This week's episode is The Afternoon Special podcast's midseason finale and we're spending it by pleading with you for 30 minutes that you should watch 2000's How The Grinch Stole Christmas year round. Perhaps the best episode yet. See you in February 2024 for the second half of season 5! Happy New Year! ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email the show at [email protected] ~~ Afternoon Special is brought to...

The days are getting shorter. The wind is getting a biting chill to it. Life can start feeling bleak around the holiday season and being frank, I know Seasonal Affective Disorder is kicking major ass right now.  In this dark hour, we need a hero. A hero to save us all. And who know that hero would come in a little black and white mute beagle with the alias Joe Cool, or more commonly known as Snoopy. If you’ve been on any social media site, there’s been a bit of a uptick in Snoopy related...

Last Friday, one of the best films of the year dropped on Netflix. From director Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, Nathalie Portman, and Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER was a film that was only somewhat on my radar and now I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It's easily in the top 3 films of the year. This will be a spoiler review so if you’re remotely interested in seeing the film, GO WATCH IT and then come back here to listen.  ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram:...

This week’s episode was born out of conversation being had on Twitter. The topic at hand was around why rom coms don’t really feel like rom coms anymore with our irony obsessed culture being the main culprit. We yearn for the days of classic films like When Harry Met Sally or even newer picks like To All The Boys I've Loved Before, an earnest rom com that didn't need to wink and nod to the audience that it was rom com. And that got the wheels of my brain turning. Has irony killed our ability...

With the newest edition to the Scott Pilgrimverse, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, premiering on Netflix, I thought I'd finally right a wrong and watch 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (I know). This week, in a new series (that may only have one episode, you know me) that I'm calling Missed Connections, I look back on Scott Pilgrim with fresh 25 year old eyes and give you my thoughts! ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email the...

When you think about Hollywood royalty, you may think about legacy studios or starlets of yesteryear, but when I think about Hollywood royalty, I think about characters and one group of characters that are the epitome of tinseltown nobility is the Looney Tunes.  The Tunes of Loon have been in the news a lot recently with the shelving of the live action/animation hybrid film, Coyote vs. Acme by Warner Bros. and this week, we are taking a brief walk through the history of the Looney Tunes, why...

Betty Boop. She’s a pop culture icon. She’s recognized the world over for either her signature curls, her signature catchphrase (boop oop be doop), or the fact that she can be found on merch for almost every roadside attraction in America. No matter where from, you know Betty. But who is she? Well, she is the subject of a bit of controversy in recent years on her origins and this week, we’re going to dive into it. ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok:...

Not too long after the invention of film, filmmakers began finding ways to put common emotions to the big screen. Happiness in comedies, sadness in dramas, love in romance. And of course, fear in horror.  Horror films hold an important space in film history and is a genre that oftentimes uses a disguised placed mirror to society to source scares. And one disguise used is the movie monster. Creature features, if you will.  Beasts, mummies, lab grown monsters, aliens, and vampires have been...

A lot of what scares is centered around consumption, especially in horror movies. Zombies eating our brains. Demons eating our souls. Werewolves eating our flesh. Vampires drinking our blood. So it makes sense that food holds a really interesting place in films intended to terrify us.  This week, we’re taking a look into how food is used to scare us in film. Unlike previous food episodes we’ve done, you might want to listen to this one on an empty stomach.  ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram:...

Across social media, there have been discussions of Gen Z's pop culture knowledge (or according to some, lack thereof). Thousands of videos and posts claiming that the young generation is not aware of pop culture history and this week, we're going to unpack these claims, decide if they're true, and understand where they come from. WARNING: millennial slander may be heard in episode. ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email...

Your friend who knows just a little bit too much about pop culture is back and for the season premiere, we're tackling Film Twitter's favorite discourse: Martin Scorsese vs. The MCU (or more broadly, franchises). Now before you start sharpening your pitchforks and placing a plague onto my house, this is not an episode to say whether he's right or wrong, is more so meant to provide context for what this discourse is getting at and how we can expand this conversation. Scorsese cinephiles, I...

Barbie. What a contentious doll. To one group of people she is THE representation of female empowerment. A girl boss, if you will. And to others she’s the opposite and ultimately both are true. This week, we’re diving into the good, the bad, and the complicated of Barbie and seeking to dissect our perception of her.  ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email the show at [email protected] ~~ Afternoon Special is...

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you’ll know that one of the year’s most anticipated films, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, and dozens more, releases this month in theatres. And needless to say, the world is tickled pink with excitement.  With the excitement of the movie, all of our eyes are on the doll herself, Barbie. Full name Barbara Millicent Roberts. Now if you can tell from the fact that I just casually dropped Barbie’s...

In the very first edition of The Afternoon Special News Hour, we're covering all the biggest pop culture stories from this week, including a major casting announcement for DC's Superman: Legacy, all the details on how you can stay at Ken and Barbie's real life Malibu Dreamhouse, and the letter signed over 1000 A-List actors to SAG-AFTRA and what it means for the ongoing WGA strike. Later in the episode, we say goodbye to Riverdale and Bobbi shares a potentially damning revelation on her...

Our celebration of all things Spider-Man continues this week with what I’m calling a definitive and absolute correct ranking of top 5 best Spider-Man movies as decided by me and my very special guest this week. My guest is actress, fashion icon in the making, and TikTok extraordinaire, Emily Uribe. ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email the show at [email protected] ~~ Afternoon Special is brought to you by...

This month, we’re doing a little mini series on our favorite masked web slinger, Spider-Man! However, unlike most months where we start with a history lesson, we’re starting this month with a review.  I had the privilege of attending the premiere for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse and I would be remiss if I didn’t kick this series off gushing about one of the most important films released in recent history. (And don't worry, this is a spoiler AND non-spoiler review!) ~~ Follow the show...

We're kicking off the inaugural episode of The Afternoon Special Movie Club with an absolute classic, Jurassic Park! This is a full listen along/watch along episode with Bobbi's commentary (and general nonsense), that's perfect to throw on while watching the 1993 film. ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email the show at [email protected] ~~ Afternoon Special is brought to you by QCODE.  To advertise on the...

No new normal episode this week but, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a cinematic classic and one of my favorite films of all time, Jurassic Park, we’ll be doing a special listen-along style episode where you can watch the movie along with me.  So, it may not be the best episode for a commute, but it’s the perfect episode if you’re looking for some plans this weekend and you don’t mind watching a movie with someone who is a chronic fun fact sharer (AKA Bobbi). Listen-along episode will...

To cap off a fun month of waxing poetic about Disney Princesses, we're bringing in the host of the House of Cinema podcast and friend of the show, Joe to engage in a hilarious Disney Princess tournament! Joe's socials: Instagram: @cinema.joe_ Tik Tok: @cinemajoe Twitter: @cinema_joe23 Podcast: House of Cinema ~~ Follow the show on  Instagram: @theafternoonspecial Tik Tok: @theafternoonspecial Twitter: @hiimbobbi Email the show at [email protected] ~~ Afternoon Special is brought...

When talking about Disney Princess for the last few weeks, I’ve highlighted briefly how complex they are. Depending on who you ask, they can be beacons for female representation and the power of dreaming or they are anti-women figures used only to hock Disney merchandise at young impressionable viewers.  This week, in our penultimate episode on a month long deep dive into the world of Disney Princesses, we’re assessing the good, the bad, and the misunderstood about them. ~~ Follow the show...

For the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring the history and music of the Disney Princess and we discovered that at many key points in history, they have been the guiding light for Disney.  However, you’ll also remember that for a time, Disney was in a really bad place as a studio and a company in general. The studio needed something new and who do you turn to? A mermaid, of course. This week, we're taking a look at the production history of 1989's The Little Mermaid. ~~ Follow the show...

The songs of Disney Princess films have this prevailing nature to them about the power of love, the power of a wish, and the power of a dream. These expertly composed songs almost take on a life of their own and in some ways transcend the movies they’re from. This week, we’re taking a deep dive into the musical world of the Disney Princesses, exploring the songs they have on their hearts and how they came to be. (Warning: this episode might make you want to sing like a Disney...