And we may not be better than ever, but we’re at LEAST as good as the last time anyone posted an entry on here. If you’re only a follower of the blog, I apologize – things got crazy and for a while there we were only uploading our episodes to Soundcloud and the various podcast aggregates out there.
We are six episodes into our second season, with some minor changes to the format, but delivering all that good good pop culture content you’ve come to expect and enjoy. I’m here to talk about our most recent episode on storytelling, “Showing vs. Telling,” which we recorded with returning guest and friend of the pod Dan Karlin!
What’s Stuck In Our Heads This Week
Pete: Into the Spider-Verse music video by Post Malone: “Sunflower”
Dan: The Office (American version)
Martha: Captain Marvel trailer
We’re probably going to be all about Into the Spider-Verse for our next episode, so it’s apropos that Pete is kicking things off early by talking about the Post Malone music video. (Writer’s note: I, being Martha, mention that Post Malone may have been accused of being a white supremacist – further research doesn’t bear this out, but he does have many comments that lead to one thinking that he’s a pretty terrible person. Toxic masculinity and cultural appropriation appear to be the “extent” if his misdemeanors, as of now.) Dan is finally watching The Office, and Martha gets emotional over female superheroes.
On to the episode!
This week, we’re looking at methods of storytelling – specifically, showing vs. telling in writing, film and graphic imagery.
The Homework for the Episode:
Martha: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Pete: Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
Dan: The Sopranos, 6.03: “Mayham”
The broad questions we ask ourselves are whether or not the media we’re looking at are predominantly using showing or telling in relating their stories, and how effective they are at telling them. Pete and Martha get to try and puzzle out a late-game episode of a show they haven’t watched (except for this very podcast!), and Dan gets introduced to the child-murdering world of The Hunger Games. Also, for the first time that she’s willing to admit to, Martha hasn’t done her homework. SHAME.
Our next episode will be our Top Ten of 2018, so there’s no extra homework. Enjoy your holidays and watch some cheeseball Christmas movies!
Did You Do Your Homework? 