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Ariel talks with Los Angeles-based professional chef and independent farm enthusiast, Katy Watson, about Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Eating Animals,  and the documentary of the same name from 2017, directed by Christopher Quinn. How much does the treatment of animals affect your health? How far, exactly, do you need to go to make sure that your food doesn't come with a secret price tag in hospital bills? And what does all this have to do with the factory farming industrial complex and the USDA? Find out on today's episode!

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Ariel and UK-based film critic Zoë Rose Smith discuss all things Possessor (2020), the newly released horror film from Brandon Cronenberg, starring Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott. The conversation about this technonoir ranges from commentary on social media personas to data mining to drone pilots to body dysmorphia to that sneaking suspicion that you're really the only human in a world of automatons.

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Ariel sits down with playwright David S. Kessler to discuss the importance of the trailblazing actor, writer, director, and producer, Ida Lupino. David shares insights into her life from writing and researching his play Gwen and Ida: the Object Is of No Importance. Working as one of the few female directors in film and television at the time, her unique voice shone through especially in the projects she chose. They discuss how her encounters with disability and adversity informed her process as a filmmaker, and her unique intelligence, always visible in the roles she chose to play herself.

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Ariel discusses the genre of giallo with fellow film fanatics Sean and Dan. Giallo means "yellow" in Italian but as a film genre, is a descendant of noir. They discuss why the Italian offshoot of expressionism became so visually fantastic and explosive with color (specifically that particular shade of red from Max Factor nail polish), and the psychologically complex nature of these films. 

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In a follow-up to episode #25, Ariel, Dan, Megan, and Miriam return to play Just a Minute, while Kieran returns to his duties as chairman in the magical game invented by Ian Messiter, and brought by the BBC World Service countries around the world. The game requires each player to speak for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition, or deviation.

Recorded leading up to Election Day in the USA, when the American players desperately needed a laugh.

This episode is edited by William Dass.

No infringement is intended, and no affiliation with the BBC is intended or implied.
 

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Ariel has a chat with Kristina and Rob of Rob Paints the Movies, all about Lovecraft Country. They pick up their conversation where it left off in episode 19, discussing predictions made then about the season, theories about where Season 2 may be headed, the power of history, and how trauma binds families and communities together.

Warning: Does contain spoilers and some explicit language.

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Ariel has a horrorifically lovely conversation with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Zoë Rose Smith, and Alison Taylor, three female film scholars and critics from Australia and the UK. They discuss why extreme horror holds so much power, the problematic nature of censorship and classification, film criticism, and media narratives across the Australia, the UK, and the US.

Warning: This episode includes explicit content, including descriptions of violence and sexual assault.

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A discussion of the acclaimed Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma  with its creators, director Jeff Orlowski and producer Larissa Rhodes. Their documentary addresses the toxicity of social media platforms, and how they are changing information ecosystems around the world. They stop by to discuss how they were able to refine their ideas and address the many effects of social media platforms in such a clear, concise, and compelling way. 

This episode was edited by William Dass.

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Ariel sits down with Dr. Ceres Artico to discuss mental health concerns in the pandemic, and how through self-care and careful consumption of media, people can improve upon their individual quality of life.

This episode was edited by William Dass.

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For this episode, Ariel joins forces with Mick Manhattan of theSceneSnobs.com to host a panel on the problematic, with Allyson Holland, Shannon Hollander, Katy Watson, and Kris PHZ-SICKS Williams. These six voices in podcasting and the film industry come together to talk about the representation of women, BIPOC individuals, people with disabilities, members of queer and trans communities, and other groups within horror. What is it about the film industry that marginalizes these large groups of people both in front of and behind the camera? Why do we still love the films we love, and how do we justify these favorites to ourselves? 

This episode was edited by William Dass.

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