Toxic vs Actual Masculinity
Toxic masculinity, unfortunately, is running a little amok these days. Which is why it's important when shows like "The Sopranos," books like "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," and movies like "The Power of the Dog" show us what ACTUAL mascunlinity is, a comparison we'll dissect in this month's episode.
The Complexities of Love
I know it’s spooky season, but I just got married, so I wanna talk about something way less scary — love, and all of its complexities, which we’ll walk through by looking at HBO’s acclaimed “The Leftovers,” Emily Bronte’s frequently adapted “Wuthering Heights,” and the instant 2000s classic “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
Money Can’t Buy Me Love:
The American Dream and Family
The American Dream, the concept of reaching an idealized vision of wealth and comfort, is a driving force in how we live our lives, whether we like it or not. But the American Dream can come at a cost, as we’ll look at in this month’s episode with the modern classic “Breaking Bad,” Philip Roth’s literary masterpiece “American Pastoral,” and my favorite movie ever, “There Will Be Blood.”
Sun Valley Writer's Conference
I attended one of, if not THE, best writers conferences in the country last month in Sun Valley, Idaho. While I was there, I heard some amazing creative, political, and personal wisdom from award-winning authors that I thought I’d do a special episode to share with you guys. Enjoy!
Best Stuff of the Year So Far
We’re halfway through the year, folks, so I figured I’d mix it up and go over what I’ve thought to be the best in Shows, Books, and Movies I’ve discovered so far in 2025, including one of the most bonkers TV shows ever, a maze of a horror novel, or a genre-blending cinematic thrill ride.
Accepting Life & Death
Learning to live life while dealing with the uncertainty of death is something everyone struggles with at one point in their time on earth. Because of that, it’s a rich and popular theme in media, as look into by comparing HBO’s classic drama ‘Six Feet Under,’ George Saunders’ supernatural dramedy novel ‘Lincoln in the Bardo,’ and Frank Capra’s Christmas masterpiece ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’.
The Confusion of Growing Up
The Coming of Age plot is one of the most popular throughout storytelling history. Becoming an adult is a storm of emotions, desires, goals, and failures.
That whirlwind is the focus of this months ShoBooVie episode, as we go over how Big Mouth, The Catcher in the Rye, and Licorice Pizza dive into the Confusion of Growing Up.
The Symbolic Salvation of Superheroes
Superheroes have been a cultural staple for a century and, while entertaining, can prove to be symbolic salvation in the face of personal, social, and existential crises.
This is what I go over in this months ShoBooVie episode, with the nostalgic miniseries “WandaVision,” the GOAT superhero movie “The Dark Knight,” and Alan Moore’s gritty graphic novel classic “Watchmen.”
The Oppression of “Beauty”
What society defines as being "beautiful"can have devastating results if you don't fit the mold of that paradigm, and can also have more far-reaching social, racial, and political repercussions.
This is what I go over in this month's ShoBooVie ep, with the iconic"Eye of the Beholder" episode of "The Twilight Zone," Toni Morrison's tragic "The Bluest Eye," and the subversive body horror flick "The Substance" serving as our show/book/movie combo this time around. Give it a watch, hope you dig it!
The “Otherness” of Vampires
Vampires have been a cultural staple for legit over a century now. That's due to the fact that, of course, they're super spooky, but also because they've historically been used as metaphors for what a society deems as a dangerous "other" at a given time in history.
This is what I go over in this month's ShoBooVie ep, with the raunchy "True Blood," archetypal "Dracula," and cult classic "The Lost Boys" serving as our show/book/movie combo this time around. Give it a watch, hope you dig it!
The Submission of Free Will
“Our first ever episode of ShoBooVie (woohoo!) dives into dystopias, and how some specialize in duping society into a voluntary submission of free will. Representing this ep’s themes will be ‘Severance’ from the TV front, ‘A Brave New World’ from literature, and, of course, the most frightening cinematic dystopia ever, ‘Walle’.
The “Otherness” of Vampires
Vampires have been a cultural staple for legit over a century now. That's due to the fact that, of course, they're super spooky, but also because they've historically been used as metaphors for what a society deems as a dangerous "other" at a given time in history.
This is what I go over in this month's ShoBooVie ep, with the raunchy "True Blood," archetypal "Dracula," and cult classic "The Lost Boys" serving as our show/book/movie combo this time around. Give it a watch, hope you dig it!
