Feminist Frequency Radio

Anita’s off on another one of her globehopping adventures, so Ebony and Carolyn hold it down this week with a look at the latest DC Comics flick, Shazam! There’s a refreshing sense of lighthearted fun to this film, especially in contrast to the grimdark Batman and stuffy Superman of DC’s recent movie output, and a welcome dose of heartwarming sentiment as well. We talk about the way the film contrasts a tough-guy, go-it-alone form of masculinity with asking for help and relying on each other, what it has to say about found families, and the problems with its depictions of “ideal” bodies. Also, initial reactions to the title for Star Wars Episode IX, a few personal recommendations for great new movies, and more. Segment Timestamps: 4:30 Entertainment News (Star Wars title reveal, Trump's terrible propaganda movie, Bret Easton Ellis Q&A, more) 17:05 Shazam! 44:35 What's Your Deal? (Carolyn on Columbus, Ebony on Unicorn Store, listener Jonathan on a great production of Richard II in London) Relevant Links: I

In this week's episode, Anita and Ebony are joined by comedian, correspondent, and host of The Bitchuation Room Podcast, Francesca Fiorentini. The topic under discussion in this episode is the 2-part HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, about the decades-long child sexual abuse alleged against Michael Jackson by two survivors, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. We talk about living through a moment of increased cultural reckoning with horrific crimes like these, as well as the responsibility to honor the courage of people who come forward to tell their stories. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE,online.rainn.org y rainn.org/es) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country. Timestamps 2:53: Pop Culture News (gamers being awful, Cowboy BeBop casting) 10:34 Leaving Neverland (CW: abuse and sexual assault) 41:25: What's

Our Patreon backers get exclusive access to special bonus episodes every single week in the form of our FREQin’ AfterParty. This week, we continued our discussion of Jordan Peele’s Us because we couldn’t quite contain all of our thoughts in the main episode. As we talked more about some of the film’s complex layers, its deeper meanings, and what aspects of it we found to be successful and not so successful, we also found ourselves discussing some of the complications that come with being feminist media critics who are deeply concerned with what films have to say about race, gender, class and other forces that shape our experiences in the world every day. How much responsibility does a film or other work have to clearly present its message? What’s the audience’s responsibility? Where does ambiguity in art fit into all this? These questions don’t have easy answers, but nonetheless they’re things we have to consider and grapple with all the time. We thought this was a particularly revealing and valuable conversa

Everyone is talking about Us. And for good reason. This week we dive into the hotly anticipated new horror movie from the mind of Jordan Peele. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 1:27 - Intro baner 1:44 - Entertainment News: Zach Snyder said some dumb things, Jussie Smollett and the Chicago PD, Alanis Morissette critique 14:10 - Main Topic: Us 45:02 - What’s Your FREQ Outs 50:28 - Guest FREQ out from Katie RELEVANT LINKS: Manohla Dargis on Us - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/movies/us-movie-review.html?referrer=google_kp New York Post story on Lupita Nyong’o’s voice in Us: https://nypost.com/2019/03/25/why-lupita-nyongos-creepy-us-voice-is-inciting-online-outrage/ Carolyn’s new video on Diablo: https://youtu.be/GaIHWN0LEIU If you want keep the good times going, stay tuned for the FREQ'in After Party -- which you can have access to by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq. We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! And watch our brand new min

This week on FFR, we’re talking about the new film from Neil Jordan, director of The Crying Game, Interview With a Vampire and others: Greta. Greta is a psychologically terrifying tale of an innocent young woman named Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) who befriends a lonely, older French woman named Greta (Isabelle Huppert), only to discover that she’s gotten much more than she’s bargained for as Greta’s obsession with her begins intruding on every aspect of her life. Our conversation explores the film’s place in Ebony’s beloved psychobiddy genre, its concerns with loneliness and isolation, and its focus on women. Also, Google Stadia, game preservation efforts and more in our entertainment news and FREQ-outs! We want to hear from you too! Tell us what you’re freqin’ out about at feministfrequency.com/freqout. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 2:20 Entertainment News 13:50 Greta 42:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out? RELEVANT LINKS: Matthew Yeager’s thread about Stadia: https://twitter.com/AmazingThew/status/1108425334498705410 Carolyn’s t

This week, the crew hosts writer, designer, and founder of Sweet Baby Inc, Kim Belair for a hilarious discussion of the 1992 cinematic classic Batman Returns! Before that, though, Caro serves up a heapin' helpin' of cringeworthy Pop Culture News (this week's topics included info about James Gunn's rehiring for Guardians of the Galaxy 3; Operation Varsity Blues; and Dean Cain confirming why he was the worst Superman). The show wraps with some freq'in out about Spelunky 2, anxiety management, and Nils Frahm. If you want keep the good times going, stay tuned for the FREQ'in After Party -- which you can have access to by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq. We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games! All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency!  SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS :0:00 The fun begins 1:53 Anita pulls back the curtain on edibles 5:07 Pop Cult

FFR Ep 68 - Captain Marvel The crew is back together as we dive into all that is Captain Marvel, the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic universe. Entertainment news this week includes Steam’s disappointingly sad statements about their policies, The Division 2 and the Captain Marvel “boycott”. We’re FREQing out about The Nod, “Take me to Merch”, Tim Apple, American Heiress: The The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty by Jeffrey Toobin Join us in the bonus episode for even more (and I would say even better conversations about Captain Marvel) by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games! All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency! SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 3:08: Entertainment News: Steam, The Division 2, Captain Marvel Boycott (lol) 15:33: Captain Marvel 43:42: FREQ OUTS + Listener FREQ Out fr

In this episode of FFR, Anita’s off giving talks in different cities so the podcast falls to Ebony and Carolyn this week, who do their best to fill the big Anita-shaped hole in all our hearts. The focus of this episode is Lorena, the new four-part documentary series on Amazon Prime which takes a fresh look at a case that set the tabloid world on fire in 1993: the case of Lorena Bobbitt. The new doc offers a deep, thoughtful examination of all the elements at work in the trial and the public’s perception of it: the nation’s failures to treat domestic abuse as a serious issue, media standards (or the lack thereof), cultural attitudes about men and women, and so much more. Also, a few words about Terry Crews, Steven Spielberg, and as always, our personal shoutouts in What’s Your Deal? We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq And watch our

This week we forgo our traditional entertainment news so Anita can talk far too long about this year’s Oscars while Ebony laughs just at her. Then we begrudgingly dive into Alita: Battle Angel the new Robert Rodriguez live action film based on the 1990’s manga series and hooboy do we have a lot to say. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 1:02 - intro banter - Anita tries to solicit sponsorship from the makers of Throat Coat 3:20 - Entertainment News - Oscars edition 20:11 - Alita: Battle Angel 44:20 - What’s Your FREQ Out? (New Super Mario Bros U, Flavorful Origins, The LAnd Magazine and local journalism) LINKS: “Reevaluating the Supercrip”:   https://samischalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Schalk_Reevaluating-the-Supercrip_JLCDS-2016.pdf Alita: Battle Angel - https://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2019/02/alita-battle-angel.html The LAnd Magazine - https://twitter.com/theLAndmagazine Brandon Coleman - https://twitter.com/BrandonColeKeys

This week on FFR, we gear up for this weekend’s Oscars with a focus on the Academy Awards: why they matter, how they’ve worked to promote a notion of cinematic excellence that centers and glorifies whiteness, and how they’ve historically tended to celebrate films about people of color only when those films send comforting messages about race and racism. Also, the latest terrible thing Bill Maher has said, and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Anita’s Slack habits. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 2:45 Entertainment News (Bill Maher says something awful, Activision Blizzard layoffs, Don Cheadle’s t-shirt) 14:10 The Academy Awards 43:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out? Trump and body-shaming humor, Burning and Steven Yeun, James Blake’s new album, and Tom Gun LIVE in Los Angeles 52:20 wrap-up RELEVANT LINKS: Marlow Stern for The Daily Beast on Bill Maher's comments on Peter Farrelly Patrick Klepek for Waypoint on the Activision Blizzard layoffs Video: Kim Basinger calls out the Academy for not nominating Do the Right Thing at the 1990

The triple[doll] threat is back in the Keanu Reeves Memorial Studio & Herbarium this week for a dive into the mindbending world of Netflix's new series, Russian Doll. The comedy-drama, created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland, is hilarious, moving, surreal, brash, and unapologetic in its tough love for Natasha Lyonne's game developer main character, who is forced to relive her 36th birthday over and [painfully] over. Basically, we deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for Podcasting for this episode. We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! Subscribe to Feminist Frequency Radio now to get a new episode every Wednesday on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And become an FFR backer on Drip to join the community and get access to weekly bonus segments and other rewards! SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro banter (Ebony is not happy with how Black History Month is going) 3:26 Entertainment News (Liam Neeson straight up

#63: Life Is Strange 2, Episode 2 This week, Ebony takes the host’s chair as she and Carolyn share their thoughts on the first few episodes of Life Is Strange 2. LIS2 follows the Diaz brothers, high schooler Sean and his younger brother Daniel, as they flee from their Seattle home after their father is murdered by a police officer. We talk about how the brothers’ race affects their experiences, the way the game allows its characters to be multidimensional, and its refreshing belief in good people trying to help each other in this often cruel and unpredictable world. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 3:20 Week-Old Entertainment News! (Bryan Singer, Oscar nominations, She-Ra renewed) 14:05 Life Is Strange 2 42:50 What’s Your Deal? (Killing Eve, Get Me Roger Stone) RELEVANT LINKS: The Atlantic's story on the allegations against Bryan Singer: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/bryan-singers-accusers-speak-out/580462/

FFR #61: The Favourite This week, we’re traveling back to the court of Queen Anne for all the stately and scandalous manipulations of The Favourite, the Oscar-nominated film starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. Throughout the movie, courtiers Sarah (Weisz) and Abigail (Stone) scheme and compete against each other politically and sexually to be the favorite of the queen (Colman). Our conversation covers the film’s power dynamics and cold political ploys, its depiction of female sexuality, the excellent performances, and the appeal of a film in which women who wield some degree of influence are the primary focus. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 3:10 Entertainment News (More Ghostbusters, Chris Pratt, Erykah Badu) 12:50 The Favourite 44:50 What's Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on Cold War, Ebony on three great pieces about Martin Luther King, Jr., Anita on Pitch Perfect and evolving media standards RELEVANT LINKS: Jay Smooth's video on ten other things MLK said: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIFTNmOOLmk The Whitew

FFR #60: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? This week on FFR, we take on a Hollywood classic in the 1962 psychological thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, a film whose title character was, at the time, one of the most shocking women ever seen onscreen. Played by cinematic legend Bette Davis, Baby Jane is an aging former child star who mentally and physically abuses her sister Blanche, played by another giant of 30s and 40s cinema, Joan Crawford. It’s a complex and extremely effective film, and we discuss about how it spawned the psychobiddy genre centered on the unsettling spectre of the mad older woman, the power of Davis’ performance, the effectiveness of the tension and discomfort the film generates, and how there was a very public rivalry between the two leads during and following the making of the movie. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 3:05 Entertainment News: celebs apologizing for having worked with R. Kelly, Green Book co-writer’s racist tweet, Megan Kelly parts ways with NBC 13:30 What Ever Happened to Baby

FFR #59: If Beale Street Could Talk This week on FFR, we’re discussing Moonlight director Barry Jenkins’ wonderful new film, If Beale Street Could Talk. We get into the striking beauty of the film’s visual composition, the way it creates a feeling of community and solidarity that stretches beyond just what we see on the screen, and how it somehow manages to overflow with warmth and love, even as it gazes unflinchingly at the cruelties of systemic injustice. We also dish about the highs and lows of the Golden Globes, Carolyn offers up a new video game recommendation, Ebony asks where the white women are in the conversation about R. Kelly, and Anita says the cheesiest thing she’s ever said in her life. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 0:50 The Golden Globes (Sandra Oh hosts, Green Book wins (boo!), Olivia Colman wins (yay!) 10:15 A special message from Anita 10:35 If Beale Street Could Talk 45:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on Return of the Obra Dinn, Ebony on the voices missing from the conversation about R. Kelly, Anita

FFR #58: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse We’re kicking off 2019 with an FFR lovefest thanks to the exuberant and incredible Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse! Join us as we celebrate one of the best films of last year, with appreciation for its depiction of a diverse and lively Brooklyn, its wonderful hero, its touching Stan Lee cameo, and the way it fully embraces the medium of animation to do things that a live-action film probably couldn’t get away with. Also, Carolyn brings us the latest outrageous entertainment news about awful men doing awful things, and Ebony considers a career as a spy. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 0:58 A special New Year message from Anita 2:25 Anita and Ebony discuss Anita’s approach to roast chicken 3:12 Entertainment News (Unfortunately we’re still talking about Kevin Spacey and Louis CK) 13:15 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 42:45 What’s Your FREQ-Out? Ebony on rewatching MI-5 Carolyn on Leave No Trace Anita on the free giveaway at the Laker game she went to

FFR #57: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power This week, we journey to the world of Etheria for showrunner Noelle Stevenson’s bold reimagining of She-Ra, and we very much like what we see! From the surprisingly complex explorations of friendship dynamics (for what’s ostensibly a children’s cartoon) to the terrific assortment of body types to the wonderful way that some characters don’t conform to standard gender expectations and much more, this show has so much to offer young viewers (in addition to just being an entertaining show, of course). Plus, can we just talk about how great Catra looks in that tux?! Also, we discuss what CBS’ settlement with Eliza Dushku over sexual harassment on the set of Bull reveals about the culture within the network, and the horrible tactics Offset is using in his quest to get Cardi B back. We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 5:20 Entertainment News 14:00 She-Ra 44:15 What’s Your FREQ-Out

FFR #56: Doctor Who At long last, Anita and Ebony finally get around to talking about Doctor Who on the podcast! First, they both share their different relationships with the history of the show, and what they’re bringing with them to the new season, which stars Jodie Whittaker as the show’s first female Doctor. (Please note that this episode was recorded in early November, and only includes discussions of the season’s first five episodes.) We get into the overall political values of the new season under new showrunner Chris Chibnall, and give special attention to the episode “Rosa Parks.” Carolyn drops by FROM THE FUTURE to share the latest in entertainment news, and as always, Ebony and Anita each share a little something in What’s Your FREQ-Out? We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 2:55 Entertainment News: Call Me by Your Name author announces sequel novel in the works; the dangerous transphobia of Danish film Girl;

This week on FFR, Ebony and Carolyn take a road trip with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book. The film initially had a good deal of Oscar buzz, and in fact it was just chosen as the best film of 2018 by the National Board of Review. However, not everyone thinks the praise is deserved. In our conversation, we examine the film's reliance on stereotypes about what defines "real" blackness and the way it centers a white character in what should be a black man's story, while also praising the exceptional performance by Mahershala Ali, a performance that deserved a better film. Also, we discuss the media's handling of George H. W. Bush's passing, and Carolyn issues an apology for certain statements made during last week's discussion of Sabrina. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 2:25 Carolyn's apology 6:30 Pop culture news (Daredevil is cancelled, responses to the death of George H.W. Bush, the issue of "blackfishing" on Instagram) 19:10 Green Book 44:55 What's Your FREQ-Out? (Ebony on rewatching

This week, we’re off to Greendale to spend some time with the new Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina! The latest incarnation of the teenage witch who originated in comics in the early 1960s and who famously had her own TV show in the 1990s, The Chilling Adventures takes a creepier approach, with plenty of references to Satan and all manner of genuinely scary and sinister happenings plaguing the mere mortal townsfolk of Greendale. Our conversation touches on the show’s attempts to establish its feminist bonafides, its handling of characters of color and a character who is gender-nonconforming, the ways in which it tries to be simultaneously scary and silly, and more. SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS: 01:40 Entertainment News: Women kiss at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; transphobic responses to Dwight Howard allegations 09:20 The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 39:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out? RELEVANT LINKS: In Defense of Prudence Night on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Angelica Bastien: https://www.vulture.co