Feminist Frequency Radio

This week on our Cyberpunk Summer series, we’re joined by writer, journalist, and podcaster Emily St. James to discuss Strange Days , Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 action thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, and Juliette Lewis. Based on a story by Bigelow’s ex-husband James Cameron, Strange Days was influenced by several sensational early-’90s news stories, including the trial of Lorena Bobbi...

We are discussing Ghost in the Machine on this episode of Cyberpunk Summer, a 1993 horror sci-fi film from director Rachel Talalay (whose follow-up film was Tank Girl ). Karen Allen plays the intended victim of a serial killer who, after his physical death, remains “alive” when his soul is transferred into a computer, where he can continue his killing spree using objects connected to the internet...

On this episode of Cyberpunk Summer, we’re welcoming special guest, writer, critic, and podcaster Inkoo Kang to talk about Blade Runner , Ridley Scott’s 1982 film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Set in the dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, Harrison Ford plays a cop hunting down bio-engineered androids known as replicants, who have returned to Earth from...

Okay, so maybe “Cyberpunk” is a stretch for this one. Still, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to discuss one of our special guest—writer, critic, podcaster, and media consultant—Fran Tirado’s childhood faves. This week, we are talking about the first movie in Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids franchise, which debuted in 2001. Alexa PeñaVega and Daryl Sabara star as the titular kids who have to spring...

Special guest, professor, podcaster, and prolific author Karen Tongson joins Anita and Kat for episode five of our “Cyberpunk Summer” series, where we are discussing the 1990 sci-fi action film Total Recall , from director Paul Verhoeven. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” the movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a construction worker who receives im...

On this episode of Cyberpunk Summer, we are discussing TRON , a 1982 adventure film directed by Steven Lisberger and starring Jeff Bridges as a software engineer-turned-arcade owner, who is corporeally transported into cyberspace by a power-hungry computer program. Anita and Kat are joined by acclaimed author, public speaker, and travel writer, Geraldine DeRuiter, to sift through the film’s convol...

Welcome to Cyberpunk Summer, episode 3, where we are discussing the 1995 thriller The Net , directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Sandra Bullock as a systems analyst whose life is threatened by cyber terrorists in a film that drives home the mid-’90s fascination with how much of our lives were just beginning to be tied to the internet. Anita and Kat are joined by the perfect guest for this discus...

For episode 2 of Cyberpunk Summer, Anita and Kat are joined by by actor, producer, and writer Kristian Bruun to discuss eXistenZ . While you may think that sounds like an off-brand male enhancement supplement, it’s actually a sci-fi film from David Cronenberg. The filmmaker—known for his work defining the body horror genre, like The Fly and Dead Ringers —made waves at the Cannes Film Festival this...

Cyberpunk Summer is here, and we’re coming in hot with JOHNNY MNEMONIC, the 1995 film directed by Robert Longo and based on the 1981 short story by one of the authors credited with the invention of the cyberpunk genre: William Gibson. It boasts a preposterous cast, including Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, and Henry Rollins. The film, which was made at the time the internet wa...

In our Hollywood by the Decade series, we’ve been exploring film history by watching and discussing landmark films from the beginnings of cinema up through the 1980s with new expert guests for each decade. In this final episode, we’re joined by two special guests: prolific writer and film critic Walter Chaw, and long-lost co-host Dr. Ebony Adams. We dive into what was happening in the 1980s politi...

Carolyn Petit returns as special guest to lead our discussion of the 1970s on the penultimate episode of our “Hollywood by the Decade” series. She selected two acclaimed films to focus our discussion. From 1971, Alan Pakula’s KLUTE , in which Jane Fonda plays a sex worker who teams up with an investigator (played by Donald Sutherland), to search for a missing person who’d once been a client of her...

The 60s in America are remembered as a time of cultural upheaval and revolution, but did Hollywood keep in step with contemporary conversations? Our expert and guide on this episode of Hollywood by the Decade is Dr. Philana Payton, a scholar-activist with research interests in Black film and television history and popular culture, as well as gender and queer studies, and who is currently a profess...

Halfway through our “Hollywood by the Decades” series, we time-travel to the 1950s with our special guest—writer, podcaster, and film review editor—Alonso Duralde. We’ll be framing our conversation around two 50s films recommended by Alonso: ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) and THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957). Links Mentioned: Anita & Alonso on “Let’s Go, Atsuko!” https://megaphone.link/FODP1317812259 Alons...

Anita and Kat are joined by literature and film studies Professor Julie Grossman—an oft-published scholar who’s penned numerous essays about the classic archetypes of women onscreen and behind the camera in vintage Hollywood. She’s taking us into the 1940s, and specifically the introduction of film noir and the femme fatale for our “Hollywood by the Decade” series. To set the scene for our convers...

The 1930s saw the introduction of sound in film, the implementation of the Hays code, and marks the beginning of the “Golden Age of Hollywood”.  On this episode of our “Hollywood by the Decade” series, we’re guided by special guest Patricia White—Centennial Professor of Film and Media Studies and Coordinator of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Swarthmore College—through a discussion of the landscap...

We’re kicking off our Hollywood by Decade series with the inception of filmmaking in the 1910s and 20s. Specifically, we’ll be looking at director Lois Weber’s film, Shoes . Released in 1916 at the height of Weber’s power and popularity as one of the top filmmakers of the time, the film tackles poverty, prostitution, and gender pay inequity. Ebony pops in, and she and Anita are joined by Dr. Shell...

For our 200th(!!) episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Anita, Ebony, and Carolyn reunite to discuss the Coen brother’s infinitely quotable, The Big Lebowski. Since its 1998 release, the film has earned cult classic status, spawning festivals, conferences, and even a religion: Dudism. Does our original FFR trio abide? Listen in as we revisit The Dude on his hapless, meandering odyssey through LA to...

On the heels of the recent release of director Robert Eggers’ Viking epic The Northman , Kat Spada and special guest Dr. Kishonna Gray—Associate Professor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies at the University of Kentucky—step back to 2015 to consider Egger’s first film, The Witch . CW: This episode contains discussion of film portrayals of supernatural or historical violence against woman an...

Anita and new cohost Kat Spada start off the season strong with an episode all about the allure of toxic masculinity onscreen. Special guest Dave Proctor returns to discuss why male characters embodying cisheteronormative values can be so obviously problematic, but often still manage to be attractive and compelling to us a viewers. Time Stamps: 54:36 - What’s your Freq Out? Kat on the movie Aline...

We finish Women’s History Month and this season of FFR with Eliza Hittman’s critically-acclaimed, profoundly affecting 2020 film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always . Joining us for this emotionally intense discussion is returning special guest, writer and podcaster, Kat Spada. CW: This episode includes discussion of suicide, abuse, sexual assault and other sensitive topics. If you need help please rea...

Next in our series of works by women filmmakers is director Joanna Hogg’s loosely-autobiographical 2019 film, The Souvenir . Joining us to talk about the film is FemFreq Favorite and Managing Editor at Kotaku, Carolyn Petit! We’ve missed our former co-host and know you have, too; a good discussion is all but guaranteed when Caro’s in the house, and today is no exception as we tackle the film’s the...

Today on the Bonus, we welcome Patrons and non (future?) Patrons alike for a special public episode. Carolyn Petit is here to reunite our original FFR trio for a deep-dive discussion on the utility of rating systems and subjectivity vs. “objectivity” in criticism. Follow Carolyn: twitter.com/carolynmichelle kotaku.com Follow Us: Join our Patreon Our Website Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe to...

Written by Diablo Cody, directed by Karyn Kusama, and starring Megan Fox, Jennifer’s Body is the next in our series featuring women filmmakers. The film struggled to find an audience in 2009, but has earned a reappraisal in recent years. It’s new to Anita and Ebony, but luckily we’re joined by writer, producer, podcast host, returning FFR guest, and notably, “America’s Foremost Scholar on Jennifer...

We’re kicking off a month of episodes dedicated to the work of pioneering female directors, and to get us started, we’ll be talking about Jane Campion’s 1993 Oscar-winning film, The Piano . Writer, raconteur, podcast host, and our special guest, Kat Spada, joins our discussion as we grapple with an undeniable masterpiece of a film that is simultaneously racist and which presents a deeply troubling...

Remember when we promised to take the podcast in some new and interesting directions this year? Well, you’re in luck because today we’re talking: visual art, global feminisms, resistance, anti-capitalism, and more through a focus on graffiti , and to do so, we’ve got a pioneering and interdisciplinary scholar and activist in the field to join us. Dr. Jess Pabón is Associate Professor of Women’s, G...