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108: Weekend at Bernie's: Deep Thoughts About Exceptional Physical Comedy, Dubious Personal Morality, and Pop Culture Touchstones
October 23, 2025 What kind of a host invites you to his house for the weekend and dies on you? Despite its status as a benchmark of late 80s pop culture, the film Weekend at Bernie's sounds like it should never have been greenlit. Two lowly young insurance employees find their boss dead of an apparent overdose at his beach house--and pretend he is still alive. The mafia boss who ordered Bernie's death sends the enforcer back to kill him again and again, and there's a love int
Tracie Guy-Decker
Nov 4, 20252 min read


109: Scream: Deep Thoughts About Badass Final Girls, Self-Aware Pop Culture, and Why We Expect Morals from Horror but Not Comedy
October 28, 2025 There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. In December 1996, teenaged Emily learned to love horror movies when she saw Wes Craven's Scream in the theater. Twice. Unlike most pop culture specifically created for her demographic, Scream offered feminism, cultural commentary, badass women as protagonists and antagonists, a banger of a murder mystery, and plenty of comedy--all while simultaneously analyzing fil
Tracie Guy-Decker
Oct 28, 20252 min read


107: A Fish Called Wanda: Deep Thoughts About Comedy, Cultural Commentary, and Cartoonish Con Artists
October 21, 2025 You're the vulgarian, you fuck! Tracie expected to enjoy revisiting the classic comedy A Fish Called Wanda, but she forgot just how much of this film's humor was derived from cringe comedy (John Cleese speaking Russian in his underwear when a large family stumbles upon him) and punching down (the dubious "comedy" of making fun of Michael Palin's stutter), both of which made the film painful to rewatch. Wanda has some truly interesting cultural commentary abou
Tracie Guy-Decker
Oct 21, 20252 min read


106: Speed: Deep Thoughts About Dennis Hopper Chewing Scenery, Keanu Reeves Shooting Hostages, and Why Pop Culture Needs More Insurance Agents
October 14, 2025 Pop quiz, hotshot! As Emily tells Tracie this week, the 1994 film Speed is, in a word, BONKERS. This pop culture icon of the early 1990s not only gave us the impossible bus jump that we've always wanted from the movies and catapulted Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves to mega-stardom, but it also offered a pretty darn good romance plot in among the explosions, high-speed chases, baby carriages full of cans, and shockingly high body count. But as Emily found on t
Tracie Guy-Decker
Oct 14, 20252 min read


105: The Log Driver's Waltz with Aaron Reynolds: Deep Thoughts About Canadian Masculinity, Quirky Comedy, and Keeping Animation Weird
October 07, 2025 I'm not sure that it's business of yours, but I do like to waltz with a log driver. Tracie and Emily welcome six-time...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Oct 7, 20252 min read


104: Romancing the Stone: Deep Thoughts About White Feminism, Fiction Writers, and Forgivable Plot Holes You Can Drive a Bus Through
September 30, 2025 Okay, Joan Wilder, write us out of this one. On this week's episode, Tracie revisits the 1984 film Romancing the...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Sep 30, 20252 min read


103: The Truman Show: Deep Thoughts About Narcissism, Product Placement, and Parasocial Pop Culture
And if I don't see you: Good afternoon, good evening, and good night! Peter Weir's 1998 film The Truman Show, based on a screenplay by...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Sep 25, 20252 min read


102: Rain Man: Deep Thoughts About Buicks, Toothpicks, and Introducing Autism to Pop Culture
September 16, 2025 When I was a little kid and I got scared, the Rain Man would come and sing to me. Join us this week as Tracie shares...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Sep 17, 20252 min read


101: The Golden Girls: Deep Thoughts About Pop Culture's Favorite Foursome of Fearless Women Over Fifty
"It's like we say in St. Olaf—Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy." On this week's episode,...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Sep 9, 20252 min read


100: V for Vendetta: Deep Thoughts About Fascism, Feminism, and Pop Culture Revolution
September 2, 2025 You cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love......
Tracie Guy-Decker
Sep 2, 20252 min read


99: The Sword in the Stone: Deep Thoughts About Animation, Squirrely Romance, and Merlin's Terrible Pedagogy
Hockety pockety wockety wack! Odds and ends and bric-a-brac! In revisiting this classic Disney animation from 1963, Tracie found that the...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Aug 26, 20252 min read


98: Hook with Jenn Book Haselswerdt: Deep Thoughts About Peter Pan's Perpetual Prepubescence in Pop Culture
August 19, 2025 "To die would be a grand adventure!" Emily is delighted to welcome her dear childhood friend--and lifelong Peter Pan...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Aug 19, 20252 min read


97: The Shawshank Redemption: Deep Thoughts About Friendship, Slow Storytelling, and the Role of Prisons in American Pop Culture
August 12, 2025 Though it's now consistently named #1 on IMDB's top 250 list of classic movies, Frank Darabont's 1994 film The...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Aug 14, 20252 min read


96: The Beastmaster: Deep Thoughts About Storytelling Conventions, Covert Blood Libel, and Marc Singer's Glistening...Line Delivery
August 5, 2025 I have my eyes... I have my cunning... and I have my strength. This obscure sword-and-sorcery fantasy film from the early...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Aug 5, 20252 min read


95: Titanic: Deep Thoughts About Pop Culture Feminism, Jack as a Trans Man, and the Relative Buoyancy of Wardrobe Doors
July 29, 2025 Draw me like one of your French girls... This week, Emily finally introduces Tracie to the pop culture juggernaut Titanic,...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Jul 29, 20252 min read


94: Mrs. Doubtfire: Deep Thoughts About Cringe Comedy, Feminist Backlash, and Hairy Leg Appreciation
July 22, 2025 It was a run-by fruiting! Revisiting the beloved 1993 Robin Williams film Mrs. Doubtfire this week was a reminder to Tracie...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Jul 22, 20252 min read


93: Deep Thoughts About Hiding Seriously Subversive Messages in Deeply Unserious Movies
July 16, 2025 Two things I love to do: fight and kiss boys! This week, Emily revisits another of the silly Pygmalion movies from the Guy...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Jul 16, 20252 min read


92: Weird Science: Deep Thoughts on Pygmalion, Women's Agency, and Why 1980s Movies Thought Computers Were Magic
July 8, 2025 So, what would you little maniacs like to do first? This week, Tracie takes a deep dive into Weird Science: yet another of...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Jul 8, 20252 min read


91: Independence Day: Deep Thoughts About American Exceptionalism, Sci Fi Disaster Movies, and Jeff Goldblum in a Flight Suit
July 1, 2025 Welcome to Earth. The 1996 Roland Emmerich-helmed film Independence Day was one of the touchstone movies for Emily's...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Jul 1, 20252 min read


90: Encyclopedia Brown with Adam Gwon: Deep Thoughts About Potatoes, Problem Plays, and Pop Culture Expectations for Detective Stories
June 24, 2025 25 cents per day, plus expenses. No case too small! Adam Gwon, Emily's childhood friend and award-winning musical theater...
Tracie Guy-Decker
Jun 24, 20252 min read
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