Tender Subject

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!