Brassed Off: Deep Thoughts About Collective Bargaining and Politics in Pop Culture episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 6, 2026 · 52 MIN

Brassed Off: Deep Thoughts About Collective Bargaining and Politics in Pop Culture

from Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Comedy Podcast · host Sister podcasters raised by 80s and 90s movies: Tracie Guy-Decker, lover of animation, Muppets, comedy, and feminism & Emily Guy Birken, storytelling nerd, mental health advocate, and pop culture aficionado

Send us a message! Include how to reach you if you want a response. The truth is, I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks. Not compared to how people matter.Tracie goes back in time to her semester in London in 1997 by revisiting the British film Brassed Off. This “emphatically empathetic” piece of 1990s pop culture crystallized the importance of collective bargaining, worker solidarity and mutual aid for a not-quite 21-year-old Tracie. With today’s eyes, both the film and the politics of 1980s-1990s Great Britain it depicts are more complicated than the pop culture made it seem 30 years ago. Nevertheless, there are some beautiful storytelling–and musical–beats in this real-life story of a coal mine and the brass band associated with it. North American audiences may never have realized this, if they only went by the marketing copy that inaccurately described the film as a “delightfully entertaining comedy treat.”Remember, band’s on Tuesdays. Tonight’s origami class, so throw on your headphones and take a listen. Mentioned in this episode:Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/brassed-off-a-90s-uk-film-that-demands-not-to-be-forgotten/Tags: deep thoughts about stupid sh*t, pop culture, film, movies, storytelling, movie reviews, comedy, comedy podcast, romance, women, fiction, cultural commentaryThis episode was edited by Resonate Recordings.Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus content, live zooms with Tracie & Emily, discounts on merch, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirlsWe are the sister podcasters Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls.We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love 80s and 90s movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, analyzing film tropes with a side of feminism, and examining the pop culture of our Gen X childhood for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, religious allegory, and whatever else we find. We have super-serious day jobs. For the bona fides, visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com. For our work together, visit guygirlsmedia.com We are on socials! Find us on Facebook at fb.com/dtasspodcast and on Insta at instagram.com/guygirlsmedia. You can also email us at guygirlsmedia at gmail dot com. We would love to hear from you!

Send us a message! Include how to reach you if you want a response. The truth is, I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks. Not compared to how people matter. Tracie goes back in time to her semester in London in 1997 by revisiting the British film Brassed Off. This “emphatically empathetic” piece of 1990s pop culture crystallized the importance of collective bargaining, worker solidarity and mutual aid for a not-quite 21-year-old Tracie. With today’s eyes, ...

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Brassed Off: Deep Thoughts About Collective Bargaining and Politics in Pop Culture

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This episode was published on January 6, 2026.

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Send us a message! Include how to reach you if you want a response. The truth is, I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks. Not compared to how people matter.Tracie goes back in time to her semester in London in...

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