Burst Your Bubble

A podcast about -isms and -phobias in pop culture.

Filtering by Category: TV

EP70 - Joker: Why Make a Sympathetic Shooter?

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EP70 - Let’s talk about toxic masculinity, gun violence, and mental illness in Joker. Because here’s the real question: in a world where we can see real life mass shootings on TV and read about them in newspapers and hear about them on the radio, why do we need a movie that celebrate and sympathizes with the shooter?

You can find the full episode script here.

Logo by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

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EP67 - The One Where We Talk About Friends

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EP67 - To put it simply, Friends was a phenomenon, not just influencing TV and pop culture, but American beliefs and values. Friends aired from 1994 to 2004, and while it may have been progressive for its time, now it just feels dated and problematic. But let’s take a closer look at how the show is essentially a time capsule, discussing how casual homophobia, gender stereotypes, sexism, transphobia, and racism can become a normalized part of society.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

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EP64 - I Love Lucy: The All American Girl and "The Latin"

EP64 - I Love Lucy starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Arnaz was Cuban American, and so the real life married couple was the first interracial couple on television at a time when the typical TV family was suburban, middle class, and white; in the real world there were anti-miscegenation laws, immigration quotas, and xenophobia. On one hand I Love Lucy created more representation in the media, but on the other the show certainly had its problems.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
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www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP59 - Game of Thrones: Race and Dany's White Savior Complex

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Here's part two of the problems with cultural phenomenon Game of Thrones. This time we're going to talk about race, representation (or lack thereof), and Dany Targaryen's white savior complex. 

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
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EP58 - Game of Thrones

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EP58 - Game of Thrones is a cultural phenomenon, but we need to talk about its problems - especially when it comes to women and how they are treated.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP55 - Will & Grace, The Puppy Episode, and a Missed Opportunity

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EP55 - First airing in 1998 and running for 8 seasons before its 2017 reboot, Will & Grace has always been applauded as revolutionary - but the show only focused on a very narrow part of the queer community: the wealthy, white, cis man. While you could argue that this was the show’s only option at the time, Will & Grace continues to have the same problems with its current day reboot - bi-erasure, lack of racial representation, and the same stereotypes - ignoring the intersections of the queer community. And even more heartbreaking, the reboot mocks the Puppy Episode, a part of queer TV history that paved the way for Will & Grace.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP53 - Shrill

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EP53 - Shrill brings up important issues, most notably how changing your life for the better doesn't have to mean changing your body. It's a show about empowerment and acceptance, and I came away with a lot of information, but also a lot of questions. My biggest concern? Well, it has to do with the morning-after pill.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP51 - Renew One Day at a Time

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Have you ever watched the show One Day at a Time? The remake of the 1975 sitcom is a present day story of the Cuban American Alvarez family. The remake - brought to life largely in part by Gloria Calderón Kellett, a Cuban American, and a half Latinx writing team - is in danger of not being renewed for its 4th season. Listen as we look at either why you should be watching the show or reminding you exactly why you love it.

#RenewODAAT

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP47 - Modern Family, Sofia Vergara, and the Influence of Carmen Miranda

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The term "spicy Latina" has dominated Latinx representations in pop culture since the 1940s. Today we have Modern Family and Sofia Vergara, where she is a Colombian playing a Colombian. But is Vergara a positive representation of Latinx culture, and furthermore is it fair to ask her to be?

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP46 - Conversion Therapy in Pop Culture: From Will & Grace to Boy Erased

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Conversion therapy shows up a lot in pop culture, but how is it shown? As a comedy? As a drama? What time period does the story takes place in? Because depending on what the answers are, these representations can be damaging, sending the message that conversion therapy is the problem of a bygone era.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP44 - BoJack Horseman, Whitewashing, and Diane Nguyen

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BoJack Horseman might be a wonderful show, but it's not without its flaws. Let's talk about why representation is important, how using white actors to voice animated characters of color is still whitewashing, and Diane Nguyen - a Vietnamese American character who is voiced by a white woman.

You can find the full episode script here.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP41 - Harry Belafonte Frames 1968

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For one week in 1968, singer and activist Harry Belafonte guest hosted the Tonight Show for Johnny Carson. Belafonte and his guests talked about the Vietnam War, poverty, native rights, race, and interracial relationships, making his one week stint an encapsulating lesson of the turbulent year that was 1968.

You can find the full episode script here.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP40 - Orange is the New Black

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I have a love/hate relationship with Orange is the New Black. While you could argue that the show has a diverse cast of characters bringing representations to media, it's also easy for those characters to also turn into "token" characters, especially when it comes to Sophia Burset.

You can find the full episode script here.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP38 - Firefly and East Asian Representation (or Lack Thereof)

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Although it was only on TV for less than a full season, Firefly has become a cult classic. And while I'll admit that I'm a fan of the show, there's on big problem: although Firefly is inspired by East Asian culture, there aren't any East Asian actors.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP37 - MTV's Questionable History

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What do you think of when you think of MTV? Reality TV? TRL? Beavis and Butt-head? Because depending on when you started watching MTV you might remember it for what it truly was: a music channel that tried to only play white rock artists.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP35 -The Two Sides of Roseanne

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Let's talk about the two sides of Roseanne: the fictional Roseanne Conner and the real life Roseanne Barr. What do representations of race and gender presentation mean on a show when so closely linked to a woman who sends out racist and transphobic tweets? Can we separate the art from the artist? And should we?

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP31 - How Black Voices Shaped Good Times

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For this episode we’re going to talk about Good Times and how it was truly a product of its time. From Black Power to the Moynihan Report, the show was a reaction to images of black life and black representations in the media.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP26 - The Little Rascals and the KKK

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In today's episode we're going to talk about how the writers of The Little Rascals were influenced by popular media of the time: the Inglewood Raid and lynchings in newspapers, the film The Birth of a Nation, and music produced and sold by the KKK.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod

EP21 - Highway To Heaven And Vietnamese "Dust Children"

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In today's episode we're going to talk about the TV show Highway to Heaven, its 1984 episode titled "Dust Child," and its connection to the Vietnam War and anti-Vietnamese sentiment in the 1980s.

Art by Jeremy Ferris.

New episodes released the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.

www.burstyourbubblepodcast.com
www.facebook.com/burstyourbubblepodcast
www.twitter.com/burstbubblespod