PODCAST · tv
The Deconstruction Workers
by Dr. Christopher Bell
A bi-weekly adventure into popular culture. Join Dr. Christopher Bell and his guest workers as they deconstruct everything from toys to Hamilton.
Episodes
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S04E09: Joanne Kathleen Rowling
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Lauren Camacci, Dr. Elizabeth Morrow Clark, and Tolonda Henderson are here to discuss the recent anti-trans statements by J.K. Rowling. Why do we care what Rowling has to say? Do her statements lessen the impact of her work? And how should the fandom...
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S04E08: Hamilton: An American Musical
In honor of the release today of Hamilton: An American Musical on Disney+, we are reissuing our Season One episode of The Deconstruction Workers Podcast on the show! Marley Steuver-Williford is in the studio to talk about the musical and its impact. Let's revisit and see if we were right two…
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S04E07: Footloose
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, novelist Dale Bridges joins the crew for the first time to talk about popular culture in small town America. What is life really like in a very small town? Why does everyone think he grew up in Footloose? And what happens when you watch the same film every…
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S04E06: The X-Men Part Two
Part Two of a two-part episode on Marvel's biggest comic franchise, The X-Men! Dr. Rick Stevens and Chris Maverick kick around the finer points of translating the comics into film, what it means for the franchise with the Disney purchase of Fox, seminal storylines, and more! Plus, is Hugh Jackman...
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S04E05: The X-Men Part One
Part One of a two-part episode on Marvel's biggest comic franchise, The X-Men! Dr. Rick Stevens and Chris Maverick kick around the finer points of translating the comics into film, what it means for the franchise with the Disney purchase of Fox, seminal storylines, and more! Plus, is Hugh Jackman...
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S04E04: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Part Two
Part Two of a double-sized episode on one of the greatest television shows of all time! Dr. Lauren Camacci and Dustin Dunaway tag-team this discussion as we kick around Joss Whedon as feminist, Buffy's wardrobe, Faith, Willow, Cordelia, and our plan to Veronica Mars a revival. Our partner podcast...
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S04E03: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Part One
Part One of a double-sized episode on one of the greatest television shows of all time! Dr. Lauren Camacci and Dustin Dunaway tag-team this discussion as we kick around why we love this text so much, why it's so literary in nature, and why it's difficult to make shows like this any more. Our...
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S04E02: CORONApocalypse 2020 Part Two
Part Two of our double-header! A bit shorter than usual, but still packed with goodness. This week, five scholars take to the mic to discuss how in the world we are supposed to teach popular culture studies during a global pandemic. It's Dr. Shannon Sindorf, Natalie Sheppard- Baudeen, Jonathan...
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S04E01: CORONApocalypse 2020 Part One
Welcome back for Season Four! This week, five scholars take to the mic to discuss how in the world we are supposed to teach popular culture studies during a global pandemic. It's Dr. Shannon Sindorf, Natalie Sheppard- Baudeen, Jonathan Alexandratos, and Jenn Zuko on the line as we kick around…
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S03E10: The Transformers
Merry Christmas! As a present to each other and to the world, Jonathan Alexandratos is here and we're talking about The Transformers! Travel back to Christmas in the 1980s as we talk about the origins, history, and timeline of the franchise, playing with toys, engineering and more! It's an...
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03E09: Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone
Dr. Dan Yezbick is here to take a walk on the dark side as we're talking about the technological thriller series Black Mirror. And also, The Twilight Zone. And also, what is it about the dark side of technology that we find so intriguing and yet so scary? Finally, exactly how underrated is…
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S03E08: The 1980s
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dustin Dunaway is back to take a trip down memory lane to the 1980s! What is it about the 80s that is so compelling? Why do we keep mining the 1980s for contemporary popular culture? And what does that mean for us, as a people? We're now on YouTube! Check us...
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S03E07: Corporate Consolidation
Contribute to the James Cancer Fundraiser at http://tinyurl.com/DCWHelp ! This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Rick Stevens is back and we're talking about political economy and corporate consolidation. What is the state of popular culture in this age of corporate buyouts and ownership...
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S03E06: #Hopepunk and The Good Place
Contribute to the James Cancer Fundraiser at http://tinyurl.com/DCWHelp ! This week in the Deconstruction Zone, it's a short episode as it's just one worker this week, talking about the concept of #HopePunk and its relationship to The Good Place. What can we learn about ethics and moral…
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S03E05: Roleplaying Games
Contribute to the James Cancer Fundraiser at http://tinyurl.com/DCWHelp ! For the second time this season in the Deconstruction Zone, we have a new worker! Grace Candido-Beecher is here to talk with me about Dungeons & Dragons, cosplay, and why we love roleplaying so much. We're now on YouTube!...
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S03E04: Bad Ass Female Characters
Contribute to the James Cancer Fundraiser at http://tinyurl.com/DCWHelp ! This week in the Deconstruction Zone, we have a new player! Jenn Zuko joins us for the first time to talk about seven ways women get portrayed as "bad ass" in TV and film, and the consequences of that. Jenn Zuko's research...
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S03E03: Witches
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Marley Steuver-Williford is back and we're talking about the portrayal of witches in popular culture. We look at the history of witches in culture, how witches have evolved over time, and walk through some of the most well-known witches in television and…
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S03E02: Canon, Part Two
Welcome back for Season Three! This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Lauren Camacci and I sit down for part two of a two part episode about canon. What is canon? Why is popular culture so obsessed with it? And who decides what's included?We're now on YouTube! Check us out on our new channel!…
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S03E01: Canon, Part One
Welcome back for Season Three! This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Lauren Camacci and I sit down for part one of a two part episode about canon. What is canon? Why is popular culture so obsessed with it? And who decides what's included?We're now on YouTube! Check us out on our new channel!…
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S02E10: Social Media Culture
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Shannon Sindorf is here with a grab bag of digital community-related topics: The Gaze, The Glance, meme/gif culture, performative distaste, and more. What does our social media culture say about who we are as a people? Are we being dumbed down? And we...
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S02E09: Our Favorite Podcasts
This week, it's just a short update on what's going on with The Deconstruction Workers. We're on a short pass-through until finals week, meaning this isn't full episode. It's just a quick hitter to get you through until May 10th. In the meantime, if you need something to listen to, here are a few...
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S02E08: Binge Viewing
It's another scholars roundtable in the Deconstruction Zone this week as five of our scholarly circle get together to discuss the idea of binge watching/marathoning, Game of Thrones, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and superhero narratives in general. It's a super DCW all-play! If you'd like to...
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S02E07: Cloak and Dagger
Just in time to get you ready for its second season, this week in the Deconstruction Zone, we are talking about Freeform's Cloak and Dagger! Natalie Sheppard drops by to discuss New Orleans culture, voodoo, gentrification, adapting comics to the screen, and more. Why is this show so important?…
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S02E06: Nostalgia
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Jonathan Alexandratos is back to discuss the concept of nostalgia. Why are we so attached to the popular culture of our childhoods? What is the nature of our love/hate relationship with reboots, remakes, and revivials? And how are popular culture producers...
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S02E05: LIVE from SWPACA!
Very excited to present a special episode of The Deconstruction Workers podcast this week as we go LIVE! Join us at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association conference as four members of the Harry Potter Studies leadership team (and one very smart outsider) break down the current state…
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S02E04: Reaction Videos
On the Deconstruction Workers this week, Dr. Kyle Kontour returns for a discussion about empathy and "reaction videos." What is a reaction video? Why are so many of them showing up on YouTube? How do these videos play right into our sense of empathy? If you'd like to discuss this episode, feel…
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S02E03: Rhetoric
On the Deconstruction Workers this week, Dr. Lauren Camacci is back and we are talking a little bit about the field of rhetoric. What is rhetoric? What does it have to do with popular culture? How is politics popular culture? And what do rhetoricians actually do? If you'd like to discuss this...
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S02E02: Dystopia
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, it's a supersized episode as Dustin Dunaway returns to tackle the subject of dystopia and dystopian fiction. What is a dystopia? What kinds of stories get told in dystopian worlds? Why do we love these stories so much? And, most importantly, what do they have...
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S02E01: The Mary Sue
Welcome to the premiere of Season Two! This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Rick Stevens is back to talk about the concept of the Mary Sue. What is a Mary Sue? Why do authors use this particular trope? Can there be Mary Sues that are canonical? And what about her counterpart, the Gary Stu?…
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S02E00: Merry Christmas!
It's a special bonus Christmas extravaganza, as we gear up for new Season Two episodes in two weeks! In the meantime, Dr. Dan Yezbick joins the show to discuss the history of many Christmas traditions, favorite Christmas songs, favorite Christmas movies, and more! If you'd like to discuss this...
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S01E010: Fan Fiction
It's the Season One finale of the Deconstruction Zone, and Natalie Sheppard is with Dr. Christopher Bell this week to talk about fan fiction. What is fan fiction? Why does anyone write it, why does anyone read it, and what do the original authors think about these fans taking over the steering...
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S01E09: Toxic Culture Creators
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, it's Dr. Shannon Sindorf and Dr. Christopher Bell discussing toxic culture creators. What do we do when we find out the person who created our favorite popular culture turns out to be a horrible person? What does that do to how we feel about their work? If...
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S01E08: True Crime
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Christopher Bell is joined by true crime literature expert Dr. Tracy Bealer, as we discuss American fascination with murder, serial killers, and unsolved mysteries. Why are we so interested in the unexplained deaths of other people? Music for this episode...
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S01E07: Professional Wrestling
It's gonna be a Friday Night Slobberknocker in the Deconstruction Zone as Dustin Dunaway rolls through to talk about professional wrestling. What is the current state of pro wrestling? Where did professional wrestling come from in the first place? And why does anybody still watch it? Music for…
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S01E06: Harry Potter Studies
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Lauren Camacci stops by to talk about Harry Potter Studies. Harry Potter Studies? There's a Harry Potter Studies? What the heck is that? And why is it so important? Music for this episode was composed by Chad Crouch:...
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S01E05: Fan Culture
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Rick Stevens joins the show for a deep dive into fan culture. What does it mean to be a "fan" of something? How does being a part of a fan community work? And why does it seem like fans are always at war with each other? Music for this episode was…
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S01E04: Hamilton, An American Musical
With everything going on the country right now, it seems like a good time to talk about Hamilton: An American Musical. Marley Steuver-Williford is in the Deconstruction Zone this week to talk about the cultural impact of the show, and why it has become such a phenomenon. Music for this episode…
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S01E03: Action Figures and Play
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Jonathan Alexandratos stops in to talk about action figures and other toys, the nature of play, and why being a grown up has forced you into a space in life where you've forgotten how to play. Music for this episode was composed by Damiano Baldoni, from his...
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S01E02: Transgressive Fandom
This week in the Deconstruction Zone, Dr. Kyle Kontour drops by to talk about transgressive fandom, Bronies, and "girls who dig sportsing." Why do you like stuff that's not "for you," and why do other people get so angry when you do? If you'd like to discuss this episode, feel free to follow us…
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S01E01: A Short Introduction
What is The Deconstruction Workers podcast? Listen and find out!
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A bi-weekly adventure into popular culture. Join Dr. Christopher Bell and his guest workers as they deconstruct everything from toys to Hamilton.
HOSTED BY
Dr. Christopher Bell
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Deconstruction Workers have?
The Deconstruction Workers currently has 40 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Deconstruction Workers about?
A bi-weekly adventure into popular culture. Join Dr. Christopher Bell and his guest workers as they deconstruct everything from toys to Hamilton.
How often does The Deconstruction Workers release new episodes?
The Deconstruction Workers has 40 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Deconstruction Workers?
You can listen to The Deconstruction Workers on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Deconstruction Workers?
The Deconstruction Workers is created and hosted by Dr. Christopher Bell.
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