42 Minutes of Reality Mike & JS

Intro/outro music: “Gay Bar Videogame” by The Wildbunch
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Wildbunch/Gay_Bar/Gay_Bar_videogame

1:32 Mike’s holiday gift for JS
2:20 Introducing this month’s show
2:51 Concept and episode structure
7:42 Ep 1 Highlights: Mike and Chad
12:36 Ep 2 Highlights: Curt and Rodney
17:22 Ep 3 Highlights: Tracy and Dan
21:24 Ep 4 Highlights: Rob and Greg
25:04 Ep 5 Highlights: John, Bret and Shane
27:15 Mike’s quick hits for Eps 6-8
30:42 Ep 9 Highlights: Joe and Mark
36:40 Debating how much producers were egging on protagonists
40:13 Segueing into worldview and common themes
42:37 JS makes comparison b/w views of ‘extreme preppers’ and ‘conspiracy culture’
43:24 Returning to distinction b/w ‘normal’ disaster prep and ‘doomsday prepper’ identity
45:03 Other common themes – distrust of outsiders/foreigners and incoherence of scenarios
46:45 JS thinks there’s grain of truth to ‘economic collapse’ scenarios and we debate a bit about Venezuela [Go see website for coda from Mike on his argument]
48:04 Mike thought ridiculous ‘Red Dawn’ scenario was actually one of the more plausible
49:42 Mike was irritated by show’s pandering – esp. given that it was on National Geographic’s channel
50:42 Segueing into motivation behind ‘doomsday prepper’ worldview – larger-than-life performance of trad gender roles
52:26 These people are loaded with $$$ – which made Mike very unsympathetic
53:44 JS thinks that this is rooted in a ‘risk-averse’ psychology coupled with too much money
55:08 Beginning our discussion of this month’s article
56:53 JS agrees with main thrust of argument, but disagrees with some specifics – thinks that perhaps all cultural qualities are not necessarily as gendered as author describes
57:59 Mike’s defense of article’s argument and JS’s refinement of his counter-argument
59:21 JS thinks that prepper worldview is more rooted in rise of globalized economy, but Mike is skeptical
1:01:20 Mike thought article’s analysis of prepping as expression of traditional fatherly authority was interesting
1:02:14 JS picks up on earlier thread about centrality of self-reliance in prepper worldview and we discuss whether self-reliance and dependence are gendered
1:04:12 JS critiques sub-argument about female preppers being ‘hysterical’ based on some counter-examples from the episodes we watched
1:05:55 Article mentions examples of questionable authenticity and we interpret what that means for show’s authenticity overall
1:08:54 Ending on show’s appeal – Is there something sincere or is it entirely based in irony?
1:12:28 JS patiently listens while Mike rants for a while
1:13:39 JS announces next month’s episode
1:14:30 Usual stuff: email, rate/review, and don’t forget to subscribe just because Mike forgot to mention it!

Intro/outro music: “Gay Bar Videogame” by The Wildbunch
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Wildbunch/Gay_Bar/Gay_Bar_videogame

1:26 Mike outs himself as victim of celebrity podcast catfishing scheme
2:06 Introducing this month’s show
3:17 Concept and structure
6:37 Our impressions of Nev and Max
8:07 Dual roles of hosts – investigation and therapy/counseling
9:23 Show’s tone ran contrary to JS’s expectations, particularly for MTV reality show
11:24 Nev’s personal controversies
12:42 The order in which we watched the episodes
13:43 Ep 1 – Sunny and Jamison (Chelsea)
14:43 Ep 3 – Kim and Matt
15:01 Ep 7 – Joe and Kari Ann (Rose) – Watch this one!
16:58 Ep 2 – Trina and Scorpio (Lee) / Ep 8 – Tyler and Amanda (Aaron)
17:58 Ep 4 – Jasmine and Mike (Mhissy)
21:30 Our initial impressions of show’s authenticity
23:15 How much we bought the narrative in Ep 7
24:12 Are motivational narratives for catfishers genuine?
26:28 How authentic are investigations by Nev and Max?
28:18 One moment of authenticity – catfishee’s reaction to meeting catfisher
31:15 Finding out how show was actually constructed undermined its ethical justification
32:58 How much did inauthenticity sour us on the show? Could it have been done another way?
34:22 What JS wanted from the narrative
35:32 Mike pushes back a little – thinks it would be easier for catfisher to not go on TV
36:53 Thing that irritated us most about the show’s ethics – it’s false front of ‘helping’ people
38:05 The broad thesis of this month’s article and overview of its main themes
38:54 What Mike thought was most interesting
40:24 JS also found emphasis on self-acceptance as substitute for traditional markers of success interesting
42:04 Mike liked analysis of catfishing as being on the continuum of online activity and not apart from it
43:52 Coming back to the usage of hand-held cameras as marker of authenticity
46:50 What did we think of the contention that reality TV narratives are ideal for constructing ‘good’ social media behavior?
50:24 Ending on where appeal of show lies
52:38 What specifically in the narrative captured JS’s interest before finding out about its inauthenticity?
54:24 Mike didn’t enjoy it as much, but that also insulated him from being crestfallen
55:40 Mike thinks part of appeal is due to inherent uncertainty of online relationships and our fears surrounding them
56:30 Introducing the show for our next episode
58:25 Mike’s half-hearted holiday well-wishes and our plan for the rest of the season
58:54 Usual stuff: email, rate/review, subscribe (or tell your friends to subscribe!)