From federal agents kidnapping BLM protesters to white moms trying to protect them, how are current events in Portland like the movie Mad Max: Fury Road? Maya and Rebecca answer this riddle, delving into themes of government tyranny and (white) maternity to uncover the unexpected connections.

100 episodes ago, Maya and Rebecca discussed the discourse around “free speech”–people expressing opinions about who gets to express opinions. A recent “open letter” in Harpers made us drink so much we figured we might as well return to the topic and how the debate has and hasn’t changed after 2.5 years of turbocharged political insanity.

Here’s the original episode!

Episode 12: Free Speech

So when a mass pandemic brings about the end of the world (ahem), what will it look like? What *has* it looked like? Rebecca and Maya get trashed and do close readings of The Last Man on Earth (1964), Omega Man (1971), and the Will Smith vehicle I Am Legend (2007)–three adaptations of the same 1954 science fiction novel. We track how fantasies of post-apocalypse change and stay the same, and what it says about the limits of the popular imagination.

Masks: cheap, easy, enormously effective in preventing coronavirus transmission. So what the hell is up with people who don’t want to wear them? Rebecca and Maya find answers, not surprisingly, in toxic masculinity, the Trump and Fox News Death Cults, and of course, many, many drinks.

Maya and Rebecca talk about the Black Lives Matters protests sweeping the country. How is our current understanding informed and inflected by historical memory? What media and culture has prepared us for this moment–in the past decade? 20 years? 100 years? What makes this moment different? Or is it?

Maya and Rebecca continue their deep dive into movies about contagious disease, breaking down infection horror movies and what they tell us about disease in the cultural imagination. This episode doesn’t address the news around BLM protests and police violence, but remember: It’s okay to give yourself a breather from the stress of current events. If you’re looking for ways to help the Black Lives Matter movement, here’s a good resource:

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#donate

Rebecca and Maya get into Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden and what they mean. Could it be true? Is he being Swift-Boated? DOES IT EVEN MATTER? We weren’t drinking for this one, but God, we should have been.

Maya and Rebecca analyze Outbreak (1995), Contagion (2011) and Quarantine (2008) – three one-word-titled movies that reveal some major themes and set the stage for a deeper dive into the topic of infectious disease in the popular imagination.

Maya and Rebecca look into the ways people stay positive and show support for heroes during this distressing time, and uncover what it says about American attitudes toward the people we depend on most.

Cults! Misogyny! The appeal of narcissistic sociopaths! White trash fantasias! Islands of Misfit Toys! In this episode, we deconstruct Netflix phenomenon TIGER KING and what it says about our times.