Podcast: Still Processing

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” came into theaters with a huge responsibility: It had to address the death of Chadwick Boseman, the star of the first “Black Panther” movie, who died of cancer in August 2020.

Wesley and J discuss how the film offers the audience an experience of collective grief and mourning — something that never happened in the United States in response to the losses of 2020. They interrogate what it means that this gesture of healing came from Marvel and Disney, a corporate empire that is in control of huge swaths of our entertainment, and not from another type of leadership.

Beyoncé’s latest album, “Renaissance,” showcases a pop star letting go of all expectations. Wesley and J go deep into the album and this new era of Beyoncé. It’s an era of play, freedom, comedy and queerness — unlike anything we’ve ever heard from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter before.

Wesley and J discuss the push to “return to office” — and what it means for their lives, as well as American culture as a whole. What have 50 years of workplace sitcoms, from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to “Abbott Elementary,” taught us about our romance with the office? And what do TikTok parodies and the TV show “Severance” get right about the history of labor in America? In this period of returning to so-called normalcy, Wesley and J reflect on how we can ensure that the lessons of the early pandemic aren’t forgotten.

Donna Summer’s 1977 hit “I Feel Love” is the inspiration for the final track on Beyoncé’s new album, “Renaissance.” Summer became the queen of disco in the ’70s, but her catalog goes much further than that. You can hear her legacy in decades of electronic and R&B. “She is an architect of the pop culture we experience today,” J says.

In this episode, J and Wesley revisit her 1982 album, “Donna Summer” — and explore why, out of all of her music, this self-titled album is the most distinctly Donna.

J Wortham and Wesley Morris are back, just in time for Scorpio season. Ever since they watched Jordan Peele’s latest film, “Nope,” together over the summer, they haven’t been able to stop talking about it. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as siblings whose family horse ranch is threatened by an otherworldly creature. But instead of escaping or destroying the monster, they are determined to take a picture of it. Why is proof so important? And what does it mean to be believed? (Beware: Spoilers ahead!)

“Still Processing” is back for a mini-season. New episodes on Tuesdays. Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Remember that beer test? It’s not enough. That’s why this election season, we bring you: Still Processing’s Rubric for Leadership and Democratic Excellence.

Discussed this week:Astead Herndon, Jon Caramanica and Jon Pareles. "What Do Rally Playlists Say About the Candidates?" (The New York Times, Aug. 19, 2019)Clara Guibourg and Helen Briggs. "Climate change: Which vegan milk is best?" (BBC News, Feb. 22, 2019)The AP reporter Alexandra Jaffe’s post on Twitter that Senator Kamala Harris drinks oat milkMatt Flegenheimer and Sydney Ember. "How Amy Klobuchar Treats Her Staff" (The New York Times, Feb. 22, 2019)Carl Zimmer. "Elizabeth Warren Has a Native American Ancestor. Does That Make Her Native American?" (The New York Times, Oct. 15, 2018)Adrienne Keene, Rebecca Nagle and Joseph M. Pierce. "Syllabus: Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee Citizenship, and DNA Testing" (Critical Ethnic Studies, Dec. 19, 2018)Thomas Kaplan. "Elizabeth Warren Apologizes at Native American Forum: ‘I Have Listened and I Have Learned.’" (The New York Times, Aug. 19, 2019)Matt Stieb. "Where Does Marianne Williamson Actually Stand on Vaccines?" (NYMag, Aug. 4, 2019)Glenn Thrush. "Obama and Biden’s Relationship Looks Rosy. It Wasn’t Always That Simple." (The New York Times, Aug. 16, 2019)

We’re in love with MTV’s dating-reality TV show “Are You the One?”

Discussed this week:Jenna Wortham. "How Queer People Brought Some Actual Reality to Dating-Reality TV" (The New York Times Magazine, Aug. 28, 2019)Wesley Morris. "Rom-Coms Were Corny and Retrograde. Why Do I Miss Them so Much?" (The New York Times Magazine, April 24, 2019)"Are You the One?" (MTV, Season 8, 2019)

We'll be back with a new episode next Thursday, October 17th.

New episodes coming March 26! You’ve got a lot of time on your hands, and so do we. Let's spend it together <3.

We revisit "Fight Club" on the 20th anniversary of its release, and consider how the trope of the "psychobro" is showing up onscreen — in the new blockbuster “Joker” and HBO’s critically acclaimed series “Succession” — and off.

Discussed this week: "The Unbearable Bradness of Being" (Chris Heath, Rolling Stone, Oct. 28, 1999)"Fight Club" (directed by David Fincher, 1999)"Joker" (directed by Todd Phillips, 2019)"Succession" (HBO, 2019)"Whistleblower Explains How Cambridge Analytica Helped Fuel U.S. 'Insurgency'" (Fresh Air, Oct. 8, 2019)

Still Processing will be back in your ears on Thursday, September 12th.

Activists stood up against the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, but the tools they used to make themselves heard are unavailable during our coronavirus pandemic. Still, many of that era’s strategies and warning signs seem alarmingly relevant now.

Discussed this week:“How to Survive a Plague” (directed by David France, 2012)ACT UP New York “How ACT UP Remade Political Organizing in America” (David France, The New York Times, April, 2020)“‘A Tragedy Is Unfolding’: Inside New York’s Virus Epicenter” (Annie Correal, Andrew Jacobs and Ryan Christopher Jones, The New York Times, April, 2020)“America’s Hidden H.I.V. Epidemic” (Linda Villarosa, The New York Times, June, 2017)“Amazon’s Whole Foods to Cut Medical Benefits for Part-Timers” (Spencer Soper, Bloomberg, September, 2019)

How "Old Town Road" gave us hope without making us cringe, and became our song of the year.

Discussed this week: Joe Coscarelli, Alexandra Eaton, Will Lloyd, Eden Weingart, Antonio de Luca and Alicia DeSantis. "Diary of a Song — ‘Old Town Road’: See How Memes and Controversy Took Lil Nas X to the Top of the Charts" (The New York Times, May 10, 2019)Jon Caramanica. "The Short Rise and Long Tail of Lil Nas X" (The New York Times, Jun. 26, 2019)Jade Jolie"Shut Up & Sing" (directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, 2006)BriMalandro.tumblr.com

We come to terms with Halle Berry's "Catwoman."

Do we have enough breadcrumbs to get to the truth?

When “Hillbilly Elegy” showed up on Netflix last November, it was just the latest in a series of media attempting to explain whiteness to its audience. We’re revisiting a better (though not perfect) example: the podcast “S-Town.” Check out our episode from 2017 while we prepare for a new season of Still Processing — coming to you in March.

Excerpts from our June 12 live event, where we caught up about the uprisings and resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. This is the first of three special summer episodes.

Discussed this week: Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris in a live New York Times event (June 12, 2020)“‘Cops,’ Long-Running Reality Show That Glorified Police, Is Canceled” (The New York Times, June 2020)“LEGO Pulls Back Police Playset Affiliate Marketing Amid George Floyd Protests” (ToyBook, June 2020)“NASCAR Says It Will Ban Confederate Flags” (The New York Times, June 2020)Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris on “CBS This Morning” (Aug. 18, 2017, CBS)Speech by Stokely Carmichael (a.k.a. Kwame Ture) (Oct. 29, 1966, Berkeley, Calif.)“John Lewis: Good Trouble” (directed by Dawn Porter, July 2020)

From our living rooms to yours, “Still Processing” is back.

During this unprecedented time in our lives, we talk routines, dreams and what’s on our screens — or at least what will be on our screens. Because screens are all we have left.

Discussed this week:

“Darn That Dream” (Dinah Washington, 1954)

The Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC)

Working out with Mr. and Mrs. Muscle

“Ra Ma Da Sa” (Amanbir Singh, 2017)

The Wiz (directed by Sidney Lumet, 1978)

High Fidelity (Hulu, 2020)

Not all reboots deserve to exist. Lots of them aren’t even things we want.

But the new "High Fidelity" on Hulu is the reboot we didn’t know we needed.

Discussed this week:Barack Obama’s TwitterCardi B’s Twitter and Instagram"Celebrity Culture is Burning" (Amanda Hess, 2020)"Oprah Talks Covid-19" (Apple TV+, 2020)Britney’s Instagram"High Fidelity" (directed by Stephen Frears, 2000)"High Fidelity" (Hulu, 2020)

Next month we’re starting a whole new season of shows! Yes, in March! We’re thrilled. While we’re getting ready, we selected four of our favorite past episodes for you to enjoy. This first one is about one of the greats: Aretha Franklin.

A singer, writer, arranger, pianist, performer and more, Ms. Franklin channeled both the difficult and beautiful aspects of American culture to make the songs that have scored our lives. She left a legacy of virtuosity and swagger that will live on — both online and off.