Erin Explains

Erin and Ryan offer more dubious analysis of episodes 4 & 5 of PLUR1BUS, and throw in a bonus review of BUGONIA to boot! The explore how the show plays with authorship, narrative, and the audience’s role in shaping meaning. They revisit theories about AI allegory, Barthes’ “death of the author,” and what Carol’s rigid storytelling instincts reveal about creative control. From Shakespeare’s “ba...

Bonus! This was our original premiere episode this summer. Enjoy Erin breaking down why Oasis’s 2025 reunion tour exploded in popularity—despite the band being only moderately big in North America in the 90s. She points to Gen X nostalgia, the rarity of earnest, album-driven rock, and the craving for a shared monoculture moment. Fans interpret the tour in wildly different ways, from anti-“woke” fa...

In this episode of Erin Explains , Erin digs into Canadian patriotism, CanCon rules, and what Canadian music actually is in a moment when there is talk of the US “annexing” Canada. She rethinks how we define Canadian music, looking beyond global hits and exploring the MAPL Rule, Indigenous genres, Black Canadian music, and Quebec’s diverse Francophone scene. Erin argues that real support means lis...

Erin and Ryan dig into Vince Gilligan’s new series Pluribus (yes, Plur1bus ) with the insane enthusiasm of two longtime Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul obsessives. They unpack the show’s mix of sci-fi weirdness, dark comedy, and social commentary — from hive mind as AI allegory to big questions about individualism, colonialism, loneliness, and why women’s anger still freaks people out. They high...

Erin and Ryan explore aphantasia — the inability to visualize images in the mind. Erin explains what life is like with no “mind’s eye,” how it shapes memory, reading, and imagination, and why fantasy worlds don’t appear for her at all. Ryan shares his hyperphantasia experience, offering the opposite perspective of how his mind creates vivid, detailed mental imagery. Together, they compare how diff...