Pop Culture Affidavit – Two True Freaks

We’re back to the world of Paper Girls with the release of Amazon Prime’s new series. Once again, Stella joins me to talk about the show and we give our takes on the characters, the story, and its faithfulness to its source material.

Warning: Spoilers abound!

It’s second of a series of three episodes about America: its history, its people, and its culture. This time around, I am looking at A Day in the Life of America. My coverage includes a 1968 Department of Defense film called “A Day in America”, the 1986 photo book A Day in the Life of America, the 2003 photo book America 24/7, and the 2019 documentary A Day in the Life of America. What do they capture and tell us about ourselves? Listen and find out.

Content Warning: This episode includes me sharing my political views. Listener discretion is advised.

After four years and six films, John Hughes left the teen movie subgenre behind in 1987, but not before producing one last film, Some Kind of Wonderful. Join me as I take a look at the film, its novelization, the soundtrack, and evaluate its place in the teen movie canon and 1980s film history.

It’s first of a series of three episodes about America: its history, its people, and its culture. And to start us off, I’m looking at how American history is related through the comics medium by looking at the comic book “A Picture Story of the United States,” The Cartoon History of the United States by Larry Gonick, and A Most Imperfect Union: A Contrarian History of the United States. How do they tell the story of America and how good of a job do they do? Listen and find out.

Content Warning: This episode includes me sharing my political views. Listener discretion is advised.

It was generic. It was kind of lame. And it was everywhere. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, “Corporate Rock” ruled the airwaves. But what, exactly, was “Corporate Rock”? Join me as I plumb the depths of middling rock radio with a playlist of mid-tempo rockers, power ballads, and the ultimate Corporate Rock song.

Corinne Burns is the teen girl who fronts a band who is scraping to make something of themselves. Ellen Aim is a pop star about to soar into the stratosphere until she’s kidnapped by a biker gang. What do they have in common? They were both characters in 1980s films who were played by Diane Lane. Join me as I look at 1982’s Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains and 1984’s Streets of Fire, and then talk about how someone needs to complete this film “trilogy.”

When you start reading comic books decades into a character or even an entire publisher’s existence, how do you go back and find out all of the stories that got them to that point, especially when it’s 1991, you’re fourteen, and you don’t have money, a car, or the Internet at your disposal? Well, join me as I talk about how I learned about Marvel and DC’s histories through their “official” history accounts: The History of the DC Universe, Marvel Saga, The History of the Marvel Universe, and The Other History of the DC Universe. Plus: listener feedback!

It’s the second of a two-part crossover with Required Reading With Tom and Stella. Last week, part one was our discussion of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This time around, we’re looking at a movie that took The Bard’s comedy, updated it, and placed it squarely in the teen comedy genre: She’s the Man. Join me and Stella as we look at this classic Amanda Bynes flick!

It’s the tenth and final chapter in a podcast miniseries that looks at the fall of the Iron Curtain and the popular culture of the Cold War. To start us off, I look at what happened in Eastern Europe in December 1991 with a special focus on the final days of the Soviet Union.  Then, I take a look at my two favorite Cold War films.

Don’t forget to check out the blog for show notes, and don’t forget that you can email me at [email protected]

It’s a holiday-themed follow-up to last episode, as Amanda joins me to talk about what we watch on PBS during the holidays.  From European Christmas Markets to Rick Steves to GBBO, we talk about all of the programming that brings us comfort and joy in December.