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Media LiterateEpisode 28: Graduation DayHey, almost everybody who worked on this podcast is receiving their degrees today! In honor of this momentous occasion, the Media Literate team organized an adorably tiny "conference" with some panels of our most frequent guests to let them talk to each other for once instead of being stuck with Kim and Laura. It's a mushy, feel-good finale. Thanks for listening.
2022-05-131h 10Media LiterateEpisode 27: Cinema. Fourth CinemaSebastian returns from an epic voyage through the James Bond franchise to tell Kim and Laura about one of its low points—or high points, depending on how you look at it—Lee Tamahori's Die Another Day (2002).
Some cool articles for further inquiry:
Barry Barclay, “Celebrating Fourth Cinema”: https://www.academia.edu/4905111/Printed_in_Illusions_Magazine_NZ_July_2003_CELEBRATING_FOURTH_CINEMA Cynthia Baron, “Doctor No: Bonding Britishness to Racial Sovereignty”: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_James_Bond_Phenomenon/x9-1QY5boUsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Heather Davis an...2022-05-061h 09Media LiterateEpisode 26: The Revolution Will Not Be GamifiedBri returns to drop some more game studies knowledge on Kim and Laura's heads, this time thinking about the question of agency. What does it mean to make choices in games, particularly when it comes to games that tell stories of resistance and revolution? Is there a "right" or a "wrong" ending to these games?
Some cool links for further inquiry:
States and Social Revolutions by Theda Skocpol:
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=so0gddc0w3UC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=states+and+social+revolution&ots=I...2022-04-2355 minMedia LiterateHot Take Two - Episode 2: So, The Oscars...Kim Henry joins Julia Elizabeth Evans to reflect on the biggest night of the year in Hollywood—the good, the bad, and the cringe.
2022-04-1637 minMedia LiterateEpisode 25: All About Our MothersIt's a mom appreciation episode! Kim, Laura, and Daniela try to parse through Pedro Almodovar's "All About My Mother" while considering their own mothers and how they influenced their love of film. No, Kim and Laura don't understand the movie, but hey, they've still got a whole two months left in their Master's program to figure it all out.
2022-03-1859 minMedia LiterateEpisode 24: The First Official Media Literate Coven MeetingJulia welcomes Kim and Laura to her new coven with a conversation about witches and anthropology.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
What Type of Witch Are You?
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sydrobinson1/what-type-of-witch-are-you
Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mules_and_Men/tz62QRx_gE0C?hl=en&gbpv=0 -
Ronald Hutton, The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Witch/RDYuDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Ernst Karel and Veronika K...2022-03-041h 00Media LiterateSnack Episode 12: [Post]SocialismEverything you need to know about Post-Socialism. Just in time, too.
2022-02-2609 minMedia LiterateHot Take Two - Episode 1: Can Hollywood Just Chill?Our producer Julia Elizabeth Evans takes a second to process industry news with our host Laura. Together, they circle back and work out their thoughts about the 2021 Rust set tragedy, the fall 2021 IAETSE strike, Hollywood’s culture of urgency, and the industry-wide conversation around safety on set.
2022-02-2216 minMedia LiterateEpisode 23: Buster Keaton Can Get ItLaura and Kim enlist Ann's help in understanding what it is about early film she loves so much—other than the fact that Buster Keaton can definitely get it, which they understand completely.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
Mary Ann Doane, "The Indexical and the Concept of Medium Specificity"
https://read.dukeupress.edu/differences/article-abstract/18/1/128/97676/The-Indexical-and-the-Concept-of-Medium
Tom Gunning, "The Cinema of Attraction: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde"
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/film/gaines/historiography/Gunning.pdf
2022-02-1957 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 11: Hegemony, Gramsci, and Politics (Oh My!)From cultural norms to political values to stereotypes—learn all about Antonio Gramsci and his essential contributions to the concept of 'hegemony' on this week's Snack Episode, with special guest, PhD student Dan Lark.
Some cool references for further inquiry:
How Gramsci Went Global" by Marzia Maccaferri: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/10/how-gramsci-went-global
Antonio Gramsci: Life of a Revolutionary by Giussepe Fiori (1990)
Antonio Gramsci: Architect of a New Politics by Dante L. Germino (1990)
The Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/prison-notebooks/9780231157551
"The world world is dyi...2022-02-1209 minMedia LiterateEpisode 22: Bridgerton - About More Than Just C*m?Attention ladies and gentleman of the ton, Media Literate is back for the new social season with romance scholar and absolute legend Jackie Johnson, who joins Kim and Laura for a chat about the racial politics of Bridgerton (2020-). What does it mean to be "race-blind?" And how do the implications of a story change when adapting a book to film with actors of color?
Some cool sources for further inquiry:
Aymar Jean Christian, Open TV: Innovation beyond Hollywood and the Rise of Web Television: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.18574/9781479814909/html
2022-02-061h 00Media LiterateEpisode 21: A Media Literate Christmas SpecialIt's finally mildly chilly in Los Angeles, so grab a cup of cocoa (or something stronger) and get cozy. Kim and Laura are talking about their favorite Christmas movies in an extended Canon Fodder segment that in classic Canon Fodder tradition mostly doesn't mention any of the actual Christmas movie canon.
2021-12-2445 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 10: Understanding Chicanx CinemaThis week's snack episode is led by Daniela Velazco, who teaches us the roots and importance of Chicanx cinema. Learn how these Mexican-American filmmakers started, what motivated the stories they tell, and why their films especially relevant in our modern, transnational context.
2021-12-1708 minMedia LiterateEpisode 20: Turning White Men into FertilizerKim and Laura return to their ongoing conversation on futurity with Sebastian, who talks with them about Indigenous time and conceptions of the future.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
Incident at Restigouche: https://www.nfb.ca/film/incident_at_restigouche/ The Cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHZsdgfo11w&t=3s
File Under Miscellaneous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SEyAs-FSHQ&t=360s
The 6th World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f4Jm0y_iLk
Lindsey Catherine Cornum, “The Creation Story is a Spaceship: Indigenous Futurism an...2021-12-0359 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 9: Fourth Cinema and BeyondReturning guest, Sebastian, comes to explain everything important about Fourth Cinema and its roots in media history...in 4 minutes. Learn about numbered cinema and what comes next in this week's Snack Episode.
2021-11-2708 minMedia LiterateEpisode 19: Star PowerAnn returns once again, this time for a chat with Kim and Laura about the power of celebrity in the United States and China and its role in projecting national influence around the world. Plus, Kim and Laura share some of their most embarrassing celebrity hangups.
Some cool links for further info:
Ann McCarthy, "Reality Television: A Neoliberal Theater of Suffering": https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Mccarthy-2/publication/249880817_Reality_Television_A_Neoliberal_Theater_of_Suffering/links/556c098108aeccd7773a228c/Reality-Television-A-Neoliberal-Theater-of-Suffering.pdf
Sarah Banet-Weiser, Authentic(TM): https://www.degruyter.com/document/d...2021-11-2059 minMedia LiterateEpisode 18: What Americans Are Missing About ‘Squid Game‘Kim and Laura are joined by Ph.D. student Maddie Hawk for a chat about the history of Korean media up to and including Squid Game. Why is it so big right now, and what do we miss about it when we don't have the proper context?
2021-11-051h 07Media LiterateSnack Episode 8: The Horror of Abjection (In 4 Minutes)Just in time for the Spooky Holidays, our newest Short-Form Snack Episode invites back Charlotte Scurlock to teach us the history and use of the horror genre term: abjection.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: http://digitalmedia.arts.ufl.edu/~jack/home/images/archive/6/60/20160825003818%21Kristevapowersofhorrorabjection.pdf
Barbara Creed, The Monstrous-Feminine: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429236143/monstrous-feminine-barbara-creed
2021-10-2908 minMedia LiterateEpisode 17: Turning Beef into Beyond BurgersGet ready for a very wholesome airing of grievances. Laura and Kim bring on a brand-new team member, MFA student Julia Elizabeth Evans, to settle the centuries-old (probably) rivalry between film studies and film production. Is the author really dead, as this podcast has been saying for months now? Let's see what an author thinks.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author: https://sites.tufts.edu/english292b/files/2012/01/Barthes-The-Death-of-the-Author.pdf
T.J. Demos, Beyond the World's End: Arts of Living at the Cr...2021-10-221h 11Media LiterateSnack Episode 7: What is the IATSE Strike?In this early-release Snack Episode, Julia Elizabeth Evans discusses the recent IATSE strike rippling through the media production world, and explains why it matters for you and the shows you care about.
Want to learn more about the updated agreement between Producers and Film Crew Members?
"Hollywood Strike Averted As IATSE & AMPTP Reach Deal On New Film & TV" Contracthttps://deadline.com/2021/10/hollywood-strike-averted-iatse-amptp-reach-agreement-on-new-film-tv-contract-1234850563/
2021-10-1912 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 6: Memorialization and World War 2 FilmsFrom the The Odyssey to Saving Private Ryan (1998), why are War stories so prevalent in our culture, and what purpose do they serve? Join us with the return of Kevin, who finally tells us the truth about his Twilight journey, and dive into the reasons behind memorialization in War Films.
2021-10-1508 minMedia LiterateEpisode 16: Is Miyazaki an Environmentalist?We're back with our Third Season! Listen to the return of Colton, who joins Kim and Laura to tell them all about Hayao Miyazaki and the possibility of media to shape our perspectives on the environment and the future.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, "A look inside 'The Mushroom at the End of the World'": https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/a-look-inside-the-mushroom-at-the-end-of-the-world
Jennifer Fay, "Inhospitable World: Cinema in the Time of the Anthropocene": https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190696771.001.0001/oso-9780190696771
2021-10-081h 04Media LiterateEpisode 15: The Archive of the FutureAnn returns to drop some glorious archive knowledge on Laura and Kim. What even is an archive? Why do they exist? What's the best way to maintain one for the future?
PLUS, check out Ann's amazing documentary on family archives: https://vimeo.com/597358678
We're going to be taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming for a while as we prepare for Season 3, so to help bear the absence of your biweekly dose of grad student panic check us out on our brand new Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medialiteratepodcast/
Some cool links...2021-09-0354 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 5: The Spaces BetweenAfter successfully navigating our brief liminal space of the summer between semesters, Lilla joins this week to discuss the origins of Cultural Liminality and it's relationship to film and media. Learn where liminality comes from, why it matters, and how it relates to films like Brooklyn (2015) and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) on this week's Snack Episode.
2021-08-2807 minMedia LiterateEpisode 14: Is Film Dead?Kim, Laura, and Ziwei talk about the film versus digital debate (what is it? What does it mean? Does it matter?) and whether the idea of the "virtual" is brand-new or centuries old.
Media Literate is a collaborative podcast produced by Colton Elzey, Sebastian Wurzrainer, Laura Broman, Kim Henry, and Julia Rose Camus. This episode was edited by Ann Zhang. Our theme music is Soft Feeling by Cheel, and our logo was created by Julia.
A whole lot of cool links for further inquiry:
"The Virtual Life of Film"
D. N. Rodowick
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvjf9v4j
...2021-08-211h 03Media LiterateEpisode 13: You're Not Really Homeless, Tyra! Gaming, Empathy, and Identification
Sabrina returns to try to explain game studies to Kim and Laura, who know nothing about game studies. Or games. Looking at the horror video game Until Dawn, they discuss how empathy and identification function in gameplay—both the positives and the negatives.
A cool link for further inquiry:
https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/brecht-interruptions-and-epic-theatre
2021-08-0657 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 4: The Truth About NeoliberalismWell, at least as much of that truth you can get in 3 min.
Join us this week as Charlotte discusses Neoliberalism's roots, alongside its early founders and handful of shortcomings.
2021-07-3008 minMedia LiterateEpisode 12: AMC‘s Terrible YearKim and Laura welcome newcomer Brian Smith to reflect on some developments that have shaken up the the entertainment industry in the past year and discuss the shifting culture around film viewing. Will AMC survive the shift to streaming? Will the government ever regulate the film industry again? Will Julia Rose Camus forgive Kim for her slights against the French? Only time will tell.
A single cool link for further inquiry:
Tom Gunning's "The Cinema of Attraction"
https://film110.pbworks.com/f/Gunning+Cinema+of+Attractions.pdf
2021-07-2356 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 3: Understanding Queer Time in 3 MinutesAs if romance movies weren't already unrealistic enough, Guest Host Julia Rose Camus helps explain why queer relationships are often even more removed from realism in our media. Join us on this week's Snack Episode to learn everything you need to know about Queer Time and why it matters in our media today.
2021-07-1606 minMedia LiterateEpisode 11: The 3 Cardinal Sins of Queer RepresentationJulia Rose Camus, Kim, and Laura look back on some of their most formative shows and discuss the great missteps of queer representation that characterized so much of 2000s media.
Cool links for further inquiry:
Shipping it: https://shippingit.tumblr.com/
Sex and the City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEIWg6pV9g0&list=PLacz53F9hQwaRlJSBhZli1z80O4KdX-fZ
2021-07-091h 05Media LiterateSnack Episode 2: The Secrets of Darkroom Photography in 3 Minutes.How are photos really made? Why is the room always dark? What's up with the red lights??
On this week's Snack Episode, Guest Host Ann teaches Colton all about the enigmas of dark room photography, and how filmmakers and photographers truly master the art of Light Bending.
Tune in to Media Literate's Snack Episodes to learn everything you never knew, you never knew about darkroom photography.
2021-07-0306 minMedia LiterateEpisode 10: 7 Ways to be Anti-Racist at the Box OfficeOkay, not really, but wouldn't it be nice if there was a quick and easy listicle that could tell you how to engage with cinema created by marginalized groups? Instead, this week Sebastian returns to talk indigenous cinema with Kim and Laura. Looking at Lee Tamahori's 1994 film Once Were Warriors, they discuss how the concepts of authorship and "death of the author" apply when it comes to indigenous films, and try to figure out what it means to be a responsible viewer.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
“The Death of the Author” by Roland Bart...2021-06-2550 minMedia LiterateSnack Episode 1: Lacan, Lack and Desire in 3 Minutes.What is desire? Who is Jacques Lacan? What are we lacking??
In this new mini-series, Colton invites on different hosts to cover an array of media topics. The catch? They only have 3 min to explain their topic in full. This week's subject is all about lack, desire and where they come from.
Tune in to Media Literate's Snack Episodes to learn everything you never knew, you never knew.
2021-06-1906 minMedia LiterateEpisode 9: Corrupt Me, DraculaIn the Season 2 premier, new permanent hosts Kim and Laura are joined by Colton for a conversation about the potential of monsters as allegory. Using an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a guide, Colton delves into the ways creatures like werewolves and witches have the power to start conversations among viewers.
Source: "Television as a cultural forum: Implications for research" by Horace Newcomb and Paul Hirsch, 1983: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10509208309361170
Media Literate is a collaborative podcast produced by Colton Elzey, Sebastian Wurzrainer, Laura Broman, Kim Henry, and Julia Rose Camus. This...2021-06-1150 minMedia LiterateEpisode 8: Queering Troy Bolton: Oppositional Readings of Girls‘ MediaIn the season finale of Media Literate, Andrea is joined by returning guests Sabrina and Julia Rose Camus for a conversation about the often-dismissed media made for girls. They look at how, not simply passive receivers of meaning, girls take agency in how they interpret the content directed towards them.
Sources:
Shauna Pomerantz : "Between a Rock and a Hard Place:Un/Defining the "Girl""
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/406620/pdf?casa_token=sjWQsHhx06cAAAAA:gUY04-xkDENA7Kl0j4yGjvtDQACzO6xvpu02K0pGDcFgrfJzp9UZc5Hg8Y11xxmR9GAzMkRTEw
Stuart Hall: "ENCODING/DECODING"
https://spstudentenhancement.f...2021-05-071h 06Media LiterateEpisode 7: What Even Is "Indie Film?"What exactly is "independent cinema?" How does it manifest differently in Hollywood versus other countries? Ann, Ziwei, and Daniela sit down for a conversation about what should qualify as an independent film across American and Chinese culture, and just how blurred the lines between independent and mainstream cinema have become.
2021-04-2452 minMedia LiterateEpisode 6: The Sopranos, Mental Health, and FoodDaniela, Charlotte, and Laura discuss The Sopranos and its unique portrayals of masculinity, food, and mental health, taking a close look at the show’s representations of eating disorders.
*CW: discussions of eating disorders and diet culture.
2021-04-091h 00Media LiterateEpisode 5: D&D & iDeologyDan, Ann, and Sabrina delve into the history behind the iconic tabletop RPG, Dungeons & Dragons. Looking at some of the more questionable choices in the game's rules, world-building, and antecedents, they consider what it means to be an ethical player and how ideology surrounds us, even if we don't always know it.
2021-03-2656 minMedia LiterateEpisode 4: Modern Man.Colton and Sebastian join Julia Rose Camus for a conversation about masculinity in the media. In breaking away from our usual debate format, the 3 discuss portrayals on some of the biggest, and smallest screens, in search of how media can be used to dismantle toxic masculinity.
Some cool links for further inquiry:
Gillette "The Best a Man Can Get"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0
Charlie XCX "Boys"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPRy1B4t5YA
Steve Neale "Masculinity as a Spectacle"
https://academic.oup.com/screen/art...2021-03-121h 09Media LiterateEpisode 3: Can Marvel Make Revolutionary Movies? Intro to Numbered Cinema.In episode 3 of Media Literate Sebastian, Victor, and Laura discuss the value of Numbered Cinema, the framework that ties together the French New Wave, Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, and Marxist revolutionaries—or does it really?
Some cool links for further inquiry:
- Toward a Third Cinema: https://www.criticalsecret.net/IMG/pdf/towards_a_third_cinema.pdf
- Celebrating Fourth Cinema: https://www.academia.edu/4905111/Printed_in_Illusions_Magazine_NZ_July_2003_CELEBRATING_FOURTH_CINEMA
- Our Own Image: https://www-jstor-org.libproxy2.usc.edu/stable/10.5749/j.ctt189ttts
- Dan Taip...2021-02-261h 07Media LiterateEpisode 2: Who is the REAL King of the Monsters?In this second episode of Media Literate, Ann Zhang, Kimberly Henry and Colton Elzey discuss the king of monsters himself: Godzilla. Their question centers around comparing the recent re-boot franchise with the original roots of the giant lizard, and where it all started. Listen now to learn just how much new art and old art can both differ and relate.
2021-02-1359 minMedia LiterateEpisode 1: Can We Live Without the Canon?Charlotte, Kim, and Laura discuss the film canon, those movies everyone says you need to see in order to be considered an expert.
2021-01-3001 min