Material Girls

In this (spoiler-free) episode, we give YOU, the listener, all the tools you need to confidently and appropriately use the term Kafkaesque the next time Severance comes up in conversation. During Why This, Why Now?, Hannah guides Marcelle through some very compelling ideas about the show's popularity (did someone say "pandemic?"). We then move into The Theory We Need where the conversation turns to Marxism, surrealism, anti-capitalism and, you guessed it, Franz Kafka! The best news? By the end of the episode, you earn a MUSIC DANCE EXPERIENCE! Not really, (because we're a podcast), but we do end the episode with Hannah's thesis about state power, repression of grief, corporate culture and entertainment — and in a way, isn't that just as "elite" and "coveted AF?"

We're going weekly, folks! We're so excited to kick off this new schedule with Part I of Material Concerns. In very fun news, Coach is now our third co-host on these episodes which means 33% more chaos, new segments (including recommendations, a creature report, and improv). To listen to Part II, head to our Patreon right now! We're doing a Patreon push during the month of April to hit $7000/month (to better support our team!) so you if you join by May 1, you'll be helping us hit our goal! Check out your membership options at patreon.com/ohwitchplease.

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Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

In this week's episode, we’re talking about the conspiracy theory that Canadian pop punk icon Avril Lavigne died and was replaced by a body double named Melissa. You heard us right! To help navigate the mess of this theory, we have an esteemed guest, Cristen Conger (she/her), who is deep in conspiracy discourse. Cristen is the cofounder of Unladylike Media, author of the book Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space and the host of the new breakout hit podcast Conspiracy, She Wrote. We absolutely love Cristen, her podcast and her perspective on how conspiracy theories begin, mutate, crawl into various corners of the internet and influence our relationship to what is real. Tune in for a discussion about Avril Lavigne's rise to popularity, the popular replacement theory, our cultural relationship to celebrity women's bodies and privacy, and so much more.

In this Material Concerns episode, Hannah and Marcelle talk about the 2005 Music Video Awards (and the Gosling/McAdams kiss), Noah as the The Notebook's (unreliable?) narrator, the line between melodrama and camp, and Gosling's undeniable charisma.

As a reminder, for just $5 USD/month you'll get part two, our extensive backlog, ad-free episodes, and oh so much more!

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Music Credits:

“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020

Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.

She's back! Beloved podcaster and author Vanessa Zoltan (she/her) joins Hannah and Marcelle to dig into one of the most famous "weepies" of the 21st century: The Notebook (2004). If you cry at the line "If you're a bird, I'm a bird," have the phrase "What do you want?" ringing in your head, or regularly view the 2005 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, then this episode is for you. Hannah first contextualizes The Notebook in early aughts America (think post 9/11 conservative politics) and Vanessa offers some info about Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook. They then jump into a theory section all about melodrama! You may be familiar with the concept — perhaps you've even accused a friend or family member of being melodramatic — but can you really define it? What about the idea of "a Melodrama of Failure?" Hannah turns to Elisabeth Robin Anker’s book, Orgies of Feeling: Melodrama and the Politics of Freedom, to bolster her thesis and the episode ends with a conversation about the relationship between the American Dream, sovereignty, Christian conservatism and heterosexuality.

If you have thoughts, questions or comments, submit them over Instagram for our next Material Concerns episode!