We Disrupt This Broadcast

In our season 3 finale, Peabody Executive Director Jeffrey Jones goes deep with the legendary, 5x Peabody Award-winning showrunner, creator, and writer Vince Gilligan to discuss his enigmatic Apple TV+ series Pluribus. In the series, curmudgeonly author Carol Sturka is one of the lone humans unaffected by a mysterious virus which has turned the rest of humanity into a strangely-upbeat collective hive mind referred to as the “Others.” In an unusual twist to the post-apocalyptic genre, the series allows the audience to consider a world that might (or might not) be better off than before, asking whether happiness is meaningful without suffering. Then Caty Borum, the pod’s Executive Producer and Executive Director for the Center for Media & Social Impact, talks with Rhea Seehorn, who plays lead Carol Sturka, to discuss her perspective on acting in this very particular role, and the way society literally cannot handle female rage.

In this episode, we’ve got major Beef. Host Gabe González chats with Lee Sung Jin, creator and writer of Netflix’s wildly popular, critically acclaimed Beef. They discuss why this season’s key theme is the Buddhist and Hindu term “samsara,” how challenging it is to find inter-class solidarity within the confines of capitalism, and the ways Korean billionaires are similar and different to American billionaires. Then, executive director of the Peabodys, Jeffrey Jones, speaks with Vulture Capitalism author Grace Blakeley. The author and journalist unpacks the ways capitalism and neoliberalism have decimated freedom, and how collective solidarity might just be our way forward. 

Join us on this episode as we highlight Crave and HBO Max’s Peabody Award-winning Canadian sensation Heated Rivalry, the steamy queer love story that blew up a million group chats. In a wide-ranging conversation, host Gabe González speaks with Heated Rivalry’s creator, director, and writer Jacob Tierney about trusting the source material, why some of the most original shows come from Canada, the importance of showing consent and a little humor in sex scenes, and the radical impact of happy endings for queer love stories. Jacob and Gabe also get into the enduring phenomenon of the Heated Rivalry fan base, and the real-life impact of the show on hockey and sports culture.

Today, we’re falling in love with the empathetic, bittersweet Peabody Award-winning Netflix series Forever, a refreshing update to the Judy Blume classic, now set in Los Angeles with two Black leads. In our conversation, host Gabe González and showrunner and creator Mara Brock Akil dig into the legacy and revived fandom of her first series Girlfriends, the importance of apprenticeship and craft in TV, and why she wanted to update Forever for today’s Black families, especially young Black men and the parents who want to keep them safe while also letting them flourish. Then Caty Borum, the pod’s Executive Producer and Executive Director for The Center for Media & Social Impact, chats with Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, a research scientist, educator, author, and expert on the science of media and adolescent development, about teens’ hunger for stories where parents and adolescents love and care for each other and work out their issues in a healthy way. Turns out the kids really are alright!

Today, we’re delving into the complex realities and cultural commentary about the state of motherhood in America as we examine the twisty crime thriller, All Her Fault. Caty Borum, the pod’s Executive Producer and Executive Director for The Center for Media & Social Impact, speaks with series creator Megan Gallagher about giving voice to the nuanced cultural shame often imposed on working mothers in the United States – through the lens of a soapy drama and crime whodunnit. Later, Caty chats with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, the CEO of MomsRising, an organization that seeks to support moms on a policy level by bringing about change through education and grassroots initiatives.