Pop & Locke

The focus of our show today is no other than the self-proclaimed gun-toting gay cowboy who is the owner of the G.W. Exotic Animal Park. Joe Exotic is the main character in the new hit Netflix documentary, Tiger King, and throughout the show we see his very public feud with another small private zoo-owner, Carole Baskin. Their love for tigers in particular starts a feud that proves that there can only be one king in the world of big cats.

Do we learn anything about the exotic animal trade in Tiger King? Is Joe Exotic a good example of a libertarian? How does the show sensationalize the characters?

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The Good Place is a show that lays out a moral vision for the world that’s surprisingly sophisticated and deeply informed by academic philosophy — a vision that puts learning, and trying to do good front and center. We follow the journey of four characters who thought they were in The Good Place, but they are actually in The Bad Place because they did not earn enough points on Earth by doing good things. In four seasons they show how faulty a point system to earn your way to heaven truly is.

How did NBC’s The Good Place teach us how to be good? Does The Good Place make moral philosophy digestible? Is The Good Place about striving for moral change?

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Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer, Tom Haverford, Ann Perkins, and the rest of the gang are all loyal employees of the Parks and Recreation Department of the Pawnee local government. Leslie Knope hopes to beautify her town by helping Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site (the pit) into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, and government red tape.

Is Ron Swanson a libertarian? Is Tom Haverford a real entrepreneur? Which Parks and Rec character are you?

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The world we live in has changed dramatically since Snow White first hit theaters in 1937. What society expects of women has changed and will continue to change. Disney has tried to evolve it’s princess stories as society has evolved, but have they been successful?

Do young girls still resonate with Disney princesses? Are Disney princesses heroines or damsels in distress? Are any princesses independent?

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Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has mattered deeply to generation after generation of women ever since it was first published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. It inspired film versions in 1933, 1949, 1994 starring Winona Ryder & Kirsten Dunst, 2018, and 2019 with the all-star cast of Saorise Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, and Laura Dern. This story is much more than just four girls growing up in Civil war-era Massachusetts making jam & accidentally burning their dresses in the fireplace.

Is Greta Gerwig’s version of Little Women relatable to women and men? Is Jo March really Louisa May Alcott? What role does romance play in Little Women? How is Little Woman about day to day life? What was the best scene in Little Women?

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With every Star Wars movie comes waves of high expectations. The fanbase is so divided that not everyone can be pleased by JJ Abrams’ decisions. Now that the 9-part story is over, Disney will let the franchise cool for a bit before adding spinoff stories. The Rise of Skywalker tied up many loose ends to the sequel trilogy and paid some lip service to fans, but it still left some of us wanting a more satisfying end.

How does power corrupt in the Star Wars galaxy? Did you expect Rey to be a Palpatine in the Rise of Skywalker? How did Disney add to the Star Wars franchise?

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Alan Moore’s 1986 Watchmen was a condemnation of all forms of authority, mocking the concept of a benevolent superhuman, and portraying masked vigilantes as emotionally unstable. And Damien Lindelof took this story for HBO and refreshed it for a 2019 audience where the origin story is the Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Riots of 1921.

How is HBO’s Watchmen not a typical superhero story? Why is the classic superhero archetype an orphan?

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Is It’s a Wonderful Life actually a story about giving up on your dreams? How is A Christmas Carol a larger narrative about corporate welfare and charity? Most importantly, is Jingle All the Way the best Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? We answer all of these questions and more! If you have always wanted to hear a Libertarian rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, you won’t be disappointed. 

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American viewers love dystopias that are just eerie enough. In Gilead, a totalitarian theocratic state, reproduction rates are plummeting and women at-large are having trouble conceiving children. The answer to this problem is to institute child-bearing slavery. Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Marianne March, Tess Terrible, and Natalie Dowzicky unpack this controversial and timely television show.

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