Stereoactive Presents - USELESS/USEFUL: The Flytrap, Malvina Reynolds, and ‘Monsters’

USELESS/USEFUL: The Flytrap, Malvina Reynolds, and ‘Monsters’

10/17/24 • 31 min

Welcome to the second installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode...

USELESS ITEM ONE: ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ and the very Nineties phenomenon of true crime crossing over into pop culture.

USELESS ITEM TWO: Malvina Reynolds, the folk-singer perhaps best known for her song, “Little Boxes.”

USEFUL ITEM: “A smart, seasoned collective of writers, editors, and creatives — are launching The Flytrap, an independent, collectively owned media outfit that’s bringing feminist thought and cultural criticism against the algorithm back to the internet and into your inbox, starting November 5, 2024. (Yes, Election Day!)”

STEREOACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD: Our latest RedactedAV release features Lafayette, LA band FIGHTs performing “Shellac” for our ‘Hear & There’ series.

LINKS:

‘Monsters’ trailer: https://youtu.be/_EaEllq5FLk

“Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds: https://youtu.be/-Cjk0zst3Cs

The Flytrap Kickstarter: http://kck.st/3Y75MUI

“Shellac” by FIGHTs: https://youtu.be/JVYnYgh-lyM

USELESS ITEM ONE: ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ and the very Nineties phenomenon of true crime crossing over into pop culture.

USELESS ITEM TWO: Malvina Reynolds, the folk-singer perhaps best known for her song, “Little Boxes.”

STEREOACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD: Our latest RedactedAV release features Lafayette, LA band FIGHTs performing “Shellac” for our ‘Hear & There’ series.

LINKS:

‘Monsters’ trailer: https://youtu.be/_EaEllq5FLk

“Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds: https://youtu.be/-Cjk0zst3Cs

The Flytrap Kickstarter: http://kck.st/3Y75MUI

“Shellac” by FIGHTs: https://youtu.be/JVYnYgh-lyM

Previous Episode

USELESS/USEFUL: Hurricane Relief, 'The Substance,' and R.E.M.

Welcome to the first installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode...

USELESS: R.E.M. – specifically, their 1994 album, ‘Monster’ /// ‘The Substance,’ now in theaters and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Quallet, and Dennis Quaid

USEFUL: Relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene.

STEREOACTIVE MEDIA: RedactedAV /// When We See Each Other

LINKS:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/hurricane/2024/09/28/keaton-beach-damage-photos-hurricane-helene-florida-video/75426982007/

https://www.commoncause.org/north-carolina/articles/what-you-can-do-to-help-western-north-carolina/

https://www.redactedav.com/

https://redcircle.com/shows/whenweseeeachother

Next Episode

Reasons for Disqualification, Part 1 – Trump is a Convicted Felon.

In the first in a series of short episodes, I'm highlighting some of the many reasons that Donald Trump should be disqualified from the presidency... So look, I’m probably largely preaching to the choir here, but if you’re like me, this election might have you questioning your own sanity to some extent. And it’s not like this is new or anything. At this point, Donald Trump has been a fixture of American politics for going on a decade – or more, really. How anyone can find him to be anything other than a repulsive human being utterly unqualified to do anything, much less be President of the United States, is so far beyond me that I’ve tried my best to just just stop attempting to even figure it out. He’s always been a crook. He’s always been a bad person. He’s always aimed for the lowest common denominator and ended up falling short of even that. But even knowing all that, I personally find it helpful sometimes to just remind myself that if we were living in a 100% rational world, the things he has done would disqualify him from at least public life, but especially public office. If you’re like me, maybe just hearing a reminder of the facts helps you to keep some sort of perspective on things.

So, here’s just a reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man is a convicted felon.

Let’s remember that on May 30th of this year, a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts related to paying hush money to Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair he had with her. As the Associated Press put it the day after the conviction, “For another candidate in another time, a criminal conviction might doom a presidential run...” It is just worth reminding ourselves that 1) it is not normal for a former president to be a convicted felon, and 2) it is not normal for a convicted felon to be so close to potentially being president. Trump not only clearly committed crimes, according to testimony and evidence presented to the public and to a jury, but was convicted of that crime. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.

Check back in the coming days for more short episodes like this, as I continue to scream into the proverbial void.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Music - Man In Gray, The Unsacred Hearts

Produced by Stereoactive Media