Fake Geek Girls - A Critical Look at Pop Culture

Red Dead Redemption 2, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Dracula—what do these things have in common? We've been up to them, that's what! Join us as we discuss cowboy oppression, the completely normal "dating a fairy" rite of passage, and the uniquely Victorian ability to drone on and on.

Cocaine crucifixes, 27-year-old teens, and the decadence of the elite—it's time to discuss 1999's absolutely buckwild Cruel Intentions! Join us as we examine the cultural context of the late 90s, the intentions of the author (who is occasionally dead), and why a movie about horrible people being awful to one another is still so much fun. Warning: This episode has trigger warnings for, oh, everythi...

At long last, Missy's life has settled down enough to allow her to do things... for fun? Merri shares her spicy thoughts on Stranger Things, Missy goes off about Red Dead Redemption 2 despite it not being one of her things, and we both shower some love on Mccafferty.

Sing in me, Muse, of the importance of translation, the importance of nuance, and the original scoundrel: Odysseus. That's right, we're talking about The Odyssey! Join us as we discuss Emily Wilson's new translation in conversation with Madeline Miller's Circe and Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad. Warning: Swearing and discussion of sexual assault.

We took a week off so we could do The Odyssey justice. Instead, we're bringing you a second episode of our eventual new podcast: Stay Posi, Emo Kid, a short(ish) podcast debating hot questions about emo!

What have we been up to? Not-so-evil witches, aliens, and falling in love in the time war.

Do you love romance? Do you love romances as embodiments of different modes of patriarchy? Then do we have a book series for you! In this episode, we tackle Tamora Pierce's The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Lioness Rampant, the final two books in the Song of the Lioness quartet, and grapple with the problems of a beloved series, including how they affect its modern relevance.

Are you ready to hear about Disneyland? We certainly hope so.

Cross-dressing, examinations of the necessity of violence, and the unfortunate consequences of second-wave feminism? That's right, we're talking about the Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce! In this first entry, we're talking about Alanna: The First Adventure and In the Hand of the Goddess, books one and two of the series that started the beloved Tortall universe.

In this first episode, we're talking about the emo bands that had the biggest impact on us as teenagers. We each nominated three bands and picked one for each of us, plus one ruling champion—the band most emblematic of the mid-2000s, when we were teenagers.

We're both extremely on brand in this episode as we discuss things like the Good Omens adaptation, Shirley Jackson, and recontextualizing Shakespeare.

It's time for part two of our Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood miniseries! Join us as we search for truth. And god. And you. And me. And the world. Et cetera.

California, here we come. CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME. CALIFORNIAAAAAA. What have we been up to? Comfort food, discomfort food, and feeding evil corporations to giant sharks.

Time for some good ol' existential crises as we dive into Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the second adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's hit manga series. Join us as we figure out what a human is, debate whether alchemy is magic or science, and attempt to explain Judith Butler without taking six hours.

What have we been up to? Seeing giant blockbuster movies and watching the latest episodes of the biggest giant blockbuster show, of course!

Lick it up, baby, because we're taking a closer look at 1989's Heathers, a cult film dissecting the cold, calculating dark side of humanity (and the Reagan era). We also take a little jaunt into the disastrous television adaptation and the extremely catch music to ask the nagging question, "Does Heathers have any relevance today?" Warning: In addition to swearing, this episodes contains references...

What have we been up to? Thinking about how rice milk is made, apparently. We're sorry about our gross misunderstanding of what horchata is. Also: The Shining, Bonded, and SWMRS!

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, and also unicorns. Welcome to our discussion of Peter S. Beagle's classic The Last Unicorn, in which we also bring in Keats and Plato because there's layers upon layers upon layers to this story, and we want to devour them like a delicious, buttery croissant.

What have we been up to since our last episode? Reliving our days as emo teens, naturally.

Jennifer's Body should be something we both like, but do we? The answer is, predictably, more complicated than yes or no. Join us as we discuss catharsis, rage, and subversion, teasing out our confusion (and some rage of our own) through a healthy dose of critical theory. Warnings: This episode is explicit and includes discussions of sexual assault. Please listen with caution if the subject matter...

We were lucky enough to spend a great weekend at this year's Emerald City Comic Con! Find out what we've been up to, what panels we visited, what The Wicked + The Divine party was like, and also hear some half-baked theorizing about why Cruel Intentions is the way it is.

It's time to discuss the best movie ever made, and potentially the purest piece of art: 2001's Josie and the Pussycats! Join us as we venture into conspicuous consumption, rock idols, and art movements, because heck, why not?

What have we been up to? Well, we saw Captain Marvel, Merri checked out Doom Patrol, and Missy is forever changed by The Song of Achilles. Want to know more? Good news—you can!

It's time to get deep into She-Ra, a reboot of the original 80s cartoon revamped and updated for a modern audience! We're talking about makeup, diversity, masculinity, and queerness, as well as how much we love this dang show because for real, folks, it's extremely cute.

Hope you wanted a 20-minute summary of Hereditary, because WE'VE GOT IT. What were we up to during the great PNW Snowmaggeddon? A lot, actually.