Tender Subject

In honor of Texas Chainsaw's 50th anniversary and Jo's Post45 cluster (Kayte's collage is in it!) we are re-publishing our TCM episode. Enjoy!

Did somebody order head cheese? If you did, you're in luck! This week, we're joined by Johanna Isaacson, author of Stepford Daughters: Weapons for Feminists in Contemporary Horror, to talk about the one, the only, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre! We ask the important questions, such as, "does Leatherface represent feminized labor?" and "is Leatherface trapped in an MLM?"

(We worry about Leatherface's wellbeing a lot.)

Readings:

“Blood for Oil,” Chuck Jackson

Men, Women, and Chain Saws, Carol Clover

Splatter Capital, Mark Steven

“The American Nightmare,” Robin Wood

“Cannibalism, Class, and Power: A foodways analysis of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Mark Bernard

“Horrible Form,” Evan Calder Williams

“Headcheese and a Side of Benjamin,” Jerry D Metz

“Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” Linda Williams

Jo’s links: 

Twitter handle @StepfordDotter

Stepford Daughters link 

Facebook horror group

Blind Field Journal

Precarious Souls (a super DIY movie they're making with friends)

Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod

We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social

Art by Anya R. Hueing

Music by @coffin_flops

Jay and Kayte are joined by Carlee from Hit Factory podcast to talk about a movie near and dear to all of our hearts, Julie Taymor's brutal and gorgeous Shakespeare adaptation, Titus (1999). We discuss intentional anachronisms, faithfulness to texts, how Victorians tried to re-brand Shakespeare (and the Classical Era!) and heroes and villains. 

Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk!

Facehuggers, Xenomorphs, Offspring, oh my! This week Kayte and Mae are joined by writer/educatrix Tina Horn (@tinahornsass) to talk about our favorite body horror scenes in the Alien Franchise! We're talking about guts, gore, psychosexual horror and more in our longest, rowdiest episode yet! But hey, we watched SEVEN alien movies in a week for you! 

Kayte and Jay and guest R.E. Parrish are zipping up our wyrm-skin jumpsuits and plunging into the gnostic fantasy that is Elytron Frass' Moieties. We talk about Ergodic literature, Ero Guru nansensu, the history of gnosticism, the book as tactile object and all sorts of other esoteric weirdness.

Media referenced: 

Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk!

"The End of the World is Nuts"

Media we referenced:

Guys, are cars bad? We ask this and so many other important questions as we dig deep under the hood of Julia Ducournau's oil slicked film, Titane with writer Sophie Lewis (@reproutopia) We're talking about abjection, family abolition, gender fluidity and what it means to f*ck a car. Let's ride! 

Sources referenced:

Return of the Monstrous-Feminine: Feminist New Wave Cinema by Barbara Creed

"A New Humanity: Interview with Titane's Writer/Director Julia Ducournau" The Final Girls

Where to find Sophie:

Press play on your PJ Harvey cassette tape, we are talking about season 1 of Yellowjackets with writer Madeline Lane-McKinley! We dissect themes of adolescence, maenadism, fandom and ‘90s culture. Plus! Are teenage girls really that mean? Is there enough cannibalism in Yellowjackets or just enough? 

Buy Madeline’s book Comedy Against Work here 

Pre-order Fag/Hag here soon! 

And look out for Solidarity with Children here soon! 

This week, Kayte and Jay are joined by Jon from Horror Vanguard and we are back in the world of Hannibal Lecter! We talk about Ridley Scott's 2001 movie Hannibal and the Thomas Harris novel (1999) of the same name. On the menu: Dante! Opera! Hannibal shopping! Florence! Surveillance and Mediation! 

"A Postmodern Reproduction of Dante Alighieri's Exile" by Antonio Sanna

"“A very well-tailored person suit” Hannibal Lecter as Genderqueer American Gothic Cannibal" by Alena Kiel

Writer, worker and agitator Vicky Osterweil joins us this week to talk about the 1999 horror western dark comedy (?) Ravenous! Come along with us as we head out to the snowy wilds of the Western mountains; we talk Wendigos, colonizers, monstrous gays, the myth of the "noble frontiersman" and bravery. Also, a bananas soundtrack by Michael Nyman and Damon Alburn!

Buy Vicky's book, In Defense of Looting 

Stay tuned for Vicky's new book The Extended Universe (2025) with Haymarket Books, which is about Disney movies, intellectual property, and franchise cinema.

Hello Sapphic sickos! It's a femme extravaganza this week on Tender Subject as we are joined by Mae of the Ladykillers pod and Beth of Kayte's polycule to talk about Love Lies Bleeding! We talk about service tops, muscle mommies, Macho Sluts and giant women! Plus, is the end of the film real or fantasy and does it matter?