Geek Between the Lines

This week, we have a great conversation on ideas of personhood within The Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . In a place like Panem, there's clearly a lot to talk about - from Tribute caricatures, to Avoxes, to Gale and Katniss' perspectives on killing. We even discuss Suzanne Collins' intentional writing and development of very small characters like Fox Face. Please tell a geeky...

This week, we look at the theme of responsibility in Harry Potter. We of course talk a lot about Harry and Hermione, but also discuss the trio's dynamics, apologies, Dumbledore's competing responsibilities, and much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more o...

This week, we have a great discussion about how loss impacts characters in ATLA and LOK. We look at Iroh's journey, Katara and Zuko's relationship, Aang(/Rava?) responding with the Avatar State, Korra losing her connection to past lives, and so much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our a...

We have a great conversation this week about characters exerting agency in The Hunger Games! We of course discuss Katniss a lot as she actively pushes the plot forward -- from volunteering to ending Coin, she constantly forges her own path in a society that gives her so few choices. We also explore not 'playing the game' in the Quarter Quell, Peeta painting Rue's burial, and characters like Pollux...

This week we talk about ideas of privilege in the Harry Potter Books. We explore races of magical peoples, social motivation to join the Death Eaters, and the intersectionalities of characters like Ron Weasley, Rubeus Hagrid, and Winky. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and...

This week, we tackle the topic of justice in ATLA and LOK and start off with the Mayor Tong "just us" quote from the Avatar Day episode. We also discuss everything from Korra's character growth, to taking bending away, to Fire Nation reparations, and so much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider be...

This week, we have a deep discussion about ability and disability in the world of the Hunger Games. We of course talk a lot about Katniss before, during, and after the Games, and also discuss Peeta's leg, Victor coping mechanisms, and characters like Mags, Annie, Reaper, Jessup, and the boy from District 10. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you re...

This episode is the last of our Hunger Games Sorting Chats where we discuss what Hogwarts Houses we think Prim, Coin, Boggs, Cressida, and Plutarch would land in. And bonus: we also decide what tabletop games a couple of the characters would be! 😂 Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing...

In this episode we discuss education at Hogwarts and, as you could guess, there is a lot to talk about (especially with our own resident Professor Chris)! 😅 We have tons of questions and critiques -- from how magic complicates normal classroom settings, to ways this school (that we love and sigh at) could make changes for the better, to what's going on with Hogwarts professors. #snape #hagrid #bi...

This week, we look at the theme of trust in ATLA and LOK! We spend time discussing how crucial characters like Azula and Toph interact with trust. We also think about how trust (or lack of trust) in the Avatar influences leaders and ordinary people in both series, how Katara didn't trust Zuko, and so much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you...

This week, we talk about the theme of responsibility in The Hunger Games and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes books. We cover everything from Effie Trinket, to Mentors in the Games, to Katniss having so much responsibility forced on her at such a young age, to social responsibility in a place like Panem. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really e...

This week, we discuss the fascinating theme of order and chaos in the Harry Potter books! We of course have to spend some time with the queen of Educational Decrees, Dolores Umbridge, looking at her methods, aims, and results. We also explore the Room of Requirement, moving staircases, the Order of the Phoenix, and magic itself. We enjoy placing characters like Luna Lovegood as 'chaotic good' and...

On this week's episode, Chris and Brittany discuss the theme of Play in Avatar: the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. Listen to us talk about the humor of characters like Bolin and Sokka, the ways that games like Pro Bending and Pai Sho help build the world, and the positive and negative outcomes of play in the series. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast ap...

This week, Chris and Brittany talk about Class in the Hunger Games and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, featuring discussions on Coriolanus' and Sejanus' upbringings, how the tesserae reveal the classist implications of the Hunger Games, and the intersections between class and language, gender, and law in Panem. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if...

This week, Chris and Brittany explore the theme of Identity in Harry Potter, discussing how characters might hold different identities for themselves than those placed on them, the way that Harry is introduced to the magical world, and Snape's thematic place between Harry and Voldemort in navigating his half-blood identity. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app...

This week's episode covers Loneliness in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. We discuss how characters like Ty Lee and Katara can feel lonely even when part of a group, how being the Avatar brings community and isolation, how loneliness impacted Aang's and Korra's upbringing, and more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really en...

This week's episode features Chris' love of love (and Brittany's love of complications) as we discuss Love in the Hunger Games and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. We look at connections between love and trust, some of the most striking acts of love in the series, and the parallels between Katniss and Peeta's romance and reality TV. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your...

Is there actually war in the Harry Potter books? We discuss it all -- the Book 6 Hogwarts "homefront", who the soldiers would be, Dumbledore's dubious decisions, and much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more of it for just $1 per month here: ht...

We have a blast with this discussion of Tolkien's context for Sam and Frodo's romance (that is thoroughly textual). The discussion centers around Molly Ostertag's amazing Polygon article called "Queer Readings of The Lord of the Rings Are Not Accidents" and although we highly recommend reading it, you don't have to have read the article to listen to the episode. We hope you are a...

This week, we look at the theme of responsibility in ATLA and LOK! We have a great time talking about Tenzin and last airbender duties, the responsibilities of various Avatars, acts of social VS personal responsibility, and many more, as Chris called them, "insightful nuggets." If you want to read the amazing article we'll be discussing in next week's episode, go here: "Queer Re...

This week, we look at all kinds of courageous acts in The Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. We pay close attention to Finnick Odair, things in Panem that encourage or hinder bravery, and much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more of it...

This week, we tackle the theme of justice in the Harry Potter books! There is a lot to discuss--from Hermione's strengths and shortcomings, to Azkaban and basically all of Book 5, and much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more of it for just $1 per month...

At the end of Pride Month, we wanted to have a special episode that looks at some of the ways queerness is explicit, tokenized, or queered in the geeky series we discuss each week. We talk about everything from the 1950's Comics Code Authority, to amazing fandom communities, to queering Remus Lupin, and more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you r...

This is our final Star Wars episode, (at least for now) and we wanted to send the property off on a nice note of love! We discuss the relationships of Leia + Han and Lando + L-3, and Luke's quick attachment tendancies, too. We also explore the opportunity for diverse loves and relationships that could exist in the Star Wars universe, and much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a r...

This week we discuss the theme of Class in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. We analyze how Ba Sing Se's built environment makes claims on who is valued, different characters' experiences moving between classes, and where we see spiritual, military, and other hierarchies creating and intersecting with class in the Avatars' world. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a re...