A brilliant season in what instantly became one of my an all time favorite podcasts. As a millennial raised on X-Files and, yup, Frankenstein, I always liked sf and horror even better together than in isolation, and I feel so seen by everything— the alluring modem sounds, the family-computer-room-after-midnight reminiscences and tales of tamagotchi, the fact you even know what Virtuosity is (I have the VHS) and of course, the fact none of this is purely nostalgic, it’s actually a lot scarier right now than monsters. I can’t wait for you and your guests’ thoughts on Kairo, but I’ve already binged 22 episodes from the back catalog in less than a week. Second, after digging through the archive, I have to shout out one older episode in particular. There was something incredibly cool about your conversation with Inkoo Kang. I can’t think of any podcast host who would’ve handled that situation better, that is to say, it wasn’t a “situation” for you— it was a true conversation. Both of you sound taken aback by the other’s takes, but struggling sincerely to comprehend from the other’s perspective, while unwilling to sacrifice honesty. Another podcast host would’ve seen a guest with polar opposite takes on a personal favorite film as a situation to be joked about or contained and controlled in a passive aggressive way that mutes the conflict, with either host or guest playing down their true views, or worse, an opportunity for a host to get defensive or angry and shut down the guest. Even if most good podcasts would avoid such things, they still aren’t really interested in thoughtful dialogue, but in immediate agreement, or failing that, submission. Guests are vetted beforehand to make sure they are on side, no conversation will be allowed to run totally unrehearsed, and even those invited to provide an alternative perspective are really supposed to be sidekicks, interjecting “so true” and “a hundred percent.” One can agree with the takes a host has, and still yearn for more, for real exchange of ideas. I love The Love Witch, and as you said, loving or hating it is mostly a matter of whether we just click with Anna Biller’s aesthetics or not. I do. But because Inkoo did not, she was actually so attentive to aspects of the film that just wash over those of us who are entranced by the aesthetic. It was so unexpected to get all that insight from her, just five minutes after watching a film she claims to have hated, and to hear an hour’s conversation where, thanks to your own openness and both of your lack of either condescension or submission toward each other, a disagreement creates productive tension and deeper insight, rather than coldness and cruelty, the form disagreement always takes in our culture generally. Please invite Inkoo Kang back on sometime to talk about a film or TV show she actually likes (maybe even X-Files, as that has a really fun AI trilogy of Ghost in the Machine, Kill Switch and Followers that could be a perfect bonus for Machines season).
Edit: now having listened to almost 80 episodes, I love nearly every guest but especially Dr. Kelli Weston. All your episodes with her are just incredible, so deeply informative and fun, whether or not I’ve even seen the film yet. Also loved hearing from Amber T, Clarisse Loughrey, Pamela Hutchinson, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Roxana Hadadi, Mary Wild, Kirsty Logan, Becky Darke, Leila Latif, Sorcha Ní Fhlainn. I appreciate the fact you have knowledgeable critics and historians on to talk about movies, and not just unfunny comedians or nepo babies like most podcasts do, but also, the critics and film historians on your podcast have a sense of humor and they’re almost never self aggrandizing elitists. Final Girls is such an unusual mix of irreverent and analytical, challenging and entertaining. A scarily brilliant resource and a comfort listen for anyone who ever connected with horror, or really loves any kind of cinema.
