2023 in Media News + Our Favorite Content!

If you are in a show hole, this episode is for you!  Shanny talks with several guests who share their favorite movies, tv shows, and books from 2023.   He also continues his conversation with media studies professors Kelly Wilz and Cary Elza about the biggest media news from last year.

Movie and TV Suggestions:

• "Past Lives," a romantic drama film written and directed by Celine Son
• "Anatomy of a Fall," a French legal drama thriller directed by Justine Triet
• "Godzilla Minus 1" directed, written, and with visual effects by  Takashi Yamazaki
• Spiderman: Across the Universe
• Fargo (tv series) available on Hulu
• The Bear (tv series) available on Hulu
• "Fall of the House of Usher" created by Mike Flanagan and available on Netflix
• The disturbing and unpredictable movies of Emerald Fennel: "Saltburn" and  "Promising Young Women"
• "The Banshees of Inisherin," a 2022 black tragicomedy film directed and written by Martin McDonagh

Novel suggestions:

• Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
• Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
• The audiobook version of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

This episode of No Cure for Curiosity was supported by Magic Mind.  Magic Mind really helped with my productivity during this cold, dark January weather.  You can receive 20% off your next order of Magic Mind by using the promo code "curiosity20".   And you can also get 1 month of Magic Mind for free when you subscribe for 3 months at www.magicmind.com/JANcuriosity.

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

Shanny Luft is curious about Barbie so he invited professors Cary Elza and Kelly Wilz in Media Studies at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, to talk about it.   Why was Barbie the most successful movie of 2023?  We also talked about the films that  inspired Greta Gerwig's directing, the doll's effect on body image, our favorite (and least favorite) scenes.

This episode of No Cure for Curiosity was supported by Magic Mind.  I tried Magic Mind myself and found it really helped with my productivity during the cold, dark January weather.  You can receive 20% off your next order of Magic Mind by using the promo code "curiosity20".   And you can also get 1 month of Magic Mind for free when you subscribe for 3 months at www.magicmind.com/JANcuriosity.

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

The power of curiosity compels you!  On this episode, we talked about William Friedkin's The Exorcist with Cary Elza, (Associate Professor of Media Studies from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point) and Kathryn Lofton (the Lex Hickson professor of American studies and religious studies, professor of history and divinity at Yale University.)

Whether you are an Exorcist fanatic, or hate horror movies, this episode will have something for you.  We talk about why The Exorcist caused a frenzy in 1973.  How the movie portrays religious faith.  And 

This the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist, which enraptured audiences in 1973, making it the third highest grossing film of that decade.  The Exorcist drove public fascination with the devil and exorcisms inside of churches,  across popular culture, and deep in the public imagination.  

For those of you who like extra credit, here is some further reading:

• Pauline Kael's review from The New Yorker (Jan 1973) 
• Collen McDannell's edited volume, Catholics in the Movies

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

On this episode of No Cure for Curiosity, I spoke with Stephen Prothero, author, religion scholar, and now retired professor from Boston University. Throughout his career Stephen Prothero has promoted thoughtful public consideration about religion. He has been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street, and many other newspapers and magazines. He’s been a guest on network television, NPR, CNN, The Daily Show with John Stewart and The Colbert Report.

Prothero published a book this year titled God the Bestseller: How one Editor Transformed American Religion a Book at a Time, a biography of Eugene Exman.If you have ever described yourself as "spiritual but not religious," or a "religious seeker," or if you've ever had a religious experience that you can't completely explain, I think you will enjoy my conversation with Stephen Prothero.

Books, articles, and interviews with Stephen Prothero can be found at www.stephenprothero.com

My favorite guest appearance Stephen had with Colbert is available here: https://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:arc:video:comedycentral.com:3be33026-ed01-11e0-aca6-0026b9414f30

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

On this episode of No Cure for Curiosity, I asked five people to share their favorite media of the last year!  If you are in a show hole or looking for a new novel for your book club, this episode is for you!

Lauren Gantz, Associate Professor English at UWSP

• Everything, Everywhere All at Once (Movie)
• Reservation Dogs (Streaming on Hulu)
• What We Do In the Shadows (Streaming on Hulu)
• Our Flag Means Death (Streaming on HBO Max)
• Monstress written by Marjorie Liu, drawn by Sana Takeda (Graphic Novel)

Gretel Stock, Dean of University College, at UWSP

• The Crown (Streaming on Netflix)
• Alice Isn't Dead (Podcast)
• Maintenance Phase (Podcast) 

Paula Weitzenberg,  World Class Voracious Reader

• A Man Called Ove written by Fredrik Backman/A Man Called Otto (Movie)
• Beartown by Fredrik Backman
• Horse by Geraldine Brooks
• The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
• True Biz by Sara Novic
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Chris Williams, Associate Professor of English at UWSP

• Nope ( Movie)
• The Menu (Movie)
• Marvel Snap (Phone Game App)
• Final Girl (Boardgame)

Kathryn Lounsbery, musician, educator, comedian, and musical executive for Cocomelon

• Sisters In Law (Podcast)
• The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life written by A.J. Jacobs (Author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible)
• The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Streaming on Netflix)
• The White Lotus (Streaming on HBO)
• Bad Sisters (Streaming on Apple TV)
• Severance (Streaming on Apple TV)
• Abbot Elementary (Sitcom on ABC)

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

In our first episode of 2023,  Shanny talks with Cary Elza and Kevin Obsatz, two media studies professors at UWSP, about the career of James Cameron and his latest movie, Avatar: The Way of Water.   We talked about the themes that have dominated Cameron's career, his particular skill for getting audiences pumped up, and what we thought of the second film in the Avatar Pentalogy!

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

November 2022 would have been the 100-birthday of Charles Schulz.  To wrap up the second year of No Cure for Curiosity, we were curious about Schulz and his strip, Peanuts with Rob Stolzer, Professor of Art, and Neil Prendergast, U.S. Historian, from UWSP.

What made Peanuts such an iconic comic strip in the second half of the 20th century?  What is Peanuts' vision of mid-century America?  And why did NBC think that "A Charlie Brown Christmas Special" was going to be a disaster?

If you want to learn more from Rob Stolzer, check out his websites devoted to art, comic art, and illustration:

• Rob Stolzer’s General Art Website: http://www.robstolzer.com
•  Ink-Slinger’s Blog: https://inkslingers.ink
•  The Art and Life of Gregor Duncan: https://gregorduncan.org
•  Russell Johnson & Mister Oswald Website: https://misteroswald.com

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

For Halloween, Shanny Luft speaks with Robert Jadin, an evolutionary biologist, and Chris Diehm, an environmental ethicist, about SNAKES!   How did snakes evolve?  Why do they scare us?  What do snakes taste like?   (Plus, we talk about snake sex if you're curious about that sort of thing.)

Check out this creepy episode of No Cure for Curiosity! (And tell your friends about NCFC!)

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

Shanny Luft speaks with Vera Klekovkina (Department of World Languages), Joshua Horn (Department of Philosophy), and Tomi Heimonen (Department of Computer Science) about their thoughts and concerns about robots.

This episode was inspired by UW-Stevens Point College of Letters and Science Community Engagement series, "When Robots Rule the World."  From the futuristic portrayal of robots in film to robots in the operating room, from the daily use of artificial intelligence (AI) in mundane tasks to the latest advances in the field of human-centered AI, a wide range of university faculty will  explore the implications of When Robots Rule the World, in lectures and public events in Stevens Point.

More information about the Community Engagement Series is available here.

Here are some links to books and articles referenced in this episode:

Kathleen Richardson, Sex Robots: The End of Love (2022)

David Levy, Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships (2009)

Jean Baudrillard, Simulation and Simulacra (1994)

European Parliament Report with Recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics (2017) 

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Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app.  Five-star reviews help other people find No Cure for Curiosity!

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.

In 2021, Ken Burns released a 3-part documentary about Ernest Hemingway, which inspired my conversation about Hemingway with English professor Ross Tangedal and PhD candidate Katie Warczak.  Should we still care about Hemingway?  Or should he be canceled?

If you do not learn new things about Hemingway from this conversation, you can have your money back.  That's our podcast guarantee.

Plus, can Ross and Katie convince Shanny to reconsider The Old Man and the Sea, his least favorite book from high school?

What do you think of Hemingway?  Share your thoughts  on our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app.  Five-star reviews help other people find No Cure for Curiosity!

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

Please rate and review No Cure for Curiosity in your favorite podcast app. And tell your friends who might also enjoy No Cure for Curiosity! It helps other people find the show. And continue the conversation on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NoCureforCuriosityPodcast.

Our intro music was written by UWSP music student Derek Carden and our logo is by artist and graphic designer Ryan Dreimiller.

You can send comments to nocureforcuriosity@outlook.com.