Feminist Frequency Radio

Anita decided to forego our usual intro banter this week, so we just jumped right into this week's topic: the social impact of our cultural obsession with depictions of policing. From Dragnet to Brooklyn 99, what lies behind our abiding interest in the people and institutions tasked with maintaining “law and order”? SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 1:34 - Anita and Ebony talk about the danger of being the sardonic friend 3:56 - Copaganda 39:51 - What's Your Freq Out? LINKS Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins: https://www.mollyivinsfilm.com/ A Short Hike : http://ashorthike.com/ The Raven Tower: https://www.annleckie.com/novel/the-raven-tower/ Follow Us: Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq Our Website https://feministfrequency.com/ Subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feminist-frequency-radio/id1307153574?mt=2 Twitter https://twitter.com/femfreq Instagram https://www.instagram.com/femfreq/ Youtube http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX

On this week’s episode, we talk about the beautiful new film The Last Black Man in San Francisco, a deeply personal movie about identity, gentrification, and institutional power. Ebony Adams calls it “simultaneously tactile and dreamlike!” Also, the ramifications of Jay-Z’s new deal with the NFL, and Marvel’s disappointing refusal to publish an anthology introduction that has some (appropriately) harsh words for Donald Trump. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 2:45 Entertainment News 14:00 The Last Black Man in San Francisco 40:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Carolyn on Eliza, Ebony on One Child Nation, Anita on the power and value of stories) RELEVANT LINKS: "Jay-Z Helped the NFL Banish Colin Kaepernick" by Jemele Hill in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/jay-z-helps-nfl-banish-colin-kaepernick/596146/ "Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus, calls out Marvel Comics for its 'apolitical' politics" by Aja Romano for Vox: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/20/20812333/art-spiegelman-marvel

This week, we're going toe-to-toe with writer-director Riley Stearns' new dark comedy The Art of Self Defense, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Alessandro Nivola. We talk about how the film brings a critical lens to the socially constructed "rules" of manhood, and to the ways in which men are pressured to perform masculinity among other men in the establishment of a kind of hierarchy. We also discuss how the film works as a kind of response to Fight Club. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS 2:10 The Art of Self Defense 33:45 What's Your FREQ-Out? Ebony on holding it together in these trying times, Carolyn on spending time in the sun, Anita on The Boys RELEVANT LINKS Questions to ask yourself when you're outraged about injustice (via @prisonculture): https://twitter.com/prisonculture/status/1000413472356696065?s=19 Masculinities by R.W. Connell: https://www.amazon.com/Masculinities-R-W-Connell/dp/0520246985 Follow Us: Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq Our Website https://feministfrequency.com/ Su

SPOILERS ABOUND FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE -- BE WARNED Blend yourself a frozen marg and buckle up for this week's episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, in which your Southern California stalwarts cruise up the 101 for a journey into Hollywood Past. This week, we discuss Quentin Tarantino's 9th feature film, an epic* ode to manly men and one uncomplicated babywoman. Two of your hosts left the theater feeling personally attacked by the film's masturbatory fantasia; one host had thoughtful and ruminative insights about the film's seductive evocation of time and place. You'll be completely "surprised" by who thought what! For all the FFR accountants out there, please note that Carolyn cashed in her topic voucher for this film. She will not be able to select another topic until the next feminist fiscal quarter. *this movie is so long SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS 00:38 Pop Culture News (Ooblets on the Epic store makes a certain segment of Toon Town go absolutely apeshit; the next season of American Crim

Time travel is such a powerful fictional device. It allows creators to shine a light on the cultural struggles and social ills of the present by making powerful connections with the past, and by offering wonderful or horrifying visions of the future. Of course, it can also just be a whole lot of fun! But time travel is uniquely powerful as a tool for feminist writers; after all, feminism has always fought to prevent women’s contributions from being written out of history. Time travel allows for stories in which women struggle not just to gain power but to regain their place in time itself. With special guest author and journalist Annalee Newitz! Time Stamps: 03:55 - Main Segment 47:09 - What’s Your FREQ Outs Links Mentioned: Our opinions are correct https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com and https://www.patreon.com/ouropinionsarecorrect Why are you laughing at Bruce Lee? by Walter Chaw https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/on-bruce-lees-character-in-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood.html Annalee’s webowebs: www.annaleen

There’s a lot to celebrate about our increasingly diverse mainstream media landscape. Modern audiences can immerse themselves in so many different kinds of compelling stories-- stories from which POC, the disabled, queer people -- (basically anyone who wasn’t middle class, straight, and white) had traditionally been excluded. It’s a victory of a sort, but it only goes so far. We still have so far to go in terms of representation in our media, but more than that, can we ever really look to corporate media to independently advance the culture in a progressive, meaningful, and sustainable way? How do we ensure mindful engagement with media and demand accountability from the billion dollar behemoths behind our favorite media properties? SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 04:15 Discussion of Fandom & Capitalism 38:19 What’s Your FREQ-Out? RELEVANT LINKS: Bowsette: memes and fandom culture under late capitalism - https://medium.com/@SimonXIX/bowsette-anti-capitalist-icon-1c988a5c51ed See the image of Anita as Death for hallo

This week, we go on a swingin’ European adventure with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Anita’s friend Sara Fritzon joins us to serve as the token European for our conversation about Peter Parker’s latest escapades. Anita gushes over Tom Holland as Peter, Carolyn rants about the film’s politics, and longtime Spider-Fan Sara explains why she loves the MCU Spider-Man films, despite feeling that they don’t go far enough in exploring and humanizing their villains. In entertainment news, we talk about Lashana Lynch taking over the 007 designation from Daniel Craig in the next Bond film, and share our reactions to the trailer for CATS. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 4:20 Entertainment News 14:00 Spider-Man: Far From Home 41:00 What’s Your FREQ-Out? RELEVANT LINKS: Carolyn’s Spider-Man tweet: https://twitter.com/carolynmichelle/status/1151628567198887936?s=20 Listen to Ingrid Michaelson’s album Stranger Songs: https://orcd.co/stranger_songs Become a backer of this podcast by joining our community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/f

Your battle-hardened hosts gather in the Thunderdome to discuss Strong Female Characters in our media. What kinds of aesthetic and narrative features tend to mark someone as a “strong female character”? Which genres seem most invested in the presentation of a specific kind of sexualized female badass? How do we celebrate the presence of authentic strong female characters while keeping our critical goggles attuned to their more problematic incarnations? Time Stamps: 1:39 - Your favorite pop culture dissidents engage in a little thoughtcrime and talk about Independence Day demonstrations of American military might (we recorded this episode on July 4th) 6:10 - Strong Female Characters 38:15 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Super Mario Maker 2; Courtney Milan's entire oeuvre; Gato Roboto Links Mentioned: https://supermariomaker.nintendo.com/ http://www.courtneymilan.com/ https://gatoroboto.com/ What to the Slave is the 4th of July: https://www.thenation.com/article/what-slave-fourth-july-frederick-douglass/ Become a b

Everyone is talking about HBO’s Chernobyl. They say it’s good but it’s not enjoyable. We decide to find out for ourselves. Entertainment this news includes: Megan Rapinoe, Colin Kaepernick, Nike and re-boycotting Nike for life, Disney’s live action Little Mermaid. Time Stamps: 03:14 - Entertainment News: Topic, Topic, Topic 13:50 - Main Segment: Chernobyl 41:31 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: 198X, Doctor Who podcasts, 84K by Claire North Links Mentioned: Sue Bird - article the president hates my girlfriend: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/sue-bird-megan-rapinoe-uswnt Artist making black mermaids: https://www.vashtiharrison.com/vashti-harrison-illustration https://twitter.com/SlavaMalamud/status/1132029943297265664?s=19 HBO Chernobyl podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/id1459712981 Carolyn’s article about 198X: https://carolynpetit.tumblr.com/post/186007644410/198x-and-being-players-in-a-dangerous-time Doctor who podcast: http://whos-he-podcast.co.uk/doctor-who-wh

Who You Callin' Mary Sue? On this week’s episode, we tackle the topic of the Mary Sue! It’s a term that some have used as a cudgel in recent years with which to attack prominent female characters that they dislike for one reason or another, but what does the term really mean? Where did it come from? And does it still have any value in our modern-day conversations about female characters? SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 3:45 The Mary Sue 35:10 What’s Your FREQ-Out? RELEVANT LINKS: “Too Good To Be True”: 150 Years Of Mary Sue by Pat Pflieger: https://www.merrycoz.org/papers/MARYSUE.xhtml Become a backer of this podcast by joining our community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX

On this week’s episode, Carolyn and Ebony continue their conversation about Life Is Strange 2, a conversation that started back in episode 63. Today, we’re talking about Episode 3: Wastelands, and we’re joined for our conversation by the writer and critic Tevis Thompson. Our discussion explores the ever-increasing political relevance of the series, the game’s noteworthy sincerity, the unconventional way in which it casts you as the character without the gimmicky powers, the specific impact of Cassidy and other characters, and much more. Also, Carolyn and Tevis talk about their admiration of Fortnite, and Ebony and Carolyn talk about the particular challenges of the past few weeks. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: Tevis intro/Fortnite chat: 1:15 Life Is Strange 2, Chapter 3: 9:55 What’s Your FREQ-Out? 45:35 Tevis: Lyrica, a rhythm game available on Nintendo Switch Ebony: The horror and anxiety of this moment Carolyn: The Polygon profile, repercussions in social media, and the widespread denial of white supremacist patriarc

This week, Anita plays hooky so Carolyn and Ebony are responsible for keeping the student body on track. Classic nerds! Our topic this week is Booksmart, Olivia Wilde's feature debut about two young overachieving women on the cusp of graduation. Tune in for a discussion of the way the film empathizes and delights with its multiplicity of characters, centers the teen girl experience, and is delightfully, unapologetically queer. Plus, we ask the question: how do we talk about films about teens versus films for teens? Time Stamps: 00:27 - Entertainment News: Gender breakdown in games at E3 2019; CD Projekt Red and transphobic game imagery; Find Me audiobook 14:22 - Booksmart 50:37 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda; Donny Hathaway Links Mentioned: Gender Breakdown of Games Featured of E3 2019:https://feministfrequency.com/2019/06/14/gender-breakdown-of-games-featured-at-e3-2019/ CD Projekt Red explains controversial Cyberpunk in-game ad featuring

People often use the term “guilty pleasures” to talk about media they enjoy even though they feel it has little redeeming value. But what does it mean to be a feminist media critic who sometimes finds herself enjoying media that she believes is outright harmful? On this week’s FFR, we have a frank conversation about what guilty pleasures mean to us, and our own relationship to media that we may appreciate or admire on some level, even while believing that it perpetuates harmful myths or values. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 1:25 Guilty Pleasures 35:50 What’s Your Deal? Relevant Links: Follow Mariame Kaba on Twitter at https://twitter.com/prisonculture Learn more about Rosemary Kirstein’s Steerswoman novels: https://www.tor.com/2008/10/30/not-only-science-fiction-but-more-science-fictional-than-anything-else-rosemary-kirsteins-steerswoman-books/ Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review! Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq Subscribe to our YouTube chan

This week we dive into Always Be My Maybe, Netflix’s latest romcom staring Ali Wong, Randall Park (and of course) Keanu Reeves. Because we are rapidly turning into a Keanu Reeves podcast. Ebony and Anita had very different opinions on this movie. Anita tried to opt-out of this episode because she feels bad about her opinions. Carolyn still refuses to bring us any positive entertainment news but does talk about some news in games. Time Stamps: 03:15 - Entertainment News: Death Stranding, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Ma 13:12 - Main Segment: Always Be My Maybe 45:17 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Fleabag, Fleabag, Therapy for Black Girls
 Buy a t-shirt! dftba.com/femfreq Links Mentioned: Therapy for Black Girls - https://www.therapyforblackgirls.com/
 Follow Us: Join our Patreon patreon.com/femfreq Our Website Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Twitter Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX

It's finally here! We made it! We have arrived at our John Wick 3 episode. Carolyn and Ebony can finally calm the hell down (not bloody likely). Tune in for a discussion of the assassin economy, visual style vs narrative coherence, fairytale logic, and really digging movies that also maybekindasorta feed our most problematic desires. Time Stamps: 01:24 - Entertainment News: Moby; Leonardo DiCaprio only dates women 25 and under; #KeanuReevesWatch2019 12:15 - John Wick 3 (aka The GOAT) 42:25 - What’s Your FREQ Out: Stories Untold, The Unkindness of Ghosts, EEEEEatsCon LA Links Mentioned: Leonardo DiCaprio's Dating Chart: https://wokesloth.com/leonardo-dicaprio-wont-date-over-25/edward/ Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures: https://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2012/10/indiana-jones-the-complete-adventures.html Stories Untold: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/stories-untold/home An Unkindness of Ghosts: https://www.riverssolomon.com/unkindness EeeeeatsconLA: https://www.theinfatuation.com/EEEEEATS

On this FFR, we’re talkin’ ‘bout the wonderful new animated series Tuca and Bertie! Created by Bojack Horseman producer and production designer Lisa Hanawalt, Tuca and Bertie stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong as best friends whose friendship must evolve when Bertie moves in with her boyfriend Speckle. Oh, and also they’re all birds. Our conversation covers the way in which the show explores numerous experiences and issues with honesty, compassion, and humor, as well as its avoidance of certain harmful stereotypes, and the (sadly) rare and refreshing way in which it treats female sexuality. Also, our reactions to fan reactions to the end of Game of Thrones, and the latest from KeanuWatch 2019. Segment Timestamps: 3:15 Entertainment News (GoT finale, Kea-news) 15:00 Tuca and Bertie 43:50 What's Your FREQ-Out? (Fleabag, Chelsea Manning, Dead Like Me) Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review! Relevant Links: Trailer for Always Be My Maybe: https://youtu.be/iHBcWHY9lN4 Keanu answers questions while playing with puppi

This week we go into the perilous unknown with the 2019 reboot of The Twilight Zone airing on CBS All Access. We dive into episodes like Not All Men, Wunderkind, The Traveler, and others to see which each of us liked best… and we certainly don’t all agree. 2:32 - Entertainment News 14:49 - Main Segment: Twilight Zone 46:48 - What’s Your FREQ Out Relevant Links Dandelion Immersive art project https://www.archivesandrecords.info/ How Golf Explains Trump by Sean Illing: https://www.vox.com/2019/5/10/18524172/donald-trump-commander-in-cheat-rick-reilly Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review! Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX

Hey, Feminist Frequency Listeners! We had a fantastic discussion about the new Netflix documentary Knock Down the House, which documents the thrilling challenges posed to the political establishment by the record numbers of women and people of color looking to unseat long-time incumbents in 2018. In addition to Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the film introduces viewers to candidates navigating the murky political waters of West Virginia, St. Louis, MO, and Las Vegas, NV. 0:00 Welcome to the incredibly high-energy goodness of episode #76 3:21 Pop Culture News/ Corporate News (Sonic the Hedgehog, Caster Semenya, "acceptable" trash talk, Ebony's reaction/non-reaction to the new royal baby, Find Me release date revealed) 16:39 Knock Down the House 46:02 What's Your Freq Out [Deal]? On the Channel: The Criterion Collection r/hobbydrama: the clam chowder fracas! Little Simz, Lemonade, Street Food Listener Freq Out from Mandy: Does the Dog Die Relevant links: https://www.criterion.com/current/catego

In this week’s FFR, our 75th episode, it’s a spoilerific conversation about the latest MCU crossover epic, Avengers: Endgame. First we talk about whether or not the film worked for us purely on the level of being an enjoyable superhero film that offers a satisfying conclusion to the cliffhanger of Infinity War, before delving into deeper discussions of fat-shaming, queer representation, and the film’s one ostensibly “feminist” moment. We also cover the tragic death of director John Singleton, an infuriating draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers, and more. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 2:45 Entertainment News (John Singleton, Nick Bosa, Notch) 11:30 Avengers: Endgame 41:45 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Veep, Steven Yeun and John Cho on The Twilight Zone, looking past the surface of Las Vegas, The Reluctant Royals novels by Alyssa Cole) RELEVANT LINKS: More on Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals books: https://alyssacole.com/

Anita has returned! But Ebony is gone. To make up for it we’ve brought back very a special guest, everyone’s favorite Iranian-American Muslim Comedian, Zahra Noorbakhsh. This week we dive into Hulu’s newest sitcom Ramy. Created by comedian Ramy Youssef we follow the story of a 20-something Egyptian-American Muslim living in New Jersey, and trying to sort out who he really is and what he really wants in a world that sends him confusing and often-contradictory messages about what it means to be a young Muslim in America today.   Go check out Zahra’s work: https://twitter.com/zahracomedy https://www.instagram.com/zahracomedy/ http://www.zahranoorbakhsh.com/ SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 4:11 - Entertainment News 12:03 - Ramy 50:57 - What’s Your FREQ Out Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX