shakespeare – Did You Do Your Homework?

The homework for the episode:
Martha: As I Descended, 2016 novel by Robin Talley
Pete: Ran, 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa
Maren: 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999 film directed by Gil Junger

Two teens scheme to topple their school’s It Girl in a plan that goes horribly awry for many people. Also known as: Macbeth, but with lesbians and also ghosts.

A Japanese warlord is the victim of his own violence as his familial empire slowly crumbles from within. Also known as: King Lear, but set in Feudal Japan and also the king has sons instead of daughters.

Sisters are the focus of a high school’s social ecosystem. Also known as: The Taming of the Shrew set in a 90’s high school.

Maren is back to help us dissect the ways in which we appropriate and reuse the stories of Billy Shakes. Surprisingly, everyone likes the YA book Martha picked!

Your podcasters’ credentials:

Pete: Weird Al’s 77 songs mashup
Martha: The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding
Maren: New season of Queer Eye

I think we’re going to be mixing up the credentials portion of the podcast – don’t worry, you’ll still get to hear what we’ve been consuming as pop culture “experts,” but we may shift focus to the stuff we actually WANT to talk about and not just the most recent mobile game Martha has been wasting time on. Stay tuned!

There’s a reason Shakespeare is so enduring in our pop cultural landscape, and we take a crack at figuring out why. Here are some of the things we touch on:

Why exactly Shakespeare’s stories are so enduring
Why they work particularly well in high school settings
What the gender flips do for the stories, if anything
What is lost and gained from translating these stories to different times and places

We don’t go as deeply into the gender question as I might have wanted to, particularly in relation to As I Descended. If you have thoughts on the issue, please leave us a note or a comment!

We’re going a little lighter in the spirit of summer for our next episode, which is all about Zombies as Metaphor. We’re joined by Pete’s friend and coworker, Austin!

Your homework for July 4:

Martha: Feed, 2010 novel by Mira Grant
Pete: The Girl With All the Gifts, 2016 film directed by Colm McCarthy
Austin: Warm Bodies, 2013 film directed by Jonathan Levine (also weirdly enough a Shakespeare redux!)

Find Pete on Twitter @piko3000, and find Martha on both Instagram AND Twitter @magicalmartha. Follow us online @DYDYHpodcast, e-mail us at show@homeworkpodcast.com, and find us on Facebook.

And remember, if you have questions, comments, or ideas for a show, give us a shoutout here or send us an e-mail to show@homeworkpodcast.com. We’d love to hear from you!

The homework for the episode:
Martha: Netflix show Jessica Jones, 1.01 (“AKA Ladies Night”) and 1.02 (“AKA Crush Syndrome”)
Pete: Macbeth, 2015 film directed by Justin Kurzel
Joel: Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012 film directed by Stephen Chbosky

A former superhero-turned-private investigator has to face her former abuser(and deal with her lingering trauma) when evidence emerges that he isn’t as dead as she thought he was.

A man in old-ass Scotland kills his way to the throne and is summarily bloodily deposed.

A young boy deals with past trauma and also the everyday difficulties of being a high school student. Also he makes new friends.

We get a bit personal today with help from our special guest, friend of the show and 40 Going On 14 cohost Joel Kenyon! Thanks for lending us a measure of your podcasting expertise, Joel.

Your podcasters’ credentials:

Pete: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
Martha: Welcome to Night Vale podcast
Joel: The IT Crowd tv show

Martha is absolutely SCANDALIZED that Pete has never read Ursula K. LeGuin before. Joel is watching The IT Crowd for 40GO14, and Martha is only now realizing she missed her chance to roast him for also being a newbie to Parks & Rec like four weeks ago. Martha continues her streak of promoting podcasts that aren’t hers, but in her defense Night Vale is her proto-podcast, from which all her podcast endeavors spring.

We don’t really have formal discussion questions to give you this time, but our discussion does broadly cover the following topics:

What our characters are experiencing trauma from, and how they are processing it
How their PTSD is influencing character motivations and actions
How our homeworks handle different kinds of trauma
How pop culture can help people process their own trauma

Trigger warning on this one, as we get a little personal with our own lives. Deep thanks to Joel, without whom this discussion would not have been as richly complex or nuanced.

Unofficial third chair Maren Hagman helps scratch our Shakespeare itch next episode when, inspired by this rendition of Macbeth, we turn ourselves totally toward Shakespearean Adaptations (or as Pete has dubbed it, The Bard: Reimagined).

Your homework for June 20:

Martha: As I Descended, 2016 novel by Robin Talley
Pete: Ran, 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa
Maren: 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999 film directed by Gil Junger

Joel can be found on the internet reviewing horror movies on Creepercast and podcasting at 40 Going on 14, The Coffin Joe Cast, and The Sunshine Happy Kpants Hour.

Find Pete on Twitter @piko3000, and find Martha on both Instagram AND Twitter @magicalmartha. Follow us online @DYDYHpodcast, e-mail us at show@homeworkpodcast.com, and find us on Facebook.

And remember, if you have questions, comments, or ideas for a show, give us a shoutout here or send us an e-mail to show@homeworkpodcast.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Tag: shakespeare

Episode 35: Remixing the Bard

Episode 34: PTSD