Media update part three: Podcast

A commenter on "The Greatest" turned me on to Métis in Space, a podcast hosted by two Métis women from Calgary and Alberta who analyze representations of indigenous cultures and themes in sci fi, fantasy and horror visual media. The hosts, Molly Swain and Chelsea Vowel, are (or recently were—I've been listening to episodes all out of order) graduate students in Native Studies at the University of Alberta.

I am loving this podcast. It's entertaining and educational: a perfect combination. I started with episodes that focus on the movies and TV shows I know best, and, man, I thought I was pretty okay at spotting this particular set of stereotypes and problematic tropes, but a few minutes into the first episode it became clear how much more sophisticated the conversation is. I'm so grateful to have access to these discussions and am delighting in—and humbled by—the enriched understanding of people and texts.

So far, I've listened to episodes about:

(-) Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Pangs"
(-) Star Trek: Discovery episode with the planet Pahvo
(-) Apocalypto (Mel Gibson)
(-) Dune (David Lynch)
(+) Lilo & Stitch
(+) Thor: Ragnarok
(+) What We Do in the Shadows

Next up is Westworld 2x8, "Kiksuya," a.k.a. the Ghost Nation episode, and I cannot wait.

FYI for those who are interested, there are also installments about the movie Avatar; episodes of Farscape, SG1, SPN, Star Trek: TOS, TNG & Voyager, Futurama, Highlander; and a Muse music video, among many others. They just wrapped up their fourth season.

( IMO the podcast is at its best when criticizing something )