Not Quite Great Books: a TV podcast

Well, this is a first for NQGB - due to technical issues, a chaotically fun episode with some returning favs, Emily Crandall and Producer Amy Schiller, has been lost to the technology gods. But don’t fret fair listeners, your hosts John and Danielle thread their discussion of The Americans Season 3 Episode 3, “Open House,” with insights from their now-absent friends. They debate the sexiness facto...

Back together to discuss ‘Baggage’, Season 3 Episode 2 of The Americans, John and Danielle tackle all the different forms of baggage that are in play in this season and series. Bodies arrive and depart in various bags and containers, and Nina gets a new cellmate. They consider emotional, physical, and psychic baggage that comes along with Annelise’s body for all involved. Your hosts track how tens...

After a lengthy hiatus, John and Danielle are back with The Americans Season 3 Episode 1: "EST Men". They are coming at you from a car in Troy, New York - of course, on their way back from location scouting the Jennings’ impromptu upstate NY vacation from the end of Season 2! In this ep, your hosts consider Elizabeth’s encounters with both Charlotte and the Gaad and Aderholt, the brewing conflict...

Before diving into Season 3 of The Americans, and after a summer of some high highs (The Americans Season 2) and lower highs (their MCU jaunts), John and Danielle take a moment to reflect on the kinds of artistic choices that draw them into TV shows. In particular, they consider the recent controversies over Marvel and Netflix's uses of VFX artists and studios, and use it as a broader jumping off...

Now that they’ve made it through two full seasons of The Americans, Danielle and John take a chance to step back and consider their reactions to different characters, relationship development, and really, the show overall. They compare season 1 to season 2, and dig into the new characters that this season introduced. They use an amazing spreadsheet developed by listener Mike to induct some predict...

We’ve got a treat for you this week - surprising no one, John’s Horkheimer deep dive in the final Moon Knight Cave went on a bit longer than we let on, and we’re serving you the entire debate in this bonus episode of NQGB. Listen in as John obliterates Marvel by thinking with Horkheimer himself. Don’t worry, Danielle doesn’t let them off scot-free, and gives her own analysis of the cultural produc...

Strap in, folks, Jon Keller is back for the season 2 finale, “Echo,” and this is an episode you do not want to miss! Together, your hosts take the major reveals of the show piece by piece, starting with Fred’s mission in the cold open, Paige’s protest experience, and the impromptu family trip to a motel in the middle of nowhere before they (over?) analyze the Jared reveal and Nina’s removal. Jon a...

On this week’s episode, “Operation Chronicle,” John and Danielle try to make sense of all the different forms of escalation taking place in the series. They first follow Larrick as his actions impact Philip and Elizabeth, Paige, Jared, and Fred, before shifting gears to think about the escalation between Arkadii, Nina, Oleg, and Stan. Though distinct, your hosts consider how spying both enables an...

We did it - we made it to the end of our Marvel run!! For the final episode of Moon Knight, John and Danielle tackle the main plot points - Ammit/Khonshu and Layla/Marc/Steven/Harrow fights, the binding of Harrow, and the Jake Loughly reveal - before turning to a lengthy (understatement!) discussion of questions of binaries, expectations, and their overall enjoyment of this series and Marvel prope...

Things are really coming to a head season 2 - Danielle and John work together to make sense of the rising levels of tension and intensity they see in The Americans Season 2 Episode 11, “Stealth.” They ask about Kate’s fate, her relationship to Jared, and how this all impacts Philip and Elizabeth’s relationship. They also marvel over the centrality of Nina’s role in everything, which of course incl...

Buckle up, NQGB fans - John and Danielle are joined by the brilliant Dr. Nick Carnes . Nick is the co-editor of The Politics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe , along with former repeat-guest of the podcast, Dr. Lilly Goren . Together, they consider how the show helps us think about the hero/antihero divide before diving deep into how the show represents trauma, violence, and DID, and how the Egyp...

This week, John and Danielle consider the fall-out of multiple series’ events as it unfolds in The Americans Season 2 Episode 10, “Yousef.” In this ep, the past is rearing back with a vengeance, resulting in some pretty serious consequences. Within this framework, they also think together about the relationship between sex and death, both in this ep and throughout the series, and especially how th...

Back for another installment of their Moon Knight deep dive, John and Danielle go it alone this week. Together, starting at the end, they ask what is real, and contemplate what to make of the sanitarium scene. John offers some surprise entries for his own Dossier, and Danielle offers some Marvelsplaining about the god statues in the pyramid. Your hosts agree to disagree about the level of ridiculo...

This week, John and Danielle are joined by their first MCU/Americans crossover guest, Lilly Goren! You last heard Lilly on Loki Episode 5 “Journey into Mystery” - now she’s back with your hosts for The Americans Season 2 Episode 9, “Martial Eagle.” This episode has so much going on, so John and Danielle are thrilled to have Lilly help untangle the different plot points. Together, they consider the...

Danielle and John are joined by their first Moon Knight guest host, Regan Levitte , John’s colleague and friend! Together, they consider the potential contribution of the MCU to contemporary culture, and they declare NQGB a Layla stan podcast. John asks some solid question in Marvelsplaining, and Regan regales everyone with a fascinating discussion of fanfiction, remixing, and the generative poten...

Back on their own again this week, John and Danielle tackle The Americans S2E8, “New Car.” They structure their discussion around the way each major plot thread poses a question about the relationship between pure ideology and lived experience. They explore this tension through Philip’s flashy new purchase, relationships to capitalism, the conflict with Larrick, and even around the challenges with...

For the second installment of their Moon Knight deep dive, John and Danielle think together about what the MCU is trying to do with this episode, since the series seems much less connected to other MCU properties than Loki. John and Danielle diverge on their level of enjoyment, but can both get on board with exclusively calling each other ‘Bruv’ from now until the end of time. Your hosts meet Layl...

John and Danielle are joined by their friend, feminist theorist, professor, and co-host of the Stuck in Stoneybrook podcast Emily Crandall to discuss The Americans Season 2 Episode 7, “ARPANET.” Together, they organize their main discussion around the question of human attempts to exert control over technology, using this frame to tackle polygraphs, bugging the internet (um, what?), and even the L...

Fresh off their Loki bonus run, John and Danielle tackle a new MCU series, Moon Knight. Danielle is still (sort-of) in the MCU driver’s seat, with John bringing his more "critical" eye to the project. Together, they consider Steven Grant’s role as storyteller, Egyptian cosmology and the broader colonialist vibes of the property, and whether this is a successful first ep of a series (read: will Joh...

In this week’s episode, John and Danielle ask how desire impacts the characters and the plot in The Americans Season 2 Episode 6, “The Red Door.” They tackle the ~interesting~ dynamics between Elizabeth and Philip, the complicated question of desire when it comes to missions, and they meet Larrick, who they suspect will be with us for a few more episodes. But it’s not just desire this week: Claudi...

They did it (or, rather, John made it!). Back together for the season finale of Loki, “For All Time, Always”, and ready to ask some big questions. They consider the stakes of the decisions that Loki and Sylvie face, and how Kang’s (ok, ok, He Who Remains) entry into the series impacts time, space, and the Politics of the MCU. Danielle asks John what he would change in order to enjoy this more, and...

This week, John and Danielle dig into Season 2 Episode 5 of The Americans, “The Deal” by considering the different deals that confront our characters in the episode. They tackle the geopolitical and interpersonal stakes of the deals between the USSR and Israel, Yossi and Philip, and even Martha and Elizabeth’s wig-happy Jennifer. They ask how these different deals ultimately impact Philip and Eliz...

John and Danielle are joined by the incomparable Lilly Goren to discuss Episode 5, “Journey into Mystery”. Together they offer a power ranking of Loki variants, revisit the query of what makes a Loki a Loki, and dig into the chaos of the Loki gang and Alioth alike. Lilly offers an eye-opening parallel with the Wizard of Oz, and then dazzles our hosts with a description of her forthcoming co-edited...

Back on their own this week, Danielle and John wade into Season 2 Episode 4 of The Americans, “A Little Night Music.” This episode is full of religious imagery, and John makes sure to exploit Danielle’s discomfort at this at every turn (in good fun!). Together, they wade through the youth group, Paige’s lying, Stan and Philip’s relationship, and of course, the return of Claudia (much to Danielle’s...

Loki the character and the show are both agents of chaos! John and Danielle tackle Episode 4, “The Nexus Event,” thinking together about timeline stability & the TVA, the meaning of home, and the role of friendship in the show. Danielle asks John how he feels about the episode’s variant reveal, and she drops a new meta-theory to help capture what accounts for her enthusiasm and John’s lack thereof...