This is a very special episode. It’s a celebration of the second anniversary of Loud Murmurs. We’re very excited to share this with you all. 

Hosts Afra, Juan, Ina and Diaodiao talk about Queer Eye, the popular Netflix makeover show. We discuss how its tagline “more than a makeover” manifests itself over this season; the structural inequality and cultural conflicts revealed and then brushed off by the show; Fab 5’s celebrity status and how that plays into the dynamics.

We also, for research purposes, watched a Chinese makeover show that has been accused of copying the format of Queer Eye, called “You are so beautiful.” We talk in depth about the show’s reinforcement of stringent gender roles, the lack of diversity in all aspects and how that ties into the culture of censorship in China. 

Enjoy. 

Find Loud Murmurs in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review. 

• RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss 
• Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z 
• Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN 
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB 
• Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid 
• Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ 

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs. 

In this episode, we talk about the 2019 movie “Bombshell” and two books that started the global “MeToo” movement—Ronan Farrow’s “Catch and Kill” and “She Said” by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. 

It’s been almost 4 years since Trump’s “Pussygate” and his election, three years since the bombshell news story of Weinstein broke, two years since the Kavanaugh hearing. Is “MeToo” going too far? (Spoiler alert: nooooo.)

The week we recorded this episode, the verdict of the Weinstein trial had just come out and some say it is ushering in a new legal era in how we treat sexual harassment cases. We want to use “Bombshell” as a way into talking about what has changed, what hasn’t and what we can do to empower each other and push back against the logic (and normalization) of sexual harassment in career settings. 

Links：

• https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories
• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/books/review/she-said-jodi-kantor-megan-twohey.html
• https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-espionage/the-black-cube-chronicles-the-private-investigators
• https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/23/bombshell-and-the-perils-of-topicality

RSS Link for Surplus Value:
https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/surplusvalue-918834/episodes/051-53769331 

Promo：

Find Loud Murmurs in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review. 

• RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss 
• Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z 
• Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN 
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB 
• Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid 
• Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ 

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs. 

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

2020 has been a rough year for us -- with the Coronavirus spreading from central China to all across the globe, we realized how small we are as humans in the face of a global health epidemic, yet also how grand humanity can be in the time of disasters. As we grow weary of shedding tears, we try to make sense of it all, discussing with peers and looking at this from all angles. Everything will be different from this moment on. We will not forget what has happened as we take it upon ourselves to be the witnesses of history, to take this all in, to record it, to critically discuss it. 

In this episode, we revisit the show Chernobyl and discuss how the seemingly well-oiled machine of the Chinese bureaucracy that we know so well managed everything that has been happening since December, how extreme situations led to even more extreme results. 

As always, thank you for your continued support -- it means the world to us, especially during times of turmoil. Stay strong, stay healthy, be well.

Find Loud Murmurs in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review. 

• RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss 
• Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z 
• Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN 
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB 
• Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid 
• Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ 

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs. 

Title：S3E2: Little Women: not all 'sweetness and light'

Today, your four hosts gather together to discuss a literary-turned-big-screen phenomenon that’s been sweeping the world and the awards ceremonies. We absolutely adore this modern-day adaptation by Greta Gerwig (who directed Lady Bird) and together, we explore the various themes within the movie. Many of us have read the novel at a younger age, so join us on this journey as we attempt to reconcile the world we knew back then, the world in which the story happens, and the world we live in today: many things have changed for the better, while others, not so much. 

A snapshot of some of the things we discuss in this episode:

• Louisa Alcott’s life and personality; broader socio-economic and historical background; and how these factors influenced the book
• The role of the female storyteller (both Alcott and Gerwig) and the stories they tell (and society’s reception of it)
• The coming of age story: women’s self actualization and its conflict with the construct of marriage 
• Greta Gerwig’s career progression from actress to director, and her own evolved film style

Links：

• Francis Ha
• Mistress America

As always, thank you for your support! Please consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs

You can find us in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review. 

• RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss 
• Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z 
• Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN 
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB 
• Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid 
• Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ 

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

Welcome back to Loud Murmurs Season 3 and happy New Year to our listeners!

We start the year strong with a deep dive into the timeless theme of the “unhappily-ever-after battle of the sexes” -- divorce. Your hosts, Afra, Ina, along with our guest Mr. You, discuss Noah Baumbach’s frontrunner in the Oscar horse race, Marriage Story. Beautifully acted by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johanson, Marriage Story offers a snapshot of a husband and wife navigating the emotionally and physically draining process of divorce. 

Here are a couple of things we discuss: 

• The dismantling of an American middle-class family, a common theme of Baumbach’s movies, and how this core demographic impacts the movies that he’s made
• Women’s role as a mother, a wife, and how it’s viewed by society 
• What’s divorce really like (a personal experience)?

Links to movies we discuss：

• The Squid and the Whale
• Kramer vs. Kramer

As always, thank you for your support! Please consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs 

You can find us in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review. 

• RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss 
• Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z 
• Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN 
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB 
• Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid 
• Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ 

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

Loud Murmurs has had a very! eventful! year! 

We interviewed some amazing guests, did a really awesome episode (if we may say so ourselves) about “One Child Nation” (nominated for an Oscars, go Nanfu & Lynn!!), got on the radar of censors cuz we blew up yay, started a whack-a-mole game with Chinese podcasting platforms and eventually ran out of f*cks to give so we packed all of our shit together in a neat little backpack and carried it with us to a cool new website HERE. 

We got a lot of support and love from y’all and used the $$ you guys sent to pay for a great editor. As we speak, we’re already planning cool new episodes for y’all to listen to next year! 

In the meantime, here’s a special episode where Juan (not easy), Ina, Diaodiao (aka laoyang) and Afra sat down and raised a glass (or two, or three) to the year that is almost over. We answered some listener questions, told our origin story, listed our fav episodes from this past year, and recommended some of the music/videos/movies that are giving us LYFE. 

Enjoy and happy holidays! 

Stuff we recommended:

Ina: 

schitt's creek 富家穷路

Marriage Story 婚姻故事

the squid and the whale 鱿鱼与鲸鱼

Afra:
老四的快乐生活， shanghaiobserved

Juan：
Twoset Violin 双琴侠 

老杨：
江湖儿女

As always, thank you for your support! Please consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs

You can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, CastBox or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z
Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB
Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2FqToIw
RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss
Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid
Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ
Support the show

“Climb into my fur,” JLo’s character said, and Constance Wu’s character happily obliged. This was our favorite scene from the recent movie directed by Lorene Scafaria ——“Hustlers.”

In addition to all wanting to climb into JLo’s fur and stay there till the new decade, we also want to take this opportunity to share our thoughts on the movie that features “triple threat” JLo and Constance Wu, the first Asian woman to be nominated for “Best Actress” in Golden Globes’ forty-five-year history (seriously).

Some stuff we talked about:

What we love about "Hustlers, why is 2019 the year of JLo?

What does JLo mean to us growing up consuming American pop culture in China?

Did the Hustlers do a good job portraying the sex work industry?

Juan takes issue with the way the movie portrays sex workers’ finances and spending habits. We talk about what it means to be poor in American in our day and age. What is the difference between having a lot of money and having a lot of wealth?

Our special interview segment with DAPHNE from RED CANARY SONG, a grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers and allies.

Daphne talks about where the movie falls short in its portrayal of sex workers’ life, sex workers’ real experience with law enforcement, the trap of model minority.

Stuff we mentioned/ links to click on:

Constance Wu's real-life 'Hustlers' inspiration and the problem with model minority redemption narratives - NBC Opinion

How Red Canary Song Is Advocating for Migrant Sex Workers - Paper Mag

华人按摩女之死（上）：她们的美国梦 - NYT中文

Song Yang之死 - Kink Out

Constance Wu’s Hollywood Destiny - New Yorker

莲，漂泊在中国城市里的性工作者 - NYT中文

法律对女性性工作者的影响 - NSWP

As always, thank you for your support! Please consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs

You can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, CastBox or wherever you listen to podcasts. 
Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z
Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB
Soundcloud:https://bit.ly/2FqToIw
RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss
Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid
Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ
Support the show

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

For this episode our hosts Diaodiao and Ina and our guests discussed why, despite being thoroughly entertaining, Joker missed the punch. We pondered on what being lonely means in a political system driven by recognition, and how the incel phenomenon is reflective of this. Us four New Yorkers on the episode also took a jab at ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg’s infamous soda tax, drawing a parallel with the detached elites in Joker.

As always, thank you for your support! Please consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs

You can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, CastBox or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z

Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB

Soundcloud:https://bit.ly/2FqToIw

RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss

Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid

Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ

The four of us at Loud Murmurs are beyond excited to welcome back Season Four of Rick and Morty (Nov. 10 airdate) with our very own two-part special. 

In Part 2, Afra and Ina sit down with our old friend Li Erke, as well as our very own sci-fi writer Su Min. We take a deep dive into two episodes -- Vindicator 3: The Return of Worldender, and the ultimate R&M episode, greatest of all time: the The Ricklantis Mixup!

We cover off on some of the following themes:

• How does Rick and Morty twist the superhero stereotypical narrative?
• The set up of a multiverse is inherently nihilism 
• Why the Ricklantis Mixup the G.O.A.T.
• How did R&M inspire and inform a sci-fi writer?

As always, thank you for your support! Please consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs  or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs

You can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, CastBox or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z

Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB

Soundcloud:https://bit.ly/2FqToIw

RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss

Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid

Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ

The four of us at Loud Murmurs are beyond excited to welcome back Season Four of Rick and Morty (Nov. 10 airdate) with our very own two-part special. We take a deep dive into the world of R&M with four guests through five episodes

In Part 1, Juan and Diaodiao sits down with physicist Zhichen Zhao, and another physicist philosopher Chentong Lu, to discuss three of our favorite episodes: A Rickle in Time, Auto Erotic Assimilation, and, (drumroll please), Picke Rick!

We cover off on some of the following themes:

• Our physicists attempt to convince the hosts not to take the science shown in R&M too seriously, then proceeds to explain concepts such as alternative universes and Schrodinger’s cat 
• We analyze how ‘Auto Erotic Assimilation’ employs the concept of freedom in political philosophy, and how R&M constantly brings up philosophical concepts and dismisses them within a five minute span
• Nihilism! (How fun!)
• If everything means nothing, all cakes are just atoms in the end, why do we still live our lives, love our loved ones, and do good deeds? What’s the point of it all?

As always, thank you for your support and stay tuned for Rick and Morty Part 2! 

If you want to support us, consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs  or https://afdian.net/@loudmurmurs

You can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, CastBox or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z

Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB

Soundcloud:https://bit.ly/2FqToIw

RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss

Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid

Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ

喜马拉雅：https://bit.ly/2TrxJpZ