The Free Bin

Joel Gaddis of Movie Madness drops by to discuss the wild world of "Demented Kids." This is the name Movie Madness applies to its collection of bizarre and unintentionally unsettling family films.

In this episode:

"Body Troopers" (1996)

"Mac and Me" (1988)

"The Peanut Butter Solution" (1985)

"The Rare Blue Apes of Cannibal Isle" (1975)

"Super Xuxa vs. Satan" (1988)

"A Talking Cat!?!" (2013)

"Treasure Train" (1982)

The Toledo Public Library celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep. 15 - Oct. 15)! Sophia provides an overview of the celebration, including its history, the distinction between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino," and the many contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities to the United States and the world. Harrison gets lost in the interwoven threads of North American history, and introduces a very, very large book. More to come!

In this episode:

The Digital Florentine Codex

The National Museum of the American Latino

The gang shares some of their favorite (and least favorite) female characters in fiction. Cindy digs up some info on Victorian grave-robbers. Sophia needs Samantha to move on. Harrison addresses the semiotics of hugging.

In this episode:

"Alien" (1979) dir. by Ridley Scott

"The Anatomist's Wife" by Anna Lee Huber

"Aunt Dimity's Death" by Nancy Atherton

"Death Comes to Marlow" by Robert Thorogood

"The Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger

"Downton Abbey" (TV series, 2010-2015)

"Harry Potter" (franchise) by J.K. Rowling

"A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

"Kills Well With Others" bu Deanna Raybourn

"Metroid" (franchise) by Nintendo

"Murder at Haven's Rock" by Kelley Armstrong

"Say You'll Remember Me" by Abby Jimenez

"Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach

Harrison rocket-starts a conversation about Mario Kart, designing for contradictory audience expectations, the vastly different ways we approach and appreciate popular works, and a bit of philosophy. Sophia brings the tea. Harrison loses badly at chess. Cindy gets overwhelmed by impenetrable online Mario Kart World discourse, especially regarding the applicability of the current meta build to Boo Cinema in Mirror Mode Knockout Tour.

In this episode:

"Mario Kart" (franchise)

"Mario Kart: The Moral Implications of the Racing Series" by Andrew Blair (from Den of Geek)

"The Prestige" (2006) dir. by Christopher Nolan

Harrison reads the poem "The Mirror" from "Blooms of the Berry" Madison Cawein

Cindy and Harrison discuss some of their favorite tropes in movies, books, and games! Velociraptors build tension. Ghosts play to an empty house. Cindy discusses some common library and librarian tropes. Eldritch tomes awaken ancient horrors. Sam Fisher is conspicuously sneaky. Harrison invites listeners to go space truckin'.

In this episode:

"The Anatomist's Wife" by Anna Lee Huber

"Any Trope But You" by Victoria Lavine

"Clueless" (1995)

"Endless Sky"

"Firefly" (2002-2002) (RIP)

"Jurassic Park" (1993)

"Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie" by Jackie Lau

"The Mummy" (1999)

"The Pagemaster" (1994)

"Space Truckers" (1996)

"Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" (2002)

TVTropes.org

Harrison reads "Poppa Needs Shorts" (1964) by Walt and Leigh Richmond.

At Captain Sophia's behest, The Free Bin crew hauls up a net full of maritime tales! Cindy makes a hearty meatloaf from sacred cows, and eats it with black raspberries. Harrison gets shanty pedant-y. Sophia and Harrison tag-team the soundboard. The crowd goes wild.

In this episode:

"The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown

"The Brilliant Abyss" by Helen Scales

"Death on the Nile" by Agatha Christie

"Death on the Nile" (2022) dir. by Kenneth Branagh

"The Jungle" by Clive Cussler (with Jack Du Brul)

"Kon-Tiki" by Thor Heyerdahl

"Lost Empire" by Clive Cussler (with Grant Blackwood)

"The Man in the Brown Suit" by Agatha Christie

"The Missing Sapphire of Zangrabar" by Steve Higgs

"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

"The Sea and Civilization" by Lincoln Paine

"The Sea Rover's Practice" by Benerson Little

"Titanic: The Definitive Documentary Collection" (2012)

Cindy, Sophia, and Harrison discuss the ever-evolving role of the telephone in fiction, and the myriad ways technology affects the stories we tell. Along the way, they enjoy a refreshing beverage, eat a two-dimensional snack, endure aggressive theater seats, and imagine a more tactile, odoriferous, and traversable future.

In this episode:

"84, Charing Cross Road" by Helene Hanff

"Black Christmas" (1974)

"Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya

"Find a Book by Plot" tool (from "Capitalize My Title")

"Harry Potter" (series) by J.K. Rowling

"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach

"Scream" (1996)

"We're All Going to the World's Fair" (2021)

"When a Stranger Calls" (1979)

In preparation for our upcoming discussion of the ever-changing role of telephones in fiction, Sophia reads Dorothy Parker's 1928 short story, "A Telephone Call."

Music:

"Night on the Docks - Sax" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/