Mismatched Texts

Wherein Justice and Andy welcome Zach S. Whitney, friend of the show and attorney in Milwaukee. Together we litigate the cultural and legal ramifications of banning books in local and state curriculums. Topics range from Maus being banned in McMinn County, Tennessee, to the misrepresentation of Critical Race Theory in the media and state legislatures, to bewilderment at the requests for "alternati...

Wherein Andy and Justice saddle up for a conversation about the expansiveness of the West in Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 and the entrapment of urban space in China Miéville's The City & The City. What can we learn from exploring the once wide-open prairie and the crushing darkness of the metropolis in these texts? Why do we seek to escape the only spaces we have ever known? Can we even i...

Wherein Justice and Andy wrestle with the recent post-game violence at the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines NCAA Division I basketball game. Is basketball worth physically violent confrontation? Of course not. Has the business of college sports grown too large? Of course it has. Do we want children fighting over sporting events? Of course not. Is two sports-related episodes in a month too...

Wherein Andy and Justice continue the discussion of white savior narratives, this time looking at Saul Bellow's 1958 novel Henderson the Rain King, 1995's  Dangerous Minds, and 2009's  The Blind Side . From Henderson's trip to Africa to Leigh Anne Tuohy's trip to Hurt Village to Louanne Johnson's time in an inner-city classroom, why do we keep seeing white people assume authority over black and br...

Wherein Justice and Andy tackle the imagined communities of sports fandoms in our Super Bowl special. From Justice's sudden and unexpected emotional investment in the Cincinnati Bengals to Andy's disappointment in the Green Bay Packers' playoff loss, we look to Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities to understand how people are drawn into a community of individuals they have never met. Do you fe...

Wherein Andy and Justice welcome sociologist Jeffrey Kroll to the show. Together as humans we question the representation of our species in the  Mass Effect  and  Forgotten Realms  franchises. Why are humans always disparaged in these sci fi and fantasy settings? What is it about humanity that makes us underserving of trust and responsibility? Topics range from human saviors to the negative conseq...

Wherein Justice and Andy swing into the fan debate about two of Marvel's most popular heroes. Who would win in a fight: Spider-Man or Captain America? It's been depicted recently in the MCU, but does that reflect the "realities" of these characters from the comics? Who wins between a human and a superhuman? We tell you. Also, shields vs. webbing and power levels in the MCU. Have they gone too far?

Wherein Andy and Justice excavate the white savior controversies of  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom  and  Black Panther . Drawing on the work of Edward Said and other scholars, we examine the colonial interventions of white characters in non-white spaces. How has Indiana Jones remained a hero for so long? Was Everett Ross a colonizer or an ally? And finally, have you eaten at an Indian resta...

Wherein Justice and Andy jack-in to review the new addition to the Matrix franchise, The Matrix Resurrections. How does the film compare to the those of the original trilogy? Is it a worthwhile addition to the legacy? In what ways does it repeat past successes or condemn itself to past failures? Choose the red pill and join us.

Wherein Andy and Justice battle with Sqaure Enix over their delays in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake installments. Why is it taking so long? Will Andy still be alive to see the end? We already know what happens, so why keep us waiting? Haven't you learned anything from Game of Thrones or The Wheel of Time?

Wherein Justice and Andy trek across the blasted landscapes of two post-apocalyptic films. What are some of the differences between stories where humanity needs to start from scratch and stories where pockets of survivors emerge to reclaim human spaces? Topics range from artificial intelligence to the role of the divine to our inability to grow tomatoes. Is it possible for humanity to recover? Not...

Wherein Andy and Justice follow the difficult journey to prestige for influencers across the social media platforms of TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and the rest. Topics include the uneven racial dynamics of the algorithm that governs these platforms and the compromised work of artists for financial gain. Admitting our own lack of influence, we try to understand the desire and passion and ultimately...

Wherein Justice and Andy chirp about the recent controversy surrounding Big Bird's healthcare choices. From Sesame Street's (and PBS's) history as a favorite target for conservative politicians to its service in creating kinder children, we wonder why politicians insert themselves between Big Bird's family and their doctor. Spoiler Alert: America's favorite canary is not a communist.

Wherein Andy and Justice rely on the work of Paula Gunn Allen and Katja Kanzler in their discussion of First Nations narratives and representation. From the seminal work of Leslie Marmon Silko,  Ceremony , to the compromised and problematic depiction of Commander Chakotay on  Star Trek: Voyager , we explore the authentic and the conditioned expectation.

Wherein Justice and Andy march into the debate over Son of Kal-El, the new Superman character introduced this year. His sexuality has sparked some backlash and handwringing from cultural and political pundits, and his climate activism has left others quite disappointed. We explore both sides of the issue to answer the question: who is this new Superman?

Wherein Andy and Justice trek through Denis Villeneuve's new  Dune film adaptation. What has changed from the book? What has remained faithful to Herbert's vision? Is a Dune  adaptation truly possible? Also, Josh Brolin is even more terrifying as Gurney Halleck than as Thanos.

Wherein Justice and Andy uplift the conversation on animal and non-human sentience. We telescope our conversation through Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time  and Arthur P. Jacobs'  Planet of the Apes  franchise. Kathy Rudy's "Where the Wild Things Ought to Be" and the work of Arik Kershenbaum and Peter Singer assist us in hopefully assessing a more balanced existence for humanity on Earth. Thou...

Wherein Andy and Justice enlist in a conversation that ponders the place of the humanities in the American military academies and the military generally. Did you know that West Point has English majors and courses on climate crisis narratives? We didn't! Also, Danny DeVito teaching Hamlet.

Wherein Justice and Andy cut their way through the long history of Worf, son of Mogh in the Star Trek franchise. From his thin role as the token Klingon in the early episodes of Next Generation, to his robust victories as a folk hero of the Klingon Empire in Deep Space Nine, we chart his evolution alongside that of Klingon society. Iwlij jachjaj!

Wherein Andy and Justice attack the bravado of people who claim that they can defeat a wild animal in a fight. Have you ever been startled or frightened by a mouse? If you were cornered by a badger, could you make it out alive? What about a kangaroo? How do you stack up, tough guy?

Wherein Justice and Andy partner up in a conversation about the nature of teambuilding in the new The Suicide Squad  and The Avengers . What are the methods of building these superhero teams? Do you find yourself caring about one team more than the other? And has DC finally broken out of the MCU's shadow and its own quagmire?

Wherein Andy and Justice transform the conversation surrounding He-Man and Battle Cat in an effort to highlight the trauma of Cringer's forced labor as a soldier made happy to do violence. Why did we always think that this was ok? Its been happening to him for more than three decades!

Wherein Justice and Andy jump into the fray of  The Tomorrow War's numerous narrative pitfalls and paradoxes. Why does it feel like both the alien war and the movie itself came out of absolutely nowhere? Topics range from ignoring the grandfather paradox to the race to churn out content to the unimaginable sequel.

Wherein Andy and Justice welcome Dr. Bonnie McLean, friend and noted scholar on the Mad Max  and  Blade Runner franchises. Together we augment our collective understanding of artificial intelligence, cyborgs, androids, and the disposability of female bodies in film. *Processing* ideas including: the apocalypse, rebuilding the world, and Andy's bleak vision of the future.

Wherein Justice & Andy bludgeon their way through HBO's  Harley Quinn  and Amazon's  Invincible . How does hyperviolence operate in stories about parents and children? Does a violent Harley Quinn more effectively articulate an avenue toward empowerment for women? Also smashed under our mallet: childhood trauma, the subjugation of Earth, and, of course, cunnilingus and masculinity.