Currently Nerdy

Ali is slowly starting to join the 21st century. We talk about the use of apps from cash apps to rideshare and food delivery. We talk about the effect on labor and on our daily lives. We discuss the reality of data-collection and how we have opted for convenience over any other consideration. Our tech conversation leads us to briefly reflect on the past several years' popular movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. We talk about the power of hegemonic institutions to co-opt those movements while killing they revolutionary potential. This leads us to discuss Bill Cosby's release and the failures of the legal system to hold the wealthy accountable. We compare this to the injustice of Britney Spears' situation.

In our new episode we talk about the recent discussion about Batman's willingness as a lover. Twitter was abuzz with news that DC intervened to cut a scene where Batman performed oral sex on Catwoman. We discuss the rationalization of DC specifically in regards to wanting to sell merchandise and how capitalism shapes cultural productions. We talk about the relationship of American society to violence versus its contradictory position towards sexuality. We discuss hypersexuality regarding to certain themes, sex as a selling tactic versus prudish stance towards most sexuality. We also talk about the restraints placed on sex in media, sex scripts, and how they feed into a mostly heteronormative and male-centric gaze.

In this episode we dive into the world of streaming, vlogging, and twitch. We talk about a recent 24 hour livestream and the potential money generated from it. We discuss the emergence of the phenomenon and the potential sociological reasons for why streaming, vlogging, and similar voyeuristic activities have become popular. Diz talks about watching Ludwig's stream. We examine the disparity of wealth among streamers and what it reveals about society. We analyze parasocial relationships and their connection to capitalism and community. We discuss the nature of internet communities, social media fandoms, and the power of obsessive watching. This leads us to discussions of Bridgerton, casting choices, and the departure of Orlando Jones from American Gods.

In light of the recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes we take the time to explore the role of media in perpetuating stereotypes and bigotry towards those of Asian descent. We discuss the failure in understanding the actual diversity of Asia especially as most Americans don't even understand the different between varieties in cultures, languages, and nationalities. We examine casting decisions, type casts, and storytelling. We talk about the history of orientalism and its particularly gendered variations which cast Asian men as emasculated side characters and Asian women as docile and desirable. We talk about how these cultural depictions are part of a history of bigotry and play into the modern violence.

Spurred by the weird character arc of Tom Branson from Downton Abbey, we examine other characters who have the opposite of a glow up. We add Bron from Game of Thrones to this lit along with Brita from Community. We distinguish the difference between characters that have the opposite of a glow up and horrible adaptations. In the latter group we put Apocalypse from X-Men arguing that in the era of great villains like Thaons, Apocalypse was a big let down. We then disagree over Mortal Kombat. Diz thinks its a bad adaptation whereas Ali defends the unashamed cheesiness. We both agree the second Mortal Kombat was a war crime. We then talk about live actions. We talks about how not ever cartoon needs a live action. We don't quite understand the plans for Cruella. We then discuss the changes planned for the live action Avatar the Last Airbender. We are skeptical about the Netflix plans. Finally we talk about how live actions are messing up storytelling plans by big production companies.

In this episode we talk about the controversy around Pornhub purging its website of non-verified content creators. We discuss the context of Nicholas Kristof's article, the role of corporations putting pressure on Pornhub, and the ramification of their decision. We talk about the dangers of user-generated pornography particularly around revenge porn. We discuss the implications for sex workers and the assault on their livelihood. We talk about the dangers of gigification of the economy and the role of corporations in killing labor strikes. We argue for a more rigorous labor movement and the need for a combination of strikes and breaking up corporation. We then talk about the evolution of Amazon from selling books to selling everything.

2021 is shaping out to be wild. Today we talk about the rise of the redditers against the hedge-funds. We discuss the stockmarket crisis around GameStop, bitcoin, and the impact of apps. We dive into how reddit organized a massive uprising against hedge funds, using their own unfair tactics against them. This leads us to talk about the coordination of Robinhood to stabilize stocks. We discuss the illusion of democratization which apps like Robinhood rely on. We link this to Youtube, Instagram, TikTok and how they rely the illusion of access, diversity, and democratization while simultaneously consolidating corporate power. For an app calling itself "Robinhood" the app quickly worked to defend Wallstreet. This leads us to analyzing how hegemonic power works and tech companies.

Today we talk about the the culture of wrestling and the Undertaker. We examine his comments and claims about how wrestling has gotten softer by highlighting the toxic, racist, and cruel working conditions of past years. We talk about the history of masculinity and how it is constructed historically and changes over time. We talk about the politics of nostalgia and its connection to conspiracy theories. We then examine QAnon conspiracy theories around the inauguration and the mental gymnastics it takes to deny reality. We talk about the broken information ecosystem and how far afield republicans have gone.

In our first podcast of 2021 we catch up on all that has happened in the past few weeks. We talk about the failed insurrection, subsequent political quagmire, and the reality that our problems as a nation aren't going away anytime soon. We discuss the surreal experience of living through the insurrection, we analyze how we got that point and how most people saw it coming, and then we argue this was likely the beginning of an ongoing problem. We talk about how the role of social media and technology has accelerated and exacerbated this problem. We mention how the conversation around free speech and tech seems to miss the capitalist underpinnings of the situation. We then link the power of tech to Disney and its monopoly over Star Wars. We end by discussing all the latest plans for the Star Wars franchise.

We dive into the viral news of possible alien contact. We discuss how in recent years there has been an increased revelation around aliens and UFO's starting with the the Defense Department revealing video and audio of pilots witnessing UFO's. We then talk about the latest revelation by an Israeli government official which claims aliens have been in contact with humans and have even built a secret base under the surface of Mars for an intergalactic federation. We debate and discuss the possibility of intelligent life on other planets, biological possibilities, alternate dimensions, and whether humans are even ready to find out.