Ok, Real Quick!

90s Olympic Figure Skating But Mostly Surya Bonaly

Why think about the current winter Olympics when we can instead talk about the Olympians of the 1990s? This week we look back at some of the most prominent figure skaters of the 90s, especially my favorite: Surya Bonaly.
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Octavia E Butler's Kindred: The Hold Of Ancestors Through Time

TW/CW: This episode mentions slavery, anti-Black racism and violence,, family separation, genocide, body horror, death, suicide, and rape.
 
This week's episode on Octavia E Butler's time travel masterpiece, Kindred, goes deep into the book's themes the legacy of slavery through time and space, and the complexity of emotions when you know that the line of your ancestry is drawn with blood and tears. Although the episode does spoil the plot from beginning to end, it won't spoil the experience of reading Butler's inimitable writing.
 
The video by @onyxpages (35. Kindred by Octavia Butler - Graphic Novel (Also: Being Forced to Care About Characters)) referenced in the episode can be found here.
 
This episode was edited by Jacqueline J. Basse..
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0
 

On My TBR!

Why would I read the books already on my "to be read" pile when I can instead add five or so extra books? On this week's Ok Real Quick Pod we add a few books to the already teetering stack.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Sky Full Of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
Death Of The Author by Nnedi Okorafor

Smosh Anniversary Mega Episode!

We may be (fashionably) late, but we're still ready to celebrate Smosh's remarkable 20 year run on YouTube! While your host may not have have discovered Smosh until recent years, it has grabbed a firm hold of her heart. Don't know what Smosh is? We have a real quick rundown of the channel's history, what makes it so great, and why you should check it out now!
 
In honor of the Smosh show that got us hooked, this week's Special Segment is the Chisme Chorner, with a story about the impact Smosh has made on an LGBTQ+ youth group.
The link to donate to the group's GoFundMe is here.
 
This week's episode was edited by Jacqueline J Basse. 
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Back To The Future and The Power Of Density

Back To The Future premiered 40 years ago.
Now that you've had a moment to recover from that realization, let's talk about Marty, Doc and the importance of density destiny, and why this movie still captures our imagination all those many, many decades later.
It's A Fandom Thing Pod's Back To The Future Episode
This week's Special Segment is "A Super Quick Review", about Bugonia and If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

2025 Horror Movie Round-Up!

BOO! Sorry for the scare, but we really need to talk about 2025's best-- and worst-- horror movies. Which scary flicks
did we love? Which ones did we wish were never made? And which ones are we looking forward to, because the year is not yet over? Click play and find out, and then drop us a comment and let us know what your favorites are!
You can listen to your host talk in depth about:
React to the Good Boy trailer on It's A Fandom Thing Pod
Heart Eyes on My Streaming Bubble
The Long Walk on Ok Real Quick
Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare on It's A Fandom Thing Pod
Sinners on It's A Fandom Thing Pod
Sinners on My Streaming Bubble
F.D. Signifier's video
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0
 

Oops! All Chisme

Let's get nosy this week! On this episode we'll be digging into some stories from Reddit. That's right: the entire episode is a giant Chisme Chorner. The posts for the stories can be found here, here  and here.
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

The Long Walk

You ever watch a movie and think, "Fantastic! Best movie I've seen in a long time! Never show it to me again"? Well, if you have a few minutes, we'd love to talk to you about The Long Walk, the movie adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. We get into the performances by Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, the movie's parallels to The Hunger Games and to our current world, and why it's important that the movie ended the way it did.
This episode was edited by Jacqueline Basse
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

80s and 90s PSAs

If you were lucky enough to grow up in the 80s and 90s and you lived in the US, you got to enjoy the golden era of the PSA (Public Service Announcement, not Prostate-Specific Antigen. Yes, this is important information). Join your host on this week's episode of Ok Real Quick for a trip down memory lane, and let us know YOUR favorite PSAs! 
The article mentioned in the episode can be found here.
This week's Special Segment is Well, Will You Look At That, in which we very briefly touch on The Bear's beautiful cinematography.
This week's episode was edited by Jacqueline J Basse. 
 
 
 
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
 
Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
 
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

The Hamilton Trend That Has Taken Over My FYP

Sometimes you build your FYP brick by brick. Sometimes you get a little help from your friends. This week we talk about the Hamilton trend on TikTok started by @actuallyhamilt0n, Zoe Coyle. You can watch her original tiktok here. To watch the commercial about milk, Hamilton, and Burr, click here.
This week's Special Segment is On My To Be Read Pile, and we discuss the Suzanne Collins book Sunrise On The Reaping.
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Superman Is About Humanity

Wanna know what the Barbie and the newest Superman movies have in common? It's more than you'd think, and we talk about it on this week's episode.
Listen to the It's A Fandom Thing Pod episode featuring yours truly, in which we discuss the sociopolitical intent and impact of James Gunn's Superman (2025) here.
Read the article from The Mary Sue mentioned here. 
This week's Special Segment is On My To Be Read Pile, about the Suzanne Collins book The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.
Bed Wed or Behead, the podcast that may or may not be dead, idk, ask Meg.
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Why I Rage-Quit The X-Files

Sometimes your favorite show will break your heart, and not in a good way. The X-Files' 11th season began with an episode that left me disgusted. So much so that I have never revisited what had been my favorite show for over 20 years. Immediately after the episode aired in 2018 I wrote a blog post detailing what had turned me off the show. Does the blog post hold up? Will revisiting it lead me to feel more comfortable dipping my toe back into the X-Phile life? Join me on this week's episode to find the answers. The truth is out there but also here. As in...in this episode.
TW/CW: Mentions of rape, lack of consent, forced impregnation.
Special Segment: Coming Soon. The 2022 book The Trees by Percival Everett is being adapted into a series and I'm very excited about the casting news!
Link to Deadline article 
The Entertainment Weekly article mentioned in the reading of the blog post has been taken down (iiiinteresting) but is referenced here.
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Zack Morris and Lisa Turtle Are My OTP

Yeah, whatever, Zack and Kelly. MY heart ships Lisa and Zack --and I'm not alone! This week we talk about the mysteriously disappearing relation between Zack Morris and Lisa Turtle on Saved By The Bell, how racism came between them and viewers, and why Screech is as much trash as Zack. 
Link to Clarissa C's video "It Sucks Being The Token Black Girl"
Link to Funny Or Die's video The Time Zack Morris Stabbed Screech In The Back To Hook Up With Lisa
Link to Diversity in Education article.
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

My Karaoke 'Go-To's

If you love karaoke, you have your go-to songs. This week on Ok Real Quick your host talks about her karaoke favs and the ones she'd love to have the confidence to take on in public. What are your "must sings" at karaoke? And what songs do you only sing in the privacy of your shower but would love to have the confidence to take on in front of people?
This week's Special Segment is the Chisme Chorner where we talk about the YouTube Channel MARKIE, run by Callum Markie. You can find the videos referenced here and here, and this is the link to the Encephalitis International fundraiser that he and his friends are running.
This week's episode was edited by Jacqueline J Basse. 
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0
 

The Truman Show's Controlling Father Figure

As the 1998 movie The Truman Show becomes ever more pertinent to our reality TV and social media obsessed minds, your host has fallen deep into a rabbit hole about the movie, and sees some parallels to modern times' family vlogger channels. Join us this week for an exploration of the theory of Christof as Truman's controlling father figure. Yes, there is ranting involved.
Here's the link to the Wikipedia entry for The Truman Show. 
Link to Jessica Maddox's article about the financial protections recently put into place for FamTube kids can be found here.
Tiffany Ferguson's excellent video discussing Shari Franke's book is linked here, and you can support both her work and Shari Franke's book by clicking here to purchase it using Tiffany's affiliate link. 
Link to Cinema Therapy's "Therapist Reacts To The Truman Show".
The article from The Guardian can be found here.
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

They Hid Eugenie Danglars!

A lesbian character in a 19th century novel? Mon dieu! If, like me, you've only ever read the abridged version of Alexandre Dumas's classic French historical fiction epic, you'll be surprised by what awaits in the unabridged version. Join Ok Real Quick as we dive into the textual evidence of Eugenie Danglar's romantic love for Louise d'Armilly.
This week's Special Segment is "From My To Be Read Pile", where we talk about the book "The Black Count" by Tom Reiss.
Heather Rose Jones's The Rise of Gay Paris can be found through this link.
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

The Best Friend Tier

"Best friend isn't a person, Danny. It's a tier." That phrase (from The Mindy Project) has lived in my head rent-free for over ten years. But...can you actually have more than one best friend? Join us for an exploration of all things besties on this week's episode of Ok Real Quick Pod!
This week's Special Segment is The Chisme Chorner where we discuss this gem from the "Wedding Shaming" subreddit.
 
Refinery29 NOT Refinery21 article *facepalm*
The social brain hypothesis and its implications for social evolution
Calling Dunbar’s Numbers
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Pedro Zamora's Legacy

In 1993, the third season of MTV's The Real World brought into the lives of millions of people the unforgettable Pedro Zamora. This week we celebrate his life and honor his legacy, as we take a look into what made Pedro so special, and the lasting impact he made in the education and advocacy for HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and treatment. The fight is not over, and it's up to us to carry his torch.
To watch Matt Baume's incredibly informative and touching video How Pedro Zamora Used TV To Fight AIDS, click here.
This week's Special Feature is "On My To Be Read Pile" in which we talk about the Queer Liberation Library and the book The Viral Underclass. To support the QLL's fundraiser, click here.
Resources for those living with HIV/AIDS are available here.
Additional information sources for this week's episode:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Zamora
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv-data/nhss/hiv-diagnoses-deaths-and-prevalence-2025.html
https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet
https://www.apbspeakers.com/speaker/mohammed-bilal/
https://www.clintonlibrary.gov/research/hivaids-topic-guide
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pedro-zamoras-torch_b_5700865
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7903022/#:~:text=Median%20survival%20time%20following%20AIDS%20onset%20increased,months.%20Trends%20in%20improved%20survival%20were%20diagnosis%2Dspecific.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/medical-journeys/hiv/106053
https://www.radicaldeathstudies.com/blog/2019/12/28/pedro-zamora-from-mtvs-real-world-radical-death-activism-by-justin-cook
https://glaad.org/whereweareontv23/representation-of-characters-living-with-hiv-and-aids/
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-39490507
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_boatlift
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0
 

From Erasure to Representation

What progress, if any, has been made in bisexual representation on TV? We talk about Lindsay from Queer As Folk, and touch on characters like Willow (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), David Rose (Schitt's Creek), Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine Nine) and more. 
Click here to listen to the Liberty Diner Dish interview with Queer As Folk writer Del Shores, and here to check out It's A Fandom Thing Pod's episodes, where you'll find a ton of Queer As Folk content.
This week's Special Feature is Playing With Lists! Check out the musical companion to this week's episode here!
And here are the posts mentioned in this week's episode:
https://medium.com/@lasarafirefoxallen/bisexual-is-queer-too-727d95937242
https://www.librarywithoutdust.com/television/what-about-the-b-word-bisexual-erasure-from-the-l-word-to-orange-is-the-new-black
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Perfect Pilots - What We Do In The Shadows (With A Side Of Spaceballs)

In our first episode of the Ok Real Quick Pod series "Perfect Pilots" we discuss why the first episode of What We Do In The Shadows worked so well, and what we love about the characters. 
 
This week's special segment is Unhinged Theories, in which we talk about the announcement of the upcoming sequel to Spaceballs, and how we think the story will unfold.
 
https://nofilmschool.com/make-a-great-tv-pilot
 
Podcast music: “Couture Fantasy" and "Mid Western”, by Eino Toivanen, kongano.comLicenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0