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Setting up a home theater doesn’t have to mean drilling into ceilings or investing in a giant flatscreen. If you’ve been toying with the idea of upgrading your movie nights, this refurbished LG CineBeam projector, on sale for $199 on StackSocial right now, might be the easiest way to go big. It's a refurbished unit, but it comes with a Grade “A” rating, meaning it’s been inspected and verified to be in near-mint condition. It comes with the power cord included, works with a wide range of devices, and ships to the contiguous U.S.
The CineBeam delivers full HD (1920x1080) resolution with enough brightness (600 ANSI lumens) to project a crisp, colorful picture up to 100 inches across. It’s compact and lightweight at just over two pounds, which makes it easy to carry around, whether you want to watch a film in your bedroom or set up an outdoor screening in the backyard. Its portability is matched by its convenience: It runs on LG’s webOS platform, which means you can stream straight from Netflix, YouTube, and other supported apps without needing a separate device. And its built-in battery gives you up to 2.5 hours of cable-free playtime.
It supports both wifi and Bluetooth, so you can cast from your phone or pair wireless speakers to boost your audio setup. And if you prefer hard connections, it’s got two HDMI ports, a USB-A, and a USB-C input—handy for everything from gaming consoles to presentations. If you’re okay with going refurbished, this might be a great solution for casual streaming, travel-friendly projection, or adding a screen to a space where a TV just doesn’t fit. Plus, the LED lamp has a rated life of up to 30,000 hours, which makes this a long-haul purchase even if you’re using it regularly. For just $200, it might be worth the impulse buy.
2013: The Tories masterfully tank the UK credit rating, a grateful nation celebrates Margaret Thatcher’s death, and Scotland inexplicably chooses to remain in the UK.
✓ for read, * for intend to read, ! for never heard of it. Or whatever amuses you.
Which 2013 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read? Dark Eden by Chris Beckett 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson ✓ Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway ✓ Intrusion by Ken MacLeod Nod by Adrian Barnes The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Fake nonsense is nothing new, but lately it feels like everything is ersatz. This week’s crop of youth culture trends includes slang terms that no one actually uses, a holiday that no one actually celebrates, and a dating movement invented wholesale. But sprinkled among the duds is a genuine viral gem—comedian Druski going deep undercover at NASCAR. Sure, he’s faking being a white guy, but I’ve never seen anything more real.
What is a "6-7 weekend"?
I really hope this entry is the last time I write the number 6 or 7 in this column, but I can’t promise anything. The ubiquitous, largely meaningless piece of Gen A slang remains in the collection consciousness of the nation’s youth. This week, certain corners of the internet declared the weekend that just past “6-7 weekend." Because Saturday was Sept. 6 and Sunday the 7th.
TikTok celebrated with videos like this one:
And this one, featuring the 67 hand-gesture.
Like the meaning of the phrase 6-7, how one is supposed to observe 6-7 weekend is unclear. Maybe by watching Fast & Furious 6 and Fast & Furious 7 back to back? Or listening to The Velvet Underground & Nico because it came out in 1967?
Anyway, you probably didn’t do anything for 6-7 weekend, but hope is not lost. Despite memes calling Sept. 6 and 7 a “generational” weekend, the 6th and 7th day of the month falling on the weekend happens frequently. This December will feature a 6-7 weekend, as will June 2026, February, March, and November of 2027, and May of 2028. (Please, please, please let no one remember 6-7 by then.)
(Check out my slang glossary for more Zoomer and Gen A slang.)
What does 93 mean in slang?
Young people cannot get enough of number-based slang. There’s 6-7 (damn it, I wrote about it again already), 41 (which I explained last week) and now 93.
“Why 93?” you might be asking after deeply sighing. Well, reader, “93” is a mainly online joke about 6-7 and 41. It’s an arbitrary number that doesn’t even have a rap song to back it up like 6-7 and 41. This video lays it out:
Other videos started appearing, which added an annoying way to pronounce “93."
While there are a lot of posts tagged 93 on TikTok, it seems unlikely that it will catch on, because it’s just getting to be too dumb. As TikToker @Hoopervalley8 points out, “if every number becomes a meme, then nothing is funny anymore.”
(Dude, none of this was ever funny.)
What does “getting Shrekked” mean?
“Getting Shrekked’ is dating slang that refers to dating someone who is below your physical standard (Shrek) and then being traumatized by that person. The word was first used by TikToker jaxitodwyer, who is some kind of online relationship guru or something. Anyway, in the video, jaxitodwyer says, “A new dating term just dropped; it’s called 'getting Shrekked'…” In another video, he pointed out the “horrible new trend” of getting Shrekked.
Dude talks about getting Shrekked a ton, but only because he made it up. “Getting Shrekked” only “dropped” from jaxitodwyer himself; there is no “trend.” No one is actually saying “Shrekked” except this dork. And it’s not even good fake slang. It describes too specific of situation for anyone to have much of a reason to ever say it, so it’s not going to catch on.
Regardless, news sources all over the globe reported on the non-story. The Hindustan Times says “‘Shrekking’ has taken over.” (taken over what?) Tyla.com calls Shrekking “a new dating trend.” Even USA Today, the paper of record in budget motels, reported "there’s a new dating trend afoot” and went on to consult with their own “dating coach” Amy Chan, who offered the following advice about the trend (that does not exist), “The term might be new, but the behavior isn’t…Plenty of people have put looks lower on the list or hoped attraction would grow over time, and that in itself isn’t a bad thing. Where it backfires is when someone assumes that just because they’re dating ‘down’ in looks, they’ll automatically be treated better.” Thanks, Amy Chan!
In unrelated news, I am internationally recognized as both a relationship expert and a dating coach, and there’s a new trend that’s taking over. It’s called “Clouding.” It’s when you only date people with a higher follower count than you have, so you can “float up” on social media. Wait, um, how about “Addamsing?” That’s when you act super-weird on a date, like one of the Addams Family, so your date will leave halfway through dinner. That dating trend is totally taking over and it's afoot. (Does that work, USA Today?)
The sea-shanty craze is five years old
Remember when everyone started listening to sea shanties for some reason? And this song became really popular?
And people on TikTok started adding parts to it in videos like this to make it more horrible?
That started five years ago, according to the internet historians at Know Your Meme. I bring this up only because there have been internet trends that are worse than both “getting Shrekked” and “6-7” combined, and they, like all things, passed.
Viral video of the week: Druski goes to NASCAR
Comedian Druski won the internet this week with a video where he puts on whiteface to attend a NASCAR event. Check it out:
That’s 235.6 million views in three days, just on the X post.
The video is remarkable. The make-up and wardrobe is so good—adding the farmer sunburn under the overall? Chef’s kiss. Plus Druski’s dead-on character is so believable that no one in the video seems to notice what's was going on. Here’s what Druski looks like out of makeup, for comparison’s sake:
Everyone who saw the video responded to the video with tweets like this:
And there wasn’t any online controversy because this video is totally great. No weird, racist white people said, “What about if I did blackface, huh???” Because everyone took the historical and cultural context into account and agreed that Druski is amazing.
Every time you install an application on Windows, you agree to give it permission to interact with certain parts of your system. Video calling apps are going to want to access your webcam, for example, while browsers will most likely ask to know your location so they can serve up localized news, weather, and everything else.
Most of the time these permissions aren't going to give you any cause for concern, but it's worth running a regular audit to see which programs have which privileges. Even with apps and developers you trust, you don't necessarily want to be giving away more information than you'd like.
There's always the chance there's an app on your PC you didn't know about or that you've forgotten to remove, and reviewing these permissions means you know exactly which programs are installed and what they're allowed to do. If you're not happy with anything, you can reconfigure these permissions or remove applications entirely.
Where to find Windows app permissions
You can either look up specific permissions and see which apps have them, or look up specific apps and see the permissions they've requested. The first option is a little more straightforward: Open up Settings from the Start menu, then choose Privacy & security and scroll down to the App permissions section.
You get a list of key permissions that apps can request, starting with the big ones: Location, Camera, and Microphone. Click on any permission to see the apps that have access, and revoke that access if you're not happy with it, via the toggle switches on the right. You'll also see a toggle switch that lets you block access to this permission for every program on your system.
The most important permissions are listed first in Settings.Credit: Lifehacker
On certain permissions, you get some extra information, including recent requests for that permission. For example, you can see which apps have recently asked to use your camera. This is helpful in figuring out if apps are using permissions (such as location) in a responsible way, and at a frequency interval you're comfortable with. If not, revoke the permission with a click.
Blocking certain permissions in certain apps might break some of the features or functionality of that app—but if an app has been well designed, you should get information about what's stopped working and why, and why a particular permission is needed. If you want more information, there's always the option of contacting the developer directly.
How to check permissions app by app
Open Settings from the Start menu, then select Apps > Installed apps. For apps that have been granted specific permissions, you should be able to click the three dots next to the app title and then Advanced options to view a full permissions list.
If there are any permissions you want to revoke, turn off the relevant toggle switch. Depending on the app, you might see some other permissions—such as permission for an app to start up at the same time as Windows. Again, if this is something you don't want to happen, disable via the toggle switch.
You're able to dig into permissions app by app.Credit: Lifehacker
Some apps will also have a Background app permissions setting, which does exactly what it suggests: It lets the app keep operating in the background even when it's closed down. That's handy for apps that need a steady stream of real time data and notifications, but it can take up memory and drain battery life (you can configure this setting depending on whether or not your Windows device is plugged in).
The same screen gives you a variety of troubleshooting options, as well as an Uninstall button if you think an app is grabbing permissions to a suspicious extent. It's always a good idea to remove programs you're no longer actively using. It frees up storage space and memory, and improves system security (because there are fewer apps that could potentially be exploited).
In this Sokoban-like sci-fi puzzle game, aliens have boarded a space station in orbit around Jupiter and sabotaged its nuclear reactor. It's far too dangerous to go in there yourself, so you get a crew of remotely controlled droids that you can use like roombas to clean up the radiation from the different levels of the station and confront the (Quadr)alien menace.
This is a new game to me, suggested by zorealis. I've played some hard games from this era but this one is pretty wild. The main challenge is that the core temperature is constantly rising, so in between pushing stuff around trying to collect and dump radioactive waste, you also have to find coolant barrels and push them into various chutes. In later levels the "entropy" gauge also quickly rises if too many objects/aliens are moving at once, so you have to stop that too. If either gauge goes critical, you die. Oh, and you have only a limited pool of energy for your droids that drains whenever you do anything. And sometimes when you do nothing. Good luck!
You can play Quadralien in your browser, though note that it defaults to the CGA version. If you want the one shown here (which you probably do, not least of all because CGA does not have enough colors for the radioactive tiles to be visibly green), use the "game executable" dropdown to select VGA.
If you’ve been eyeing a premium Xbox or PC controller but hate the thought of spending close to $200, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro might be worth a second look. It’s going for $149.99 on Woot right now, which is not only a solid $50 less than Amazon’s current $199.99 price but also cheaper than the lowest price this controller has ever hit ($171.99), according to price trackers. This deal runs for the next 26 days or until stock runs out, with Prime members getting free standard shipping (everyone else pays an extra $6). Note that Woot ships only within the contiguous U.S.
Pick up the controller, and it feels premium in a way that most third-party pads don’t. The shape takes clear cues from Microsoft’s Elite, but at 10.6 ounces, it’s a bit lighter and easier to handle. The textured rubber grips add comfort for longer sessions, while the buttons have a crisp, springy feel that makes them satisfying to use, notes this PCMag review. The Hall Effect sticks are built to hold up over time without the usual drift problems. Razer also throws in some thoughtful extras—four rear buttons that feel intuitive, trigger locks that speed things up in shooters, and swappable analog sticks. It doesn’t nail everything, though. You can’t swap out the D-pad, and it skips a charging cradle. Still, the fundamentals are solid, and it handles the core experience really well.
Performance-wise, the Wolverine V3 Pro is responsive across genres. The 2.4GHz Hyperspeed wireless connection holds up well in action-heavy games like Hades 2, and the 1kHz Tournament Mode over USB is excellent for competitive PC play. That said, its lack of Bluetooth limits flexibility—you’ll need Razer’s USB dongle for wireless use. Battery life tops out around 20 hours, which is noticeably shorter than the Elite’s but still serviceable compared to PlayStation’s DualSense controllers. Customization is also limited; you can remap the six extra buttons, but not the main layout. Still, when the actual feel of the controller rivals the Elite and the price undercuts it by a good margin, those trade-offs may not be deal breakers.
I did two loads of laundry (washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, and cleaned off a portion of the counter. I went on a few walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals and cut up said chicken for said meals, and changed kitty litter. I also placed an online order and gathered up all the returnables that have been building up for ages and loaded them into my car.
I visited mom, started the next Clare Fergusson book, and read a nice, long fanfic.
Temps started out at 55.8(F) and reached 72 (according to Pip). We had sun most of the day, which was nice.
I suggested the other night that we pick some pumpkins for our personal use before the deer got all of them, so yesterday Pip picked some pumpkins while I was visiting mom. 30 of them. And there are still a bunch more, but I think he picked enough. *g* (Right now they’re just sitting in safety on the deck. Once we set them out, I fear they’ll be fair game for the deer.)
Mom Update:
Mom was doing okay, but not as good as yesterday. Just a little meh. ( more back here )
Noting that South Korean pop culture has become at least as loved outside the Republic shouldn't surprise anyone in 2025—look at the massive critical and streaming success of K-Pop Demon Hunters—an American production, technically, but one that makes the most of its South Korean cast and origins.
It all, perhaps, started with the international rise of K-pop, a broad umbrella term for just about any popular music coming from Korea, though South Korean films had a reverent following stateside long before Parasite’s history-making Academy Award victory way back in 2019. As with art from any country or culture, not all South Korean entertainment is gold, but the TV and movies the country is exporting are more than able to compete on a global scale.
Case in point: Squid Game, the buzzy survival drama captured the world’s attention in a big way over its three seasons, it’s first episode having been the most popular in the streamer’s history, beating the previous record-holder, the similarly buzzy Bridgerton, by nearly 30 million viewers. Even before Squid Game hit, Netflix was betting big on K-dramas—and while being spoiled for choice is a good thing, but it can be tough to know where to begin. Here are some of the best and most popular shows on Netflix that represent the breadth of South Korean TV: crime, horror, rom-com, science fiction, period drama...whatever you’re into, you can probably find a distinct Korean-language take.
Karma (2025)
A deeply satisfying, Coen-esque crime thriller, Karma stars Lee Hee-joon as Jae-yeong as a guy who's desperately underwater in his debts to a loan shark—but, hey! It turns out that he's the beneficiary of his dad's rather large life insurance policy. What else to do but hire a co-worker to kill his father? That part goes fine, but then a couple on a date runs over the body, and, believing that he's killed the man, driver Sang-hun nearly murders an eyewitness before paying the guy to help him dispose of the body. A hiker finds the body, the insurance payout is delayed, and Sang-hun comes to believe that he's been played. It's one of those great, twisty-turny crime dramas from which no character walks away without blood on their hands. Stream Karma.
That title isn’t just a metaphor: The series involves a literal crash landing into the North side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is an heiress and independent business owner whose complicated relationships with her family have caused her to step away from them. On a paragliding trip, a tornado sends her north, and she’s rescued from disaster by a captain in the North Korean Special Police Force. The romance between two strong characters, as well as the sensitive and humane portrayal of life in the north, made this a mega-hit on South Korean TV, and a fan fave worldwide. Stream Crash Landing on You.
All of Us Are Dead (2022 – , renewed for a second season)
For a little Z-drama with your K-drama: In All of Us Are Dead, high school becomes hell, almost literally, when a viral outbreak sees a Hyosan school become ground zero for a strange plague. Though it's not clear at first, the teenagers soon realize that they've been quarantined from the rest of the city. Help isn't coming. Nihilism isn't uncommon in zombie narratives, nor are themes involving the breakdown of social structures. All of Us Are Dead, instead, explores the world of a cloistered high school under constant threat as a parallel to our own world: Class and background continue to be potent forces, even (or especially) amid the trauma of the attacks, and arbitrary social hierarchies solidify under the constant trauma rather than adapt. The closed school location is brilliantly utilized, and there's some appropriately soapy drama, as well. Look for Squid Game's Emmy-winner Lee Yoo-mi as spoiled rich kid Lee Na-yeon. A long-gestating second season recently started production. Stream All of Us Are Dead.
The 8 Show (2024)
This might have seemed faintly over-the-top just a few years ago, but now looks and feels like a reasonably good distillation of our current capitalist hellscape. Here, eight strangers are selected to compete in a game in which they're locked together in a building and sequestered on different floors each night. They earn money for each minute they last in the game, but all their provisions must be purchased with money they've won, at an extreme markup. At first, the contestants pool their resources so that everyone gets more money—until they learn that people on higher floors are getting more. Then things get nasty. Stream The 8 Show.
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)
Discussions around mental health in general remain fraught anywhere in the world, and South Korea is no exception. Though opportunities for treatment are better than in many other parts of the world, social stigma remains a problem. Which is all part of the reason Jo Yong and Park Shin-woo’s miniseries was such a sensation when it was released last year: Writer Jo based the show on her own personal experiences, plus a good bit of research. The series chronicles the slow-burn romance between Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun), a health care worker living with his autistic brother, and a famous children’s book author (Seo Yea-ji) with antisocial personality disorder. It’s lovely, and was popular enough in South Korea to inspire a series of children’s books based on the work of the show’s fictional writer. Stream It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.
Itaewon Class (2020)
Another great example of the willingness of South Korean producers to tackle increasingly challenging social issues alongside the action and drama, Itaewon Class stars Park Seo-joon as Park Sae-ro-yi, a high school kid whose life is shattered by Geun-won, the son of the powerful owner of a food conglomerate. First, he’s suspended for fighting back against the bully, and then his father is killed in a reckless driving incident involving Geun-won. Instead of consequences for the rich kid, it’s Sae-ro-yi who winds up going to prison for nearly beating his father’s killer to death. On release, he opens up a local bar for outsiders while plotting to bring down the all-powerful conglomerate that ruined his life. The staff at his bar includes a transgender woman, a Guinean-Korean, and another ex-con, all of whom struggle with acceptance but find a home among the other underdogs at the bar. Stream Itaewon Class.
Business Proposal (2022)
A lot of the shows on this list are on the heavy side; it's time to lighten things up with this popular romantic comedy/drama series. The set-up is classic romantic tomfoolery: Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong) goes on a blind date pretending to be her best friend, who didn't want to go because her dad set the whole thing up. Ha-ri is just doing her bestie a solid, but things get complicated when the date turns out to be Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), CEO of the company where Ha-ri works. Sick of his grandfather's pressure to find the right woman and secure the future of the family business, Ha-ri decides he's going to marry his date—who is, again, pretending to be someone she's not. Complicated in the best tradition of the genre, and also pretty darned cute. Stream Business Proposal.
The Frog (2024)
Following his wife's death, Yeong-ha (Kim Yoon-seok) just wants a quiet life in the secluded town where he lives, renting out the house next door as a vacation rental—though he's not even all that enthusiastic about that. It's all going fine until a young woman shows up with her son, the same woman abruptly leaving behind blood stains and, even more disturbingly, the kid. Though it's a bit of a spoiler, this very-slow-burn and cinematic thriller takes place in multiple time periods—a clever storytelling technique given the show's unchanging locale. Stream The Frog.
Bae Doona, whom you'll know from everything from Cloud Atlas to Sense8 to Rebel Moon) stars in this twisty-turny sci-fi drama that starts on a dry, near-waterless Earth of the near-future, following a team of astronauts and scientists sent on a mission to an abandoned lunar base. They're tasked with retrieving a mysterious sample, and it soon becomes clear that the bureaucrats on Earth know a lot more about that sample than they’re telling. Suffice it to say that nothing goes particularly well—there are deaths, betrayals, and a deadly something that might be humanity's future, but might just as easily be its end. Stream The Silent Sea.
Vincenzo (2021)
Having been adopted into an Italian organized crime family as a baby, Park Joo-hyung took on the name Vincenzo Cassano, eventually becoming a mafia consigliere. After his adoptive father Don Fabio dies, Fabio’s biological son comes gunning for his brother, whom he now sees only as competition. He flees to Seoul on the hunt for a secret stash of money, but in the process discovers a love interest and a new adversary in a giant business conglomerate that quite deserves to be taken down. Another incredibly popular series, this one definitely puts a unique spin on the tropes of the mob drama. Stream Vincenzo.
Alice in Borderland (2020– , third season coming soon)
Video-game-obsessed Arisu gets his wish, after a fashion: He finds himself, along with a couple of friends, transported to an alternate, eerily abandoned version of Tokyo—the title’s Borderland—vividly brought to life via some clever green-screen work. The three are directed to an arena and given the instructions for the game—one they’ll be playing whether they want to or not. The first competition, for example, involves a locked-room-style puzzle; if they fail, the room goes up in flames with them in it. Think Ready Player One, with deadlier stakes. There are games each night, though the rules allow for winners to get time off...there are a lot of rules, actually, but the games are cleverly and sadistically constructed. The third season is on its way. Stream Alice in Borderland.
Sweet Home (2020 – 2024)
Based on the title alone, you might guess that Sweet Home is a charming family comedy about three generations of a single family living under one roof. But no, it’s actually about the residents of an apartment building who’ve holed themselves up inside against the zombie-esque plague ravaging the world (here, the infection turns people into a variety of monsters, but otherwise the plot works along traditional zombie lines). High school student Cha Hyun-soo lost his entire family to a car accident, and moves into the building just in time. The added twist? Hyun-soo eventually gains control over his own infection and develops something like superpowers. This popular series is based on a very, very popular webtoon. Stream Sweet Home.
Kingdom (2019 – 2021)
It’s not exactly a history lesson, but Kingdom does open a window into the middle of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, an era that ran for over 500 years, to nearly the 20th century. History doesn't record an actual zombie plague during the early years of the 17th century, though, so perhaps a few liberties have been taken. As the series opens, rumors are swirling that the king has died, and his son, Crown Prince Lee Chang, is trying to find out the truth. Turns out that the king did, in fact, die—of smallpox—but the Queen Consort and her father, a powerful courtier, have a plan: they’ve given the king a little-known plant that revives him (you can see where this is headed) in the hope of keeping him alive long enough for the queen to bear a son. Since Lee Chang is merely the son of a concubine, he’d lose his claim to the throne in such an event. The show deftly combines horror and medieval-esque political intrigue, making it rather more than the sum of its parts. The show runs for two seasons with a spin-off movie, Ashin of the North, but there's always chatter about a potential revival. Stream Kingdom.
Memories of the Alhambra (2019)
It sounds a bit like an episode of Black Mirror, if not nearly so dystopian. There’s an impressive new augmented reality game with a neat, but very specific spinoff: It involves medieval battles in and around the Alhambra fortress in Granada, Spain (where much of the series was filmed). A tech CEO interested in investing travels to Spain to meet the creator, only to find out that he’s gone missing. Fortunately, the creator’s ultra-cool sister owns a local hostel, and, with romance in the air, the two set out on hunt for her brother as the line between reality and fantasy becomes increasingly blurry. Another Korean hit, the show’s got some nice location work and solid special effects. Stream Memories of the Alhambra.
Melo Movie (2025)
Ko Gyeom (Choi Woo-shik, Parasite) is a film critic with an obsessive love of cinema—he dreams of seeing every film ever made which, while quixotic, is also deeply charming. He inadvertently moves next door to Kim Mu-bee (Park Bo-young), an estranged friend from the past with whom he split under mysterious circumstances. The romantic drama uses film references to punctuate its love story, but also to serve as a reminder that, for these two characters with unresolved issues, life is hardly a movie. Stream Melo Movie.
Just another drama about a seemingly dull teenage overachiever running a sex ring by night. OK, so this one’s pretty unique, blending dark comedy and action with hints of relationship drama. Needing some extra money, Oh Ji-soo runs a prostitution ring when he’s not in school, but is otherwise a typical teenage doofus. His friend Gyu-ri comes from a wealthy family, but still wants in when she learns about Ji-soo’s sideline. Before long, both competitors and the police begin to circle, and life for the teens gets considerably more dangerous. Stream Extracurricular.
When the Camellia Blooms (2019)
I think we can all agree there’s one big thing lacking in the U.S. romantic-comedy genre: serial killers. Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin) is a single mom who moves to a small town and opens a bar before kicking off a relationship with a local police officer. It seems at times as though he’s the only one happy to have her around: The older, more traditional women of the town don’t love that Dong-baek is a single mom, and they’re equally scandalized by her booze-related business. The show takes light aim at some of those outmoded views, but also complicates matters with the introduction of a serial killer whose next victim might well be Dong-baek.
Oh, and even though this is technically only one season, it's 20 long-ish episodes, so a bigger commitment than you might have thought—but fun if you get into it. Stream When the Camellia Blooms.
When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025)
An epic love story that cleaned house at the 2025 Baeksang Arts Awards (that's South Korea's most prestigious entertainment award ceremony), Tangerines stars IU as Oh Ae-sun (and as Ae-sun's daughter and the series' narrator, Geum-myeong), a young woman born in the 1960s on rural Jeju Island. The series spans decades in her life with friend and later romantic interest Yang Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum), as South Korea changes around them and their family. It's a bit like Pachinko in that regard, though the emphasis here is more on family and Ae-sun's own love story. Stream When Life Gives You Tangerines.
Another sweeping historical drama (a genre that South Korea excels at, and coincidentally one that I can’t get enough of), Mr. Sunshine takes place at the very end of the Joseon Dynasty, with activists fighting for Korean independence. Naturally, the heart of the epic is a cross-class love story between a vassal returning to Korea after time spent as an American Marine and the granddaughter of a powerful Korean aristocrat. Several significant local and world events serve as turning points over the course of the series’ 24 episodes—so aside from being an impressive feat of period drama, this one is also a window into critical moments in world history from a Korean perspective. Stream Mr. Sunshine.
Bloodhounds (2023 – )
Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi star as unlikely besties Kim Geon-woo and Hong Woo-jin, a couple of would-be boxers trying to save their families from the euphemistically named loan shark organization Smile Capital. The fistfights are thrillingly choreographed, and Woo and Lee are, by all accounts, best friends in real life—which lends an air of believable bromance to this action-crime drama. A second season is on the way. Stream Bloodhounds.
When I was first compiling my reading lists, I kept thinking, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to read more by that author! And that one! And that one!” At last it occurred to me that it might be useful to compile a list of those authors from each year and then, you know, actually revisit that author’s work.
When I compiled the first list for 2012 (the first year I have complete enough records to make it worthwhile), it ended up including three Rosemary Sutcliff entries, and I realized that if I didn’t take evasive measures I would probably end up with twenty Rosemary Sutcliff books in a row in the 2013 list. So I refined the parameters: each author gets only one listing per year.
I’ve already read my way through 2012 and 2013 and most of 2014 (still waiting for Elizabeth and Her German Garden! Come on, library!), but it occurred to me that it might be fun forthwith to share my lists as I work on them, and also a good chance to get input if I’m still deciding which book to read for an author. So! Here is the 2015 list. The crossed-out entries are the books I’ve already read for this list.
Jacqueline Woodson – Peace, Locomotion
Rosemary Sutcliff – Little Hound Found
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – In the First Circle or Cancer Ward. I have both on hold, so we’ll see which gets in first
Zilpha Keatley Snyder – Today Is Saturday (a book of poems. Possibly Snyder’s only book of poems?)
Ruth Goodman – How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England
Ngaio Marsh – A Wreath for Rivera
Sarah Rees Brennan – Long Live Evil
Dick Francis – Whip Hand
Margaret Oliphant – probably Kirsteen, although the library has a number of others, including Phoebe Junior and Salem Chapel. Also a bunch of biographies? I hadn’t realized Margaret Oliphant wrote biographies.
September 8th, 2025: The bold return of Tiny Batman Head! Only now I've written for DC so uh it's even MORE important that we all just BE COOL ABOUT THIS
‘Emmys Watch 2025’ showcases critical responses to the series nominated for Outstanding Drama, Outstanding Comedy, and Outstanding Limited Series at that 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. Contributions to this theme explore critical understandings of some series nominated in these categories.
In this second part of the “Television that Changes Us” interview about We Disrupt This Broadcast, podcast creatives Sasha Stewart and Gabe González join one of the associate editors of Pop Junctions,Lauren Alexandra Sowa, to discuss how the podcast blends humor, expertise, and cultural critique. They share more about the process, the role of expert voices in deepening conversations, and the impact they hope to spark with listeners.
Lauren: Thank you so much for joining me, Sasha and Gabe. I was wondering if you can tell me a little bit about your role in the podcast—what each of you do, how you work together and collaborate, and how that all comes together.
Gabe: I will kick us off. My name is Gabe Gonzalez. I am the host of the Peabody's podcast, and I also contribute to some of the writing, although Sasha, who is joining us today, is really doing the heavy lifting on that front. Writing and editing is her bag, and I don't think the episodes would be as tight or as beautiful as they are without it. I'm very lucky to work with this team, especially folks like Sasha, because I get to do what I'd be doing anyway—watching television and talking about it. Only now, I don’t kidnap my boyfriend for an hour to talk about what I just watched on Andor (Disney+). I can do it on a podcast with some of my colleagues. It’s nice to be able to redirect that energy elsewhere.
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Sasha: I couldn’t agree more. I’m Sasha Stewart. I am a writer on We Disrupt This Broadcast, and as part of my writing duties, I edit the interviews and transcripts. I love working with our team. We have a small but mighty group. Basically, what we do is come up with: what are these amazing Peabody Award-winning shows that we’re obsessed with? Which ones can we not stop talking about? That helps us pick our themes, and then we eventually write questions around those.
We also always start with an amazing research packet, so we try to create questions our interview subjects have never gotten before, ones others may have overlooked. One of the cool things about our show is that we’re all about: how does this show disrupt cultural narratives? How is this show changing the game and making the world a better place? A lot of cultural shows will stay away from that. But many writers, showrunners, creators, and actors are excited to talk about what drove them to create the show in the first place. We’re a really nice home for folks to talk about what they super care about when it comes to those shows.
Gabe: It’s also a very natural collaboration between the Peabodys and the Center for Media and Social Impact, because both organizations are focused on highlighting and elevating exceptional work. What’s fun about this podcast is we get to dive into what that means. You kind of know it when you see it—it’s like the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography. You know good TV when you see it, but if you’re not in that world, it’s hard to articulate what it is that makes TV exciting, fascinating, thought-provoking, or emotive. Getting to talk to showrunners, experts, actors, and journalists who’ve been covering some of these stories before they’re turned into scripts is such a fascinating process. Sasha and I are both television nerds. We got the writer of an Emmy nominated series with us here today with Sasha. And I am a stand-up comedian who once wrote on a now canceled late-night show, but we both have television experience.
Sasha: We’re both TV writers, end of sentence.
Gabe: That’s true, it’s true. We both love talking about this stuff. Being able to articulate what makes something disruptive is valuable these days—understanding the mechanisms that provoke conversation or thought. PRX (Public Radio Exchange) is the final missing piece of the puzzle, helping us put together such a professional-sounding production. Between all those forces, we’re really proud of the show we get to make and the guests we get to talk to.
Sasha: I think there are a lot of podcasts out there about how a show is made, but we’re the one about why a show is made.
Lauren: That’s excellent, absolutely. When I was listening to the podcast, something I was really impressed with was how seamless the collaboration is. You’re writing questions, Gabe is also a writer, so you’re taking that in, and it all moves together perfectly. I know you both come from politically engaged and media-savvy backgrounds, so do your personal experiences shape the direction of the podcast? Or do things ever surprise you in the moment during interviews—do you change direction after talking to guests?
Gabe: I actually used to work in journalism—that was my day job while I pursued comedy at night. I left journalism for comedy because comedy seemed like a more sustainable industry at the time, during the Facebook/Meta bubble of the 2010s, when everyone in journalism was hiring and then it exploded. I made the shift and doubled down on what I was passionate about.
Lauren: I understand that. Our readers will laugh, but I left acting for academia because it also felt more stable.
Gabe: Haha, right. And now all our creative industries are exploding. I feel like tech is chasing me at every career. It’s the boyfriend that won’t leave me alone, that I should have dumped long ago, but here it is.
Lauren: Well, now with AI, even that’s not stable, so who knows?
Gabe: Exactly. It drives me nuts.
Sasha: And I learned from our Fantasmas (HBO) episode that it’s also private equity and the financialization of culture that’s chasing us everywhere. Just saying, I learn so much from our own podcast.
Gabe: No, for real. We talked to Andrew DeWaard, who wrote a book about how Wall Street devours culture—Derivative Media: How Wall Street Devours Culture—and why it has turned its sights on television and creative fields. That episode really got me fired up, I know it got Sasha fired up, and the whole team fired up. We all come from these industries that merge journalism and the creative, we got experience in both. So, it makes me doubly passionate. I want to get to the why, and I want everybody to be just as mad about it. In some ways, comedy or criticism is an easy way to get folks on board with an idea, rather than yelling at them in an article on the very website that is the problem. Nobody’s looking at articles on Facebook or X anymore.
Lauren: So true. Do you think there’s a balance between humor, critique, and deep analysis? Because as a comedian, and with the podcast not just being heavy—it’s celebratory but also critical—how do you strike that balance for listeners?
Sasha: It’s been a fascinating journey. We all come from comedy backgrounds and are obsessed with comedy. Originally, we had grand plans: we were going to infuse so much humor in the podcast and it’s going to be so funny. We are going to have all these very specific segments. But what we found, and one of the beauties of being in a different medium than we had worked in before, is that you figure out what actually works for the medium. And for podcasts, that hyper-scripted segments are not funny. They just don’t work well. What works better is having a fabulous host and interviewer like Gabe, who brings humor organically. We just trust that it’s going to be funny— we know Gabe is going to bring the humor, he is going to bring the joy, and he is going to connect with the subject in a way that subject isn’t going to suspect, and they are going to bond over something delightful and hilarious. We always end up with these funny moments we put at the end of the episode as our “most disruptive moment.” They’re always unexpected and improvised, which makes them unique. Which, again, we both come from scripted comedy and improv backgrounds, so it makes sense that humor shows up more naturally in conversation. Therefore, when we’re writing questions, we can put on our “nerd hat” and ask the most sincere, intense questions of all time, because we can trust that Gabe will bring the humor and the levity.
Lauren: You have to make them laugh so you can make them cry, right?
Sasha: Absolutely, and we also start interviews with a softer question to warm-up our interview subjects. Not start with “what is this most traumatic experience like?”
julio torres—creator and star, fantasmas (we disrupt this broadcast (season 2)
Gabe: And some folks we are interviewing are already primed to talk about these dark topics in comedic ways, since they are dealing in satire. Fantasmas is a great example—critiquing the isolationism caused by late capitalism through weird vignettes. Severance (Apple TV) was another great example of that, where we got to talk to Ben Stiller, the cast, and production. It’s refreshing to see so many shows embrace satire to critique the world around us. Comedy can be a powerful tool to lay the world bare as it is without being totally depressing, but isn’t afraid to speak the truth, right? That conversational tone is where we can find the happy balance as Sasha had said. As a team, as writers and hosts, we’ve melded together into a Monstro Elisasue voice. I don’t feel like the podcast is just my voice—sometimes he’ll read one of Sasha’s questions and say, “Wow, I was trying to ask that, but it took me three sentences and inarticulate words, and Sasha said it in a sentence and a half. So, love that question!” We mold ourselves to fit each other because we bring different strengths to the table. But the podcast has evolved to meet the moment. We ask: what do our listeners need? What’s the world around us saying? How can we be reflective of that, rather than imposing a rigid structure on our interview series?
Sasha: And the other thing that I think is so great and special about our podcast is that we also give ourselves the opportunity to talk to experts. So, we know that if we want to have a lighter interview with our main subject, we can then pivot into the more hardcore, gritty stuff with our interview guests. In that Fantasmas episode, Gabe and Julio had an amazing conversation that was super funny, very emotional, and in-depth. But then when we talked to Andrew DeWaard, it was like, okay, now let’s get into: what does financialization of culture mean, what are the six aspects of financialization, and what exactly is private equity? And I’m finally going to understand that for the first time in my life.
Gabe: And I will say, just to get brutally honest here for a second, there was a moment during that interview with Andrew DeWaard where he called out the specific CEO of a company as an example of something he’s talking about in his book. In conversations with production, we review notes for everything, and our producer flagged it: is it okay that we say this? I would say that in 8 out of 10 places I’ve worked, whether TV or publications, folks clutch their pearls at a guest calling out a CEO of a powerful company that directly and citing them as the problem and cause of all these symptoms we are outlining. I remember we talked to Jeff about it, and Jeff was like, “Well, that’s the guest’s opinion, so I don’t see why we should censor them.” And that was that.
It feels so liberating to work on a team that isn’t caught up in corporate webs of having to answer to people. It was just like, “hey, we brought on this guest, they’re the best person to talk about this, let’s talk about it honestly.” And if that means pointing a finger to better illustrate their point, then let’s do it. I really appreciate that. It’s less censorship than I’ve faced at major networks that claim to speak truth to power. It’s refreshing, and it feels liberating as a comedian, too, to be able to say, yes, let’s laugh at the guy that canceled the Acme movie that’s coming back anyway because people wanted to see it. I want to do that.
Lauren: That’s awesome to hear that you don’t have to worry about the PR of it all, the studio heads, or the gatekeepers that writers are always trying to get through. You have this space to just be honest and let the guests be honest, and that’s awesome that Jeff was on board with that as well. Do you have any thoughts on how listeners should engage with the podcast beyond just consuming it? Are there other actions or conversations you hope it sparks?
Sasha: What I hope our listeners take away is, first, to think about the culture they consume more critically. To consider what it’s saying, how it makes them think, how it makes them feel. I hope they then talk to their friends and family about it.
We’ve had so many great episodes this year, but I cannot stop talking to my friends about the Fantasmas episode. If I’m that engaged, I’m hopeful our listeners are too. When we talked to Tony Gilroy about Andor Season 2, about fascism and authoritarianism and how leaders are born in crises, I hope listeners took something away about how to act in our current climate. Or in our Bad Sisters (Apple TV)episode, we had an incredible expert talking about divorce, and it made me think about divorce in a way I never had before. I hope listeners, too, thought, “Wow, I’m empowered to see this differently,” or “I never realized I was feeding into cultural bias against divorced women, and the pressure for women to stay in marriages that are bad for them.” So, I hope the podcast is engaging on multiple levels, and that it helps people have difficult, but also fun, conversations with their friends and family.
Gabe: I want to echo something Sasha said earlier about the importance of the experts. One of the greatest takeaways from any episode is their perspectives—their insights into the themes we’re talking about. We had this incredible episodeabout Pachinko (Apple TV). We interviewed the showrunner, but we also spoke with comedian Youngmi Mayer about her Korean heritage and her memoir. I hope people who listen to that episode and watched Pachinko also walk away wanting to read her book or hear her stand-up. She is an incredible comedian. Her themes dovetailed perfectly with the show, offering a modern, irreverent take on a similar story. I like to think we always bring complementary materials or suggested additional reading for people who want to go deeper. If you’re a nerd like us, you can learn more or discover a new historical fact or genre you hadn’t considered before. I hope these experts can expand that universe for you.
Sasha: To that end, we did an episode with Amber Seeley of Out of My Mind, a Disney+ movie about a young woman with cerebral palsy. It’s about accessibility and disability representation, and it’s incredible. The interview was fascinating because she talked about how much better her set was when she made it fully accessible. It wasn’t just for disabled folks on set—it made everyone’s lives better. I hope it sparks people to think, “If I’m an architect, why don’t I design with accessibility in mind? Not just because I have to do it because of ADA, but because it makes everyone’s lives better.” Similarly, our expert in that episode also talked about barriers to accessible and integrated education. It totally blew my mind, and I hope it makes parents listening think differently: is my school accessible? Are my kids getting the education they deserve? Or, if they’re facing those educational barriers, they’ll realize they’re not alone—there are activists everywhere fighting for change.
Lauren: I think one of the things that I love hearing you guys talk about here and on the podcast is this perfect combination of the academic side of things—that a lot of us in media studies are writing about in the journals—and TV creators and writers are creating for television, and you're melding them together, and then bringing it to the public. And the podcast medium allows them to listen to it while they're doing other things; they don’t need to sit and read through the dense research. Yet it can still spark these conversations that we’re all trying to have in different ways. So, I'm so glad that this podcast exists. It’s been fun to listen to!
To wrap up, congratulations again, Sasha, for being a writer on the Emmy nominated Dying for Sex (Hulu). I would love if you could share more of your thoughts on this experience.
dying for sex – Emmy nominee, outstanding limited series nominee
Sasha: Working on Dying for Sex was the career highlight of my life. I had cancer several years ago, I have a number of health issues, and so getting to work on a show that was similar to what we get to talk about on We Disrupt This Broadcast…it was a show that was not afraid to take on these big subjects in a way that is funny, that in our show is very sexy; it was truly the joy of my life.
One of my favorite things that happened with the show, just on a personal level was that I made my therapist cry—because when she watched the series, she said, “I can’t believe how much of our journey that we have been on together that you put on screen.” That’s one of the beautiful things of working on a narrative show: you get to take the difficult, personal experiences and show them authentically through characters who grow and change. And one of the blessings of therapy is you get to grow and change. You get to grow alongside your characters and heal alongside your characters.
An aspect of the show was about how women in particular are often perceived in the healthcare space, are often dismissed in the healthcare space. I think that is something that has happened to me over the course of the last 15 years of my life. It was a huge growth for me being able to express that through a character, and hopefully helps a lot of women who are currently going through the healthcare system advocate for themselves and learn how to talk to their doctors and trust themselves in these really difficult situations. It is really inspiring to me to be able to create characters to model how to do it right. The Sonya character is somebody who I really hope exists a lot more of in the world, because there are so many people who I met in the healthcare system who are trying to make it better—trying to be Sonyas. My oncologist in particular is somebody who was really very wonderful, and a true partner in my experience. So, to show—here's the reality, here’s how it often is—but it doesn't have to be that way. I think that’s one of the beautiful things about narrative TV and trying to disrupt these narratives. You can both authenticate people’s feelings, validate people’s feelings, like, yes, this is the horrible problems we're seeing, and then also model a better future.
Lauren: Incredible. I want to thank you again so much for being here and talking with me today. You both have such insight and wonderful enthusiasm, and I am excited for our readers to engage with your work and the podcast!
Biographies
Gabe González is a Puerto Rican comedian, writer and actor living in Brooklyn, NY. He can be seen in Season 4 of The Last OG, the HBO Latino documentary Habla y Vota, and starred in Audible’s The Comedians. His pilot ‘Los Blancos’ was a winner at the Yes And Laughter Lab in 2019 and his satirical sketch “Bootlickers” was an official selection at the LA Comedy Film Festival and Atlanta Comedy Festival in 2022. He’s hosted and produced digital videos for places like MTV, GLAAD and Remezcla, and performed stand-up across the country. His most recent projects include a monthly queer comedy show in NYC called ‘The Lavender Scare’ and working with Imagine Entertainment to pen the short film Alma, available on Amazon.
Sasha Stewart is a Writers Guild Award-nominated TV writer, producer, and creator who creates work that elicits joy, has a positive impact, and gives her an excuse to eat craft services. She most recently staffed on the critically-acclaimed, 9x Emmy-nominated limited-series dramedy Dying for Sex (FX), starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate, available to watch now on Hulu (U.S.) and Disney+ (Worldwide). Her TV credits include: Amend: The Fight For America (Netflix), The Fix (Netflix), and The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (Comedy Central). She also writes for the Peabody Awards podcast, We Disrupt This Broadcast. Sasha is a winner of the 2024 NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship for her and co-creator Casey Rand’s half-hour comedy pilot, Bill on Earth. A PSA starring Jane Fonda she co-wrote aired on CBS Sunday Morning in November 2024. She participated in the 2020 Comedy Think Tank on Paid Family Leave, the 2023 Stand Up For Humans comedy show, and is a winner of the 2020 Yes and… Laughter Lab. She is now part of the Laughter Lab’s Leadership Committee. She contributes to the New Yorker, McSweeney's, and Cosmopolitan. She developed a women’s healthcare docuseries with Samantha Bee and Soledad O’Brien. She’s currently developing an animated half-hour comedy, a lighthearted legal procedural, and has she mentioned you look absolutely radiant today?
Lauren Alexandra Sowa is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication at Pepperdine University. She received her Ph.D. from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and has a BFA in Acting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her research focuses on intersectional feminism and representation within production cultures, television, and popular culture and has been published in The International Journal of Communication and Communication, Culture and Critique. These interests stem from her several-decade career in the entertainment industry as member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA. Lauren is a proud "Disney Adult" and enthusiast of many fandoms. Lauren is also a Pop Junctions associate editor.
‘Emmys Watch 2025’ showcases critical responses to the series nominated for Outstanding Drama, Outstanding Comedy, and Outstanding Limited Series at that 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. Contributions to this theme explore critical understandings of some series nominated in these categories.
To kick off our “Emmys Watch” series, Pop Junctions spotlights a podcast that goes deeper into impactful television content. The Peabody Awards continue to champion what they call “stories that matter”—narratives that don’t just entertain, but engage us as citizens. In this interview, Jeffrey Jones, Executive Director of the Peabody Awards and co-creator of the podcast We Disrupt This Broadcast, speaks with one of Pop Junctions’ associate editors, Lauren Alexandra Sowa, about how the podcast extends the Peabody Awards’ mission.
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Lauren: I wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for joining me today and talking about your amazing podcast, We Disrupt This Broadcast. Can you talk a little bit about the genesis of the podcast, what inspired this idea, and how does it complement the mission of the Peabody Awards?
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Jeffrey: Yeah, so, a couple things. The Peabody Awards are located at the University of Georgia and, as an educational mission, we feel like we have more to do than just hand someone an award, pat them on the back, and say, “good job, put it on your Vita, see you next year.” Which is to say, everything that Peabody recognizes are what we call “stories that matter,” and we really mean that. Not so much “matter” to us as consumers, but “matters” to us as citizens. That mandate of a story that “matters” to us as citizens means that often the stuff we recognize may not be known by many people, including within the industry itself. We do entertainment, news, documentary, public service, children's, and podcasting. So, there's a lot of materials that aren't always well known.
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The second thing about this was this understanding that, since I joined Peabody in 2013, we’ve been living through what scholars call the streaming era. And the streaming era has been massively disruptive to the typical flow of events, and I don't need to articulate all that here. The system was created in a non-advertiser-centric programming flow, and did accentuate prestige programming. But, in that process, a lot of diverse and emerging voices were allowed to create programming: Mo (Netflix), Ramy (Hulu), We Are Lady Parts (Peacock), Pose (FX), Transparent (Amazon Prime), Reservation Dogs (FX), and, I could go on and on, but you get the point—the industry has opened up, allowing more really creative showrunners and storytellers and creatives to tell their stories, which used to be much more marginalized voices.
So, the title is, We Disrupt This Broadcast, and it's so focused on disruption. It's focused on the text and the showrunners—the creatives who are producing these texts that we find disruptive to the industry. The focus is on entertainment television. Almost all have won a Peabody. It is one of the ways in which these kinds of stories are doing something a little different from the broadcast era of television.
Lauren: That's great! It's exciting to hear that you're talking about disruption on the content side of things, because I feel like, as you had mentioned earlier, that a lot of discourse surrounding “television disruption” centers the industrial impact side of things. Many of us are familiar with Amanda Lotz's book, We Now Disrupt This Broadcast, which traces that history. What differentiates your podcast and why I find it a compelling listen is how you're focusing more on what that content is, who the creators are, and what they're bringing to the cultural conversation.
Jeffrey: Exactly. It is disruption and a narrative and cultural flow. Peabody feels very good about the diverse and emerging voices. So, a lot of those people that I named—Mo, Ramy, We Are Lady Parts—there are three shows that have Muslim representation. All were very new showrunners when they won a Peabody Award. The same with Sterlin Harjo and Reservation Dogs. So, those are emerging voices, and they often come out of the gate really strong. They produce Peabody-winning shows, and we want to highlight that.
The podcast is focused on two things: one is an interview with the showrunner and or major talent on the show—traditionally just getting into what they're doing and how and why. The second part of the podcast is strongly emphasized by our producing partners. So, our producing partner is the Center for Media and Social Impact at American University, headed by Caty Borum. In particular, it's an interview with an expert—an academic, a journalist, who can reflect on the kind of cultural, political, and economic dimensions of what makes this show or the showrunner relevant. So, it's grounding the popular, cultural text in the moment of the political, economic, and social context in which it exists.
Lauren: Oftentimes, I feel like we, as academics, try to find this balance between the celebratory part of media and being critical as well. So, would it be fair to say then that in this podcast, you are taking the content that we want to celebrate, and analyzing how it's being critical of culture or critical of these moments?
Jeffrey: Yeah, I think the second expert interview is the moment of more traditional critical analysis. And of course, we don't have a monopoly on that. There's plenty of authors. Though we interview lots of professors, they just aren't often media studies professors. One of the great things is we're often talking to psychologists, to economics professors, to sociologists and others. So, it broadens the conversation. I think the critical component is to reflect on how the text sits within culture, what it illuminates. I do think there's a celebratory part to the podcast. I mean, we're celebrating when we give them a Peabody Award, right? But the critical part of the analysis is that it's really hard to win a Peabody Award. You know, only about 7 to 10 shows win a Peabody in a given year. So, critically, we've cut out a lot that don't belong. And the ones that are there, we are celebrating. And again, I think for the right reasons, because they are doing something in the streaming era that wasn't on television when I was a kid. It didn't exist. Frankly, when you and I were growing up, it wasn't the same kind of text. For the industrial reasons of advertising and the kind of competition, monopoly of the three, four networks, etc.
Lauren: I know that this year, Hacks is an example of a show that has both a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination, but that kind of crossover doesn’t happen all that often. How do you see the Peabody Awards intersecting with the Emmys? Do you think the Peabody’s can help reach a broader audience? The Emmys often reflect the political canvassing of the Hollywood scene to win. While the Peabody’s seem to focus more on meaningful content without the campaigning. So, in a broader context, what does that say? And how do you think we can bridge the gap between the two to bring that kind of content to a wider audience?
Jeffrey: Yeah, well, I'd start with that, you know, most people don't realize our process. So, Peabody meets 3 times face-to-face. And it is an award that is decided across genres and platforms: television, radio, podcasting, and interactive, which is games and VR, etc. And across genre: entertainment, news, documentary, etc. But in particular, it's decided by a unanimous vote of a board of 18 people. And those 18 people represent lots of different facets. There's critics, which include academics and TV critics, media executives, writers, and showrunners. And I want to compare the face-to-face critical deliberation that we engage in as to who will be a winner is different from a campaign for 26,000 voting members, in which you have no control of what they've watched and what they've not watched. So, they're very different processes. You know, Aziz Ansari was famous for coming to our show and saying, “You know, this is pretty cool. It's like you watch all of our shit, and you just decided it was good, and we didn't have to go to a bunch of weird-ass parties and stuff, you know?”
Lauren: Ha! That’s great!
Jeffrey: So, by being different processes, they are different things. Ours is also not just about the craft: it is, is it a story that matters? So, sometimes the craft can be brilliant, but it may not be a story that matters.
But, back to your question about crossover: yeah, there are popular shows like Hacks (HBO Max), The Last of Us (HBO Max), The Bear (FX), Ted Lasso (Apple TV)—they win Peabody's, they win Emmys. But between the voting process, and really somewhat even the criteria of what we're looking for, that crossover can exist, but may not. And often, it probably doesn't. Peabody will often recognize shows truly on their merits, and not the political forces that shape multi-million-dollar campaigns by the industry players to influence votes.
Lauren: Absolutely. So, now, as someone who has studied and shaped media discourse, what has surprised you most in your conversations about the podcast, or something that was unexpected?
we disrupt this broadcast (season 2, feb 6, 2025) with Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein
Jeffrey: Not really. It's just a privilege to be able to talk to showrunners about their craft. It's a privilege to look for themes. I mean, I think we probably interview a little differently than journalists, probably because we're academics. We want to dig into the text a bit more than a traditional media trade publication, journalist interview. So, I think about my interview with Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein about Shrinking (Apple TV) and Ted Lasso (Apple TV). You know, I'm a man of a certain age, and so is Bill, and I literally said it in that way, and he laughed, said, yes, we are. And we got to talk about toxic masculinity and therapy, and then with Shrinking, about forgiveness, and the textual themes that are percolating across both of those shows. So, in that regard, I feel not so much surprised as by what a privilege it is to hold that conversation.
Lauren: You had a successful two seasons of the podcast. Are there plans for season three as well? What do you see as the future for We Disrupt this Broadcast?
Jeffrey: There are indeed. We will launch Season 3 either later this year or early 2026. We're very happy. I should give a shout out to our producing partner, PRX (Public Radio Exchange), which produces a lot of quality podcasts. They reached out to us to produce this show, and we couldn't be happier. They're quality folks, and I'm very happy to still support public radio even through the PRX avenue.
Lauren: Well, I think that our audience, or our readers, would definitely enjoy listening to this podcast. I just started, too, and I think it's excellent. Gabe Gonzalez does a wonderful job with his interviews. One of the things that strikes me is that it is academic, but it is incredibly entertaining and very human. I think that's one of the best parts about listening to it, and I think that's what makes it engaging for people who study this and people who don't. I think it's accessible to everyone.
Jeffrey: One of the things that's great about our podcast, I think, and I'm a huge Gabe Gonzalez fan, is that he's a comedian, and extremely smart, and extremely talented.
Lauren: Agreed! Thank you again so much. Is there anything else you want to share or add that I didn't ask about that you would want everyone to know?
Jeffrey: That's a great one, always a great question. One of the things is that Peabody is a very respected award. It's existed for 85 years, it predates the Emmys, because we were recognizing radio broadcasting first. And there's still so much integrity to the award and love for the award in the industry. But the Peabody's, because of its position a little outside the industry, and at a university, there's a little bit of a moral imperative, if you will. It's not just the base to win a Peabody on popularity, but this is the way storytelling does something for us as citizens. So, I think one of the things that's great about the podcast is it's leaning into that. It's not just celebrating entertainment. It's trying to talk about the ways that popular culture and entertainment can deeply shape who we are and want to be as a people, as empathetic citizens in the world. And that's, of course, what Henry Jenkins' whole career has been built on, and why Henry identifies with Peabody and contributed to it for 6 years.
It's that kind of imperative, I think, that we believe, like Henry does, that entertainment can be a positive force, especially in an era when so much news media is seen as rejectable.
As a rejectable truth, as something that you’re buying a brand that's no different than the politics that you adhere to. But when you're telling stories that are deeply empathetic about people and the world that aren't like you, maybe there's an avenue for people to watch it as entertainment and see a part of the world, or even a part of themselves that they weren't in touch with, and that they'll give more credence to, and more love for, and more empathy for. And that's what popular entertainment can do. And to me, that's what the Peabody Awards lean into when we do entertainment programming, but it's especially what this podcast does.
Lauren: That's beautifully stated. I was going to say, that's why art and pop culture (it's all the same thing, right?) makes us human and, like you said, tells the stories about who we are as a people. It's why most of us study this, and why we dedicate our lives to it, right?
Jeffrey: Sure, absolutely, for sure. For sure.
Lauren: That's great. Well, thank you again so much, Jeff. I really appreciate it. This was a really fun, very informative conversation.
Biographies
Jeffrey P. Jones is the Executive Director of the George Foster Peabody Awards at the University of Georgia and Lambdin Kay Chair for the Peabodys in the Department of Entertainment & Media Studies. Jones became only the fifth director of the Peabody Awards in 2013. He holds a Ph.D. in Radio-TV-Film from The University of Texas at Austin. In conjunction with the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University and produced by PRX, Peabody launched a podcast in 2023—WE DISRUPT THIS BROADCAST—celebrating entertainment winners through the lens of cultural and industrial disruption in the streaming era. Professor Jones is the author and editor of six books, including Entertaining Politics: Satiric Television and Civic Engagement,Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era, and The Essential HBO Reader. His research and teaching focuses on popular politics, or the ways in which politics are engaged through popular culture.
Lauren Alexandra Sowa is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication at Pepperdine University. She received her Ph.D. from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and has a BFA in Acting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her research focuses on intersectional feminism and representation within production cultures, television, and popular culture and has been published in The International Journal of Communication and Communication, Culture and Critique. These interests stem from her several-decade career in the entertainment industry as member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA. Lauren is a proud "Disney Adult" and enthusiast of many fandoms. Lauren is also a Pop Junctions associate editor.
I was a little delayed in catching up to late nominations, but I think we're caught up now, except for:
Ciel Phantomhive & Phantomhive Servants (Kuroshitsuji) What sort of group are the Servants please - who is included?
Cang Qiong Mountain Sect Qing Generation Peak Lords/Shen Jiu | Original Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS) What sort of group are the Peak Lords please - who is included?
If these labels describe an amorphous set of unnamed characters, OR if they describe a specific, discrete group of characters of ten or fewer members, I'm happy to approve as nominated - otherwise these nominations may need to be adjusted.
Reminder two: because I got things running a little late this year, there's a far smaller cushion between sign-ups closing and assignments going out. Please minimize the risk that I'll have to delete your sign-up (which I don't relish doing) by putting your DNWs in your sign-up, alongside something, anything I can plausibly interpret as a positive direction for your creator. Loose lips sink ships; lingering "WIP"s risk snips. Bad quips deserve ellipse.
There is still a swaps period, so you will get a second go at securing an assignment that's right for you if your initial match doesn't spark the kind of joy that will get you over the finish line.
Thanks everyone for your sign-ups and canon promos and for posting letters (especially already complete letters, talk about getting a Good Grade in Exchanges) that include status messages inside them!
I'm still in the process of losing my mind over a fake videogame, but I can spare a moment to talk about a real game that people have actually played. I recently finished Astro Bot!
This game is ludicrously charming. All the fun references to PlayStation hardware and games! All the cute little robot animals everywhere!
This is not a comparison I would have expected to draw, but it reminds me a little of Horizon Zero Dawn: a world where animals essential to the ecosystem have been replaced by robots with animal behaviours.
Being a little arsehole who punches everyone is both encouraged and surprisingly adorable in this game. You can also do a cute little dance at any time!
I unlocked a new star system and checked its name.
Riona: The Tentacle System? Ginger: Ooh, Riona's favourite.
This is the reputation I have amongst my friends.
I entered one optional world, saw Teddie of Persona 4 being abducted by a spaceship, went 'ugh, Teddie?? I don't want to rescue you' and immediately left the planet.
I'm cuddling a robot cow!! This is the best game ever made.
I came across Pyramid Head, and, you know, I'm not sure I want to collect this bot.
Oh, God, I'd forgotten that the robots awaiting rescue twerk when you get close. You could have given me five years to prepare, and I still would not have been ready for Pyramid Head twerking in my face.
When I'm looking for something new to play, I often fixate on the idea of playing something I might end up writing fanfiction for; I tend not to pick up games that are light on story and character. Somewhere along the way, I forgot that it's also good to play a game just because it's fun. Not everything has to inspire creativity! Sometimes you just want to sit down and have a good time with a well-crafted videogame.
(And hang out with a bunch of cute little robots. I don't generally consider myself a big robot fan! But I find these ones enchanting.)
Howdy! I’m Yoon, an MFA student in media composition and orchestration. I am here today to talk to you about sampled orchestral mockups in composing music, which is what I will be doing for this round of Communal Creators. It’s a niche field even in (media) composition due to the cost + tech barriers to entry. I thought folks might be curious (and maybe interested in trying their hand at a lower-cost version of it).
To the extent that I have musical training (mostly Obligatory Asian-American Piano Lessons by volume), it’s classically inflected. Even folks who hate classical music :) probably know it exists. A more “traditional”/conservatory approach to writing for (symphony) orchestra might involve pen-and-paper composing to generate sheet music. This is my background and I still do a lot of sketching on staff paper.
This inherently means you’re reading (Western classical) music notation (of which more anon) and often means you’re wrassling explicitly with music theory and related topics.
However! These day, hiring a session orchestra is semi-doable by a dedicated individual if you have the money lying around. ( Read more... )
So most mortals who are doing orchesstral or hybrid orchestral scores for film or TV and especially non-AAA video games are using sampled orchestra mockups.
Note: unless otherwise specified, if I say “music notation” or “music theory” I’m referencing more or less common practice Western (European-derived)-style music notation simply in the interests of avoiding unwieldiness in this overview. ( some further observations )
Hiring a session orchestra may be surprisingly semi-doable by a normal human but most work in orchestral media composition (film, TV, video game scores) is now done in software via sampled orchestral mockup. This includes classical-ish, e.g. John Williams everything or Carlos Rafael Rivera’s score for The Queen’s Gambit, or hybrid orchestra (e.g. Two Steps from Hell) with synth or “modern” instrumentation elements.
A quick and dirty (incomplete) overview of terms you might come across in this space, with simplified explanations. There’s a LOT of jargon, some of which is obscure or confusing even to e.g. classical musicians entering this space! ( Read more... )
This has all been in the way of preliminaries, apologies! This is an extremely technical field so the jargon alone is A Lot.
These days, composers often write (in that workflow) using engraving software. In this context, this means “music typesetting for sheet music,” and for session work specifically there are strict formatting rules to save time (money). The other workflow for computer-based composition + production (i.e. not tracking live instruments, of which more discussion later) involves taking everything into the DAW and producing realistic-sounding mockups in software. I will (in future posts) run through DAW examples of this (hopefully with video + audio capture so you can see the workflow).
Happy to answer any questions; it’s almost impossible even to gesture at a bunch of the music or tech stuff in a small space, and I have almost certainly missed some useful jargon because it's UNENDING. :p
We couldn't run the exchange without our pinch hitters!
If you're a pinch hitter who isn't signed up as a participant for 2025's round who would like to put yourself forward for a gift, please drop yourself on this post with your request(s)!
We have a few guidelines:
Please use the tagset to select fandoms and pairings that were accepted for this round.
Treats for pinch hitters do not need to meet our minimum requirement for a completed gift, although the gift needs to be completed/be able to standalone as its own story (whether that be art, fic, or podfic).
Prompts or links to letters (past or one specifically for this exchange) are optional and are very welcome.
Please list any DNWs in your comment.
Please do not reveal who you are pinch hitting for in your comment.
You can find our full guidelines in our rules post.
If you have a question regarding a pinch hitter's request, please email rarepairexmod@gmail.com with your questions.
Please make sure your AO3 settings allow you to receive gifts outside of the exchanges you've signed up for as a participant.
I've provided a suggested format to post below, although you're welcome to post however you like as long as the information you provide is useful for a potential treater.
AO3 username: Please ensure you let us know your AO3 so you can receive a gift! Fandom: Relationships: What are you requesting from the requested fandom? Mediums: (Art, fic, podfic, a combo, or all) Likes: These are optional. Do Not Wants: Letter Link: If you have one.
You're welcome to repeat this as many times as you like. Anon comments are allowed on this post.
Please note we do not guarantee gifts for pinch hitters, but please still consider dropping yourself onto this post. If you're interested in pinch hitting, please check out our available pinch hits.
Thank you again for participating, and I hope you have a good time being a part of our third round!
So I got an email tonight-- seen in my last check of the evening-- inviting me to beta the new Procreate. Which probably means it's a fairly broad beta at this point, because I'm nobody, but --
Um. Yes PLEASE.
I've only done a bit of playing with the new brushes but holy crap it's so good. Some of them have dynamic color interactions, behaving more like physical media. Some of them have amazing texture. Some of them would make amazing calligraphy.
I've gotten through 12 of the 18 categories in the comes-with-Procreate default library, and I really ought to go to sleep, but eeee this is so cool!
I read these back in May, and my memories are not 100%. Here's my best stab at the three noms for best novel, one for novella, and one tangential to the Lodestar.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher, narrated by Eliza Foss & Jennifer Pickens( Read more... )
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley( Read more... )
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky( Read more... )
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed( Read more... )
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, narrated by Kinsale Drake( Read more... )
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The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley 