Pop DNA

Check your Christmas ornaments, there might be important documents inside! Please enjoy this regifted episode from 2019 about the Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe, specifically A Christmas Prince.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:

Honestly, this episode was a long time coming. A Christmas Prince is rich in cultural influences, from the lives and loves of historical real-life royals, to classic fairy tales, to... investigative journalism, I guess?

We also discuss other vitally important topics, like the dystopian alternate universe in which the movies take place and the cultural relevance of Volvos. (Volvo is not a sponsor of Pop DNA.)

Our commentary for Netflix's The Knight Before Christmas is free on our Patreon page! Patreon.com/popdna Happy Holidays!

We have another regifted episode for you this week! We couldn't choose between our two Narnia episodes, so we're regifting both!

This episode from December of 2022 touches on gender and violence, and how children experience fear and danger in fantasy worlds, all themes we explored in our A Song of Ice and Fire discussions. This one is perfect for if you want to dive a little deeper into another perspective on those ideas.

We have one more regifted episode for you, so look for that on Christmas Day! (Or listen to it the day after, we don't care.) And join us in January for our Best of 2024 Bonus!

Follow on Instagram for very infrequent supplementary content, memes and cat pics.

As we wrap up our final Narnia episode we're asking the big questions: Was C. S. Lewis sexist? Or can we draw any feminist or female-empowerment messages from his work? What does feminism even look like in the context of a fantasy world where children go into battle with talking animals?

We also look specifically at The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a World War 2 story, exploring the story an as allegory for what was happening in the "real" world at the time it takes place.

And of course we took a quiz to find out which Pevensie kids we are, and you can take it ⁠here⁠.

Check out ⁠The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia⁠ by Monika Hilder.

Happy December! We are taking a much-needed break to enjoy the holiday season, but thought we'd take the opportunity to revisit some of our previous episodes this month. It's Regifting Time!

This episode from our Chronicles of Narnia series in December of 2022 explores the topics of magic, magic systems, and prophecy in fantasy fiction and Narnia's relationship with other fantasy classics. It's a perfect coda for some of our A Song of Ice and Fire discussions.

Join us the rest of December for more regifted episodes, and come back in January for our Best of 2024 Bonus!

Find us on Instagram for memes and sporadic updates.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:

This week on our Narnia journey we are diving in to all things magic. We discuss the differences between hard and soft magic systems, how magic is expressed in the world of Narnia, and how it compares to the magic in other fictional worlds. We also look at Narnia as a touchstone of fantasy fiction, its relationship with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and its influence on modern fantasy works like Star Wars and Lev Grossman's book series The Magicians.

Why do so many fantasy stories center on the protagonist fulfilling a "Chosen One" prophecy?

We don't really answer that this week, but we do talk about the undercurrent of prophecy in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, the "Song of Ice and Fire" that this universe is named for. We also look briefly at how specifically Chosen One prophecies are present in many of our favorite fantasy works, and how prophecy is often tied to religion, and we explore some of the major religions of Westeros.

We also open with our favorite segment, Wig Watch! Go to our Instagram to see the wigs we talk about.

Further Reading:

Major Religions explained

George R. R. Martin interview

Context for the prophecy in House of the Dragon

In Westeros, when you're here, you're family.

Oh, wait, that's The Olive Garden.

But we're talking about families this week, and, like most things in Westeros, being part of a family is generally not a great time for anyone in this world. Certainly not as fun as having dinner at The Olive Garden.

We look specifically at the Targaryen family and some possible historical inspirations for this mythical dynasty. The blonde dragon people share some interesting similarities with the Egyptian Pharoahs and the Ptolemeic dynasty, as well as the infamously inbred Habsburgs. Just how inbred were the Habsburgs? Surprisingly, not as much as the Targaryens, and we have a geneticist's Tweet to prove it.

Then we look at families on more of relational level, discussing the psychology concept of attachment theory as it relates to our favorite Westerosi families. Does anyone in this world have a secure attachment style? You are probably not surprised to hear that the answer is no.

We also of course have another installment of Wig Watch for you (see the wigs discussed on our Instagram), and we've got some recommendations in What Are We Watchin'.

Join us next time to talk about politics and religion, yay!

Further Reading:

Historical connections to the Targaryens

Real royal families and House of the Dragon

How inbred is Daenerys Targaryen?

Attachment Theory explained

Remember that sweet 85-year-old food critic in North Dakota who wrote a positive review of the new The Olive Garden in her town?

He's just Jon and he's enough! (Jonough?)

This week we're talking about men in Westeros, exploring how masculinity is constructed in the world of Game of Thrones. Questions we discuss include:

We also have two more wigs to discuss in our favorite new segment, Wig Watch! See photos of the wigs on our Instagram.

Further Reading:

Violence and Masculinity in Medieval France paper

Masculinity and Disability in Game of Thrones paper

Targaryen men perform "I'm Just Ken"

HotD season 2 finale recap

#gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #imjustken

In part two of our series discussing Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, we look at how women navigate the world of Westeros.

Questions we explore include:

Characters we discuss include Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Catelyn Stark, Sansa Stark, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, and Rhaenys Targaryen.

We also introduce a new segment for this series: Wig Watch!

Join us on Instagram to see the wigs we discuss, and maybe some other things.

Further Reading:

The Dangers of Growing Up on Westeros

House of the Dragon and GirlBoss Feminism

We'll be back in two weeks to talk about the relationship between violence and masculinity in A Song of Ice and Fire, and how Daemon Targaryen is Just Ken.

Welcome back!

We're riding our dragons to King's Landing for a six-part series on A Song of Ice and Fire and all its connected works, including the TV series Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.

This week, we're just getting our feet wet with a look at our first introductions to George R. R. Martin's work, our thoughts on the main ideas of the series, and an overview of Martin's cited influences, including the English Wars of the Roses and the Accursed Kings series of historical novels.

Plus we take quizzes to find out which Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon characters we are, which you can take here and here.

With this episode we launch not just a new series and new season, but a brand new format for the show. Episodes will now come out every other week, and we're spending three months in this world, so get comfy!

We wrap up our summer book-to-screen club series with the science fiction classic that inadvertently sparked a thousand sandworm popcorn bucket memes.

Our discussion topics include Dune's influence on and connections to other staples of the science fiction and fantasy genres such as Star Wars, Wheel of Time, and A Song of Ice and Fire; how the recent Villeneuve films interpret certain aspects of the story and characters; and how the book explores girlhood (because it actually kinda does).

ALSO: Rhonda goes on a rant about the stupidity of spoiler culture, and Erin makes a convincing case for Castaway as a comfort movie. And we probably spend a little too much time talking about Katy Perry, but seriously, what is she doing???

We will be back in September with a new format for a new season!

Follow on Instagram for memes and infrequent announcements pertinent to listeners of this podcast.

Continuing our discussions of classic American novels, this week we read Alice Walker's The Color Purple!

We talk about how the novel explores girlhood and relationships between women, the Black experience in the early 20th century, and finding the joy in life even through darkness. We also look at the 1985 and 2023 films and the stage musical, and how these adaptations interpreted the themes and characters from the book.

Segments also include our pop music recommendations and What Are We Watchin'

Join us next time for a discussion of Frank Herbert's Dune! Follow on Instagram too if you want.