Witch Please Productions is on Spring Break, so we're taking the opportunity to re-introduce you to Gender Playground, a podcast co-hosted by Marcelle Kosman and Raimi Marx about the joys of gender-affirming care for kids. This show launched to our Patreon last year and through patron support, we were able to launch it to the public in February of this year! We're dropping Episode 5 into your feed: Plans, Trans, and Autonomy. In this episode, Marcelle and Raimi discuss “transition.” We begin...

Material Girls is on Spring Break! But don't fret! We unlocked an episode of Making Worlds, our Patreon-exclusive video podcast hosted by Hannah McGregor. Making Worlds is dedicated to the liberatory possibilities of other worlds! In each episode Hannah speaks with a guest (or two) about a sci-fi, fantasy, speculative fiction, or magical realism text that has changed the way they view the world. In this episode, Hannah talks with scholars (and friends) Lucia Lorenzi (she/they), and Clare...

Like the serious academics they are, Hannah and Marcelle not only researched Disney in academic journals, they also went to the happiest place on earth! They made custom Theodor Adorno t-shirts, scooped Marcelle's eight-year-old and Gender Playground co-host, Raimi Marx, and wen on their way! In this bonus episode, they answer your questions about the experience. Sharing one mic, Raimi, Marcelle and Hannah talk about managing expectations, capitalism's hold on joy, the relationship between...

What drove Hannah and Marcelle to go to Disneyland? And what is with all the rainbow Mickey ears? And where does pinkwashing end and real change begin? Tune into this episode about the happiest place on earth to find out! In this episode, Marcelle leads Hannah through a history of the term pinkwashing. She then draws on an article by Karine Duplan called “Pinkwashing Policies or Insider Activism? Allyship in the LGBTIQ+ Governance–Activism Nexus,” to better understand what leads to making...

We're thrilled to be joined by Anne Helen Petersen for this episode about the popularity of athleisure! If you don't already know, Anne Helen Petersen (she/her) is the incredible writer, journalist and recovering academic behind the beloved newsletter Culture Study. She is the host of a brand new podcast of the same name and the author of four books, most recently Out of the Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working From Home (co-written with Charlie Warzel) and Can’t Even: How...

For this episode, we're joined by the incredible Karen Tongson, Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies, English, and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Why Karen Carpenter Matters and Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries. Her newest book, normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us provides theory for this episode about the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. We begin with a discussion of the early 2000s postfeminist...

Remember about fifteen years ago when we all went a little nuts for sweet potato fries? What was going on there? Well it turns out, that beloved appetizer was more than a tasty treat circa 2007. In this episode, Marcelle leads Hannah through research about the “orange-flesh sweetpotato” and its relationship to GMOs, cash crops, fat phobia and food imperialism. She pulls on the work of Joe Kobuthi for an analysis of food systems that informs her understanding of the sweet potato's zeitgeist-y...

Do you play D&D? Do you have a friend who does, but you don't totally *get* what it is? Did you see the recent film Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and think "wow, that role playing game went MAINSTREAM!?" Then this episode is sure to satisfy your curiosity about this zeitgeisty game! Hannah, who herself plays D&D, leads Marcelle through a history of the tabletop role-playing game created by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, tracing its origins all the way to Dungeons &...

There was so much more to say about Wonka and Twilight. In Part I of this bonus episode (aka a 'Material Concern' episode), we talk about fatphobia in children's literature, the "representation" of indigeneity in Stephanie Meyer's the Twilight Saga, and so much more. If you enjoy this episode, head over to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease for Part II! The rest of the conversation is available at all our tiers. For just $5 USD/month you'll have access to the rest of this conversation, all the bonus...

Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob or some secret third option?** Marcelle asks this question only at the very end of the episode, and you know why? Because there is so much more to discuss when it comes to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. And who better to dig into this novel's plot and place in pop culture than Jackson Bird (he/him) who, over fifteen years ago, was a Twi-hard. If you frequent fan spaces, you might know Jackson through his previous work with Harry Potter Alliance or his very...

We're so excited to announce that our new show, Making Worlds, begins January 25th! This video podcast, hosted by Hannah McGregor (maybe you know them?!?), will be released monthly via our Patreon. In each 30ish-minute episode, a guest will bring Hannah a text that has helped them imagine the liberatory possibilities of another world. We’re talking sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction! Hot!!!! Our first episode? Why it simply had to be about Our Flag Means Death! What says liberatory...

In this week's episode, we're joined by the incredible Leena Norms (she/her) to talk about Timothée Chalamet's latest venture: Wonka. This holiday blockbuster from director Paul King (Paddington, Paddington 2) made many people on the internet cringe even before it's release in mid December. It was notably in the *discourse* through memes and tweets that suggested Kylie Jenner perhaps got 'the ick' from Timmy's performance. The good news is that Marcelle, Hannah and Leena went to go see the...

Witch, Please Productions is on break for the holidays! Of course we still wanted to put some fun content out while we’re away from our computers, so we recorded a holiday bonus that features Gaby, Zoe, Hannah, Marcelle and Coach mostly speaking over one another while they attempt to play Material Pursuit — a game of trivia that Marcelle created by pulling on content from Material Girls and our previous show, Witch, Please. If you want to listen to the whole thing, you can! For free! Just...

One of Marcelle's favorite books is The Night Circus, so she decided to be brave and do an entire episode about the best-selling fantasy novel by Erin Morgenstern. Why brave? Well because sometimes it's hard to think critically about something you love! We all know that. ;) This episode, Marcelle leads us through a quick chat about how the book was set up for success in 2011, followed by some theory about reading ecosystems from Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times by Andrew Piper. And...

We hit our fundraising goal for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund in October and this is the bonus episode we promised as a thank you for your support. As of today, you, our listening community, have raised $8900 — and our goal was $5000! That’s incredible and we’re so grateful for your resource sharing and messages of solidarity.  This bonus episode is a conversation between Marcelle and Hannah about a paper Marcelle published in 2015 called Comic relief: the ethical intervention of 'Avodah...

At Material Girls, we’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of using social media for social change and what those calls imply about the role of social media in our collective imaginations. And so, in the spirit of always historicizing, we recorded this episode to look back on the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and, specifically, to an online event known as Blackout Tuesday. If you were one of the people who posted a black square on your Instagram account — or someone who thought about...

We had to talk about Taylor Swift more — especially as so many of you had great comments, feedback and specific inquiries! We structured this bonus like our usual Patreon-only Q&A episodes, except this time we only answered questions you submitted about Ms. Taylor Allison Swift. We talk Gay-lore, billionaires, private jets, the Jets and holding many feelings at once. Part II of this bonus will be available on Patreon this week to all of our tiers! Join today for just $5 USD/month to get...

We're so lucky to be joined this episode by Erin Keif (she/her) of the beloved Headgum podcasts Hey Riddle Riddle and Sitcom DnD. If you're a fan of Les Mis, or any musical, you'll appreciate this really special episode that covers Stuart Hall's theory of encoding/decoding, while also getting into the lyrics and musicality of the megamusical: Les Misérables. Hannah guides Marcelle and Erin through a history lesson that covers Thatcherite England and defunding of the arts in the 70s and 80s,...

Given last week's release of 1989 (Taylor's Version), we just had to have Swiftie and Tay-lore expert Margaret H. Willison (she/her) on the show to talk about one of the (if not THE) most influential pop stars of the last decade. We start with a conversation about Taylor as an artist and Margaret provides context to help us understand how and why Taylor's Eras Tour and the 10 studio albums that led to it have created such a buzz. Then Marcelle leads Hannah and Margaret through Lauren...

Why is Star Wars so popular? What were the material conditions that set the first film, A New Hope, up for success in 1977? What can a Marxist critique help us understand about the film? In this episode, Marcelle leads Hannah through a conversation about one of her favorite franchises by first taking a close look at George Lucas's politics and the state of Hollywood in the 1970s. Marcelle and Hannah then think through the movie's seemingly progressive narrative — and the way it's been...

In this episode we talk about Bridgerton with a very special guest — Vanessa Zoltan. We discuss Bridgerton the book series and its move into the mainstream through the Shondaland adaptation on Netflix. Vanessa gives us some insight on romance fiction as a genre and Hannah leads us through theory from Janice Radway's book Reading the Romance. If you like Romance novels and/or juicy television, this episode is for you! We think through the radical possibilities of romance reading, how we can...

We had to talk about Avatar more — especially James "horny for the ocean" Cameron. We structured this bonus like our usual Patreon-only Q&A episodes, except this time we only answered questions you submitted about Cameron's blockbuster hit. We talk colonialism, pony tails and doing whatever Coach tells us to! Thanks for submitting such thoughtful questions. Part II of this bonus will be available on Patreon this week to all of our tiers! Join today for just $5 USD/month to get the rest of...

Did you love James Cameron's Avatar upon its release in 2009? Have you since watched it and thought, huh, now what were we thinking 14 years ago? Were you critical of it from the start? Baffled by the public's interest in colonialism and hot blue aliens? Then this episode is for you. Tune in for a conversation about this beloved sci-fi blockbuster. Hannah leads Marcelle talk colonialism, sexism, marketing budgets and how the interests of white dude billionaires drives our reality. Together,...

In this episode we’re asking why ‘goblin mode’ is so danged zeitgeist-y such that in 2022 it became the Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year. Joined by McKayla Coyle (they/them), author of Goblin Mode: How to Get Cozy, Embrace Imperfection, and Thrive in the Muck, we dig into the term that took twitter by storm last year. Hannah leads Marcelle and McKayla through a discussion on 'the abject,' a concept from Bulgarian-French feminist philosopher Julia Kristeva. We talk about the...