You can take the girl out of Lawndale, but you can’t make her think her present company is any less idiotic. It’s time for “Gifted,” here on Morgendorks! When Daria and Jodie get selected to tour a prestigious prep school, the duo learn all too quickly that while the greener grass on the other side may be smarter and destined to one day run the world, it’s also much more likely to be a smarmy ass about it. Also: Quinn and Jane! Together!

We also take a deep and disheartening dive into the elephant in the room with regard to private school demographics (specifically: they are very, very rich and white). It’s a fascinating subject we’ll likely cover more over on the Patreon in the near future!

Links:

Washington Post | The Overwhelming Whiteness of U.S. Private Schools, in Six Maps and Charts

Council for American Private Education | Facts and Studies

U.S. Census Bureau | Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1967 to 2017

Nonprofit Quarterly | The Racial Makeup Of Private Schools—Often Nonprofit—Is Very White

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What happens when you take someone who basically wandered out of a long-abandoned bomb shelter with no contact from the outside world and drop them into Lawndale? You get an episode of Daria like “The New Kid,” which we’re covering this week on Morgendorks! Ted’s been homeschooled his whole life and is pretty sheltered as a result. He’s so sheltered, in fact, that Daria’s rather hum-drum life seems downright tempting. Even more interestingly, she’s developing something of a crush on him. It’s a whole thing.

We also take a dive into homeschooling’s 90s-era explosion. How fast did it grow? Why do parents do it? Is it really not considered a war crime to forbid your kid from even learning about the concept of pizza?

P.S.: Sorry this episode's coming out a day late! We had kind of a catastrophic software failure when we tried recording this episode the first time around.

Links:

Homeschoolers: Estimating Numbers and Growth

Homeschooling in the United States: 1999

Issue Brief: 1.1 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003

2.04 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2010

Statistics About Nonpublic Education in the United States

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Grab your camcorder and remember to rewind your VHS rentals, it’s time for Morgendorks! This week we’re taking a look at “Monster,” wherein Daria and Jane are tasked with making a movie for a class assignment—and they decide Quinn is just the right subject matter for the bleak, existentially galling piece they’re aiming to produce.

We also take a dive into the camcorder fad that plays a central role to this particular episode! What had everybody carrying around these bizarre, inconvenient devices? Why were they at every birthday party for, like, twenty years?

Links:

OxyPad commercials! Enjoy the sweet, burning nostalgia! 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Pew Research Center | Smartphone Ownership is Growing Rapidly Around the World, but Not Always Equally

VHS Camcorder app

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It’s time for hippies, the flea market, and the California Raisins, as we cover “That Was Then, This is Dumb,” on this week’s Morgendorks! Helen and Jake have some friends from their old hippie days visiting for the weekend, and they’re bringing that 60s lifestyle with ‘em. Meanwhile, Daria escapes to the flea market, where she helps Trent and Jessie unload some vintage vinyls.

For our Cultural Context, we dig yet again into hippies—but this time, taking a more in-depth look at the social and political importance of the movement. What did it really mean to “believe in stuff” back then?

Also: the California Raisins.

ANNOUNCEMENT: We now have a Patreon! If you’re interested in supporting the show, just head on over here! We’ll be giving shout-outs and producing additional content including Cultural Context posts, episode observations, and more! Also, we’re taking your suggestions for further contributor bonuses! Check it out! Exclamation points!

ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT: Morgendorks is now offering episode transcriptions! If someone you know might be interested in the show but can’t listen for accessibility reasons, point them in the direction of our website, where transcriptions are going live. They take a while to produce, so right now there’s only one—but more are on the way!

Links:

DVDaria | Anne Bernstein interview (2006)

Berlin Farmer’s Market

Meet the Raisins

Smithsonian.com | Fifty Years Ago, a Rag-Tag Group of Acid-Dropping Activists Tried to “Levitate” the Pentagon

Washington Post | The Day Anti-Vietnam War Protesters Tried to Levitate the Pentagon

Wikipedia | “Flower Power” (photograph)

Gallup | Americans Look Back at Vietnam War

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Wedding bells are ringing, Daria’s wearing a toga, and Helen is megadrunk—which means it’s time for “I Don’t,” on Morgendorks!

When the sister Helen has been competing with her entire life announces her daughter is getting married in a lavish ceremony funded entirely by the mother Helen has been ignored by her entire life, it goes … poorly. Drunk Helen! Horny minister! Luhrmann! AUNT FREAKING AMY! WOO!

And for our Cultural Context, we dig into sibling psychology. Does it matter what order you’re born in? The answer: Yes! And also no. Maybe? We’re not sure.

Links:

TV Tropes | Cool Uncle (Cool Aunt)

Springer | Birth Order - Its Influence on Personality

Psychology Today | The Effect of Birth Order on Children

DVDaria | Follow-up Questions (Set #1) with Glenn Eichler

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Slap on some all-black clothing and don your favorite beret, it’s time for “Quinn the Brain” on Morgendorks!

When Quinn pens an essay most English teachers would consider borderline felonious, Mr. O’Neill instead sees it as a tremendous expression of one young woman’s anger and anxiety—and Quinn becomes the school brain! But then … what becomes of Daria?

It’s a sneakily wonderful episode, and we had a lot of fun with it. We hope you do, too!

And for our Cultural Context this week, we look at Juliette Gréco: the French icon endeared herself to intellectuals on the left bank and gave rise to the unique, all-black style that came to be associated with bohemians looking to show off their intelligence.

Also, Rob may or may not channel his inner Kelsey Grammar reading Quinn’s essay. Hang around for that one.

Links:

CR | CR Muse: Juliette Gréco’s Bohemian Defiance

BuyTShirtsOnline | The Perception of Color

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GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING MORGENDOOOORKS

It’s time to pay bizarre tribute to the Vietnam War films that defined an era, as this week we cover “The Daria Hunter”! Lawndale High sends its students out on a paintball field trip, and it only takes one short afternoon for war to make everybody a monster. It’s a weird episode (get used to hearing that) for a number of reasons, but we’ll do what we can to make sense of it.

Also, we take a deeeep dive into Hollywood’s efforts to grapple with depicting the Vietnam War, how Vietnam impacted decades of American media, and what, if anything, it could have to do with the intended audience for a got-dang episode of Daria.

Links:

History Today | The American Film Industry & Vietnam, by Michael Paris

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Time for another Morgendorks! This week, we’re covering “Arts ’n’ Crass.” When Jane drags Daria into a poster contest about student life at the dawn of the millennium, it’s all working out splendidly—until they bump heads with Ms. Li and Mr. O’Neill about what constitutes acceptable speech in a school setting.

Where do Daria and Jane draw the line? (Spoiler: Right through their painting, it turns out) Can Helen be any more badass? (Spoiler: No) And is Ms. Li’s depiction just a liiiittle bit racist? (Spoiler: Uh … we really don’t know for sure)

We also look into what has happened when students in the real world have fought for their right to free speech in public school. Some of it’s awesome, some of it’s infuriating.

Links:

Student Press Law Center | Copywrong: Students Often Clash with Administrators Over Copyright Law

ACLU | Tinker v. Des Moines - Landmark Supreme Court Ruling on Behalf of Student Expression

Oyez | Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser

Daria (Season 1) Playlist, Curated by Nissa Lee on Google Play

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Tonight, on a Very Special Episode of Daria … it’s time for “The Misery Chick,” here on Morgendorks!

When Lawndale High football hero Tommy Sherman meets his untimely demise at the hands of a rogue goalpost, the school is thrown into depression and disarray—and one by one, everybody seems to be turning to Daria, the ‘misery chick,’ for help. Everyone except Jane, anyway.

It’s a really great episode of television, and we had a lot of fun discussing it! We also take a dive into the ‘very special episode’ trope, of which the examples range from phenomenal to, y’know, less than great.

Also! Fan mail! Hell yeah!

Links:

TV Tropes | Very Special Episode

Vulture | Jessie Spano Originally Took Speed, Not Caffeine Pills, on Saved by the Bell

Daria (Season 1) Playlist, Curated by Nissa Lee on Google Play

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LET’S ALL GO TO THE WOODS AND TRIP BALLS!

It’s time again for Morgendorks! This week we’re looking at ‘The Teachings of Don Jake,’ wherein Jake confronts his troubled future by digging into his troubled past, Jane and Trent are trapped at a family reunion, and the Morgendorffers inadvertently go on one more trip than they’d planned for their camping weekend.

We’re also going to take a deeeeeeep dive into how the Baby Boomers are portrayed versus how they actually are, the reason behind the trope Helen and Jake represent, and the buzzing deathtrap that is the modern helicopter.

You wouldn’t believe how much of this episode ended up on the cutting room floor.

Links:

Quote Investigator Breaks Down that ‘Churchill’ Quote

Psychology Today | Why are Older People More Conservative?

FiveThirtyEight | Supreme Court Justices Get More Liberal as They Get Older

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