Are you there Judy? It’s us, CFX, and this week we are here to ask you, when will we grow? Haha, all kidding aside. That’s right, we are covering the great Judy Blume, an author who has influenced several generations with her frank, honest and realistic books for kids and young adults. We go into her history, highlighting a few of the books that are both her most notable and also most controversial. Of course, we talk about Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Blume’s breakthrough and most famous book and we also touch on the recent film adaptation. We cover the followup to that book, Then Again, Maybe I Won’t, Blume’s one stab at dealing with teenage boys. We talk about Blubber, probably one of the darkest books not only on childhood but on human nature. And, how could we do an episode on Blume without covering her most banned book, Forever…, possibly the first book to depict first time sex from a female perspective? We also talk about how Blume is not only a writer but an anti-censorship champion and how she went above and beyond to correspond with thousands of kids who looked up to her for guidance. In this episode, we really go out of our way to tackle Blume’s work with a mature and academic approach or… then again, MAYBE WE DON’T. As you’ve come to expect, while we respect these books, we also have a lot of fun with them, and along the way, we learn…

• What male body part should not be covered in aftershave
• Which of our podcast hosts didn’t actually learn anything from Blubber
• What a nymphomaniac is and how it nearly got a 19 year old B. Dalton bookstore employee fired
• Why Slip never had a wet dream
• What medical condition led to Jeff’s biggest sound FX fail yet
• How Slip, momentarily, became cool via literature and liberal parenting

Note: Apologies for the shitty sound as we had a microphone technical failure at the CFX studios :(

Check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/culturalfutures/) for links and additional content related to this and other episodes as well as clues to upcoming shows or write to us at culutralfuturesexchange@gmail.com

All audio clips are used under the "Fair Use" Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

All rights and credit go directly to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Dearly beloved CFX fans, we are gathered here today to evaluate this thing called Purple Rain. Will it stand the test of time forever or just a mighty long time…well, we’re here to tell U. That’s right, we evaluate the film, the music and the artist (thankfully known as Prince which is good because I don’t know how to print that damned symbol…). What about the movie? Should U “dig” the picture or “smash” it? Is the music “sheer perfection” or is there “something wrong with the machinery”? Is Prince a genius, a “Messiah”, something “that we’ll never comprehend”? We go all the way back to the beginning, from Prince’s troubled childhood in Minneapolis, to his slow rise in crossover popularity that eventually led to his commercial (and probably artistic peak) in the 1984 film and album Purple Rain. We also discuss the aftermath of his career and discuss whether Prince was a musical genius or just really talented. Let us guide U and, hopefully, along the way, U will also learn…

• Who “Darling Nikki” is and what inspired Prince to name his lead actress Apollonia
• How to commandeer an official university vehicle so you and your friends can go see the Prince concert
• How Slip’s concert dance moves inspired deep admiration (ok…more like laughter)
• Who was the unlikely inspiration for Purple Rain’s iconic theme song
• Which Jim Henson creation film critic Vincent Canby compared Prince to in his less than favorable review of the film
• Who the real star of Purple Rain was…and it wasn’t Prince….
• And, finally, how Siskel and Ebert covered their boners with....humanity…

Check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/culturalfutures/) for links and additional content related to this and other episodes as well as clues to upcoming shows or write to us at culutralfuturesexchange@gmail.com

All audio clips are used under the "Fair Use" Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

All rights and credit go directly to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.

When we first came up with the concept of the show, namely leveraging our pop cultural expertise to put cultural artifacts under the CFX microscope to see if they will stand the test of time, the short lived early ‘80s sitcom, Bosom Buddies, was one of the first shows we both thought of covering. Well, in episode 52, we do just that. We dig into not only the production history of the show, the before and after careers of all cast members, including the conspicuously successful Tom Hanks, but also the rich tradition of cross dressing as a plot point both in comedy and drama, going all the way back to Shakespeare and beyond. See, it's all perfectly normal....

Is this show an underappreciated classic full of edgy satire or just another hackneyed sitcom full of tired plots and well-worn comedy tropes? We answer this question by analyzing every single episode of the show and then “speak our minds” to decide if this short lived show deserved “a second chance” or if we should tell the show’s creators and actors to “keep it yourself”! And, as usual, along the way, we learn…

• Who is the one major cast member who didn’t appear on The Love Boat
• How a very stoned Martin Scorcese may have stolen the plot of one of the episodes for one of this best films
• How Billy Joel and Stephanie Mills taught Slip a very painful lesson about karma
• How Buffy and Hildy, Kip and Henry’s brothers, are from Saskatchewan, Canada while Kip and Henry are from Shaker Heights, OH…
• How the coffee shop at the Susan B Anthony Hotel for Women is the hippest, most happening place in all of NYC…maybe even all of the USA
• What it means to be a sitcom art critic
• What "horrible" CFX legend and poo bomb victim was wearing Donna Dixon's pink chiffon outfits before she ran off with Dan Aykroyd
• And, finally, the lengths one will go through to avoid being sued by Gary Gygax

Check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/culturalfutures/) for links and additional content related to this and other episodes as well as clues to upcoming shows or write to us at culutralfuturesexchange@gmail.com

All audio clips are used under the "Fair Use" Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

All rights and credit go directly to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.