Sword & Podcast

Comics fashion icon Betty Felon is back to talk about Into It's first reality show, Total Divas. The difference between wrestling and sports entertainment, several ways of looking at Nattie Neidhart, and an anime high school of wrestling pros.

Art Student Megan Nielsen is on the show to talk about their favorite superhero, Aquaman. The ebb and flow of soft reboots, blue costumes, hook hands, the tragedy of Aquababy, and the problem with Dolphin. Black Manta is the evilest, but Garth is the worst.

Professor and critic Max Tohline is here to talk about Homestar Runner, the cartoon we were all watching on our computers before watching things on our computers felt normal. The nostalgia for outdated technology, the most popular inside joke of all time, and the scenes from the class struggle in Teen Girl Squad. Eh Steve does not appear in this episode.

Devon Koren Alley is back on the show to talk about Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, which leads to a wider conversation about the legacy of Fred Rogers. Secular ethics for toddlers, diversity of family structures, and the subtle queerness of X the Owl. You may never have watched Daniel Tiger, but if you were ever a Mr. Rogers fan you should absolutely listen to this episode.

Timmara Bruce and Jessica Berger return to talk Spice World, and also the Spice Girls in general. Middle school memories, British celebrities, Richard E. Grant's suits, Elle's unsurprising take on Sporty Spice, and what our Spice Girl names would be.

Poet and friend of the show S. Whitney Holmes is back to discuss the original Wet Hot American Summer. 4-H Camp, belly shirts, Christopher Meloni, and the constant fear that people are only talking to you as a way of making fun of you. This is a pretty loose and disjointed conversation, but that does seem appropriate to the subject matter.

Helena Hart of Journey into Misery is on the show to talk about her favorite movie, Jurassic Park. Which dinosaurs are the best dinosaurs, which female characters are the best female characters (hint: it's the ones in this movie), the need for more and better dinosaur toys, and the whole bird thing.

Elle answers listener questions and talks about all sorts of things with friend of the show Devon Koren Alley, plus Amanda Phillips Chapman comes back for the discussion of Lane Kim that was left out of Episode 8. And then Elle and Devon take a few minutes to discuss the conclusion of Parenthood, as they promised to do on Episode 11. It's an unusual episode, but a fun one. There are some audio problems, of a sort that have happened a few times lately. There's no episode next week, but rest assured we'll have the audio troubles figured out and solved by the next episode the week after. Also, when the Patreon reaches $125, we'll be getting new audio equipment, which will help a lot.

Friend of the show Jessica Berger returns once again for a discussion of HBO's Girls. The Lena/Hannah conflation, Marnie's the worst, Shoshanna's the best, Jessa thinks she's too cool to be queer, and we just keep thinking of more things to say about Ray. All this, plus Adam Driver's ideal Star Wars costume.

Actual superhero mom Elizabeth Ferguson Keathley is here to discuss Alias and The Pulse, the Marvel comic books that introduced the world to soon-to-be TV star Jessica Jones. The ethics of finding Captain America's sex tape, the only good Ant-Man, more than one kind of runaway, and the perils of superhero motherhood.