Rectangles Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In our 13th episode of Rectangles Podcast , we dive deep into the world of Black Horror — a genre that’s more than just jump scares and monsters. From Candyman to Get Out , we explore how fear, trauma, and resistance intertwine in stories told through a Black lens. Nick and Jan unpack the social commentary behind the screams — how Black filmmakers have redefined horror as both ref...

Send us Fan Mail Before Hollywood remade every cursed tape and long-haired ghost, Asia had already flipped horror into social commentary. In this deep-dive, Nick and Jan unpack how Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong turned fear into a mirror — reflecting guilt, grief, class, and control. We break down Bong Joon-ho’s The Host (a creature feature that’s really about pollution, policy, and parenting), the a...

Send us Fan Mail In our first Genre Analysis episode, Janackeh and Nick unpack why ~70% of true-crime audiences are women, why many men prefer fictional gore over real cases, and how obsession, empathy, and power shape the genre. We break down the docs that haunt us ( American Nightmare, Long Shot, Making a Murderer, Don’t F**k With Cats, What Jennifer Did, The Girl in the Picture, Tiger King, The...

Send us Fan Mail In part two of our Final Destination deep dive, we jump into the long-awaited Final Destination 6 — the franchise’s first revival in over a decade. We break down what makes this entry different, how it reimagines Death’s “design,” and why it might be the smartest sequel in the series. From behind-the-scenes rumors to creative team shakeups and fan theories that finally get some pa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we kick off a two-part deep dive into the Final Destination series — breaking down the chaos, the creativity, and the cultural impact of the first five films. From the OG flight premonition to the wildest Rube Goldberg death traps in horror history, we unpack what made this franchise so iconic (and lowkey terrifying). We’re talking tension, superstition, Y2K energ...

Send us Fan Mail On this second installment of On Couch / Off Topic , we break down the winners and record-setters from the 2025 Emmy Awards. From historic firsts to surprise upsets, we cover who walked away with the gold, who got snubbed, and the cultural conversations sparked by the night’s biggest moments. If you want the real talk on how this year’s Emmys reshaped the TV landscape, grab a seat...

Send us Fan Mail For the 30th anniversary of Larry Clark’s KIDS , we take a hard look at the film that shook skateboarding and youth culture in the mid-90s. We pair it with the documentary We Were Once Kids , digging into its raw relevance to skateboarding and the darker aftermath for stars Harold Hunter and Justin Pierce. We talk about exploitation by Clark and, to a lesser degree, screenwriter H...

Send us Fan Mail In the debut of our off-topic series, we settle in and let the conversation sprawl. First up is the King of the Hill revival—what excites us, what worries us, and why Arlen still matters today. From there, we shift gears into heavier territory with Nat Geo’s deep dive on the Oklahoma City bombing and HBO’s haunting Hurricane Katrina documentary, unpacking how each one balances mem...

Send us Fan Mail In this week’s episode of Rectangles Podcast , Nick and Jan put HBO’s Perry Mason (2020) on the stand. This darker, grittier reimagining of television’s most famous defense attorney trades the polished courtroom theatrics of the past for a smoky, noir-soaked Los Angeles. The hosts dig into Matthew Rhys’s brooding take on Mason, Tatiana Maslany’s enigmatic Sister Alice, and John Li...

Send us Fan Mail This week on Rectangles Podcast , we head to the South Side of Chicago — by way of the rent-to-own hustle. We’re talking about South Side , the criminally underrated comedy that turns minimum-wage grind into maximum-laugh absurdity. From repoing TVs and finessing job titles to getting baptized in Lake Michigan, South Side is a world where nothing is owned, but everything’s on disp...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive into The Studio — the glossy, meta-comedy from Apple TV+ that’s equal parts satire and love letter to the chaos of Hollywood. We break down the surprisingly sky-high production budget, debate whether the show’s polish adds or distracts from the humor, and unpack why this might be one of the most expensive comedies ever made. From blink-and-you-miss-it came...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 3 — “Parallel Lines & Placebos” On this mind-bending installment of Rectangles, Janackeh and Nick journey deep into Adult Swim’s animated thriller, Common Side Effects. Their discussion spirals around the mysterious Blue Angel Mushroom at the center of the show, diving into how it sparks conflicts across pharmaceutical giants, underground mycologists, and federal agent...

Send us Fan Mail In this follow-up to their debut, Janackeh and Nick trade the ballroom floor for the pit lane. They start with a side-by-side look at Driven (2001)—Sylvester Stallone’s glossy, soap-opera take on Champ Car—and Senna , the acclaimed documentary that captures Ayrton Senna’s meteoric rise and tragic fall in Formula 1.  From Hollywood set pieces to real-life onboard footage, they weig...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 1 — “The Paris Xtravaganza” On the very first drop of The Rectangles Podcast , Janackeh and Nick step onto the ballroom floor to dissect the twin documentaries Paris is Burning and I’m Your Venus . Their conversation zeroes in on three big threads: Style theft & fashion fallout – how everything from couture runways to fast-fashion TikToks keeps raiding Black queer aest...