Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast #21: Sports and TV Rights

Andor – Episodes 1-3 Review

In the interest of honest reviewing, I feel that I should start this review of Andor off with the statement that I wasn’t a fan of Rogue One. I certainly didn’t hate it – I appreciated that the story was allowed to go to darker places than most Star Wars properties and I really liked […]

Missing The Expanse? Check Out Its Sci-Fi Precursors

As someone who grew up watching sci-fi TV shows (and was very careful about never revealing that I watched such shows because that was a sure-fire way to be made fun of in the 90s), I’ve loved seeing so many people on my social media timelines expressing their love for Amazon’s excellent series The Expanse. […]

“The King is the crime!”: Commoners, royalty, and animated depictions of monarchy

Over forty-four years ago, on September 3, 1980, the series finale of the now-classic Rose of Versailles, entitled “Adieu, My Beloved Oscar,” aired on Japanese television. It depicted revolutionary leader Louis Saint-Just telling an assembly of Frenchmen, in 1792, that “the King’s own existence is itself an unforgivable crime” and “The King is the crime!” […]