Cringe Benefits

Highly Irregular Productions

The pop-culture nostalgia podcast about your childhood favorites and your grown-up regrets about them. Join me each week while I interview a new guest about their favorite warm memory gone awry.

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Top 10 Cringe Benefits Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Cringe Benefits episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Cringe Benefits for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Cringe Benefits episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

7 - West Side Story (w/ Monet Hurst-Mendoza)

Cringe Benefits

09/14/20 • 58 min

When you're a theater kid, you're a theater kid all the way: this week, playwright and screenwriter Monet Hurst-Mendoza (The Kilroys, Law & Order: SVU) and I take a trip down memory lane in a redux of West Side Story. Turns out we have plenty to say about cultural misappropriation, truly terribly brownface, and some ham-fisted dramaturgical racism. All this plus Broadway politics in the 50s, Hollywood culture in the 60s, and why you shouldn't sleep with your brother's murderer.

Supplemental Links:

NPR: The Real-Life Drama Behind 'West Side Story' by Sara Fishko

NYTimes: Let West Side Story and its Stereotypes Die by Carina del Valle Schorske

The Hollywood Reporter: Steven Spielberg Met With Puerto Ricans About 'West Side Story' Concerns by Seth Abramovitch

Huffington Post: Rita Moreno’s Shocking Anecdote About Her ‘West Side Story’ Makeup by Carolina Moreno

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Monet Hurst-Mendoza

Twitter: @MonetSimone

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

6 - Around the World in Eighty Days (w/ Laura Pittenger)

Cringe Benefits

09/07/20 • 60 min

Let the great race begin! This week I'm joined by author, playwright, and director Laura Pittenger for a breakneck journey through Jules Verne's classic novel, "Around the World in Eighty Days," with scenic detours through its adaptations for the screen and the PC. Join us as we traverse such exotic locations as, well, the white-gaze concept of "exoticism," the ever-present grasp of the British empire, yet another damsel in distress, and of course, brownface.

Supplemental Links:

Laura's Copy of "Around the World in Eighty Days"

Wikipedia: Meg Jayanth

Bookshop.org: "Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World" by Matthew Goodman

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Laura Pittenger

www.LauraPittenger.com

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

Minisode 2 - Hiatus

Cringe Benefits

01/25/21 • 1 min

Hello friends and subscribers! We're going on a brief production hiatus to put more work into all the structure behind the scenes that will keep Cringe Benefits running into the future. We'll see you in a few months!

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

Minisode 1 - Happy New Year!

Cringe Benefits

01/04/21 • 1 min

We're on a wee holiday break this week, but Cringe Benefits will be back with an all new episode next Monday! In the meantime, we wanted to wish you the very best of all possible things in the New Year.

Support Sally's Surgery with Robin Campbell!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Robin Campbell

Twitter: @robinathefirst

Instagram: @robinathefirst

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

17 - RENT Pt. 1 (w/ Robin Campbell)

Cringe Benefits

12/07/20 • 81 min

This week we're joined by theater geek and musical theater expert Robin Campbell for long look at the catalyst of every theater kid's grunge phase, 90s musical RENT. You'll hear Part One of our thrilling conversation this week, in which we talk about the origins of the musical and its impact on us as people and artists, before turning our focus on the common pitfalls of portraying HIV/AIDS in popular culture, the intersection of drag and gender, and the real villain of the musical (hint: not Benny.)

SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS:

Instagram: Sally Campbell, the Best Dog

Newsweek: Love Among the Ruins

Bookshop.org: RENT by Jonathan Larson

Marfan.org: What is Marfan Syndrome

Lady Geek Girl: Sexualized Saturdays - Queer Stories are Tragic Stories

Them.us: Sarah Schulman Explains How Rent Straightwashed Queer Lives and AIDS Activism

Out.com: Angel’s Gender Identity Is RENT's Most Enduring Mystery

Vox.com: How do you measure 20 years of Rent backlash?

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Robin Campbell

Twitter: @robinathefirst

Instagram: @robinathefirst

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

9 - Much Ado About Nothing 1993 (w/ Alexandra Goodman)

Cringe Benefits

09/28/20 • 69 min

This week, Abby is joined by actor, producer, and filmmaker Alexandra Goodman to discuss Kenneth Branagh's cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Join us for a rollicking romp through the Claudius conundrum, where we stand on Branagh v. Thompson (the answer should not surprise you), and of course, Keaton and Keanu.

Supplemental Links:

LATimes: Helena Bonham Carter forgiven by Emma Thompson for Branagh affair by Nardine Saad

Harper's Bazaar: Emma Thompson’s husband Greg Wise was convinced by a psychic he would end up with Kate Winslet

SPONSORS:

Start Your Free 30-day Trial of Audible Today!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Alexandra Goodman

www.AlexandraGoodman.xyz

Follow RED BIRD on Facebook

Follow THE SQUARE ROOT on Facebook

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

2 - You've Got Mail (w/ Laurel Andersen)

Cringe Benefits

08/17/20 • 58 min

This week, Abby is joined by New York theater-maker Laurel Andersen to talk about that classic tale of pride (or is it prejudice?), You've Got Mail, a movie that's luckily managed to age a bit better than its titular technology. Join us as we parse this 90s rom-com's myriad problems with emotional infidelity, cutthroat capitalism, the only people of color in New York, and more than a few mind-blowing moments.

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cringebenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Laurel Andersen

Twitter: @LaurelMRC

Instagram: @laurelmrc

https://www.laurelandersen.com/

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

18 - RENT Pt. 2 (w/ Robin Campbell)

Cringe Benefits

12/21/20 • 69 min

How do you measure a show's worth of cringe? We do our best to find out in the thrilling conclusion to our two-part series on the musical that defined a generation of theater punks, "RENT." Last episode was all about what we loved then, but this week is all about what we know now: the moral weight of being a sellout, the deadly dogma of struggling for your art, the offstage drama of Allison "Muffy" Coffin, and what a girl wants (certainly not Roger, who is the absolute worst). Not to worry, though: we measure this show with love.

SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS:

Instagram: Sally Campbell, the Best Dog

Newsweek: Love Among the Ruins

Bookshop.org: RENT by Jonathan Larson

Marfan.org: What is Marfan Syndrome

Lady Geek Girl: Sexualized Saturdays - Queer Stories are Tragic Stories

Them.us: Sarah Schulman Explains How Rent Straightwashed Queer Lives and AIDS Activism

Out.com: Angel’s Gender Identity Is RENT's Most Enduring Mystery

Vox.com: How do you measure 20 years of Rent backlash?

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Robin Campbell

Twitter: @robinathefirst

Instagram: @robinathefirst

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

8 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (w/ Becca Musser)

Cringe Benefits

09/21/20 • 55 min

Welcome to the Hellmouth: actor Becca Musser is here with host Abby Wilde to take us through this forbidden favorite of both of their childhoods. What did we ever see in Xander Harris? What was going on behind the scenes? Can we agree that Willow Rosenberg is the best of all things? (We can.) And most of all: what does it mean to be a strong female character?

SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS

Women's Republic: The Problematic Feminism of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by F. R. Kesby

The Wrap: Joss Whedon Is a ‘Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals,’ Ex-Wife Kai Cole Says by Kai Cole

ScreenRant: All The Joss Whedon Abuse & Misconduct Allegations Explained by Sandy Schaefer

AV Club: Buffy’s James Marsters on the hardest day of his professional life by Esther Zuckerman

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits

Guest: Becca Musser

Facebook: Becca Musser

Instagram: @platypusinspace

Rosedale Shakespeare Presents "The Gaming of the Shrew"

Host/Producer: Abby Wilde

Twitter: @AbbyWilde

Instagram: @AbbyWilde

10 - Sex and the City (w/ Tsebiyah Mishael Derry)

Cringe Benefits

10/05/20 • 65 min

In a world looking for sex-positive, feminism-forward entertainment, we couldn't help but wonder: was Sex in the City one giant step for women, or a giant leap back for womankind? To help us answer that question (spoiler: it's the second one), we're joined by Tsebiyah Mishael Derry, a poet, actor, singer, and New York native with more than a little to say about this show's rocky record on racism, homophobia, toxic heteronormativity, and New York real estate.

SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS:

Vanity Fair: Being One of the Only Black Actresses on Sex and the City Was a “Surreal” Experience by Yohana Desta

Flare: Looking Back, Sex and the City Was Seriously Problematic for Black Women by Tari Ngangura

Indy100: Sarah Jessica Parker admits Sex and the City failed LGBT+ people

by Mimi Launder

Medium: Reefer Madness: The Racist Origins of Marijuana Prohibition by Natalie Papillion

SPONSORS:

Click here for your free 30-day trial with Audible!

We are live on the Internet - come be our friend!

Facebook: @CringeBenefits

Twitter: @CringeBenefits

Instagram: @cringebenefits