Blatant Misreading

Marx Miniseries...the finale!! We're wrapping up our Marxist journey with an analysis of the clearly Marxist cartoon Bob's Burgers. We look into the Belchers' life under the tyranny of a brutal landlord and at the mercy of the free market.  Thanks for joining us on this journey of misapplying Marx! See you on the other side of the dialectic, baby.Note: This episode was recorded in January 2021. Since then, Matt’s Bar, referenced in the episode, has been criticized for its public support and feeding of the national guard occupying the Twin Cities, so...fuck Matt’s Bar, fuck the cops, fuck the national guard, Justice for Daunte Wright.

We’re getting old, baby! Episode 14, our PENULTIMATE episode in the Marx miniseries covers The Old Guard, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2020 graphic novel action movie. We're joined by guest Jasper Saah.Join us as we trot around the globe with a team of rogue (spoilers!) immortal assassins. Why are they so old? Why are they at war with Big Pharma? Did Dudley get cast in The Queen’s Gambit off this movie? Listen now!

This is the second part of the fourth episode in our Marx mini series where we dive into the Communist Manifesto, and it's our first ever DOUBLE EPISODE! That’s right we’re tackling Spike Lee’s 1989 movie Do the Right Thing and we had so much to say that we’re releasing it in 2 parts. We’re also joined on this episode by Langston Cotman!We’re (still) eating pizza, we’re (still) talking about the 5 boroughs, we’re (still) talking Spike Lee for crying out loud! 

This is the first part of the fourth episode in our Marx mini series where we dive into the Communist Manifesto, and it's our first ever DOUBLE EPISODE! That’s right we’re tackling Spike Lee’s 1989 movie Do the Right Thing and we had so much to say that we’re releasing it in 2 parts. We’re also joined on this episode by Langston Cotman!We’re eating pizza, we’re talking about the 5 boroughs, we’re talking Spike Lee for crying out loud! 

This is the third episode of our Marx miniseries, where we spend multiple episodes diving into Marx's most famous work: The Communist Manifesto. This episode we're talking about Honky Chateau, Elton John's best selling album which features hits like "Rocket Man" and "Honky Cat".We’ll be diving deep into the elements of the life of a bloke: the plight of working man, the eternal conflict of country versus city life, and of course the ~proletariat~. But really the key question here is: Are astronauts just regular working people?

This episode is the second in our Marx miniseries, where we spend multiple episodes diving into Marx's most famous work, The Communist Manifesto. This time we address the aggressively mediocre movie, Rent (2005).Rent is based on the musical Rent which is based on the opera La Boheme. So we're talking bohemians, gentrification and who is really the proletariat. Joining us in this episode is friend and producer of the podcast, Josie Baker.

Welcome to Full Communism! This episode is the first in our Marx miniseries, where we spend multiple episodes diving into Marx's most famous work, The Communist Manifesto. This time around we're tackling Ratatouille, the 2007 hit from Pixar.Is Remy the rat an individualist or a collectivist? Is French cuisine antithetical to proletarian revolution? Is almost everyone working in this kitchen having their labor majorly exploited?? Joining us in this episode is friend of the podcast extraordinaire, Alex Moses! Listen up!!

This is our first Patreon suggested topic! In this episode we look at the POS movie Shark Tale with Judith Butler's Performative Acts and Gender Constitution. This movie was a shitstorm of bad gender and sexuality analogies. Questions we'll try to answer include how can a shark be vegetarian? Why is Will Smith the only fish who has legs? Why would a fish have legs? Honestly, what is going on with this movie?

In this episode we eat lunchables in honor of our school days and analyze the classic movie, Richard Linklater's School of Rock (starring Jack Black) through the lens of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. We're looking at the carceral mind-set of schools, rocking out to escape the panopticon and answering the ultimate question: Is Jack Black part of the system of punishment or a true rocker rebel freeing kids from their scholastic prison?

In this episode we drink beer, eat too many donuts and talk about the Springfield nuclear power plant through the lens of Gene Rochlin’s article “Defining ‘High Reliability’ Organizations in Practice".In our first nighttime episode we're realizing our inner Homer Simpson, but hopefully not causing any nuclear meltdowns. Plus we get a peek in Margie's past life as a nuclear reactor operator. With guest host Deirdre Baker we'll answer the question: Is the Springfield power plant a high reliability organization?

This week we ask: who would win in a car race, Vin Diesel or James Joyce?That’s right, in this episode we explore the implications of modernist conceptions of automobiles in the Fate of the Furious, the eighth movie in the Fast and Furious universe. To really prove our car know-how, we also offer advice to a distressed listener with car troubles.

It's Disney's socially conscious animated flick! We're analyzing Zootopia with Kimberle Crenshaw's Theory of Intersectionality.What is this movie about? Is it really crucial dialogue, or does it make no sense at all? Why does Judy insist on being a cop? Why hasn't Shakira starred in another Disney movie yet??

In this episode we discuss Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and Season 5 Episode 1 of Queer Eye. We first take a look at an interpretation the cave as a description of queer representation in media versus actual modern day queer spaces and dialogues. Then we discuss in more detail the episode of Queer Eye which centers around a gay evangelical christian pastor and how him and the “fab five” are represented. We eat cornbread in celebration of the pastor’s southern roots and joke about how the fab five are teaching him to be a better proselytizer.

On this episode we're looking at the anime Aggretsuko with Virginia Woolf's seminal feminist essay "A Room of One's Own."Is Retsuko, the titular red panda, a prime example of a Woolf's ideas? Has having a room of her own helped her to succeed? What discrimination does she still face as a woman in her workplace and day to day life? Why did we forget to order soba for this episode and then day drink as a result? Answers await...

Today we're analyzing the world of Willy Wonka with Gayatri Spivak's postcolonial essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?" We'll be discussing both the 1971 and the 2005 films, as well as peppering in some mentions of the book.What's the relationship between Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas? Is Wonka paying them for their labor? Can the Western and global proletariat ever understand each other? What would a podcast hosted by Oompa Loompas be like? When did Tim Burton start phoning it in and making bad movies? We discuss all this....and more!

Today we will be analyzing Season 5, Episode 22 of Seinfeld, "The Opposite", with Michael Allingham's book A Very Short Introduction to Choice Theory. Joining as a guest for this episode is Blatant Misreading's very own producer, Josie Baker.Why is George Costanza's life so bad? Why is Elaine Benes' so good? Why is Jerry always coasting, and how does Kramer even stay alive? You'll just have to listen to find out!