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Episode 095: Lucy’s Consolidation is Broken or She Gets Blackout Drunk Everyday! 50 First Dates (2004) with Melissa Maffeo
Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Melissa Maffeo as they discuss the hilarious memory mishaps in Adam Sandler’s 50 First Dates, also starring Drew Barrymore, Sean Astin, and Dan Aykroyd. Barrymore plays a woman, Lucy, who had suffered brain trauma, and when she goes to sleep, her brain resets to that same day. Sandler’s Henry Roth falls in love with her and wants to create a life with her, despite this very large limitation. Psychological concepts of memory, consolidation, learning, and consent are explored, even through all the hilarious moments that make most laugh out loud! There’s a very real possibility that Lucy’s brain is constantly blackout drunk!…
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Episode 079: No, There Isn’t a Gay Blood Test — Boy Erased (2018) with Lee Golembiewski
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Lee Golembiewski as they discuss the harrowing true story of a young gay man enduring conversion therapy in the US South in Boy Erased (2018). The film stars Lucas Hedges as Jared, playing a version of Garrard Conley, who wrote a memoir of the same name in 2016, detailing his journey through conversion therapy in the early 2000s. The film also stars Russell Crowe as his pastor father, who ultimately made the decision to send Jared to the harmful Christian ministry, Nicole Kidman, as his mother, who makes a startling transformation during the film, and Joel Edgerton, who plays the ministry’s lead “counselor” — Edgerton also directed and assisted in adapting the book into a screenplay.…
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Episode 052: We Might Love David If He Wasn’t So Creepy — A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) with Jim Davies
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Jim Davies in a discussion of the portrayal of artificial intelligence, consciousness, and love in Steven Spielberg’s Pinocchio-esque film, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)! We explore the idea of artificial intelligence, what it means to be conscious or sentient, and how well the film works on these fundamentally hard-to-define fronts. Though Jim is a cognitive scientist, Alex also asks him about the film’s idea of love and what it means to be loved, which hits at The Velveteen Rabbit‘s ideal of what it means to be real and who is worthy of love! Listen, we think David, who was played so well by Haley Joel Osment, could be loved if he just didn’t act so oddly.…
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Episode 045: A Juicy 90s Satire of Conversion Therapy—But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) with Molly Metz & Will Ryan
Join Alex and guest hosts Drs. Molly Metz & Will Ryan as the three dissect and discuss the bubbly and rich 90s satire But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)! The film stars Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall as lesbians forced to attend a straight conversion camp. While the content is heavy — conversion therapy is wrong at all levels for both orientation AND gender conversion — if you’re ready to laugh at the absurdity of it all, tag along! The trio chat about gender identity and roles, sexual orientation, and how this movie turns typical gay and lesbian tropes on their head!…
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Episode 019: Fly Fishing and Family Time Dynamics—Can Brad Pitt Be My Brother? A River Runs Through It (1992) with Jason Spiegelman
Join Alex and returning guest host Jason Spiegelman as they discuss the family dynamics in the fly fishing period piece, A River Runs Through It (1992). The film stars Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt, and Craig Sheffer as father and sons just trying to make it in early 20th century Montana. Honestly, the only thing you can really focus on are the amount of stares people make and all the fly fishing. Makes you want to forget all your troubles and just go wade out into a river!
Check out a fun, early-in-podcast-producing moment from the last time Jason joined us. It’s what some would call “bloopers”.…