

Spoilers start at 29:45

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Good Word:

• Rolo Tony: Mississippi Grind

• Arthur: Ruby Sparks

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Joining the podcast today is Halley Sutton, who has written two neo-noir thriller novels, The Lady Upstairs and The Hurricane Blonde—both of which have had their own previous episodes dedicated to them. Considering the deep love that both Halley and Arthur share for the dark and gritty world of noir, you’ll hear plenty of chatter about that in this discussion. Favorite femme fatales, tuning into the score from Wild Things, the capitalistic exploitation of the true crime industry, the abusive behavior of male filmmakers and actors like Bernardo Bertolucci and Brad Pitt, and refusing to hand over money to an asshole artist like JK Rowling also make up some aspects of the conversation for this episode.

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Halley’s Good Word: Decision to Leave

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