Tender Subject

This week, Kayte and Dave descend deep into the tunnels of the New York city subway, with author/professor Eleanor Russel to slice into 2008's The Midnight Meat Train (directed by Ryuhei Kitamura). We talk about public transit, the art world on film, the meat industry and why it's so disorienting to film a movie about one city while filming in a different city. Naturally our discussion turns to Clive Barker's original short story, one we highly recommend to horror fiends!   Other Media:  "The Midnight Meat Train" by Clive Barker, Books of Blood  Eleanor is a Doctor of philosophy on what it means to play pretend and writes about stand-up comedy, sound studies, and the avant-garde. has a podcast called Virtue Signal and a substack here!  Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Have the lambs stopped screaming Clarice? That’s right: Kayte and Jay are joined by author Jon, the Lit Crit Guy from Horror Vanguard to tackle a big one: Silence of the Lambs! We talk through genre, gender, class and cannibalism in this monster of a film.  Media referenced:  Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters by J Halberstam “Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs” by Jeanne Silverthorne, Art Forum.  Subscribe to Jon's Patreon Jon's books are Capitalism: A Horror Story and A Primer on Utopian Philosophy: An Introduction To the Work of Ernst Bloch Listen to Horror Vanguard! Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

It's a world with no pain, new organs and performance art is all the rage! Join Kayte and Dave as we delve into the gorgeously grotesque Crimes of the Future. We talk about pain, wounds, pleasure and art through the film and through some of Kayte's favorite performance art texts.  Other readings:  Jones, Amelia. "Performing the Wounded Body: Pain, Affect and the Radical Relationality of the Body", Parallax, 2009 Hold It Against Me: Difficulty and Emotion in Contemporary Art by Jennifer Doyle. Body Talk: A Cronenberg Roundtable, Reverse Shot, 2022. Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

This week on Tender Subject, we are joined by comedian Jake Flores and writer J †Johnson to talk Frankenstein. We dissect the book and the 2025 film through queer and Marxist theory and get into why the film often let us down.   Media referenced: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters by J Halberstam Capitalism: A Horror Story by Jon Greenaway J †Johnson is the co-editor of Cul de Sac of Blood, a horror poetics journal and the author of two books with Punctum Books. Their forthcoming book, Janky Materiality will also be published by Punctum. Jake is the co-host of Pod Damn America, Why You Mad and The Preacher and The Slave. He’s also a standup! Follow him on insta for dates. Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here.

This week on Tender Subject we are joined by Jane Altoids to dissect two Jess Franco surgery movies: The Awful Dr. Orloff (1972) and Faceless (1987). We discuss Franco as a complicated auteur, his mythology and legacy, then get into two body horror movies that bookended his career!  Media referenced:  Murderous Passions, Volume 1: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco  Flowers of Perversion, Volume 2: The Delerious Cinema of Jesús Franco by Steven Thrower (unfortunately vol. 1 is out of print) The Films of Jess Franco, Antonio Lázaro-Reboll and Ian Olney Jane Altoids is a celebrity, writer and podcaster. You can find her here and listen to her on Pacino Pod. Mae is co-host of the podcast Pleasers and Punishers, is a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here.

Kayte is Joined by Langdon from Death/Sentence podcast for a discussion about Sayaka Murata's books Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman. We talk biopolitics, cannibalism both literal and figurative, trauma and living in a society.  Media referenced:  Gina Meyers' new book of poetry, Works and Days Buy Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman on Bookshop The Biopolitical Body of Convenience Store Woman by Meg Horrridge Langdon is the host of Death/Sentence and writes here! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!  

This Week, Kayte and Dave are joined by returning fave, comedian Gabe Pacheco for a deep dive into the drug fueled Ken Russell film Altered States. We talk about getting high, colonialism, the simian monster and the bliss of turning to sand with your lover.  Media Referenced:  Altered States: Visions and Divisions by Jessica Kiang Patriarchal-Industrial Anxiety and the Return of the Repressed (Eco-critical) Simian Monster by David Christopher    Gabe is the co-host of Halal Cartels. Go see Gabe perform by following him here and here! Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

This week Kayte and Mae are joined by writer and editor of Cul de Sac of Blood (a horror poetics journal) J †Johnson to sink our teeth into Gretchen Felker-Martin's nightmarish novel Cuckoo. We talk about the unknowable monster, the horror of the family and liken the book's desert conversion camp to the violence of ecological colonialism and memoricide.  "Elements of Semitism" by Jake Romm, Parapraxis Magazine "The State Wants to Remember For You. Don't Let it" by Camelia Berry-Grass JJ is the co-editor of Cul de Sac of Blood, a horror poetics journal and the author of two books with Punctum Books. Their forthcoming book, Janky Materiality will also be published by Punctum. Mae is co-host of the podcast Pleasers and Punishers, is a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here.

Long live the new flesh. Kayte, Dave and guest Jake Flores dig into David Cronenberg’s weirdo masterpiece, Videodrome. We talk Marshall McCluhan, techno-utopians, techno-fascists, kink and more!  Media referenced:  The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McCluhan and Quentin Fiore  Rev Left Radio: episode on Marshall McCluhan & The Medium is the Message with Matthew Furlong. Listen here. Videodrome: The Slithery Sense of Unreality by Gary Indiana. Read here Jake is the co-host of Pod Damn America, Why You Mad (on hiatus but listen to the old eps!) and The Preacher and The Slave. He’s also a standup! Follow him on insta for dates. Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Help us come ashore, we won’t eat you, my dear.  This week, we deep dive into the mermaid musical, The Lure (2015) (directed by  Agnieszka Smoczynska) with our guest DeVaughn Taylor. We talk about Poland in the ‘80s, mermaid lore, trans themes, disgust and desire and so much more.  Find DeVaughn as a co-host on Specter Cinema Club and Tainted Love and a regular on The Pod and the Pendulum Mae is co-host of the podcast Pleasers and Punishers, is a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

This week, we are slurping and crunching our way through Fruit Chan’s film Dumplings with guests Gretchen Felker-Martin and Sophie Lewis! We talk about the politics of food, abortion, class in Hong Kong and Birkin bags!  Media referenced:  Fruit Chan's "Dumplings"—New "Diary of a Madman" in Post-Mao Global Capitalism by Lu Tonglin Buy Gretchen’s books: Manhunt, Cuckoo and newly published Black Flame from Tor Nightfire  Buy Sophie’s books: Full Surrogacy Now!, Abolish the Family and Enemy Feminisms Follow Gretchen and Sophie on Patreon (I do!)  

Boils and blood and side wounds, oh my! This week we are joined by artist/professor (and Kayte's MFA thesis mentor!) Jonathan Van Dyke to talk about Renaissance paintings, torture, eroticism and more. On the menu: Jesus's sexuality, saints in ecstasy, leaky artists and why so many old Christian paintings look so queer.  About Jonathan Van Dyke:   Jonathan VanDyke is a New York City–based visual artist working at the intersection of painting and performance, with an emphasis on a queer, collaborative, and embodied practice. He is an Artist in Residence at Bard College and teaches for Pig Iron Theater and has many many shows you can read more about here! Or, follow JVD on insta! This is probably our most research heavy episode to date so please peruse our media referenced!  Readings: Steinberg, Leo. The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and Modern Oblivion, University of Chicago, 1983. Jones, Amelia. "Performing the Wounded Body: Pain, Affect and the Radical Relationality of the Body", Parallax, 2009 Van Dyke, Jonathan. "Hold, Still", free copy here Van Dyke, Jonathan. "Why Do So Many Old Christian Paintings Look So Queer?", free copy here Paintings we discussed: Francesco Bachiacca, The Flagellation of Christ, 1512-1515, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Diego de la Cruz, The Mass of St. Gregory, 1490, oil and gold on panel, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia. Giovanni Bellini, Lamentation Over the Dead Christ with the Virgin, Saint Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalen between Saint Martha and Filippo Benizi, 1510-16, oil on canvas, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice. Marcello Fogolino, Madonna and Child enthroned with Job and St Gothard 1505-1508, oil on canvas, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

The shoe is too small for her, the true bride waits for you. This week we dig our teeth into the bloody fairy tale of Cinderella retold as the film The Ugly Stepsister with our guest, writer/editor Payton McCarty-Simas. We talk through the rot of beauty standards, overbearing mothers and fuckboy princes through the many iterations of tale, including Angela Carter's Ashputtle and Grimm's Cinderella.  Media referenced:  "Cinderella" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (read for free here) "Ashputtle or The Mother's Ghost: Three Versions of One Story", American Ghosts and Old World Wonders by Angela Carter (read for free here) "Deconstructing a Disempowering Normative Identity: Angela Carter's Adaptation of the Ashputtle Story" by Per Bauhn and Fatma Fulya Tepe Pre-Order Payton's book here! Read more of Payton's work here! Mae is also a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

Who are the real cannibals? Spoiler: it’s western imperialism! Kayte, Jay and guest Mark Steven dissect the cult classic Cannibal Holocaust and discover layer upon gristly layer of meaning. Topics we cover: found footage, the complicity of media, anthropology, groovy soundtracks and well-meaning liberals.  a note: this movie contains a lot of SA, violence and animal cruelty. We still think it’s a really important film to watch!  Media Referenced:  "The Raw and The Cooked: An Interview With Cătălin Avramescu " by Justin E.H. Smith, Cabinet Magazine. Splatter Capital: The Political Economy of Gore Films by Mark Steven  "Nightmare Green: Cannibal Holocaust as Theory-Fiction" by Micheal Uhaull, Ancillary Review of Books. Where to find Mark: Buy his book Capitalism: A Literary History here. Find all of Mark’s other writing here Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Out by 16 or dead in the scene but together forever! This week we are joined by writer/performer Addison Peacock to talk about Ginger Snaps! Topics include: being a weird girl, fashion before the internet, becoming a monster and sisterly incest!  Media referenced:  The Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed ”Out by 16: Queer(ed) Girls in Ginger Snaps” by Tanis McDonald Where to find Addison:  Listen to her on the steampunk fantasy podcast Kingmaker  Listen to her on the queer cyberpunk audio drama KILLJAMXXX Writing for Dead Meat   Mae is also a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

We're back for Season 2 of Yellowjackets with Dave and writer Madeline Lane McKinley! We talk about mystery box TV and if solving mysteries matters. Plus, physical media, girls eating girls, '90s bangers and over-medicated teens. Buy Madeline’s book Comedy Against Work here  Buy Fag/Hag here soon!  And look out for Solidarity with Children here soon!  Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Kayte, Mae and our guest Rocco are in our shiny tendon suits and, uh-oh, we're in the nightmare mind of Vincent D'Onofrio? That's right, we are talking about Tarsem Singh's surrealist psychological horrror, The Cell. We talk about the lost art of music videos, Jennifer Lopez's unique empathetic heroism and unreal animation vs AI.  Where to find Rocco: The LadyKillers Podcast Read Rocco's Reviews! Mae is also a co-host on The Ladykillers Podcast and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

Then we'll all sing together, Society waits for you... This week on Tender Subject, it's finally time for the shunt! Kayte, Dave and our guest, comedian Gabe Pacheco, talk about Brian Yuzna's gooey satirical horror film Society (1989). We talk about Bodies without Organs, capitalism, Luigi Mangione and the possibilities of a Communist shunt.  Media referenced: Some good podcasts to get started on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the Body without organs: Theory & Philosophy Acid Communism Overthink Splatter Capital by Mark Stevens Gabe is the co-host of Halal Cartels. Go see Gabe perform by following him here and here! Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

This week on Tender Subject, Kayte and Jay are joined by Ash from Horror Vanguard to talk about Alison Rumfitt’s brutal novel Tell Me I’m Worthless. We talk about haunted houses, bodies and territories plus TERFs, RadFems and looming Fascism.  Media referenced:  ”Battlefield Exctacies” by Sophie Lewis, The Point Magazine. Capitalism: A Horror Story by Jon Greenaway, Repeater Books. Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook by Mark Bray, Melville House Publishing   Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Who's hungry? As you travel this week to your own Blood Feasts, we're taking another bite of an old favorite episode! Kayte and Jay are joined by noted Herschell Gordon Lewis expert LaborKyle to talk about the film Blood Feast (1963). In doing so, we summon Ishtar (which means we talk about all sorts of stuff like treating your artistic work as work, how Victorians ate mummies, and the warm piss stream of Marxism).  You can find LaborKyle on places like YouTube, Patreon, Twitter, and Bluesky! He also co-host the podcasts All Gamers Are Bastards (AGAB) and Horror Vanguard!   Media Mentioned: Arendt, Hannah, ed. 2007. “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” In Illuminations, by Walter Benjamin, translated by Harry Zohn, 253–64. New York: Schocken Books. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/benjamin/1940/history.htm. Chris, Jason, and Kevin. 2023. “Bathing in the Warm Stream: The Romantic and Gothic Strain of Marxism with Jon (TheLitCritGuy) of Horror Vanguard.” The Regrettable Century. https://regrettablecentury.buzzsprout.com/220523/13227904-bathing-in-the-warm-stream-the-romantic-and-gothic-strain-of-marxism-with-jon-thelitcritguy-of-horror-vanguard. Cohen, Margaret. 1995. Profane Illumination: Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution. Weimar and Now. Berkeley: University of California Press. Steven, Mark. 2017. Splatter Capital: The Political Economy of Gore Films. London: Repeater Books, an imprint of Watkins Media Ltd.   Oh, and we have a discord! https://discord.gg/RsxRZ3TA9  Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

This week, Kayte and Mae are joined by writer and professor Jo Isaacson to dissect the polarizing new body horror film by Coralie Fargeat, THE SUBSTANCE! We dig really deep, and discuss camp, old Hollywood and hagsploitation, Marxist alienation, unboxing videos and giving birth to a new beautiful monster.  Sources mentioned: The Monstrous Feminine and The Return to the Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed ”Whatever Happened to Monstro Elisasue: In Defense of Psycho-Biddies in the Substance and Beyond” Jo Isaacson, Blindfield Journal  “The Guardian View on Female Led Horror: Time For a New Formula”, editorial, The Guardian  Where to find Jo: @StepfordDotter on Twitter Stepford Daughters book Facebook horror group Blind Field Journal Mae is also a co-host on The Ladykillers Podcast and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here  

This week on Tender Subject, Kayte, Jay and Dave have cooked up a feast of an episode on the demon barber himself, Sweeney Todd! Join us as we sink our teeth into the movie, the play, the sets, the songs and lots and lots of blood. Media referenced: “Is That Just Disgusting?" Mapping the Social Geographies of Filth and Madness in "Sweeney Todd" by Aleksei Grinenko link here  Six by Sondheim Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife  Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

In honor of Texas Chainsaw's 50th anniversary and Jo's Post45 cluster (Kayte's collage is in it!) we are re-publishing our TCM episode. Enjoy! Did somebody order head cheese? If you did, you're in luck! This week, we're joined by Johanna Isaacson, author of Stepford Daughters: Weapons for Feminists in Contemporary Horror, to talk about the one, the only, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre! We ask the important questions, such as, "does Leatherface represent feminized labor?" and "is Leatherface trapped in an MLM?" (We worry about Leatherface's wellbeing a lot.)   Readings: “Blood for Oil,” Chuck Jackson Men, Women, and Chain Saws, Carol Clover Splatter Capital, Mark Steven “The American Nightmare,” Robin Wood “Cannibalism, Class, and Power: A foodways analysis of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Mark Bernard “Horrible Form,” Evan Calder Williams “Headcheese and a Side of Benjamin,” Jerry D Metz “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” Linda Williams   Jo’s links:  Twitter handle @StepfordDotter Stepford Daughters link  Facebook horror group Blind Field Journal Precarious Souls (a super DIY movie they're making with friends)   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Jay and Kayte are joined by Carlee from Hit Factory podcast to talk about a movie near and dear to all of our hearts, Julie Taymor's brutal and gorgeous Shakespeare adaptation, Titus (1999). We discuss intentional anachronisms, faithfulness to texts, how Victorians tried to re-brand Shakespeare (and the Classical Era!) and heroes and villains.  This is an incredible movie that we all love so much but it's hard to find so please enlist your tech-savvy friends! (big wink) Media referenced:  David Sterling Brown talks about Aaron and Black Lives Matter Dr. Mia Escott discusses Aaron and Race on Shakespeare Anyone? The making of Titus on Youtube Where to find Carlee: Co-hosting Hit Factory podcast Writing essays about sex in film Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Facehuggers, Xenomorphs, Offspring, oh my! This week Kayte and Mae are joined by writer/educatrix Tina Horn (@tinahornsass) to talk about our favorite body horror scenes in the Alien Franchise! We're talking about guts, gore, psychosexual horror and more in our longest, rowdiest episode yet! But hey, we watched SEVEN alien movies in a week for you!  Where you can find Tina:  Buy Tina's new book, Why Are People Into That? Listen to Tina's podcast, Why Are People Into That?! Check out Tina's comix and other writing Mae is also a co-host on The Ladykillers Podcast and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here.

Kayte and Jay and guest R.E. Parrish are zipping up our wyrm-skin jumpsuits and plunging into the gnostic fantasy that is Elytron Frass' Moieties. We talk about Ergodic literature, Ero Guru nansensu, the history of gnosticism, the book as tactile object and all sorts of other esoteric weirdness. Media referenced:  "The Erotic Japanese Art Movement Born Out of Decadence" by Evelyn Wang, Dazed Magazine. "George Bataille Book Club Bonus", Girls, Guts, Giallo, S3, Ep6. "On Eleytron Frass' Moieties" by Germán Sierra, Apocalypse Confidential. You can find R.E. here:  Comics Etsy Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk! Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!    

"The End of the World is Nuts" Writer J †Johnson joins Kayte and Mae to talk about the beautiful and bloody novel Manhunt by Gretchen Felker Martin. We talk about how refreshing it is to read a gender apocalypse book that doesn't deal in binaries. Plus: don't trust rich libs, incredibly hot sex and how to build community at the end of the world.  Media we referenced: Heat Death interview with Gretchen JJ is the co-editor of Cul de Sac of Blood, a horror poetics journal and the author of two books with Punctum Books. Their forthcoming book, Janky Materiality will also be published by Punctum. Mae is also a co-host on The Ladykillers Podcast and makes music at eversonpoe Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here.

Guys, are cars bad? We ask this and so many other important questions as we dig deep under the hood of Julia Ducournau's oil slicked film, Titane with writer Sophie Lewis (@reproutopia) We're talking about abjection, family abolition, gender fluidity and what it means to f*ck a car. Let's ride!  Sources referenced: Return of the Monstrous-Feminine: Feminist New Wave Cinema by Barbara Creed "A New Humanity: Interview with Titane's Writer/Director Julia Ducournau" The Final Girls Where to find Sophie: Join Sophie's patreon here. Buy Full Surogacy Now: Feminism Against Family Buy Abolish the Family: A Masnifesto for Care and Liberation  Take a class with Sophie at BISR And look out for their new book Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation from Haymarket soon!    

Press play on your PJ Harvey cassette tape, we are talking about season 1 of Yellowjackets with writer Madeline Lane-McKinley! We dissect themes of adolescence, maenadism, fandom and ‘90s culture. Plus! Are teenage girls really that mean? Is there enough cannibalism in Yellowjackets or just enough?  Buy Madeline’s book Comedy Against Work here  Pre-order Fag/Hag here soon!  And look out for Solidarity with Children here soon!   

This week, Kayte and Jay are joined by Jon from Horror Vanguard and we are back in the world of Hannibal Lecter! We talk about Ridley Scott's 2001 movie Hannibal and the Thomas Harris novel (1999) of the same name. On the menu: Dante! Opera! Hannibal shopping! Florence! Surveillance and Mediation!  Sources discussed in this episode: "A Postmodern Reproduction of Dante Alighieri's Exile" by Antonio Sanna "“A very well-tailored person suit” Hannibal Lecter as Genderqueer American Gothic Cannibal" by Alena Kiel Jon's Patreon Buy Jon's books here and here 

Writer, worker and agitator Vicky Osterweil joins us this week to talk about the 1999 horror western dark comedy (?) Ravenous! Come along with us as we head out to the snowy wilds of the Western mountains; we talk Wendigos, colonizers, monstrous gays, the myth of the "noble frontiersman" and bravery. Also, a bananas soundtrack by Michael Nyman and Damon Alburn! Subscribe to Vicky's newsletter: https://all-cats-are-beautiful.ghost.io/about/ Buy Vicky's book, In Defense of Looting  Stay tuned for Vicky's new book The Extended Universe (2025) with Haymarket Books, which is about Disney movies, intellectual property, and franchise cinema.

Hello Sapphic sickos! It's a femme extravaganza this week on Tender Subject as we are joined by Mae of the Ladykillers pod and Beth of Kayte's polycule to talk about Love Lies Bleeding! We talk about service tops, muscle mommies, Macho Sluts and giant women! Plus, is the end of the film real or fantasy and does it matter? Sources mentioned in the episode: Macho Sluts by Patrick Califia (borrow it on The Internet Archive) "Inside Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brien's Sapphic Fever Dream on Steroids" by Wren Sanders, Them Magazine    

This week, Kayte and new co-host Dave Maher are talking about David Cronenberg’s earliest features, Shivers and Rabid. We dish about sexual repression, white flight, zombies and wonder what it would be like if the United States funded arts and culture.  Sources we referenced:  “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre and Excess” by Linda Williams  “A Mindless Orgy: Liberation and Monstrosity in Cronenberg’s Body Horror“ by Sam Moore ”David Cronenberg’s Dreams and Nightmares” by Adam Nayman      

We are joined by Donovan and Audrey from Radio Free Tote Bag to talk about the Netflix Zombie show, Santa Clarita Diet! We talk about the origins of zombies, the Capitalist hoard and what to do if your partner is undead.  Some readings Kayte references: On the Frontlines of the Zombie War in the Congo: Digital Technology, the Trade in Conflict Minerals, and Zombificationby Jeffrey W. Mantz from Monster Culture in the 21st Century: A Reader A Zombie Manifesto: The Nonhuman Condition in the Era of Advanced Capitalism By Sarah Juliet Laura and Karen Embry

----more----Om nom nom.  Eating the Rich: why aren’t we doing it yet? This week we are Joined by Luisa Diez from Why You Mad to dish over the “Eat the Rich” movie trend. We talk Saltburn, The Menu, and Triangle of Sadness plus, Luisa has an “Eat the Rich” movie Taxonomy!  Eat the Rich: The Evolution of a Slogan By We are the Mutants https://wearethemutants.com/2020/02/13/eat-the-rich-the-evolution-of-a-slogan/ The Movie Industry’s Confused “Eat the Rich” Fantasy by Sam Adler-Bell https://www.vulture.com/2023/02/the-movie-industrys-confused-eat-the-rich-fantasy.html Selling Yourself for Pretzel Sticks: Masculine Crisis in the Dystopian Triangle of Sadness by Jess Flarity https://blindfieldjournal.com/2022/12/05/whoring-yourself-for-pretzel-sticks-masculine-crisis-in-the-dystopian-triangle-of-sadness/ Find Luisa at https://twitter.com/luisadieznuts  Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Leòn from The Left Page and Here Be Media joins us again to discuss season 2 of everyone's favorite queer cannibal show: Hannibal!    Find Leòn (and Frank) wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/leftpagehbm Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Saddle up that celestial cow, we're talking about origin myths.  Media mentioned:  Crecganford video: https://youtu.be/Cgku-koMiLM?si=YJCZtg64whw5vQiy Patai (1967) The Hebrew Goddess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hebrew_Goddess Wakeman (1969). https://www.jstor.org/stable/3263723?casa_token=4KQFNyu0U8kAAAAA%3ASMiTgV4YZTO_-XS013hZaXBv9-su2WO3lpnb2G1mEzyyTKrGiq27Ww0rJG8pbbD7ezmdUWYJ1-Lpb_HCO8WmqStxO-kcBAE0KiyeO27uPSftzMkpyQ   Listen to Justin (and Jay!) on the librarypunk podcast, wherever fine podcasts are distributed. You can find them at librarypunk.gay, or on Bluesky and Twitter @librarypunk. Oh, and we have a discord! https://discord.gg/RsxRZ3TA9  Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Have you turned your flangers down? You better, because this week, we're joined by Dave Maher to talk about the film Flux Gourmet! This film had us questioning the nature of authenticity, and it also made us equate farts with noise music, but in a good way. Dave Maher is a super cool comedian! You can view his work, such as the podcasts This Is Your Afterlife and Genre Reveal Party, at https://linktr.ee/thisisdavemaher.   Palestine Resources: Decolonize Palestine. https://decolonizepalestine.com/. Fauda. 2023. Voices from the Front Line Against the Occupation: Interview with Palestinian Anarchists Interview by Black Rose / Rosa Negra – International Relations Committee (IRC). Zine. https://blackrosefed.org/interview-fauda-palestine/. Palestine Action US. https://linktr.ee/palactionus. Solidarity Cinema. https://www.solidaritycinema.com.     Oh, and we have a discord! https://discord.gg/RsxRZ3TA9  Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Who's hungry? This week, all the way from the bottom of the stew, we're joined by noted Herschell Gordon Lewis expert LaborKyle to talk about Blood Feast (1963). In doing so, we summon Ishtar (which means we talk about all sorts of stuff like treating your artistic work as work, how Victorians ate mummies, and the warm piss stream of Marxism). You can find LaborKyle on places like YouTube, Patreon, Twitter, and Bluesky! He also has the podcast All Gamers Are Bastards (AGAB) and the show Profane Illuminations with friend of the pod TheLitCritGuy.   Media Mentioned: Arendt, Hannah, ed. 2007. “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” In Illuminations, by Walter Benjamin, translated by Harry Zohn, 253–64. New York: Schocken Books. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/benjamin/1940/history.htm. Chris, Jason, and Kevin. 2023. “Bathing in the Warm Stream: The Romantic and Gothic Strain of Marxism with Jon (TheLitCritGuy) of Horror Vanguard.” The Regrettable Century. https://regrettablecentury.buzzsprout.com/220523/13227904-bathing-in-the-warm-stream-the-romantic-and-gothic-strain-of-marxism-with-jon-thelitcritguy-of-horror-vanguard. Cohen, Margaret. 1995. Profane Illumination: Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution. Weimar and Now. Berkeley: University of California Press. Steven, Mark. 2017. Splatter Capital: The Political Economy of Gore Films. London: Repeater Books, an imprint of Watkins Media Ltd.   Palestine Resources: Decolonize Palestine. https://decolonizepalestine.com/. Fauda. 2023. Voices from the Front Line Against the Occupation: Interview with Palestinian Anarchists Interview by Black Rose / Rosa Negra – International Relations Committee (IRC). Zine. https://blackrosefed.org/interview-fauda-palestine/. Palestine Action US. https://linktr.ee/palactionus. Solidarity Cinema. https://www.solidaritycinema.com.     Oh, and we have a discord! https://discord.gg/RsxRZ3TA9  Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

"Food doesn't get a last will and testament." This week, Kayte and Jay are joined by the designers of Head of the Family, Jacqueline Bryk/Jax Romana and Jason Burnett. What's Head of the Family? We're glad you asked! Head of the Family is a Live Action Role Playing game (LARP) that your co-hosts were invited to participate in! Why? Because: It's a LARP set in the world of Tender is the Flesh.   You can find Jax at https://linktr.ee/rufflejax, with links to her website, her works, and more. You can find Jason at https://www.amnestylarp.com/, https://www.drachenfest.us/, https://www.concordolympus.com/, and https://www.realroyalty.co/. And you can find Sereia (and hire them!) at https://sereiaspinner.carrd.co/.   Oh, and did we mention WE HAVE A DISCORD NOW?! https://discord.gg/RsxRZ3TA9    Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

This week, Jay tells Kayte about the Vajrayana Buddhist practice of chöd, where a person visualizes sacrificing their body for a feast of buddhas and demons. Through this, we explore death, the use of human remains in ritual, and the liberatory potentials of this kind of practice.   Jay also talks about this practice a little on the Empty Man episode of Horror Vanguard: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500/181-the-empty-man-with-jay-from-librarypunk   And here's a Buddhist ambient black metal band: https://sadhaka108.bandcamp.com/   Sources: Jigme Lingpa (2006). "The Longchen Nyingthig Chöd Practice: "The Loud Laugh of the Dakini"" (PDF). Zangthal.co.uk. Stott, David (1989). "Offering the Body: the Practice of gCod in Tibetan Buddhism". Religion. 19 (3): 221–226. 10.1016/0048-721x(89)90021-3.   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops  

This week, Kayte and Jay discuss two books about the relationship between capitalism, the meat industry, and the exploitation of both human and non-human animals. We also talk about how people involved with cannibal media keep going vegetarian: Guillermo del Toro, Bryan Fuller, Agustina Bazterrica, and now Kayte!   Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica Meat Love: An Ideology of the Flesh by Amber Husain   Clip at the end from Episode 01 of John Berger's Ways of Seeing   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Did somebody order head cheese? If you did, you're in luck! This week, we're joined by Johanna Isaacson, author of Stepford Daughters: Weapons for Feminists in Contemporary Horror, to talk about the one, the only, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre! We ask the important questions, such as, "does Leatherface represent feminized labor?" and "is Leatherface trapped in an MLM?" (We worry about Leatherface's wellbeing a lot.)   Readings: “Blood for Oil,” Chuck Jackson Men, Women, and Chain Saws, Carol Clover Splatter Capital, Mark Steven “The American Nightmare,” Robin Wood “Cannibalism, Class, and Power: A foodways analysis of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Mark Bernard “Horrible Form,” Evan Calder Williams “Headcheese and a Side of Benjamin,” Jerry D Metz “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” Linda Williams   Jo’s links:  Twitter handle @StepfordDotter Stepford Daughters link  Facebook horror group Blind Field Journal Precarious Souls (a super DIY movie they're making with friends)   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Strike Information: https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ https://www.wgacontract2023.org/   Leon from The Left Page and Here Be Media joins us to discuss season 1 of everyone's favorite queer cannibal show: Hannibal! And what is a podcast? Is it not when people come together and forge a connection? The boundaries between the Self and the Other merging like so many sound waves? Tell me, Will...is your Self so different from my Other?   Additional music: Prelude in B Minor, BWV 923 - J.S. Bach Agrippina, Act 2 Prelude - G.F. Handel   Find Leon (and Frank) wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/leftpagehbm   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

We're finally gonna talk about cannibalism and The ChurchTM...but probably not in the way you expect! Justin from the librarypunk podcast joins us to discuss such things as the existential paranoias of 2nd century Christians, whatever happened to Jesus' foreskin, and the reason gay sex is so cosmologically threatening. Articles and books mentioned: Cohn, Norman. The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages, Revised and Expanded Edition. Revised edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. Douglas, Mary. Leviticus As Literature. Oxford University Press, 1999. Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch. Second revised ed. Autonomedia, 2014. McGowan, Andrew. "Eating People: Accusations of Cannibalism Against Christians in the Second Century." Journal of Early Christian Studies, vol. 2 no. 4, 1994, p. 413-442. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/earl.0.0202. Moss, Candida R. "Infant Exposure and the Rhetoric of Cannibalism, Incest, and Martyrdom in the Early Church." Journal of Early Christian Studies, vol. 29 no. 3, 2021, p. 341-369. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/earl.2021.0023.   Listen to Justin (and Jay!) on the librarypunk podcast, wherever fine podcasts are distributed. You can find them at librarypunk.gay, or on Bluesky and Twitter @librarypunk.   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

We're due a good manifesto, don't you agree? This week, we're joined by Frank from The Left Page/Here Be Media podcasts to discuss the Manifesto Antropófago, or the Cannibalist Manifesto, by Brazilian poet Oswald de Andrade.   The translation we're working from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20119601 Frank's references: "Cem anos da Semana de Arte Moderna: O gabinete paulista e a conjuração das vanguardas" by Lena Tenório da Motta ("100 years of the Modern Art Week: The São Paulo Cabinet and the Conjuration of the Vanguards") "A Ideologia Modernista: A Semana de 22 e sua Consagração", by Luís Augusto Fischer ("The Modernist Ideology: The Week of 22 and its Consecration") 06 - Baya episode of Imaginarium : An Alternate History of Art   Find Frank on Twitter and Bluesky as FrankGothic. Find their podcasts The Left Page & Here Be Media wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/leftpagehbm   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

Jon aka TheLitCritGuy, one of the two co-ghosts of Horror Vanguard, joins us to discuss Brandon Cronenberg's debut film Antiviral. Make sure you get your vaccine series of celebrity and the Spectacle, and don't forget your boosters of radical collectivity and the importance of being a weird little guy.   You can find Jon on Twitter and Bluesky as thelitcritguy. Listen to Horror Vanguard wherever you get your podcasts!

You asked, we delivered. Comedian and podcaster Jake Flores joins us to talk about Julia Ducournau's 2016 film Raw.   You can find Jake everywhere @feraljokes. Listen to his podcasts Pod Damn America and Why You Mad.   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod We're also now on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

We're joined by our very first guest, Ashley Darrow from the Horror Vanguard podcast, to talk about the 1980 horror film Motel Hell. This movie has everything: class politics, eco-Christofascism, chainsaw fights, swingers. It also sparked a great discussion about the ethics of meat production and the politics of total liberation. You can find Ash here: @darrowvania on Twitter @darrowscope on Instagram darrow.media @HorrorVanguard on Twitter and Instagram horrorvanguard.com patreon.com/horrorvanguard   And for a more in-depth discussion about total liberation politics and "post-veganism", make sure to check out Ash's appearance on episode 96 of the Total Liberation podcast!   Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops

This week, we talk about a very hot-button issue: art! Our main course is the Spectator article Art is Eating Itself by Emma Webb. This discussion leads us through a delectable buffet of Modernism, Feminism, Marxism...and Hannah Gadsby. NOTES FROM THE EDITOR: We sometimes use incorrect pronouns for Hannah Gadsby. This was not intentional, and we apologize for the error. We recorded an update about Gadsby's museum show, and it is included at the end of the episode after a brief music transition. Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod Art by Anya R. Hueing Music by @coffin_flops