Feminist Frequency Radio

On this week's Feminist Frequency Radio, we follow Viola Davis wherever she wants to lead us in director Steve McQueen's new film, Widows. On the surface, Widows looks like a heist flick, though notably one with women comprising the crew at its center. But while Widows certainly has many elements of a heist film, it's not exactly a traditional, straightforward example of the genre. It's a film deeply concerned with racism, political corruption, financial desperation, the narrow roles women are often expected to fill, and the systems that perpetually maintain power for some while denying it to others. Our conversation covers the unexpected ways that Widows breaks from the genre mold, our differing opinions on how successfully (or unsuccessfully) it handles all its plot threads and political concerns, and some of the remarkable newcomers in the cast. And don't worry, our conversation is spoiler-free! Segment Timestamps: 1:45 Entertainment News (No Sony presence at E3 2019, Bill Maher's blog post on the passing

This week’s episode is (maybe) our one year anniversary and Ebony eats cake in celebration. This week’s discussion surrounds the most recent remake of A Star is Born directed and starring Bradley Cooper with Lady Gaga. As usual we are a group divided on these tortured love stories but it might not be what you expect. Ebony loved the music, Carolyn loved the romance and Anita couldn’t get over Bradley Cooper’s voice. Ebony tries to convince us of a new segment idea “Runtime Rundown”. The Anita robot breaks. Segment Timestamps: 2:23 - Pop Culture News (RIP Stan Lee, Serena Williams and GQ’s cover debacle) 5:03 - Main Topic: A Star is Born 39:08 - What’s Your FREQ Out Links: Serena Williams GQ's Woman of the Year: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/serena-williams-gq-woman-of-the-year_us_5beaaa0fe4b0caeec2bd8656 A Star is Born, How the Media Would Have Covered: http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/a-star-is-born-how-the-media-would-have-covered.html

This week's episode comes to you from two new satellite studios in the Keanu Reeves Memorial Complex! Anita has moved to L.A. and reports in from Johnny Utah HQ; Caro has started phoning in from the Johnny Mnemonic Wing; and Ebony continues to keep it buck at the Johnny Wick Workshop. Our discussion this week centered on the Netflix series, Maniac, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Justin Theroux, Sonoya Mizuno, and Sally Field. We share our reactions to this very weird, very stylistic, very empathetic show and its depictions of trauma, mental illness, and difficult relationships. Ebony and Anita discover that they quite like Jonah Hill's dramatic work; Caro talks about the effect of machine algorithms on media creation; and we end the show with a listener freq out for a book that sounds absolutely amazing! Segment Timestamps 0:00 Here We Go 3:04 Pop Culture News (Diablo mobile game announcement provokes some super dramatic [over]reactions; Rebel Wilson calls herself the fi

On this week's brand new FFR, we're live at GeekGirlCon '18 to talk about the ongoing trend of gender swaps in movies and television, whether it be specific characters who are reimagined as women (a la Starbuck in the Battlestar Galactica reboot) or a franchise that has historically centered men now centering female characters (as we see in Ocean's 8 or the 2016 Ghostbusters). Why is this sometimes widely celebrated by fandoms while at other times generating tremendous rage? When are these gender swaps progressive, and when do they just serve to cover up attempts at perpetuating the same old crummy patriarchal ideals? Does anyone really want a female-focused remake of What Women Want? Also, a few thoughts on Red Dead Redemption 2, the end of Megyn Kelly's morning show, and more! Segment Timestamps: 00:00 A Special Intro from Phil 01:30 Greetings from GeekGirlCon! 04:30 Entertainment News (Megyn Kelly, Apu on The Simpsons, The money being made by Red Dead Redemption 2) 16:30 Main Topic (Gender swapping in medi

On this week's very special episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Anita and Carolyn chat with the Anna Sale of WNYC's Death, Sex, and Money podcast about unethical labor practices in the video game industry, hot dads, and what makes a movie "a very Caro film." Segment timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 1:55 Pop Culture News: Daniel Craig toting his baby around causes Piers Morgan to combust; crunch time at Rockstar Games; false Facebook video analytics cause a sea change in online media consumption -- and not for the better 14:13 Private Life 36:14 Private Life movie spoiler! 43:31 What's Your Freq Out? Links: The BBC on Piers Morgan's tweet mocking Daniel Craig: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45873664 Kotaku's Jason Schreier on Rockstar Games' Culture of Crunch: https://kotaku.com/inside-rockstar-games-culture-of-crunch-1829936466 ‘Private Life’ Director Tamara Jenkins Always Looks on the Bright Side: https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/director-tamara-jenkins-private-life-movie-netflix-7326

On this week’s FFR, Ebony and Carolyn chat with writer, bon vivant, and Shatner Chatner-purveyor, Daniel Ortberg. But before that conversation kicked off, Carolyn dumped a giant bucket of disappointing entertainment news in the studio, from the Johnny Depp's continued appearance as Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts film; the "un-uglifying" of Hester in the upcoming Mortal Engines movie, and author Chuck Wendig being let go from Marvel. But then the mood rapidly lightened as we dove into our discussion of Daniel Ortberg's formative years in the suburban Midwest; the appeal of certainty and vocation in The Hunt for Red October; and whether Paris Hilton is a closet ham radio fanatic. **Fun fact: during the entire period that Ebony and Daniel were discussing 17th century Christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, Ebony actually thought they were talking about the 14th century Christian allegory, Piers Plowman. As far as she is aware, there is no Marvel comic book of Piers Plowman extant. Segmen

FFR #47: Top Gun On this week’s FFR, we fly into the danger zone with Maverick, Iceman, Goose and the rest of the best of the best with the cultural juggernaut that is Top Gun. Is it a film carefully calculated to represent masculinity in such a way as to maximize navy recruitment efforts? Is it a film dripping with queer subtext? Can it be both? Join us for a conversation about the acting, the imagery, and questions about what really constitutes the film’s central love story. Also, Anita announces that she’s had a lifetime’s fill of a certain pop star and never needs to hear another one of their songs again, much to Carolyn’s dismay. And Carolyn time-warps into the episode to bring you pop culture news from the future! Segment Timestamps: :00 Intro 3:10 Entertainment News: The link between Kavanaugh and Gamergate. Bette Midler makes a bad tweet. Lady Gaga on sexual assault and trauma on Colbert. 11:35 Top Gun 44:05 What’s Your FREQ-Out? Ebony on Veep, Carolyn on Life Is Strange 2, Anita on the books of Poroc

In this, the third and last of our special conversations recorded at XOXO in Portland, Anita talks to Jenn Sandercock, a games industry veteran who is also a pioneer in the field of edible games! Here, she and Anita talk about some of the delicious games Jenn has created, her background in artificial intelligence, and the particular issues around age that are prevalent in tech and gaming fields. Learn more about Jenn's games at ediblegames.com and follow her on Twitter at @JennSandercock.

In this, the second of three special conversations recorded at XOXO 2018 in Portland, Anita talks to adventure cartoonist Lucy Bellwood about her wonderful recent project 100 Demon Dialogues, perceptions of success vs. the reality of it, the unique challenges of having a job that requires you to be on social media, dealing with impostor syndrome, being vulnerable in your work, and more. Follow Lucy on Twitter at @lubellwoo. Visit her website at lucybellwood.com and check out her Patreon at patreon.com/lucybellwood.

FFR #46: Monsters and Men On this week’s episode of FFR, we discuss the new film Monsters and Men, a drama loosely inspired by the 2014 murder of Eric Garner by officers of the NYPD. The film follows three men of color, one of them a cop himself, whose lives are impacted in different ways when police murder an unarmed black resident of Brooklyn. Our conversation touches on the ways women are often marginalized in these stories (see also Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You), the difficulty and importance of sometimes having deeply uncomfortable conversations, and how displays of character can sometimes be seen as a liability, particularly for black athletes. Also: Bill Cosby’s conviction, the latest Harry Potter controversy, and more. Segment Timestamps: 00:00 A Quick Message from Anita 00:20 Intro 2:20 Entertainment News: Bill Cosby convicted; The Harry Potter character Nagini who we thought was a snake is actually an Asian woman! 13:50 A Quick Message from Carolyn 14:30 The new film Monsters and Men 46:25

On this week's episode of FFR, the gang discusses Searching, a new thriller starring John Cho which takes place entirely on computer screens. As David Kim, a father searching for his missing daughter, John Cho navigates Facebook, Tumblr, creates spreadsheets, makes phone calls using FaceTime, and otherwise employs technology in the ways that many of us do every day as just an ordinary part of our lives. Our conversation touches on the effectiveness of Searching as a thriller, the aspects of it that are traditional and those that are more experimental, how it depicts the way we sometimes seek connection online while avoiding it in the physical world, and the different things we allow and expect from fathers as opposed to mothers in movies. We also talk about the collapse of Telltale games and the larger issue of labor in the games industry, the recent hubbub over Bert and Ernie, and lots more. (Note that there have been new developments in the Telltale situation since the recording of this conversation on Mon

In this, the first of three special conversations recorded at the XOXO festival in Portland, Oregon, Anita talks to Natalie Wynn, who, with her channel ContraPoints, has become one of the most celebrated progressive voices on YouTube, thanks to the wonderful videos that result from the combination of Wynn's rigorous intellect, her biting humor, and her sense of theatrical style. In this conversation, Anita talks to Wynn about how her YouTube presence originated and has evolved, the toll of wading through toxic online sludge, and creating space online for people to evolve and make mistakes, among other things. Watch Natalie's video on Incels Read Katherine Cross' profile of Natalie for The Verge

On this week’s FFR, we talk about the new Amazon Prime series Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski as Tom Clancy’s most famous hero, who finds himself on the trail of--surprise!--a Muslim terrorist! What makes Jack Ryan interesting to discuss is the ways in which the creators of the show have clearly made a conscious effort to address potential criticism of the series as being Islamophobic or otherwise problematic. Did they succeed? Find out what we think! Also in this episode, we issue an important correction about a statement made in a previous episode, and Ebony gets emotional talking about Doctor Who. Segment Timestamps: :00 A short message from Anita :15 Intro 1:35 We issue an important correction 3:40 Carolyn's plight (and a solution) 4:15 Pop culture news: Olivia Munn, Les Moonves 12:25 Main segment: Jack Ryan 44:25 What's Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on Spider-Man, Ebony on Doctor Who, Anita on the feeling of having written a book 56:55 wrap-up Relevant Links: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason on Les Moonves Learn mo

This week, we bring you a very special show recorded live at the XOXO festival in Portland! We decided to liven things up by playing a special game in which each of us presents one piece of media we loved when we were younger to the crowd, and asking them to vote: Can we still love this thing, or do we have to dump it? A cult classic NES game, a mostly forgotten 80s TV series, and a much-maligned episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are all on the chopping block. How will the crowd decide? But that’s not all! We also talk about how Burt Reynolds was the first male centerfold in Cosmo Magazine (and whether or not this was a win for feminism), the “copaganda” of Insomniac’s new Spider-Man game for PS4, what sets Anita and Ebony’s upcoming book History Vs. Women apart, and much more. Segment Timestamps :00 A Special Intro from Anita 1:10 We’re Live at #XOXO! 4:50 Entertainment News: Burt Reynolds as Cosmo’s First Male Centerfold, “Copaganda” in Insomniac’s New Spider-Man Game 15:30 Intro to “Defend the Dumbest Th

This week, Anita’s away so Ebony and Carolyn get weird with a look back at David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, a dreamlike odyssey about female fantasy, the commoditization of women in Hollywood, and—well, what IS Mulholland Drive about, really? We go on a winding journey in search of answers. We also discuss Louis CK and the enduring lack of real consequences for so many male abusers, the cultural rehabilitation of George W. Bush, and we take a moment to wish a very happy birthday to one of our favorite actors. We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! Segment Timestamps: :00 intro 1:15 opening chit-chat 2:55 pop culture news: Louis CK and the MeToo movement Marco Rubio reacts to Neil Armstrong biopic First Man Happy Birthday Keanu! 14:50 Mulholland Dr. 45:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on the cultural rehabilitation of George W. Bush, Ebony on the TNT series Claws, and a listener FREQ-Out on the film I Am Not an Easy Man, currently streaming on

Each week, we record a bonus segment exclusively for our Drip backers. This week, we decided to make our bonus available to everyone. Here, a chat about the extremely enjoyable new game Guacamelee 2 evolves into a larger discussion about engaging with problematic work, where we draw the line, and navigating the complexities that often arise when striving to be critical of the media we love. To access all of our weekly bonus segments along with other rewards, join our podcast community at d.rip/femfreq.

In this week's episode, your favorite radical hacker collective get into the nitty gritty of 90's tech paranoia via the 1995 films Hackers and Strange Days. Caro can't help but admire SD's attempt to create compelling fable for its time; while Ebony and Anita discuss the gendered violence the film doesn't allow us to look away from. Hackers turned out to be a bit harder to reckon with -- not least because Caro couldn't get past the image of a skateboarding Fisher Stevens; Ebony was tormented by Lorraine Bracco's befuddled shrieking; and Anita found the film's technobabble to be long on "cool," but short on substance. 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, PlayerFM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And if you're not already a backer here on Drip, become one for nifty rewards like our weekly bonus segments, access to our friendly and stimulati

This week on Feminist Frequency Radio, we’re talking about the hit new rom-com that’s also a watershed moment in cinematic representation, Crazy Rich Asians! We discuss the beauty of Singapore, so rarely seen onscreen in America, the complex issues of class and wealth that the film both does and does not engage with, Awkwafina’s “blaccent,” the way gender roles are tied up in notions of tradition, and much more. Also, Anita tells us why she loves Elementary, and Carolyn shouts out some obscure little computer game. Segment Timestamps: :00 intros, weekend adventures 3:20 entertainment news (Trump on Apocalypse Now, Rebecca Sugar on Steven Universe, Megan Farokhmanesh on Fortnite streamer Ninja) 10:15 Crazy Rich Asians 42:30 What’s Your FREQ-Out? 53:10 Wrap-up Relevant Links: Follow our Twitch channel so you too can watch Carolyn stream until 6AM: twitch.tv/femfreq Read about Trump’s bizarre meeting with Vietnam veterans: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-omarosa-had-a-fcking-weird-fight-with-vietnam-vets

This week, Anita, Ebony and Carolyn are going deep undercover with Spike Lee’s latest film, BlacKkKlansman, based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, a black Colorado Springs police officer who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, in a manner of speaking. We talk about how the film engages directly with cinematic history, from white supremacist films like Birth of a Nation to blaxploitation classics like Shaft, the frustrating ways in which it positions the police force as an institution as heroic, and the roles women play among both the black political activists and the white supremacists the film focuses on. We also cover some of the latest pop culture news from the world of video games, discuss our complicated feelings on the idea of Idris Elba (yay!) as James Bond (boo!), and share some stuff worth celebrating in What’s Your Freq-Out! Segment Timestamps: :00 Intros and greetings 1:25 Anita’s back from Vegas and Indianapolis 3:40 pop culture news: Fortnite streamer Ninja won’t stream with women, the

#38: Mission: Impossible - Fallout On this week’s episode, Anita’s off on a top-secret assignment, no doubt saving the world from the evil forces of anti-feminism, so Carolyn and Ebony hold down the fort at FemFreq HQ by diving into the international intrigue of Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Join us as we discuss hero Ethan Hunt’s moral convictions, the not-so-magical way in which the film makes millions of brown people disappear, how the IMF is both the cause of and solution to the world’s problems, what makes M:I a cinematically interesting franchise as a whole, and lots more! In addition, we explore our feelings about the news of Jean-Luc Picard’s impending return, and Carolyn shares some YouTube videos that have been whisking her away to a cozy and relaxing fantasy world. We also present a FREQ-Out from one of our listeners! Remember, we want to hear from you, too, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today! Segment Timestamps:  :00 Intro 1:40 friendly banter 4:10 po