Two friends, endless obsessions. Each episode, Brit Kelley and Stephanie Weaver introduce each other to new fandoms, talking about what they love, what they don't understand, and what keeps them up at night.
In this episode, Stephanie tells Brit all about the various Robins - that's right, there's more than one! We focus on Jason's development, death, and resurrection, as well as how his storyline overlaps with and reflects major cultural touchstones, including tough on crime, the war on drugs, and the figure of the welfare queen. Ultimately, we decide that Jason needed loving and caring parents, and that Batman needs to stop taking in distressed teenagers.
Content Warning: In this episode, we do talk about suicide and murder, as it relates to both the game and the show. We spend time discussing the death of Black characters, in particular. If this is something that's not okay for you to hear right now, we recommend a different episode. In this episode, Brit and Stephanie talk about their memories of playing The Last of Us in 2015-2016, and how our feelings about the game have changed over time, with the onslaught of zombie shows like The Walking Dead as well as living through a real pandemic. We talk the game v. the show, especially where we think the show made good changes (i.e. Bill and Frank), and where the show really let us down (i.e. Henry and Sam). Ultimately, we conclude that, 1) maybe we don't need any more post-apocalyptic stories for a while; and 2) maybe becoming a fungus person wouldn't be too bad.
In this episode, Ben Wetherbee tells Brit and Stephanie all about hockey and, most importantly, the famous Russian Five that led the Detroit Red Wings to several exciting wins in the 1990s. If you're interested in Soviet-era spy-like intrigue, then this episode is for you. Also if you like hockey, this episode is for you. Content Warning for discussion of a car accident, death, and grievous injury. (Also, try out curling!)
Content Warning: In this episode, we talk about true crime, including rape and murder. We specifically discuss the cases of Adnan Syed and the Golden State Killer. If that's not something you're able to listen to now, check out our next episode coming out in two weeks on hockey and The Russian Five.Brit tells Stephanie about their long love of true crime media, starting with Unsolved Mysteries and proceeding on to Serial and I'll Be Gone in the Dark. We discuss key reasons we think true crime is powerful for so many, but also some of the key problems with true crime, including sexism, racism, classism, etc. We conclude that, maybe sometimes, you should consume other kinds of media. For your health. For a great article on true crime, and how it might be bad for all of us, check out Emma Berquist's "True Crime Is Rotting Our Brains" here: https://www.gawker.com/culture/true-crime-is-rotting-our-brains.