Podcasts of the Week Ending June 13

Coronavirus Daily :: Masks Are Even More Important Than We Thought

Wear a mask.  Keep your distance.  Wash your hands.  Repeat.

The Last Archive :: Unheard

The story of Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, and the erasure of Black voices in history.

Throughline :: American Police

The history of policing in the United States from its origins in slave patrols to the present, with control of Black Americans as its central purpose.

Twenty Thousand Hertz :: Copyrights & Wrongs

The curious and convoluted cases of copyright in popular music: are musicians stealing from other musicians or just drawing inspiration?

What Next :: The Antifa Myth

The Antifa Bus is coming / And everybody’s rioting / New York to San Fransisco / An antifacist disco.

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• Anthropocene Reviewed – 3
• Afropop Worldwide – 1
• All Songs Considered – 2
• BackStory – 3
• Best of the Left – 2
• Coronavirus Daily – 3
• Code Switch – 3
• Decoder Ring – 3
• Fresh Air – 7
• Futility Closet – 3
• Have You Heard – 1
• Hidden Brain – 2
• Hit Parade – 2
• Hub History – 1
• The Last Archive – 2
• LeVar Burton Reads – 1
• Memory Palace – 3
• More Than Enough – 4
• 99% Invisible – 4
• 60-Second Science – 2
• Planet Money – 2
• The Politics of Everything – 1
• Radio Boston – 2
• Radiolab – 3
• Risk! – 1
• Science Talk – 2
• Smithsonian Sidedoor – 2
• Snap Judgment – 1
• The Thirty20Eight – 1
• This American Life – 1
• This Day in Esoteric Public History – 1
• Throughline – 7
• The Tomorrow Society – 1
• Twenty Thousand Hertz – 6
• Wedway Radio – 1
• What Next – 7

Movie Reviews: Peter Pan (1953)

Title: Peter Pan
Release Date: February 5, 1953
Director: Clyde Geronimi | Wilfred Jackson | Hamilton Luske
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
Summary/Review:

I remember watching Peter Pan with Mary Martin on TV and seeing a revival of the Broadway musical with Sandy Duncan as a child.  Later I read the play by J.M. Barrie.  But I never saw the Disney movie until I was an adult, and my general impression is that it is pretty awful.  Revisiting the movie for my Disney Animated Features project did not improve my feelings of the movie.

I get the appeal of the story and why it’s persisted in popularity for over a century.  The adventure and imagination are irresistible.  Any child would love to fly off to a magical world.  The pirates are Hilario and scary. And growing up is overated.

And yet, the movie is horribly sexist.  Tinker Bell immediately hates Wendy in the most awful stereotype of female jealousy.  The mermaids are no better. How is that Tinker Bell became a Disney icon when she spends this entire movie being a vindictive turncoat?  As awful as it is, it doesn’t compare with the viciously racist deception of Native Americans.  I had to fast forward through the cringey song and dance numbers.

Perhaps there’s a way to redeem Peter Pan, but I’m not the one who’s going to do it.  Don’t watch this with your children, there’s so much better out there.

Rating: *1/2