42 Minutes of Reality

Mike & JS

Taking Reality TV seriously but not literally Or literally but not seriously Or whatever...

Episodes

  1. Episode 32 - Doomsday Preppers

    02/03/2019

    Episode 32 - Doomsday Preppers

    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!

    1h 16m
  2. Episode 31 - Catfish: The TV Show

    01/07/2019

    Episode 31 - Catfish: The TV Show

    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!)

    1 hr
  • 2 Episodes

About

Taking Reality TV seriously but not literally Or literally but not seriously Or whatever...

Information

  • Creator
    Mike & JS
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2019
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    42 Minutes of Reality