The Navel Gaze

Aroog, Gabe, Molly

The Navel Gaze is a podcast about the human condition and its creative byproducts. Each episode focuses on an abstract idea, and through meandering media analysis and the occasional guffaw, we may or may not come to an insightful conclusion. Recommended for lovers who hate, haters who love, princesses, ancient philosophers, English majors, catboys napping in the sun, AI chatbot GFs, gay bisexuals, Barefoot is Legal representatives, and IBS sufferers.

Episodes

  1. How Was Your Weekend?

    07/22/2025

    How Was Your Weekend?

    We return in episode 12 with some unsexy office roleplay to set the stage for an analysis of the white collar workplace, ranging from its mid-century beginnings, its computerized transformation during the new millenium, and to the present day open concept hellscape. Our discussion takes us from Protestant work ethic to ergonomic furniture, office sirens to Dilbert, with a mandatory Navel Gaze detour about a semi-obscure French film. Mix by Gabe including sounds by: Skykicking by Insides A Poem in Braille by dom mino’ Good Sleep by I Am Robot and Proud Butterfly Jam by Purelink Pendulum Man by Bark Psychosis ASMR - Mad Men Office - Soundscape to work/study by Perfect Atmospheres 00:00:37 gazer webinar breakout room 00:09:50 history of the cubicle, mid century modern design, and the Protestant work ethic 00:38:00 playtime, mad men 00:57:17 calling dilbert's manhood into question 01:10:54 severance as a weberian jack off 01:19:15 we taxonomize women in the workplace (office girlies and sirens) 01:42:57 studs’ outro/re: your gazer application

    1h 54m
  2. It's a Miracle!

    03/28/2025

    It's a Miracle!

    If a star falls in the sky and nobody is around to be moved by it, how bright is its light? This episode, we come to you with the question of miracles. Using a theological and not so theological framework, the first inquiry is the purpose of miracles. Then, 17776 and Syzygy, Beauty align for some intra-pod meaning-making. Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire offers us an access point to the unified field, and from there on out we bond over woo-woo and shells. Keep your friends close, gazers, so you may share with them the magic of the unnoticed miracles. Mix by Gabe with sounds from: Wings of Desire OST A.C. Marias, Our Dust Jenny Hval, American Coffee Sun's Signature, Golden Air (CUTS Remix) 0:29 Meditating on olives, geriatric podcasting, and shooting stars 17:38 Biblical, Quranic, and Reddit atheist miracles + yoni steaming 42:06 Scissoring, syzygy and sports 1:08:04 Outro: Wings of Desire and David Lynch

    1h 32m
  3. Guncle Sam Wants You

    11/21/2024

    Guncle Sam Wants You

    In episode 10, we finally reach the end of our heterosexuality suite, climaxing with the contemporary moment. We whet our critical palette with the bland offerings of Red White & Royal Blue, talk child-rearing under patriarchy, and theorize that the 'situationship' signifies parallel deterioration of heterosexual and hagplatonic relations alike. We finish with a discussion of what the hell a futurism even is. 0:29 Intro 16:13 Red, White, & Royal Boooo 35:25 Let’s make a baby? 1:08:33 Heteropessimism makes hags of us all 1:34:13 Queer fut(ch)urism 1:57:56 Outro and Media Recommendations Recorded in October 2024. Resource list for the full suite available here. This episode's bumpers include: The Trembling of Glass by Rachika Nayar Plainsong by Seefeel New Grass by Talk Talk Dessert by Rei Harakami Cupid De Locke by The Smashing Pumpkins The Moment I Said It by Imogen Heap

    2h 11m
  4. The Bottom of Things

    08/27/2024

    The Bottom of Things

    What even is sodomy and why does it get people's panties in such a twist? Was Rosie the Riveter a fed? If a tradwife drinks raw milk and nobody is around to film it for TikTok, is she even a girlboss? The answers to all these questions might share more DNA than we thought, enough to warrant a paternity test. Resources will be available in this doc, which will be updated as we expand this suite of episodes. This episode's bumpers are a marital mix of the following tracks: A Change of Sex by David Motion and Sally Potter The Kiss by David Motion and Sally Potter Bedroom by Mica Levi Just Like You by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Infinite End by Maxime Denuc Ouverture by Maxime Denuc Timestamps 00:58 zoom divorce court introduction 14:07 the curious case of Mr. Sodom 41:15 transvestigating cisness 59:16 state-sanctioned butchification (or not) 1:31:05 parasocial polycules and outro

    1h 40m
  5. We're Gonna Give It to Ya Straight...

    06/28/2024

    We're Gonna Give It to Ya Straight...

    Pride month may be drawing to a close, but we’re just getting started. Strap in for a suite of episodes dedicated to dismantling the conjoined constructs broadly known as “gender” and “sexuality”. To kick it off, we present you with episode 8 of the Navel Gaze, in which we have a straight-shootin' discussion about the regime of heterosexuality, its coercive constructs, and the ways we cope. Resources will be available in this doc, which will be updated as we expand this suite of episodes. Timestamps 0:00 an introductory explication of the 2011 hit "Born This Way" 11:25 heterosexuality as a regime 35:37 heteropessimism, homosociality, & other copium 1:03:00 what is it about Canadians? A case study of sublimation 1:11:58 gendah realizashuns

    1h 20m
  6. Lone Wolves

    05/16/2024

    Lone Wolves

    We return at last from a hiatus with episode 7, our first long-distance episode. Tune in to hear us tackle the nuances of loneliness: platonic and romantic, suburban and feral, incel and spinster, podcaster and listener. This episode’s bumpers feature a homemade mix of the following samples: S1E14 SpongeBob Squarepants All I Remember by Brian Eno Fire and Light by Actress Night Crawling by John Cale Waiting for the Big One by Junior Varsity Kim Sweat, Tears or the Sea by Laurel Halo Timestamps 0:00 introduction and tales of personal loneliness 9:30 are we actually lonelier than we’ve ever been? 20:04 parsing states of loneliness 26:59 federally mandated chapstick application break 28:33 spinsters and incels 42:56 ecological loneliness 50:24 passive aggressively doing everyone’s dishes and “ugly” community 1:11:29 avoiding pod drop w Timon of Athens Resources Galanaki, E. (2004). Are children able to distinguish among the concepts of aloneness, loneliness, and solitude? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28(5), 435-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250444000153 Seeber, B.K. (2020). Loneliness and the Affective Imperative of the Marriage Plot in Jane Austen’s Emma. Studies in the Novel 52(3), 233-245. https://doi.org/10.1353/sdn.2020.0042. Karin Dahlberg (2007) The enigmatic phenomenon of loneliness, International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 2:4, 195-207, DOI: 10.1080/17482620701626117 Nilsson, B., Lindström, U.Å. and Nåden, D. (2006), Is loneliness a psychological dysfunction? A literary study of the phenomenon of loneliness. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 20: 93-101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6712.2006.00386.x Goldfarb, B. (2023). Crossings: how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet. First edition. New York, W.W. Norton and Company. "The Extinction of the Kauai ʻōʻō". Island Conservation. August 3, 2018. Geographies of Solitude (2022) dir. Jacquelyn Mills CENTRALIA, PA - America's Burning Ghost Town https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj5LjacccJ0 Centralia: Pennsylvania's Lost Town https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrUeiCHnRuc

    1h 24m
  7. That's All, Folks!

    12/19/2023

    That's All, Folks!

    In episode 6, we unpack the gravity of endings, featuring a discussion that takes us from Walter Benjamin and Queen Latifah to bucket lists and Russian formalism. We hope you enjoy the final episode of 2023, and we can't wait to see you in the new year! Timestamps 00:30 intro and some personal endings 11:20 how did we end up here? a necessary prelude 23:55 it was just a dream, and other disapppointing finales 44:50 stories, stories about stories, and stories about storytellers 1:13:10 and everybody clapped: a case study of self-narrativization 1:43:45 outro and well wishes Resources Mary Oliver, In Blackwater Woods. http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/archive/oliver_inblackwaterwoods.html Last Holiday (2006) dir. Wayne Wang. Bell, Stuart (2016) "Don't Stop": Re-Thinking the Function of Endings in Narrative Television. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7282/ “All Just A Dream.” https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllJustADream Frank Kermode, The Sense of an Ending. Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller. https://arl.human.cornell.edu/linked%20docs/Walter%20Benjamin%20Storyteller.pdf Wallace Stevens, Angel Surrounded by Paysans. https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2017/08/09/angel-surrounded-by-paysans/ Gerard Manley Hopkins, Spring and Fall. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44400/spring-and-fall Amazing Grace (2018) dir. Alan Elliott.

    1h 54m
  8. In the Same Vein

    11/09/2023

    In the Same Vein

    What do the men of the vague East, ambiguously homosexual bad boys, and the sparkling redhead in your Biology class all have in common? They’re threats to American masculinity. Oh, and they want to suck your blood. In our media-rich fifth episode, the pod bites into the immortal myth of the vampire. Listener, beware...! Timestamps: 0:25 introduction, appetizer, and blood-sucking tidbits 14:33 whetting our palate with the myth’s orientalist origins 32:50 do vampires take pre-workout? and other questions for the eighties 55:00 post-Twilight, undead daughters of the confederacy, and a return to fetishistic form 1:37:11 outro, ft. contenders for the next hot monster Resources: This episode’s interludes borrow from the Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) soundtrack, composed by Josef van Wissem and Sqürl. Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu, 1872 Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston, 1887 Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897 Nosferatu dir. by F.W. Murnau, 1929 Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, 1976 Lost Boys dir. by Joel Schumacher, 1987 Near Dark dir. by Kathryn Bigelow, 1987 From Dusk Til Dawn dir. by Robert Rodriquez, 1996 Blade dir. by Stephen Norrington, 1998 Queen of the Damned dir. by Michael Ryder, 2002 Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, 2005 My Immortal by XXXbloodyrists666XXX, 2006 True Blood, 2008 The Vampire Diaries, 2009 Only Lovers Left Alive, 2013 Gloves: An Intimate History by Anne Green, 2021 Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires? By Princess Weekes, 2023

    1h 46m
  9. Touch (Gr)ass

    10/11/2023

    Touch (Gr)ass

    If three people is a crowd, then what is 8.7 million species? According to ecosexuals—an orgy for the ages. In our fourth episode, the pod gets dirty while digging for a reason to live, laugh, and love. Some artifacts of note include the earth itself, a clock with no hands, alien dildos, and Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake. Best listened to while laying on a sun-warmed rock. This episode’s interludes are field recordings gathered by Molly and Atticus, and they feature a stranger in the prairie. Resources: Special thanks to Leslie Thornton, Trevor Bashaw, and Madelynn Kurtz. “The Ecopoetics of Contact: Touching, Cruising, Gleaning” by Sarah Ensor “Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin” by Donna Haraway. https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article/6/1/159/8110/Anthropocene-Capitalocene-Plantationocene Sheep Machine by Vi Khi Nao “Ecosexuality: The story of our love with the Earth” excerpted from Assuming the Ecosexual Position: The Earth as Lover by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens with Jennie Klein. https://en.ecopoiesis.ru/aktualnoe/news_post/sprinkle-annie-and-stephens-beth-ecosexuality-the-story-of-our-love-with-the-eart Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead Timestamps: 0:23 introduction and ecological anecdotes 14:47 unearthing the root of ecosexiness, among other things 45:33 it’s alive! and it’s everywhere? 59:54 getting touchy feely at the nude beach 1:24:08 outro 1:39:59 secret track

    1h 41m
  10. In Defense of Crazy B*tches

    08/19/2023

    In Defense of Crazy B*tches

    In episode 3, we discuss the phenomenon of "the BPD girlie," perform cheeky armchair psychoanalysis of cultural icons like Livia Soprano and Amy Dunne, and enter the amniotic world of Robert Altman's stunning 1977 film, "3 Women." We hope you enjoy...if you don't, we're deleting the whole thing. But you will enjoy it because you love us, right? Timestamps 0:50 intro 4:17 our crazy confessional 11:52 an anthropological justification for our navel gazing 26:12 is chicness a criteria in the DSM-V? 34:24 in which we commit the cardinal sin of categorizing women 49:18 three examples you should or should not emulate 1:23:48 bitches of note 1:32:50 outro Sources American Psychiatric Association. Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2001;158(10 Suppl):1-52. Christensen, A. (3920). “Catastrophically Romantic”: Radical Inversions of Gilbert and Gubar’s Monstrous Angel in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. American, British and Canadian Studies, 35(1) 86-110. https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2020-0018 Gilbert, S.M., Gilbert, S.M., & Federico, A.R. (2011). Gilbert and Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic after Thirty Years. (1 ed.). Columbia: University of Missouri Press. Langill, Molly. “‘Mad Women’ in Robert Altman’s 3 Women and Images.” Offscreen. 2014;18(8). https://offscreen.com/view/mad-women-robert-altman Santiago Cortés, Michelle. “Girl Internet.” https://dirt.fyi/article/2023/07/girl-internet. 20 July 2023. This episode’s interludes borrow from the Mommie Dearest soundtrack suite composed by Henry Mancini.

    1h 42m
  11. GF in the Machine

    04/15/2023

    GF in the Machine

    The pod convened for a day-long symposium on the fuckability of AI. The resulting episode is an uncensored 2 hour deep dive into the alienation of being disembodied, the history of robotesses, and a case study on the bittersweet romance of Spike Jonze’s Her. Turns out apps aren’t just siphoning your information; they’re stealing your heart too.

    2h 21m
  12. All About Lurve

    03/05/2023

    All About Lurve

    For a very special first episode, Aroog, Gabe, and Molly talk all about love. We look at heterosexy courting rituals throughout time, trade book recommendations, and unpack the bisexual possibilities of the esoteric art house film, He’s Just Not That Into You. Most importantly, we answer the age-old question: what is a boy nun?

    1h 24m
  • 12 Episodes

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

The Navel Gaze is a podcast about the human condition and its creative byproducts. Each episode focuses on an abstract idea, and through meandering media analysis and the occasional guffaw, we may or may not come to an insightful conclusion. Recommended for lovers who hate, haters who love, princesses, ancient philosophers, English majors, catboys napping in the sun, AI chatbot GFs, gay bisexuals, Barefoot is Legal representatives, and IBS sufferers.

Information

  • Creator
    Aroog, Gabe, Molly
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Aroog, Gabe, Molly 2023
  • Show Website
    The Navel Gaze