As hacker subculture becomes more prevalent in our current events, techno-thrillers like Chuck Wendig's Zer0es portray hacking more accurately. But how does it split the difference between writing a snarky page-turner and addressing the themes of present day?

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Additional Resources: (to come)

• Chuck Wendig's Zeroes: a hacker technothriller in the War Games lineage
• Who Hacks the Hackers? Zer0es by Chuck Wendig
• In 'Zeroes,' uber-snarky characters ruin a creepy and cathartic sci-fi story: book review
• Chuck Wendig's 'Zeroes' Is a Paranoid Techno-thriller That's Just Right for our Times
• The Mary Sue Interview: Chuck Wendig on New Novel Zer0es and Technology
• BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: “ZEROES,” TO HARPER VOYAGER
• TerribleMinds

Comics creator Benjamin Marra is continually described as "notorious" or an "outsider artist" but we talk to him about his genuine sentimentality for these stories. In relation to the release of his work on Fantagraphics' All Time Comics, we review his body of work and why it might make us so uncomfortable. 

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Additional Resources:

• Benjamin Marra
• Traditional Comics
• Pain Is The Best Teacher: An Interview with Night Business Creator Benjamin Marra
• Shiny as Hell: An Interview With Benjamin Marra
• Salavetz J, Drate S. Creating Comics! : 47 Master Artists Reveal The Techniques And Inspiration Behind Their Comic Genius [e-book]. Beverly, Mass: Rockport Publishers; 2010. Available from: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 19, 2017.

What does Gillian Flynn and David Fincher's adaptation of her novel Gone Girl say about the state of marriage, feminism and modernity? Are you a cool girl?

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Additional Resources:

• A Surprise Hit Spawns a Movie Deal
• Thrills, chills for Gillian Flynn in adapting 'Gone Girl'
• Author Gillian Flynn says filming ‘Gone Girl’ went much better than expected 
• How Gillian Flynn Adapted Her Biggest Novel, “Gone Girl,” Into Her First Screenplay
• Gone Girl Goes Grim

Together with guest Jack Bennett we compare and contrast all 3 versions of The Shining: Stephen King's novel, Stanley Kubrick's film and ABC's television mini-series. What does this horror tale of alcoholism and domestic violence say about redemption and narcissism?

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Additional Resources:

• Meyers, K. (1997). Frightening strikes twice. Entertainment Weekly, (374), 44.
• Thomson, D. (2013). Days and Nights at the Overlook. New Republic, 244(4), 56-58.
• Parker, J. (2010). A Killer Vacation. Atlantic, 306(1), 34-36.
• What Stanley Kubrick got wrong about “The Shining”
• Book vs. Film vs. Mini Series: The Shining
• What The Shining miniseries reveals about the King/Kubrick divide
• 'The Shining' by the numbers
• Is Stephen King justified in hating Kubrick’s vision for The Shining?

What went wrong with Yahoo Screen and its investment in a sixth season of Community? We look behind the business to try to figure out how a search engine whittled away the brand loyalty of a beloved TV show.

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Additional Resources

• Community Didn't Kill Yahoo Screen - Yahoo Did
• Yahoo Screen Won’t Say if Its Season of Community Was a Success
• Yahoo Loses $42 Million on ‘Community,’ 2 Other Original Series
• Why Yahoo’s Foray Into Original TV Series Failed
• Kathy Savitt, Yahoo’s Head of Media, Leaves for Movie Studio
• Bills, Jaguars to make history as part of free live webcast
• Yahoo yanks Yahoo Screen hub, scatters “original” content across sites
• Not Even Community Could Save Yahoo’s TV Dreams

Why is Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo's ENIGMA the "lost classic" of Vertigo Comics? We talk about how this unique story asks readers to confront from their own identities.

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Additional Resources

• Unsung Masterpieces – Enigma With Peter Milligan, Duncan Fegredo, And Art Young
• COMICS YOU SHOULD OWN – ENIGMA
• WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ? ENIGMA: PART I BY EMILY SCOTT
• LIZARDS AND MOTHERS AND WELLS, OH MY: ENIGMA PART II BY EMILY SCOTT
• Milligan & Fegredo's Enigma
• Enigma by Peter Milligan & Duncan Fegredo
• Skreemer to X-Statix Peter Milligan
• The Man is No Enigma Duncan Fegredo
• Not Your Average Comics - Enigma
• Enigma - Peter Milligan & Duncan Fegredo
• F is for...Fegredo, Duncan Fegredo

Sicario is a 2015 action/thriller about the difference between the drug war and the "War on Drugs." We look at its complex themes and try to understand arguments about its portrayal of a strong female character, as well as life on the other side of the border. 

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Additional Resources:

• Federal agents conduct immigration enforcement raids in at least six states
• Are My Methods Unsound? Why ‘Sicario’ Is the ‘Apocalypse Now’ of the Drug War
• Portrayal of Juárez in ‘Sicario’ Vexes Residents Trying to Move Past Dark Times
• Sicario’s Dirty War on Mexican Cartels is Not Yet Reality
• Sicario film-makers faced demands to change female lead role to a man
• The Problem With ‘Strong’ Women
• Women and Hollywood
• Not Very Ladylike: Gender Stereotypes and How Sicario Subverts the Trope of the ‘Badass Lady-Cop’
• SPOILER ALERT: “SICARIO” FAILS THE BECHDEL TEST…BY A LOT 

Some call Pale Fire the best novel of the 20th century. So we interrogate what that means by diving into literary criticism about postmodernism, hypertextuality, authorial intent, unreliable narrators and more.

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Additional Resources:

• Pale Fire and the Cold War: Redefining Vladimir Nabokov’s Masterpiece
• Shade and Shape in Pale Fire by Brian Boyd
• Freeing "Pale Fire" From Pale Fire
• Synthesizing Artistic Delight: The Lesson of Pale Fire by Brian Walter
• “PALE FIRE,” THE POEM: DOES IT STAND ALONE AS A MASTERPIECE?
• In an Elaborate Spoof, Nabokov Takes Us to the Never-Never Land of Zembla
• Pale Fire
• The Novel of the Century: Nabokov’s Pale Fire
• Walton, Jean, College Literature. Jun94, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p89. 16p.

What went wrong with comedian John Mulaney's debut sitcom? Was it network interference? Formatting? Or did the creator just take on too much? We discuss the differences between irony and sincerity in television humor to try to understand this show's cancellation.

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Additional Resources:

• NBC Passes on John Mulaney’s Pilot
• Fox Gives Series Order To John Mulaney Comedy Produced By Lorne Michaels
• ‘Mulaney’ Order Trimmed To 13 Episodes
• In Defense of the Multi-Camera Sitcom
• John Mulaney surprises us with his top 5 multi-camera sitcoms
• Welcome Back, John Mulaney
• Mulaney: Season One Ratings
• In Defense of Mulaney
• The Evolution Of The Sitcom: The Age of the Single Camera
• You Made It Weird: John Mulaney Returns

Special guest Cristen Conger (Unladylike, Stuff Mom Never Told You) helps us unpack the activism of musician Kathleen Hanna. After the January 2017 Women's Marches we look at Hanna's methods of protest, including Riot Grrrl, articulation and disruption.

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Additional Resources:

• Cyndi Lauper Denounces Madonna’s Women’s March Speech: “Yelling Just Jacks People Up”
• Julie Ruin - Be Nice at The Wrecking Ball ATL Fest 2016
• Don't Need You - The Herstory of Riot Grrrl
• Bikini Kill in the U.K. 1993
• Kathleen Hanna @ Planned Parenthood Stand Up For Women's Health Rally
• The Riot Grrrl Collection at the Fales Library: Collection Overview
• Q&A: Riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna on sexuality, marriage and music
• Feeling Myself: Kathleen Hanna Gets Back to Work
• SXSW: Kathleen Hanna in new doc 'The Punk Singer'
• Punk Rock-Feminist Pioneer Kathleen Hanna on Her SXSW Doc and More
• Fans demand an apology from Kathleen Hanna in Toronto Julie Ruin concert banner drop
• Kathleen Hanna on Tokenism, Therapy, and Where Riot Grrrl Went Wrong