In this episode, Hannah and Marcelle delve into the word "sapphic" and consider the rising popularity of the term's use as it relates to the legacy of radical feminism and lesbian feminism. They begin by talking about their own feelings around labels, sexuality, and the limits of using words to define ourselves. Marcelle offers a guess at what (and how) "sapphic" means in 2025, and Hannah gives an overview of its current colloquial use as a complement, an alternative, and a reaction, in particular, to the term "lesbian." And then it's history time baby! Hannah gets into the the radical feminist movement of the 60s and the various modern feminisms that emerged simultaneously and in the decades following. She then offers a thesis that frames queer feminism's complicated relationship to its own history as one part of sapphic's entrance into the zeitgeist, all while suggesting we take a more nuanced look at the past and resist the temptation to reduce previous movements to their most imperfect parts.

To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back in two weeks with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!

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Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First things first, we NEED a jingle. Anyone wanna step in? Email us at [email protected], if so. :)

Otherwise, please enjoy this Material Concerns episode, once again hosted by Hannah, Marcelle and Witch, Please Productions' producer, Coach (aka the other Hannah). Tune in for a goofy chat about about money laundering, the importance of poetry, reasonably priced tofu, the problem with heartburn and the value of supporting creators you love. Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to get part two!

As a reminder, this month, we're running a Patreon push! We need to hit $7k/month to sustain our WEEKLY show and the labor that goes into making it possible! Please consider joining today for as little as $54/year. You'll get ad-free episodes, bloopers, a backlog of content and part two of all Material Concerns episodes! Head to patreon.com/ohwitchplease to join a tier that works for your budget!

***

Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're throwing it back to 2003 with this episode about the beloved swashbuckler hit, Pirates of the Caribbean. Hannah and Marcelle start with a review of the political climate in the early aughts, with a particular focus on 9/11, George W. Bush's presidency and the illegitimate "War on Terror." Marcelle offers some details about the Disneyland ride that inspired the franchise, the film's production challenges, and the film's eventual success. Together, Hannah and Marcelle consider Pirates of the Caribbean's unexpected box office success in relation to American Exceptionalism and the United States' invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Join us for a ride as we delve into American imperialism, the allure of piracy, the appeal of Jack Sparrow (the anti-hero) and Will Turner (the good guy gone rogue), and the enduring popularity of this film released over two decades ago!

To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back in two weeks with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there! We're currently doing a Patreon push, so please consider joining today to get all our extra perks, along with the backlog of bonuses!

***

Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's Material Concerns, we revisit some familiar segments and introduce some new ones! We also make an official request for jingles to be emailed our way at [email protected]. We sing, we giggle, we give recs, and so much more. Happy listening! 

This month, we're running a Patreon push! We need to hit $7k/month to sustain our show and the labor that goes into making it possible! Please consider joining today for as little as $54/year. You'll get ad-free episodes, bloopers, a backlog of content and part two of all Material Concerns episodes! Head to patreon.com/ohwitchplease to join a tier that works for your budget!

***

Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this (spoiler-free) episode, we give YOU, the listener, all the tools you need to confidently and appropriately use the term Kafkaesque the next time Severance comes up in conversation. During Why This, Why Now?, Hannah guides Marcelle through some very compelling ideas about the show's popularity (did someone say "pandemic?"). We then move into The Theory We Need where the conversation turns to Marxism, surrealism, anti-capitalism and, you guessed it, Franz Kafka! The best news? By the end of the episode, you earn a MUSIC DANCE EXPERIENCE! Not really, (because we're a podcast), but we do end the episode with Hannah's thesis about state power, repression of grief, corporate culture and entertainment — and in a way, isn't that just as "elite" and "coveted AF?"

To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back in two weeks with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there! We're currently doing a Patreon push, so please consider joining today to get all our extra perks, along with the backlog of bonuses!

***

Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're going weekly, folks! We're so excited to kick off this new schedule with Part I of Material Concerns. In very fun news, Coach is now our third co-host on these episodes which means 33% more chaos, new segments (including recommendations, a creature report, and improv). To listen to Part II, head to our Patreon right now! We're doing a Patreon push during the month of April to hit $7000/month (to better support our team!) so you if you join by May 1, you'll be helping us hit our goal! Check out your membership options at patreon.com/ohwitchplease.

***

Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, we’re talking about the conspiracy theory that Canadian pop punk icon Avril Lavigne died and was replaced by a body double named Melissa. You heard us right! To help navigate the mess of this theory, we have an esteemed guest, Cristen Conger (she/her), who is deep in conspiracy discourse. Cristen is the cofounder of Unladylike Media, author of the book Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space and the host of the new breakout hit podcast Conspiracy, She Wrote. We absolutely love Cristen, her podcast and her perspective on how conspiracy theories begin, mutate, crawl into various corners of the internet and influence our relationship to what is real. Tune in for a discussion about Avril Lavigne's rise to popularity, the popular replacement theory, our cultural relationship to celebrity women's bodies and privacy, and so much more.

For more Cristen, check out Conspiracy, She Wrote! Follow her on Instagram @cristenconger and check out her website: https://cristenconger.com/

To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back in two weeks with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!

***

Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Material Concerns episode, Hannah and Marcelle talk about the 2005 Music Video Awards (and the Gosling/McAdams kiss), Noah as the The Notebook's (unreliable?) narrator, the line between melodrama and camp, and Gosling's undeniable charisma.

As a reminder, for just $5 USD/month you'll get part two, our extensive backlog, ad-free episodes, and oh so much more!

***

Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She's back! Beloved podcaster and author Vanessa Zoltan (she/her) joins Hannah and Marcelle to dig into one of the most famous "weepies" of the 21st century: The Notebook (2004). If you cry at the line "If you're a bird, I'm a bird," have the phrase "What do you want?" ringing in your head, or regularly view the 2005 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, then this episode is for you. Hannah first contextualizes The Notebook in early aughts America (think post 9/11 conservative politics) and Vanessa offers some info about Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook. They then jump into a theory section all about melodrama! You may be familiar with the concept — perhaps you've even accused a friend or family member of being melodramatic — but can you really define it? What about the idea of "a Melodrama of Failure?" Hannah turns to Elisabeth Robin Anker’s book, Orgies of Feeling: Melodrama and the Politics of Freedom, to bolster her thesis and the episode ends with a conversation about the relationship between the American Dream, sovereignty, Christian conservatism and heterosexuality.

If you have thoughts, questions or comments, submit them over Instagram for our next Material Concerns episode!

For more Vanessa, check out Hot & Bothered, the podcast she co-hosts with Hannah McGregor all about romantic films. You can also listen to her new show Let's Ask Taylor Swift anywhere you get your pods.

Learn more about Material Girls on our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back in two weeks with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!

***

Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Material Concerns episode, Hannah and Marcelle talk about being emotional support for Americans, fancy linen paper in the 1700s, memes, monoculture and more!

As a reminder, for just $5 USD/month you'll get part two, our extensive backlog, ad-free episodes, and oh so much more!

***

Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.