Whether you’re a fan of “Fan Fiction” or not, the underground subgenre is making waves in the literary and entertainment industries—and we at Tertiary are paying attention. 

For this week’s episode, we examine fan fiction on several levels, including the ways literary norms reify gender bias and heteronormativity, as well as a wider consideration of storytelling that opens a fascinating window into the workings of human creativity. Don’t worry, we also debate abolishing marriage and Justin’s dancefloor chops. 

Want to be a part of the Tertiary community? Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] or fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. 

A Sample of Heaven-Leigh’s Favorite Fan Fictions (smut free to avoid any awkward convos):

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

What happens when a classicist, novelist, and pundit enter a bar? (ha ha) Bad jokes aside, we are living through a *moment* in popular culture, fraught with man-splaining, flooded with click-bait nonsense, and—most worryingly—oozing sexism, racism, and transphobia. Who better to guide you through a close read of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” but your favorite Tertiary hosts, Heaven-Leigh and Justin? 

The good news is, between our hot takes on Nolan’s adaptation, we also debate progressive tax systems and whether or not Jason Statham should make any more movies.

Want to be a part of the Tertiary community? Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] or fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

Ever get out of a movie and wish you could sit down with your closest, smartest friends and yap about it? Well, Movie Clubbers, that’s the gist of this very special Sidequest. In the heart of a heatwave, we brought our mics all the way to the movie theatre parking lot, just for you. 

But we aren’t about vain pursuits, here at Tertiary—your favorite hosts Heaven-Leigh and Justin breakdown the complicated politics in the background of Curry Barker’s freshman film, “Obsession,” including the internet’s incel subculture, Hollywood’s Gen Z breakouts, and the scourge of toxic male entitlement. 

Want to be a part of the Tertiary community? Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] or fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

What does it mean to lead a good life? What does it mean to be a good person? We can all agree the universe doesn’t tend to offer clean answers to these kinds of questions—but your favorite Tertiary hosts, Heaven-Leigh and Justin, decided to tackle them anyway. The trouble, of course, is that a warming planet, barbaric geopolitics, and collapsing economy complicate the ways we ask these questions. Even so, this week, we sink our teeth into existentialism, and we’re excited to hear what you think! 

Interested in continuing the conversation? Send us an email at [email protected] or fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

You’ve been lied to. 

We all have, in one way or another. In this episode, your Tertiary hosts Heaven-Leigh and Justin discuss how to create a healthy relationship with skepticism, when (and when not) to “trust the experts,” and why it matters that we consume information with a grain of salt. This just might be the first issue we don’t solve, but we look forward to starting this important conversation with you. 

Have follow-up questions or comments? We want to hear from you! Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] and fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

Shelby Rubino is a person too. 

Sure, she just finished her doctorate in Clinical Psychology—and yeah, she recently published a peer-reviewed study in Integrative and Complementary Medicine observing the adverse effects of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic—but she also binge watches “Sex in the City” like the rest of us, making her the picture-perfect inaugural Tertiary guest.

Even though it’s officially Summertime (i.e., no longer S.A.D. season), the team at Tertiary still felt it appropriate to bring on an expert to help us tackle questions about mental health. After all, the kids are not alright. Together, Tertiary’s first trio laughs, cries, and explores topics like resilience and distress tolerance, collectivism vs. individualism, and the importance of loving, supportive relationships. 

Want to be a part of the Tertiary community? Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] and fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. We want to hear from you! 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

Listen, listeners—you spoke, and we listened. For today’s episode, Tertiary hosts Heaven-Leigh and Justin dive head first into our first-ever listener question: “ What do you think it will take for art-based platforms to regulate/condemn AI ‘art’ over profit?” 

For a topic as gargantuan as artificial intelligence, it should come as no surprise that our conversation covered a lot of ground—from publishing industry scandals and algorithm-driven slop factories to the ineffable, untouchable thing that separates manmade art from clunker junk. While it’s clear that regulating AI is somewhat out of the question (thanks, capitalism), that doesn’t change the fact that protecting what makes art quintessentially human is important. 

Don’t worry, we also made plenty of time to debate the Alien movies and gush over Jeff

Have a follow-up question about AI? Send us an email at [email protected] and fill out our Google Form and we promise (we really do!) to answer in a future episode. We want to hear from you! 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

The rightwing techno-elites are trying to hijack your dreams—and the only way to stop them is to listen to Tertiary’s latest episode! In a spiritual successor to our series on “Speculative Creatures,” your hosts Heaven-Leigh and Justin picked up where EP6: Eugenics, Fatalism, “The Last Messiah” left off to dissect the ways both the political “left” and “right” imagine humanity’s future. As these competing visions become increasingly detached from reality, we’ve done our best to bring the conversation back down to earth.

Don’t worry, we also found time to touch on werewolves and queer culture, zombie movies and paranoia, and—most importantly—social media bans for minors. 

Want to be a part of the Tertiary community? Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] and fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. We want to hear from you! 

Assigned Reading

Further Reading

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

“The city is the necessary instrument for the evolution of humankind.” —Paolo Soleri

You’ve heard of architecture, you’ve heard of ecology … but what happens when you smoosh those words together? You get “arcology,” a concept coined by Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri, out of which sprouted his ongoing experimental town in central Arizona called “Acrosanti.” Earlier this year, your #1 Tertiary host (Heaven-Leigh, obviously) paid said town a visit and brought a fistful of questions and ideas home with her. 

For this week’s Sidequest, Justin and Heaven-Leigh finally tackle the topic they’re both secretly obsessed with: Urban design. What would it look like to build a city around the natural environment? What happens when your relationship to “work” becomes less about making money and more about building community? We get into it—and we can’t wait to hear what you think about all of it.   

Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] or fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. We want to hear from you! 

Assigned Reading:

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

There is a sense of despair in the air, driven by war, genocide, fascism, climate change, and so on. As tempting as it may be to throw up your hands, the real question is: How does resignation actually serve us? What should we be doing instead?

This week, your Tertiary hosts tackle issues ranging from fatalism, tribalism, tolerance vs. intolerance, and—most importantly—community building at the end of the world. Believe it or not, this episode isn’t all doom and gloom: It’s Turkey Burger’s birthday, Spring is officially here, and we’re excited both to celebrate and problem-solve with you.

Want to be a part of the Tertiary community? Follow us on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] or fill out our Google Form to submit a question that we’ll answer in a future episode. We want to hear from you! 

Assigned Reading:

Further Reading:

Our intro and outro music comes from “Cloud Dancer” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.