Remedial Studies Rachel Evans & Hannah Pearson

Well, robots, we're back, and this time we bring you a long awaited discussion on Sony's formal apology for *The Emoji Movie*. Miles Morales and the denizens of the Spider-Verse enable us to discuss animation, fandom culture, and the evolution of Nerdom as a popular identity.


Talking points: We both forget that the Amazing Spider-Man movies happened; Donald Glover was robbed; polite racists; using animation to its fullest extent; the overshadowing of Jack Kirby; comic visual language; the age of superheroes; and, hey, stay safe robots.

We return to you, sweet robots, bearing memories of a year past, and a hopeful look towards our future.

Talking Points: A character development year; sweet tunes from the revolutionary bog; heavenly good television; Rachel's least surprising pick ever; they really just let a ten year old have to save the world; steel for humans, silver for monsters, coin for your Witcher; the blinding light of the fireside; that time Henry VIII's wives put on a pop concert; mortality on the riverbank; the impact of choice in an age of dragons; quality critical crafting; and, hey, we missed you.

This episode, we dive deep into the bowels of the earth to explore the life of one of nature's most fascinating creatures. Told from the perspective of an author bursting at the seams to share her thoughts and findings, this book helps us explore the ins and outs of science writing, literacy, and how both influence and are affected by the public.

Talking Points: our individual experiences with science as a popular and academic pursuit; the aesthetic value of the natural; the trickle down economics of popular opinion; our inability to conceptualize the impact of something that seems so small; how differences of audience can impact the success of a work; the place of science writing in today's literacy struggles; and, hey, why aren't we funding more worm regeneration studies?

Hello, robots! Today, we're bringing you something a little different, a book of poetry that has caused quite a stir from the social medias to the blogs of academics who are always giving a Ted Talk in their own minds. Join us as we discuss what we look for in our books of verse, as well as why we find ourselves jumping to the defense of someone who's work is, apparently, easy to hate.

Talking points: reliance on archetypal language to communicate power and self-understanding; coming of age in the time of evolving literary forms; the misconception that if one form is popular, then all others must be dead; the continued crusade against things young women enjoy; seeing ourselves in unapologetic and imperfect art; and, hey, is poetry like obscenity in that you only know it when you see it?;

We return, robots! As we kick off our summer programming, join us as we journey into the depths of Prythian, a land of fae and magic and well-executed romance tropes, that Hannah has been begging Rachel to get into for over a year. Will the prophecies of Hannah the Oracle remain true? You'll have to listen to find out.

Talking Points: our longest and most giggly source recap thus far; what to do when there's only one bed; meaningful consequences even when that plot point has passed by; Phantom of the Opera understudies; dealing with trauma in a fantasy setting; the world building of a political, economic, and social state; how to pull off an actual love triangle, and, hey, sometimes the question isn't if you love someone, but how you love them.

Join Hannah for a spoiler-free review of Jim Henson's *The StoryTeller: Sirens* -- "The Mermaid and the Fisherman" written by Bartosz Sztybor and illustrated by Jakub Rebelka. This episode reviews other reviews, wonders what it means to be "indie", and gets mad about the captured mermaid motif.