Vox Populorum - The Voxpopcast

A couple of weeks ago, in order to placate the masses during a worldwide quanrantine, Facebook released their new “Avatar” system — a tool to allow users to create little cartoon characters of themselves for use in profile pics and stickers. Other technology companies have similar system. Apple has one built into its messaging system … Continue reading "e113. Cartoons vs. Avatars"

If you’re unlucky enough to live on the planet Earth, you probably know that it’s not doing terribly well lately. We’ve had a global pandemic sweeping through every corner of the globe that has largely shut business and commerce to a halt, tanking the economy. And if you live in America, and the people dying … Continue reading "e112. Social Media and Free Speech"

Some things are hard to get over. Your first love. The death of a beloved pet. That time your team lost the Super Bowl. And… apparently that season finale of Game of Thrones last year. We probably can’t help you with those first three, but the last one is kind of our thing here. Why … Continue reading "e111. STILL Not Over It!"

Way back on episode 23 we did our first syllabus episode. We got a bunch of comic scholars together and asked the question “if we wanted to teach a class about comics and graphic novels, from scratch, what would be on it?” One of the ideas we had back then was “what if we wanted … Continue reading "e110. Comic Studies-350: X-Men Course Syllabus"

What makes a good soundtrack to a movie? What makes a good score? And actually, what is the difference between a score and a soundtrack anyway? The answer to that question may not be as clear as you think. Sometimes a great soundtrack is one that you find yourself singing for weeks after you see … Continue reading "e109. Scores & Soundtracks"

Way back on episode 86, our four hosts got together and talked about “Good Things We Hate” Hannah, Katya, Wayne and Mav discussed the idea of taste and high brow and low brow entertainment and talked about a selection of books, movies, TV shows, music and other media that is commonly accepted as great but … Continue reading "e108. Bad Things We Love"

As we continue this never ending battle with COVID-19, a lot of our socializing takes place on the internet… even more than it already had been. As such, there’s been an uptick in memes as people grab on to … anything… just to have something to make a human connection. One of the memes you … Continue reading "e107. Senior Year in Quarantine"

We live in strange times. Obviously, the number one problem right now is that we’re in the middle of a global pandemic that has ground the WHOLE DAMN PLANET to a halt. This is a big problem for everyone in and of itself. As the whole world is basically under “stay at home” orders (or … Continue reading "e106. COVID-19 & the Death of the Comic Shop"

If you’re listening to our show, chances are you live on the planet Earth (and if not, welcome!) and so that means for the last few week, you have likely been dealing with the near worldwide ramicfications of COVID-19 pandemic. That means social distancing, self quarantine, staying inside and… and playing video games . Right … Continue reading "e105. Animal Crossing & Cozy Games in Worldwide Pandemics"

If you live anywhere on the planet Earth — and if you’re listening to this podcast, we assume you do — then you’re probably aware that we are currently in the midst of a global pandemic… the worst that the world has seen in at least 100 years. For a large portion of the planet, … Continue reading "e104. 5 Victorian Parlour Games for Worldwide Pandemics"

All across the world, everyone is trapped in their homes riding out the COVID-19 pandemic. Movie cineplexes are shut down. Sports, Concerts and other Events are being cancelled. TV shows are running out of new episodes. Just this week, we learned that comic books are going to stop shipping. We’re running out of pop culture. … Continue reading "e103. Birds of Prey and the Fantaboulous Deconstruction of one VoxPopcast"

Newspapers are a dying breed in the twenty-first century. This isn’t a new thing; it’s been happening for a while. But at this point, more than just newspapers are dying. Even news programming is dying. Sure, cable news networks are huge. And sure… they’re on the internet as well. But, the problem is that on … Continue reading "e102. News by Meme"

So first some notes… we’re in a weird place. As we recorded this episode, we were on the cusp of much of America (where all of our hosts are located) just beginning to prepare (too late frankly) for the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. Now, as we post this 4 days later, we are deep into it. … Continue reading "e101. Not the Next Big Thing"

Think about your favorite book, video game, or comic. Who do you think should play the protagonist in the movie? Chances are you have a pretty good idea. Chances are also that if someone already has adapted your favorite character into a film, they didn’t pick your perfect choice. Maybe it turned out great, maybe … Continue reading "e100. Hollywood vs. FanCasting"

We live in a content driven world: Movies, Books, Music, TV, Comics, Video Games, and even Podcasts. “Content is king!” or so they say. But of course, different types of content are appropriate for different audiences. Anyone who has watched a movie in the last several decades knows that they have ratings, that is, a … Continue reading "e99. Pseudo-Academic Content: Listener Discretion is Advised"

We have a weird question for you. Which would you rather have a free Ferrari or an all expenses paid, one month trip around the world staying in luxury hotels? Ok, what about this one? Would you rather have every 5000 albums or front row tickets to see your favorite band perform at a sold … Continue reading "e98. Experience vs. Consumer Culture"

Happy (Belated) Valentines Day! You know what that means? It means time to do a “very special episode” where we somehow try to tie in the holiday concept to the kinds of stuff we normally do. Academic cultural analysis of popular culture… but with beer! Last year we talked about the “shipping” and the secret … Continue reading "e97. Fictional & Celebrity Crushes"

In the 21st century, when we think of masks, we think of superheroes. But the idea of superheroes as a concept is only about a century old. Masks have been around forever. They have a long history in theatre, professional wrestling and costume balls. Beyond that they have a cultural tradition that dates back to … Continue reading "e96. Mask Theory"

Welcome! Everything is fine. Well, almost everything is fine. Except The Good Place is no more. This week was the season finale of one of the most unique shows ever… The post e95. The Good Place and Philosophy appeared first on The VoxPopcast.

After being disappointed by last year’s Oscars, Hannah swore that we would never do another show about them. But then she started thinking about it and wanted to take a… The post e94. Why Do Award Shows Suck? appeared first on The VoxPopcast.