Alright, settle down, class. Settle down... This is Bowie 102 covering the last thirty-seven years of David Bowie's career: early 80's rise to popularity, late 80's decline, 90's revival, and death. If you came here looking for "Classical Knives of America, 1830 to Present" you are in the wrong room--that's down the hall in 118 with instructor Sharp yes that IS her real name...

Alright, for the five of you who are left, thank you for coming back for another semester. If you haven't already ordered your course materials yet don't bother--just look the songs up on YouTube, read summaries on Wikipedia, and guess. That's what I do...

Episode links: 

YouTube - David Bowie OfficialSteam - Omikron: The Nomad SoulSaturday Night Live - Napster lawsuit sketch (part 1--couldn't find a good copy of the Petshop Boys bit)A Knight's Tale - "Golden Years"The Killers (Brandon Flowers) - Just Another GirlDavid Bowie's 1983 interview on MTV, holding them to the flames for not showing black artistsArlo Guthrie - Alice's RestrauntBlur - Boys And Girls Donald Glover - The Worst Time to Be Alive (Classic Rap)

Welcome to your first day of Bowie 101! This introductory course covers thirty-two years of David Bowie, from 1947 to 1979, spanning his vaudville, pop rock, glam rock, heavy metal, and funk/soul periods, as well as the Berlin trilogy. 

Our full two-part course will also span such topics as suing Napster, musical numbers from A Knight's Tale, bad haircuts, the roadways of West Berlin, and raps about hats. If you have any questions, your instructor Blake or your classmates Ally and Kurt will be happy to fill you in on the details. Take notes--there will be a test at the end. Enjoy!

Episode links: 

YouTube - David Bowie OfficialSteam - Omikron: The Nomad SoulSaturday Night Live - Napster lawsuit sketch (part 1--couldn't find a good copy of the Petshop Boys bit)A Knight's Tale - "Golden Years"The Killers (Brandon Flowers) - Just Another GirlDavid Bowie's 1983 interview on MTV, holding them to the flames for not showing black artistsArlo Guthrie - Alice's RestrauntBlur - Boys And Girls Donald Glover - The Worst Time to Be Alive (Classic Rap)

He is the sworn protector of the city. The wild blue yonder. He is The Tick. But which Tick are we talking about? All of them, we're looking at the Fox kids cartoon show (1994), the Fox live-action sit-com (2001) and the Amazon streaming live-action version (2016), and even some talk about the comic is involved.

We talk about what the changes in the small screen versions of the Tick shows about our society, why side characters change from version to version of the show, and how the themes of the show hold up over time.

We also talk about absurdist humor, secret identities, and hating your siblings favorite shows.

Links for this episode:

Geekvolution - youtube.com

With Infinity War out and Deadpool set to return soon. Ally has us look at Logan and talk about superhero movies and what these movies say about society. Focus revolves around Logan, the MCU, and Deadpool.

We also talk about Thelma and Louise, Seven Samurai, and Unforgiven

Note:This episode contains no Infintity War spoilers because Kurt and Ally hadn't seen it at time of recording.

Links for this episode:Logan “Hurt” trailer - youtube.comDeadpool trailer - youtube.comNerdwriter - Logan: Superhero Movies get old - youtube.comAnthony Mackie and Tom Holland - youtube.comPatrick Stewart and Ginger - youtube.com

As our jobs all got in the way of our recording schedule this week, we sat down for a short [read: long], off-the-cuff episode. We get into the recent events surrounding the Simpsons'/Apu debacle since recording  that episode, and then spend the rest of our time gushing about all the great media we have watched/played/read/listened to lately.

(Due to the large volume of links/things mentioned in this discussion, I'm posting all of them as a pdf here: Links to all the media - hosted locally)

One of us always tells lies...one of us always tells the truth...but what IS the truth, really? We're digging deep this week with the films Rashomon and Life of Pi, discussing absolutes, equivocations, and whether a single noble lie can balance out a thousand false promises.

We'll also discuss Satre's concepts of "bad faith" and "the look" (na na na na!), the soap opera Dallas, and getting called poindexter at a comedy show. (It makes sense in context, I promise.)

Links for this episode:

The Atlantic - “Life's Stories”

The Invention of Lying (trailer)

True Detective - pessimism: religion and fairy tales

The Hogfather - ‘Belief’ as according to Death

The Dark Knight - Joker’s speech and 

ending scene

KURT - BIT FROM DALLAS  “IT WAS ALL A DREAM”?

The Look (Anime version) - Okami-san

The Look (Midi version) - download link

Brian Thomas Smith (aka the commedian who called Kurt "Poindexter")

Blake's notes for this episode - hosted locally

Strange things are afoot at the Kwik-E-Mart this week as we look into the documentary The Problem With Apu and three classic Apu-centric episodes of The Simpsons to see if these charges are warrented, and if the writers ever got better at writing Indian characters.

We also take time to talk about James Woods' career (or lack thereof), Indian covers of Western pop songs, and airlines treating people like cattle.

Links for this episode:

Tumblr - Hari Kondabolu - My career goal is to make people say my name.

Deadpool 2 trailer

Washington Post - “A beloved restaurant owner was deported; a community was in uproar, then it moved on”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - Civics Practice Test 

This American Life: Our Town (Part One) 

This American Life: Our Town (Part Two)

Psychology Today - “Why Are So Many Indian Arranged Marriages Successful?” 

Buzzfeed - “15 Times Indians Slayed With Their Covers Of Some Of Your Favourite Songs” 

The Simpsons - Lisa the Vegetarian clip

It's rare for an artist to remake a work from their early career. With Spike Lee's remake of She's Gotta Have It, we're looking at the differences between the film (1986) and the web-series (2017) with a big helping hand from our guest Samantha from Rocket Punch Radio.

With art, music, sexuality, and civil unrest on the table, we also found time (in this long episode) to talk about the Spin Doctors, Celtics fans, and eminent domain.

Links for this episode:CBS This Morning - Spike Lee on Rebooting the iconic and timely “She’s Gotta Have It”YouTube - Lindsay Ellis - RENT - “Look Pretty and Do As Little as Possible: A Video Essay” Goodreads.com - Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy's "The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationship & Other Adventures"UrbanDictionary.com - “Gold Star Lesbian”The Magicians - The Wit and Wisdom of EliotWikipedia - 25th HourWikipedia - Audre LordePleasantville - "What’s Going to Happen Now?"Mars Blackmon in Nike commercials

Shoutouts:Samantha's TwitterThe Kave Podcast/Hot 365 Radio

We interupt this podcast to bring you a quick episode about Black Panther...only there was so much to say that it turned into a full episode anyway. And despite all three hosts enjoying themselves, it didn't keep them from picking all manner of nits from this excellent film. 

We also talk about racial politics, familial conections, and the etymology of a particular type of footwear.

Editor's Note: Ally wasn't feeling her best while recording this episode and ended up misspeaking a few times. She made a comment on African American incarceration and worried that it came out wrong; she was trying to say that African Americans are jailed at a higher rate over smaller crimes than whites. I would have cut it out, but it made the conversation flow weird. Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy. 

Links:Splinter News - “How the U.S. Government Locked Black Americans Out of Attaining the American Dream”Boston Review - “‘Black Panther’ Is Not the Movie We Deserve”Twitter - @diasporicblues - Black Panther costuming tribes/cultures threadCinemablend - Why Chadwick Boseman Feels Like Tchalla is the Enemy in Black PantherWikipedia.org - The Moscow Rules - aka Once is a accident, twice is an coincidence, three times is an enemy action.

It's time to sharpen your teeth on the bones of your "father"! We're looking at Good Will Hunting and Whiplash and talking about surpasing your father(s), the genesis of genius, and how to steal your father's prized possesions (be it an orchestra or just a really good line).

We also talk Saint's Row, super saiyans, and Nietzsche's dog. 

Links for this episode:

Cecil B. Demented (trailer) Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season James Brown- Roundhouse - “Please Please Please” Weird Al - "Living With a Hernia" Slavoj Zizek - “The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology” - Travis Bickle and Breivik Ira Glass on CreativityWhiplash - Caravan Finale - Part 1 Whiplash - Caravan Finale - Part 2 The Muppet Show - Animal vs. Buddy Rich drum solo  Dragon Ball Z: The Abridged Series - Krillin vs. Yamcha Dragon Ball Z: The Abridged Series - DODGE! Nietzche's DogSaints Row 4: FillabusterSunk Cost FallacyEidetic MemoryThose Who Can't Do Teach - School of Rock