Episode 248 – HAPPIEST SEASON

Runtime92 minutes Show Contents 0:00 Introduction 2:51 Know Your Enemy: Ariel Fisher 20:47 The New Slang: HAPPIEST SEASON 1:13:33 The Other Side: Ariel and Ryan talk further reading after Clea DuVall’s new film Thoughts From Your Host… I’ve never been a big fan of November. This is the time of year where mother nature kicks autumn out the bloody door. All of those colours, that warmth, those pumpkin-spiced feelings of harvest? Gone. Finished. Yesterday’s latte. Instead, what we are given is thirty days of grey to walk muddy trails and endure shortened days. Straight out of the box – November sucks. Personally, November has often brought bad news. I don’t know why or how, but over and over I somehow find myself holding the shitty end of the lollipop every single November. This year was no different. Buy me a beer sometime (when we can safely do so) and I’ll get into gory details. And yet…I always survive. No matter what November brings, December 1st always arrives, and with it all of the twinkle and joy that December always brings. Mornings become a little easier voices start to call out of the darkness, and I am reminded (to paraphrase the old saying) that November too shall pass. I mention all of this because I bet you too have your own November. You too have a day, or a month, or even a whole year of your life that you silently dread. Perhaps it’s life in-general right now considering the state of things. A whole year of Novembers that doesn’t seem to be ending soon enough. My reality is that November always ends. For you too, whatever the gloomy stretch is – I promise it will end. My guest today is actually someone who has seen me through some lousy Novembers, so my hope is that you have someone like her. Our own Novembers might feel like a lifetime…but we muddle though them eventually. Thanks for listening – to this show, and to these thoughts. You too have helped me through one more November. Links Mentioned on Episode 248: Ariel’s favourite good scene in a bad movie: Robin Williams’ monologue in GOOD WILL HUNTING: Roxanne Gay’s Twitter as she watched HAPPIEST SEASON: This movie… never explains why Abby should give one good goddamn about Harper. Give 5 minutes to back story and cut down on the endless family scenes.— roxane gay (@rgay) November 27, 2020 Ariel’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank you very much for listening.