This episode examines how colonial themes persist in stories set in the present through a case study in Supernatural (2005-2020).

Concepts:

• Monster theses
• The strenuous life
• Home intrusion
• Fears of miscegenation
• Othering
• Men who know Indians
• Female captivity narrative

Sources:

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” University of Minnesota Press.

Leow Hui Min Annabeth. "Coloniality and the Chicana Gothic: Traveling Myths in the Pilot." In The Gothic Tradition in Supernatural: Essays on the Television Series, edited by Melissa Edmundson, 91-102.

Palmer, Lorrie. "The Road to Lordsburg: Rural Masculinity in Supernatural." In TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural, edited by Stacey Abbot and David Lavery, 77-89.

Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. 1992.

Have you ever wondered where the trope of the home intrusion boogeyman comes from? The origin of the cultural fear of kidnapping? This episode gives an introduction into the basis if these tropes in American media.

Warnings: Frank discussion of fictional portrayals of sexual violence

Concepts:

• Common sense
• Home intruson
• Female captivity narrative
• Fears of miscegenation

Sources:

On the concept of common sense:

Agnew, John. Hidden Geopolitics: Governance in a Globalized world. Rowman and Littlefield. 2023.

Hixon, Walter L. The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy. Sheridan Books. 2008.

On the female captivity narrative:

Slotikin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. 1992.

On gender in Duel in the Sun:

Corkin, Stanley. Cowboys as Cold Warriors: The Western and U.S. History. Temple University Press. 2004.

Pirates are some of the most romanticized villains in pop culture, but what is the true story of their history? This episode attempts to dispel myths and bring to light truths about the origins and functioning of piracy, as well as uncovering the basis of some pop culture portrayals.

Concepts:

• The periphery as space for difference
• Piracy as resistance to colonization
• Core and periphery

Sources:

Kardulias, P. Nick, and Emily Butcher. 2016. “Piracy in a Contested Periphery: Incorporation and the Emergence of the Modern World-System in the Colonial Atlantic Frontier.” Journal of World-Systems Research 22 (2): 542–64. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2016.652.

Yangas, Taylor. 2014. “Black Pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy: Men Seeking Escape and Transformation.”

Kinkor, Kenneth J. "Black Men under the Black Flag." In Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader, edited by C. R. Pennel, 195-205.

Rediker, Marcus. 1993. "When Women Pirates Sailed the Seas."

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Twitter: @ravensiegfried

Tumblr: @theworldthroughfiction

The cowboy is a symbol of nationalistic masculine identity in America, but what is the true history of these frontier legends, and how has the western genre misrepresented them? This is part one of a two part discussion on the expression of marginalized identities on the frontier. Part two out June 26th.

Concepts:

• Gender and sexuality
• The usable past
• Periphery as space for difference

Sources:

Widdowson, Oryan. n.d. “A Deep Voice: How Newspapers Talk About Harry Allen, 1900 - 1923.”

Barbash, Fred. 2021. “‘He Paid a Dear Price for It’: The 19th-Century Ordeal of One of America’s First Transgender Men.” Washington Post, October 25, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/08/he-paid-a-dear-price-for-it-the-19th-century-story-of-one-of-americas-first-transgender-men/.

“Out West: The Queer Sexuality of the American Cowboy and His Cultural Significance.” n.d. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://www.brandeis.edu/writing-program/write-now/2021-2022/miller-hana/index.html.

Colonization is an ongoing process that is still happening today. This episode examines how this process unfolds and why those who resist it choose to do so by examining a classic western, a Supernatural episode, and the lore of Lord Huron.

Concepts:

Waves of colonization

Resistance to colonization

Ruralmisia

Sources:

Turner's Thesis PDF:

https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Turner%20Thesis%2C%20Frederick%20Jackson%20Turner.pdf

The World Ender music video:

https://youtu.be/-TGld4a5Mb4?si=LegtDh7MLfv4nEx0

The World Ender comic:

https://archive.org/details/lord-huron-strange-trails-7

This episode examines how national identity in the United States has been created through colonization by looking at the symbology of the film She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Concepts:

• National identity
• Othering
• The usable past
• Dog motifs

Sources:

Hixson, Walter L. The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy. Sheridan Books. 2008.

Turner, Frederick Jackson, 1861-1932. The Significance of the Frontier in American History.

Grandin, Greg. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. Metropolitan Books. 2019.

Beltran, Cristina. Cruelty as Citizenship: How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy. University of Minnesota Press. 2020.

This episode delves into why colonization occurs, looking to the structure of the world economy for answers and applying this lens of analysis to the two classic westerns Red River and My Darling Clementine

Concepts:

Colonization

Core and periphery

Never-ending expansion

Capitalism

The safety valve

Race

The usable past

Sources:

For more on the early history of colonization:

Tan, Fidellithy. The History of Colonization. Podcast audio. https://open.spotify.com/show/2GgKjR09jep79DkU74xUH9?si=c979cb1f07db46da

For more on present-day colonization of Latin America:

Bartilow, Horace A. Drug War Pathologies: Embedded Corporatism and U.S. Drug Enforcement in the Americas. University of North Carolina Press. 2019.

For more on the safety valve:

Grandin, Greg. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. Metropolitan Books. 2019.

For a different analysis of Red River and My Darling Clementine:

Corkin, Stanley. Cowboys, Free Markets, Wyatt Earp, and Thomas Dunson. In Cowboys as Cold Warriors: The Western and U.S. History. 19-50. Temple University Press. 2004.

The stories we grew up with form a subconscious basis for how we engage with the world. This episode examines two such stories - Pocahontas and Treasure Island - and how they may influence our understanding of the world.

Warnings: mild spoilers for Black Sails

Concepts:

Colonization

The usable past

Censorship

Sources:

Hixon, Walter. The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy. Sheridan Books, 2008.

Pocahontas. 1995. Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg, performance by Mel Gibson et al. Walt Disney Pictures.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Simon & Schuster, 1883.

Black Sails, created by Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg, 2014-2017.