How do you like it so far?

How do you like it so far?

By Henry Jenkins, Colin MaclayTV & FilmSociety & CultureTechnology
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How do you like it so far? episodes

  • Tasha Oren on the Evolution of Food TV

    In this episode, we take a deep dive into the evolution of food television, from the early days of simple, instructional shows to today's diverse and dynamic culinary landscape. We'll explore how icons like Betty Crocker shaped early cooking programs, empowering women in the kitchen, and how trailblazers like Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, and Guy Fieri pushed boundaries—changing not just how we cook, but how we see race and gender in food media.

    We’ll also journey into the origins of Iron Chef, its impact on Asian identity, and how it became a global cultural phenomenon. Plus, we’ll reflect on the genre's transition to streaming, where shows like Chef’s Table have brought a more artistic, inclusive approach to the culinary world. And as food competition shows shift from cutthroat to kind, what does the future hold for food media?

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Books by Tasha Oren: Food TV ; Global Asian American Popular Cultures

    Joyce Chen

    Eddie Wang

    David Chang 

    The Evolution of Television Formats

    MasterChef Junior: Watch on Hulu

    Project Runway: Watch on Netflix, IMDb

    Survivor: Watch on CBS

    Julia Child
    Julia Child’s The French Chef by Dana Polan
    The French Chef with Julia Child
    Smithsonian Air and Space Museum ; Julia Child clip

    Emeril Lagasse ; Emeril Live clip

    Iron Chef ; Netflix Trailer

    Wall Street (1987 film)

    Hillary Clinton and the Return of the (Unbaked) Cookies - New York Times
    Hillary Clinton explains "Bake cookies" remark April 1992 - Dailymotion

    Betty Crocker - history; Betty Crocker on the radio

    Guy Fieri 

    Food Network 

    Curtis Aiken 

    Mind of a Chef: Watch on Youtube, IMDb

    Chef’s Table trailer; Watch on Netflix, IMDb

    Jeff Yang's new book, The Golden Screen

    William Shatner 

    Hell's Kitchen: Watch on FOX, IMDb
    Gordon Ramsay on Hot Ones

    Baking Impossible trailer

    The Great British Bake Off

    Bong Appetit: Trailer; Watch on Youtube, IDMb
    Vanessa Lavorato & Miguel Trinidad (Bong Appetit) - The Smokebox
    Cooking with Cannabis

    Bake Squad trailer

    The Bear trailer: Watch on Hulu, IMDb

    Simply Sara (YouTube)

    Check out our previous Episode 61: Broken Bread with Chef Roy Choi and KCET’s Juan Devis

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    1 hr 28 min
  • Creativity and Play with Barry Kudrowitz

    In this episode, we dive into the fascinating journey of Barry, a visionary who started as an aspiring theme park ride designer and evolved into a groundbreaking toy creator and educator. We explore how divergent and convergent thinking shape creativity, and how toys serve as more than just playthings – they're tools for limitless imagination. From Lego’s transformation to society’s expectations on toy use, we challenge the restrictions imposed on children’s creative freedom. Discover how kids naturally hybridize toys like Barbies and action figures, and why the industry’s focus on specialization might be stifling their innovation. We also examine the role of franchising in shaping toy creativity, and dive into the often-overlooked world of industrial design, pondering how media could elevate its visibility. And yes, we even touch on poop technology! 

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    x.com/kudrowitz

    design.umn.edu/directory/barry-m-kudrowitz

    Sparking Creativity: How Play and Humor Fuel Innovation and Design

    MIT East Campus: Building Tradition with an East Campus Roller Coaster

    David Robert Wallace

    Nerf Super Soaker

    Comparative Media Studies Degree Programs MIT

    Incongruity theory of humor

    Jake The Dog Adventure Time Handmade Plush Toys (12 inches)

    The Lego Movie

    Harry Potter™ Toys and Gifts | Official LEGO® Shop US

    Rocket Racoon

    Tinkerer

    Burn Notice

    Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)

    Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking: Finding Balance [2024] • Asana

    Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

    Pretend Play Toys and Play Sets

    Home | Official LEGO® Shop US

    The LEGO Movie (theme)

    Toy Story | Official Disney Site

    Weird Barbie – Barbie The Movie

    Soakies

    The 'Unitasker' Kitchen Gadgets Alton Brown Loves To Loathe

    Will It Waffle?

    Top 20 toys

    What is Incremental Innovation?

    Furby

    Tamagotchi

    MrBeast Lab Collection

    Flamin' Hot

    Air

    Tetris

    Play Tetris | Free Online Game

    BlackBerry

    Project Runway

    RuPaul's Drag Race

    RuPaul's Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace) • Instagram photos and videos

    Junkyard Wars

    Scattergories

    The History of Poop Is Really the History of Technology

    How your poop can help train AI 

    Erik Erikson

    Erikson's Stages of Development

    Squatty Potty

    Toilets of the World - Harvard Book Store

    Pooping Rainbow Soft Serve Unicorn

    squattypotty.com/products/dookie-plush-unicorn?srsltid=AfmBO…DQkq

    Dude Wipes

    This Shark Tank winner has a $1 billion plan to replace toilet paper

    Shark Tank Success: Dude Wipes Flush The Competition

    TUSHY - The Modern & Sustainable Bidet Company

    The best bidets of 2024, tested by editors | CNN Underscored

    PRISTINE Toilet Paper Spray: As Seen on Shark Tank, the More Natural Alternative to Flushable Wet Wipes & Personal Cleansing Wipes, Spray Toilet Paper to Create Flushable Wipe, Original 4oz

    Toilet Paper Sprays | Biodegradable Flushable Wipes | Pristine Sprays

    Watch The Great American Baking Show (2023) Online for Free | The Roku Channel | Roku

    The Great American Baking Show (@thegreatamericanbakingshow) • Instagram photos and videos

    Great British Bake Off - Homepage

    Watch The Great British Bake Off

    Check out our previous episode with Jackson Bird

    Transmission podcast

     

    Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected].

     

    Music:

    “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  

    https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet

    Spaceship by Lesion X 

    https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats

    Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

    Free Download / Stream: 

    https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental

    Free Download / Stream: 

    https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship

    Music promoted by Audio Library

    https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    Share your via email at [email protected].

    1 hr 28 min
  • Indigenous Futurisms with Grace Dillon

    Grace L. Dillon is an American academic and author. She is a professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Program, in the School of Gender, Race, and Nations, at Portland State University. She received her PhD in literary studies with an emphasis in sixteenth-century literature, and her recent research regards Science fiction studies, especially the use of science fiction by indigenous peoples around the world. Similar to the concept of Afrofuturism, Dillon is best known for coining the term Indigenous Futurisms, which is a movement consisting of art, literature and other forms of media which express Indigenous perspectives of the past, present and future in the context of science fiction and related sub-genres. Dillon is the editor of Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction, which is the first anthology of Indigenous science fiction short stories, published by the University of Arizona Press in 2012. Previously, Dillon has edited Hive of Dreams: Contemporary Science Fiction from the Pacific Northwest, which was published in 2003 by Oregon State University Press. This is an anthology of science fiction from writers living in the Pacific Northwest, and features works from authors such as Greg Bear, Octavia Butler, and Molly Gloss. She also coedited The Routledge Handbook of CoFuturisms with Taryne Jade Taylor, Isiah Lavender III, and Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay. Here, we discuss with Grace her origins into science fiction and the mentorships she received from the distinguished feminist science fiction writer, Ursula K. LaGuin. We define the concept of Indigenous Futurisms and its origins, taking time to understand the representation of the future and of tradition and what indigenous scientists have taught us about environmental sustainability. She also discusses the genre in other media, including film, television, and graphic novels, all of which are experiencing the growth of native contributions in recent years.

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    In the article that inspired the episode, friend of the podcast Jeff Yang wrote about indigenous responses to James Cameron’s Avatar:
    Opinion: The awkward truth about the new ‘Avatar’ is far bigger than its bottom line | CNN

    Grace Dillon Books
    Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigeneous Science Fiction
    The Routledge Handbook on Co-Futurisms

    Her Mentor:
    Ursula K. LaGuin
    The Dispossessed

    Futurisms and other Science Fiction Subgenres:
    Indigenous Futurisms
    Afrofuturism
    African Futurisms
    Gulf Futurisms
    Israeli Futurisms
    Asian Futurism
    Latinx Futurism
    Native Time Slips
    Alternate Histories
    Splatterpunk
    Slipstream

    Roots of Afrofuturism:
    Mark Dery; Flame Wars
    Samuel R. Delaney
    Tricia Rose
    Alondra Nelson
    Nnedi Okorafor

    Indigenous cultures and policies:
    UNDRIP
    Two Spirit
    Lost generations
    Mi’kmaq Language
    Crystal Echo Hawk

    Native Science and Scientists:
    Gregory Cajete
    High context vs low context science
    Robin Wall Kimmerer; Braiding Sweetgrass
    Global Weirdness
    Spiral to the Stars
    Kyle Whyte
    Indigenous Mobilities
    Anthropocene

    Literary Works (including Graphic Novels):
    Moon of the Crusted Snow
    Louise Erdich; Future Home of the Living God
    Claire G. Colman; Terra Nullius
    Sherman Alexie
    Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection

    Film and Television:
    Reservation Dogs
    Molly of Denali
    Taika Waititi
    Night Raiders
    Jeff Barnaby
    File Under Miscellaneous
    Resident Alien;  “Radio Harry”
    Helen Haig Brown
    The Cave
    Wayne Blair; Cleverman
    Alien races on Star Trek
    Richard Dreyfuss

    Further Resources suggested by Grace Dillon:
    Indigenous Community: Rekindling the Teachings of the Seventh Fire by Gregory Cajete (2015)
    Sandtalk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta (2020)
    Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez (2022)
    We Rise: The Earth Guardians Guide to Building a Movement that Restores the Planet by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (2017)
    Welp: Climate Change and Arctic Identities by Michaela Stith (2021)
    Daniel H. Wilson – Robopocalypse; Robogenesis
    Rebecca Roanhorse
    Antlers – Directed by Scott Cooper (2021)

    Check out these previous episodes:

    Episode 73: Increasing Visibility is Existential for Native Communities, with Crystal Echo Hawk
    Episode 83: Indigenous Voices for Environmental Justice with Candis Callison & Julian Brave NoiseCat

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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    57 min
  • The Revolution Will Be Hilarious with Caty Borum

    Caty Borum, Executive Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact and Provost Associate Professor in the School of Communication at American University, joins us again to discuss her new book, The Revolution Will Be Hilarious: Comedy for Social Change and Civic Power. Starting with what Caty finds funny and how she uses comedy as part of her practice as an educator, we go on to talk about how comedy can allow us to approach territory where we feel uncomfortable and provide a forum to share the diversity of our lived experiences. Drawing on Caty’s experiences working with comedy writers and comedians, we explore what’s necessary to create comedy that engages audiences around societal issues and helps move social change. Of course, we couldn’t resist sampling some of Caty’s favorite clips along the way, which are linked below.

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Caty Borum - Center for Media and Social Impact
    The Revolution Will Be Hilarious: Comedy for Social Change and Civic Power (2023, NYU Press)
    Author Caty Borum discusses how comedy will fuel the future of social change (WAMU)
    A Comedian and an Activist Walk into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice (2020, Univ of California Press)
    Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change (2020, Oxford University Press)
    Yes, And...Laughter Lab

    Some of the videos we talked about:
    Inside Amy Schumer - Season 4, Episode 3: "Guy-gles"
    Georgia Tech - Freshman Convocation - Epic Welcome Speech
    Life's a F***ing Fantasy for Santos - A Randy Rainbow Parody
    You're Welcome America: Episode 3 Mental Health
    Ain't Your Mama's Heat Wave | Official Trailer | Think 100% FILMS
    The Hammer - Comedian Corey Forrester
    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
    Reservation Dogs

    Also, see the ongoing list of Guest Hosts for The Daily Show (and watch episodes) HERE

    And check out our previous episodes:
    Taking risks: Comedy as Tool for Social Justice, with Caty Borum
    Play as a Precursor to Participation, with Reanne Estrada and Benjamin Stokes

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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    1 hr 14 min
  • Growing Up Autistic in the Digital Age with Meryl Alper

    In addition to being Henry’s former dissertation advisee, Meryl Alper is am an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies (College of Arts, Media, and Design) and Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (Bouvé College of Health Sciences) at Northeastern University. At Northeastern, she studies  the social, cultural, and health implications of communication technologies, with a focus on disability, digital media, and children and families’ technology use. Her books include Digital Youth with Disabilities (MIT Press, 2014) and Giving Voice: Mobile Communication, Disability, and Inequality (MIT Press, 2017), which was awarded a 2018 PROSE Award Honorable Mention from the Association of American Publishers and the 2018 Outstanding Publication in the Sociology of Disability Award from the American Sociological Association. Her latest book, Kids Across the Spectrums: Growing Up Autistic in the Digital Age (MIT Press, 2023), explores the media and technology practices of young people on the autism spectrum, as well as what it means to be “social” in a socially mediated world.

    She also drew on her professional experience in educational children’s media as a researcher, strategist, and consultant with Sesame Workshop, PBS KIDS, Nickelodeon, and Disney. In this conversation, we explore basic concepts such as “spectrum” and “neurodiversity” and what they mean for parents living with autistic children. We learn more about the methodologies she uses to learn more about families living with autism and how she incorporates the perspective of the children themselves in her research. We consider the role of schools and parents in helping to create a world where such students thrive. Above all, we dig deeper into their relationship with media, ranging from the ways media creates sensory experiences to the importance of games, from adaptive technology to fandom. We also consider how autistic people get represented across a range of media properties. And we close with the issue of what she would change about the world if she had magic powers.

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Meryl Alper

    Meryl Alper  interviewed on Imagine Otherwise podcast 
    Kids Across the Spectrums: Growing Up Autistic in the Digital Age
    Giving Voice: Mobile Communication, Disability, and Inequality
    Digital Youth with Disabilities 
    T is for Transmedia

    Debates about spectrum 
    Neurodiversity
    Fandom and Neurodiversity
    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    Other Researchers
    Bruno Bettelheim
    Sue Fletcher-Watson 
    Steve Silverman – Neurotribes 
    Kathryn Ringland 
    Marshall McLuhan 

    Media Mentioned
    Autcraft
    Roblox 
    Big Bang Theory
    Community
    Atypical
    The Good Doctor
    Rain Man
    Sia – Music
    Heartbreak High – Chloe Hadden
    “Loop”
    The Good Fight
    Extraordinary Attorney Woo
    Wonder
    Warrior Cats
    PBS Kids
    Hero Elementary

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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    1 hr 17 min
  • Critical Media Project with Alison Trope and DJ Johnson

    This week we’re joined by USC Faculty colleagues Alison Trope, Clinical Professor of Communication, and DJ Johnson, Associate Professor of Practice, Cinematic Arts. Together they direct the Critical Media Project (CMP), a free media literacy web resource for educators and students (ages 8-21) that enhances young people’s critical thinking and empathy, and builds on their capacities to advocate for change around questions of identity. The website includes around 700 pieces of media and wraparound pedagogical resources that focus on seeing across difference, in order to surface questions that can then be addressed in the open. It can be used independently, and is also aligned with the Common Core for use in schools. Throughout this episode we’ll listen to media examples with Alison & DJ to discuss how CMP works and how it can be used.

    Alison and DJ begin by telling us about their own media backgrounds, and how they reconcile their own positionality in these issues of identity when teaching and bring that conversation into the classroom, so it can become a shared space of engagement for all. After digging into some of the areas of identity currently tackled by CMP, we discuss how students and educators have engaged with it, both by using the resources as well as creating their own media, and through their latest curricular project, the fully-online Critical Makers Lab.

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Alison Trope
    DJ Johnson
    Critical Media Project
    Critical Makers Lab
    CMP DIY Activities:
    I am, but I'm not...
    Making Change
    Mapping My World + Community
    Identity Collage


    Applying the Common Core - Critical Media Project

    Alison & DJ’s childhood TV favorites:
    Wonder Woman (TV Series 1975–1979) - IMDb
    Charlie's Angels (TV Series 1976–1981) - IMDb
    CHiPs (TV Series 1977–1983) - IMDb
    Battle of the Planets (TV Series 1978–1980) - IMDb

    Videos we watched and discussed, as they appear with discussion questions on the CMP site:
    Zootopia - Press Conference Scene
    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED Talk
    Rise (dinner table)
    I'm Trans, But I'm Not
    Ships at a Distance

    Also mentioned:
    educator, author, and media literacy advocate Renee Hobbs
    W.E.B Du Bois’s 1890s infographics

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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    1 hr 8 min
  • Hip-Hop and the Academy, with Taj Frazier

    Robeson Taj Frazier is an associate professor of communication and director of IDEA (the Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg), as well as the author of The East is Black: Cold War China in the Black Radical Imagination and KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell, and producer of IT'S YOURS: A Story About Hip-Hop and the Internet and Hip-Hop and the Metaverse on PBS. Reflecting on his roots and early influences, he takes us through his journey from New Jersey to China to academia, having produced both books and multimedia along the way.

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Robeson Taj Frazier
    IDEA: Institute for Diversity & Empowerment @ Annenberg

    Books:
    The East Is Black: Cold War China in the Black Radical Imagination
    KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell

    Film/TV:
    IT'S YOURS documentary
    Hip-Hop and the Metaverse | PBS

    Early influences:
    Mr T. as B.A. Baracus on the A-Team
    GI Joe
    Jem
    August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson with Charles S. Dutton
    Watermelon Man

    American Culture in China (1990s):
    Mariah Carey / Yanni
    W.E.B. DuBois
    Paul Robeson
    Discman
    Darlie toothpaste

    Marguerite de Bourgoing

    The Misadventures of AWKWARD Black Girl (Issa Rae)

    Tricia Rose

    Lupe Fiasco

    Roblox

    Ben Caldwell / KAOS Network:
    Project Blowed, a workshop space utilized by:
    The Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, Doja Cat, Kendrick Lamar
    Leimert Phone Company project

    MIT Radiation Laboratory history / video

    Welcome to Meta

    Second Life

    Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected].

    Music:
    “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.
    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
    In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  
    https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet
    Spaceship by Lesion X 
    https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats
    Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
    Free Download / Stream: 
    https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental
    Free Download / Stream: 
    https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship
    Music promoted by Audio Library 
    https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q
    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    Share your via email at [email protected].

    1 hr 28 min
  • A Harry Potter Fandom Journey with Jackson Bird

    As a former volunteer and later employee of Fandom Forward (what was then called The Harry Potter Alliance) and a transgender man, Jackson Bird’s feelings about Harry Potter have certainly evolved, especially given the extremely divisive statements JK Rowling has made about the transgender community. He shares how what was once an important part of his identity has faded away and why, as well as how he feels about his memoir four years later and what he’s working on now.

    Here are some of the references from this episode for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Jackson Bird

    Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place (A Transgender Memoir) (Simon & Schuster)

    Jackson Bird - YouTube

    Cool Stuff Ride Home podcast

    First Draft Theater newsletter

    The Infinite Wrench — The New York Neo-Futurists

    Henry’s writing about the Harry Potter Alliance:
    "Cultural acupuncture": Fan activism and the Harry Potter Alliance

    Wizard Rock

    Fandom Forward > (formerly The Harry Potter Alliance)

    Jackson Bird: ‘Harry Potter’ Helped Me Come Out as Trans, But J.K. Rowling Disappointed Me (NY Times Opinion)

    The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling podcast

    Judy Blume clarifies J.K. Rowling remarks: ‘I wholly support the trans community’ (The Hill)

    Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival

    Florida Anti-Trans Legislation

    Rick Riordan on Trans Youth and LGBTQ Characters

    Harry Potter TV Series

    Fan Petition Against “platforming” Rowling

    ‘Grapevine’: An original podcast from NBC News Studios - a story about fringe religious movements trying to remake the American education system based on their biblical values

    Velshi Banned Book Club on Apple Podcasts

    Pottermore 

    Moving Trans History Forward Conference

    Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle Devices - The New York Times

    Episode 101: BBSs and Early Internet Communities with Author Kevin Driscoll

    Episode  69: The Power of Fan Activism with Janae Phillips and Shawn Taylor

    By Any Media Necessary: The New Youth Activism (NYU Press)

    Scholastic criticized for optional diverse book section - ABC News

    Scholastic Backtracks on Isolating Works on Race and Gender at Book Fair - The New York Times

    Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin, and the How Do You Like It So Far? team! You can also email us at [email protected].

    Music & Additional Audio:
    HBO Harry Potter Series announcement video

    The Witch Trials of JK Rowling podcast

    Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman


    “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.
    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
    In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet
    Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats
    Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
    Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental
    Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship
    Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q
    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    Share your via email at [email protected].

    1 hr 19 min
  • Silent Cinema’s Nasty Women with Maggie Hennefeld

    Our guest today is Maggie Hennefeld, McKnight Presidential Fellow and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, who has co-curated a dvd set of the medium’s early female comedians titled Cinema’s First Nasty Women. Maggie talks us through the current resurgence in interest in silent cinema and the global landscape of festivals, supporters and restoration projects, as well as her own journey of scholarship in the field that led to her collaborating on this important project. All this interest seems long overdue considering the fantastically experimental and entertaining material, which is raucous, varied and vast, often making radical social commentary that still resonates today. Maggie vividly describes several highlights in this comprehensive collection, and the women who were behind and in front of the camera. In addition to assembling, restoring and annotating the films, the team also engaged over 45 mostly female composers to write and perform both traditional and avant-garde scores for each film, and she talks extensively about that process. We also discuss the erasure of this material from the silent film canon, and women from comedy (among many other fields) in general, and how these films both give us a new understanding of comedy in this era, even as they inform our on-going struggles with sexism and racism today, by showing us images of women that are simultaneously empowering and troubling. All films are contextualized with expert commentary, allowing them to be used in classrooms or otherwise as jumping-off points for deeper conversation. Finally, Maggie shares some thoughts from the book she’s currently working on about the notion of “hysterical laughter” and its supposed danger to women.

    Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

    Cinema’s First Nasty Women
    DVD Booklet Insert

    Maggie Hennefeld’s other publications:
    Death from Laughter, Female Hysteria and Early Cinema
    Specters of Slapstick and Silent Film Comediennes

    Other Curators of the set:
    Laura Horak – Girls Will Be Boys
    Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi – EYE filmmuseum

    Henry Jenkins, What Made Pistachio Nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic
    Charlotte Greenwood
    Fanny Brice
    Lupe Vélez
    Winnie Lightner
    Ali Wong
    Sarah Silverman
    Wanda Sykes

    James Agee – “Comedy’s Greatest Era”
    Charlie Chaplin in Mable’s Strange Predicament

    Silent Film Culture
    Women and the Silent Screen
    Nitrateville
    Silent London
    Edward Everett Horton
    Steve Massa and Ben Model – silent comedy Watch Party

    Silent Film Festivals
    Pordenone Film Festival
    Bologna Film Festival
    San Francisco Silent Film Festival
    El Festival Internacional de Cine Silente México 
    Hippodrome film festival

    Trump – “Nasty Women”

    Film Scholars
    Arigon Starr
    Liza Black
    Shelley Stamp 

    Female Filmmakers, Producers, and Comedians
    Alice Guy-Blaché
    Bertha Regustus
    Dorothy Arzner
    Fay Tincher
    Ida Lupino
    Léontine
    Lois Weber
    Mabel Normand
    Minnie Devereaux – “Fatty and Minnie He-Haw”
    Sarah Duhamel
    Texas Guinan

    Silent Film Music
    Dana Reason – Score
    Dreamland Faces
    Gonca Feride Varol
    Guenter Buchwald
    José María Serralde Ruiz
    Meg Morley
    Neil Brand
    Steven Horne
    Terri Lyne Carrington

    Nasty Women team on Nitrateville Radio
    Our previous Episode 30: The forgotten women of early filmmaking

    History of the Tom Boy
    Nancy Walker
    Peg Bracken – The I Hate to Housekeep Book / I Hate to Cook Book

    Daisies

    The Unknown

    Arrest Warrant – Ukranian silent cinema

    What’s Up Doc?

    Undercrank Productions (silent film restoration)

    Online screenings from the Bologna and Pordenone film festivals

    Ziegfeld Follies
    Hal Roach Studios

    Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected].

    Music:
    “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.
    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
    In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  
    https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet
    Spaceship by Lesion X 
    https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats
    Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
    Free Download / Stream: 
    https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental
    Free Download / Stream: 
    https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship
    Music promoted by Audio Library 
    https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q
    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

    Share your via email at [email protected].

    1 hr 31 min

About How do you like it so far?

From the publisher's feed

Academics Henry Jenkins and Colin Maclay use their combined knowledge to dig deeper and ask more ambitious questions than most pop culture podcasts out there – not doing recaps or just remaining on…