Mona Lisa Overpod

• MLOP 19: Bubblegum Crisis

  Welcome to Mona Lisa Overpod, the show that asks the question "What is cyberpunk?" On each episode, hosts Ka1iban and author Lyda Morehouse dive into the genre that helped define sci-fi fiction in '80s and they break down its themes which remain relevant to our lives in the 21st century. Pull on your mirrorshades, jack into the matrix, and start your run with us today!Cyberpunk is not solely an American phenomenon, and even as Western works like Blade Runner and Neuromancer were releasing in the 1980s, Japan was already well on its way to becoming a wellspring of high-tech-low-life science fiction. Part Charlie's Angels, part Iron Man, and all attitude, Bubblegum Crisis exploded onto Japanese screens in 1987 to smash the glass ceiling of female representation in bad ass anime. Squealing tires and squealing guitars provide the soundtrack to this techno-thriller that prefigures the direction anime and Western animation would take for the next two decades. In this episode, we discuss how Bubblegum Crisis came to be and why it may never be again, the cross-pollination that informed the development of cyberpunk on both sides of the Pacific, the economic conditions in Showa Japan that created the OVA boom and modern anime, putting female characters front-and-center, and the unique Japanese flavor of cyberpunk media. We also talk about ChatGPT drinking all our water, Top Gun maps, Chris Nolan: Anime Fan, getting your ball back, Lupin the Murderer, distilling liquid 1987, feminism blankets, missing the yaoi, an exoskeleton for your exoskeleton, Grimace Hulk, and it's not anime...it's HBO!THE BABY SITUATION IS BAD!The new edition of Lyda's book, Ressurection Code, is out now!https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-lyda-morehouse/resurrection-code/Join Kaliban on Twitch weekdays at 12pm for the Cyber Lunch Hour!http://twitch.tv/justenoughtropePut Just Enough Trope merch on your body!http://justenoughtrope.threadless.comMLOP is a part of the Just Enough Trope podcast network. Check out our other shows about your favorite pop culture topics and join our Discord!http://www.twitter.com/monalisaoverpodhttp://www.justenoughtrope.comhttp://www.instagram.com/monalisaoverpodhttps://discord.gg/7E6wUayqBuy us a coffee on Ko-Fi!https://ko-fi.com/justenoughtrope

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  1:34:59
• MLOP 18: "Reality" in Cyberpunk

  Welcome to Mona Lisa Overpod, the show that asks the question "What is cyberpunk?" On each episode, hosts Ka1iban and author Lyda Morehouse dive into the genre that helped define sci-fi fiction in '80s and they break down its themes which remain relevant to our lives in the 21st century. Pull on your mirrorshades, jack into the matrix, and start your run with us today!In our modern world of digital landscapes and virtual reality, the concept of the "real" can be as tenuous as ever. Is the Internet a real place? What does it mean that fictional characters and augmented worlds seem as real as what's outside your door? And what do we do when reality as we know it becomes optional?  In this episode, we discuss how the digital revolution put reality on trial and how "reality" as a concept is explored in cyberpunk fiction. We also talk about the abacus vs. Excel, the fall of Google, being a human AI detector, the mystery of memory and identity, editing yourself, '90s movies about reality, the way that popular media lags behind science fiction, the worlds of Philip K Dick, poopooing the woowooing, the other side of the dream, trying to get rich as a sci-fi author, horrible virtual grocery stores, how data manipulation shapes reality, getting Kojima on you, incentivizing meanness, and Making America Real Again!Help AI help you!The new edition of Lyda's book, Ressurection Code, is out now!https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-lyda-morehouse/resurrection-code/Join Kaliban on Twitch weekdays at 12pm for the Cyber Lunch Hour!http://twitch.tv/justenoughtropePut Just Enough Trope merch on your body!http://justenoughtrope.threadless.comMLOP is a part of the Just Enough Trope podcast network. Check out our other shows about your favorite pop culture topics and join our Discord!http://www.twitter.com/monalisaoverpodhttp://www.justenoughtrope.comhttp://www.instagram.com/monalisaoverpodhttps://discord.gg/7E6wUayqBuy us a coffee on Ko-Fi!https://ko-fi.com/justenoughtrope

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  1:43:43
• MLOP 17: Two Truths and a Lie with Cory O'Brien

  Welcome to Mona Lisa Overpod, the show that asks the question "What is cyberpunk?" On each episode, hosts Ka1iban and author Lyda Morehouse dive into the genre that helped define sci-fi fiction in '80s and they break down its themes which remain relevant to our lives in the 21st century. Pull on your mirrorshades, jack into the matrix, and start your run with us today!Cyberpunk is alive and well in the 21st century and today we're talking with the author of the latest addition to the cyberpunk canon: author Cory O'Brien! In the watery streets of future LA, data is the only currency, and Infodrip fact-checker Orr Vue will find himself at the center of a twisted murder mystery that could cost him his mind, his freedom, and his life! In this episode, we talk with Cory about the origins of the novel's premise, the connections between cyberpunk and noir fiction, the difference between 20th century and 21st century cyberpunk, the literal information economy presented in the book, the gross incompetence of our techno-overlords, how humans contextualize knowledge better than AI, the limits of current AI models, why corporations "let" you be gay, and when the aesthetic overwhelms the genre. We also talk about rogue AI, losing the "punk", stacking your demos, jealously guarding your cat pictures, monetizing fun, digital beastmastering, messing around with Eliza, the home Voight-Kampff test, William Gibson poems, making cyberpunk literally juicy, and an interruption from Alexa!Telepathy would never work!Pre-order Two Truths and a Lie, available March 4th!https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741701/two-truths-and-a-lie-by-cory-obrien/See Cory on the web!http://bettermyths.comThe new edition of Lyda's book, Ressurection Code, is out now!https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-lyda-morehouse/resurrection-code/Join Kaliban on Twitch weekdays at 12pm for the Cyber Lunch Hour!http://twitch.tv/justenoughtropePut Just Enough Trope merch on your body!http://justenoughtrope.threadless.comMLOP is a part of the Just Enough Trope podcast network. Check out our other shows about your favorite pop culture topics and join our Discord!http://www.twitter.com/monalisaoverpodhttp://www.justenoughtrope.comhttp://www.instagram.com/monalisaoverpodhttps://discord.gg/7E6wUayqBuy us a coffee on Ko-Fi!https://ko-fi.com/justenoughtrope

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  1:34:45
• MLOP 16: The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded

  Welcome to Mona Lisa Overpod, the show that asks the question "What is cyberpunk?" On each episode, hosts Ka1iban and author Lyda Morehouse dive into the genre that helped define sci-fi fiction in '80s and they break down its themes which remain relevant to our lives in the 21st century. Pull on your mirrorshades, jack into the matrix, and start your run with us today!There is movies before 1999's The Matrix, and there is movies after The Matrix and those two worlds are not the same. Into a cinematic landscape of TV adaptations, potbolier thrillers, and Oscar-bait dramas came a film that kicked open the screen doors of the public's perception and changed movie-making forever. The Matrix is so ingrained into our idea of technology and culture that it's hard to imagine its absence, but we're here to try and pick apart its contribution to culture, misunderstanding the red pill, and the film's status as the ultimate cyberpunk artifact. In this episode, we discuss the inspirations behind the universe of the Matrix, its forebears in sci-fi and Hong Kong cinema, the trend of reality-questioning media in the 1990s, the power of the series's practical effects, the intentions of the creators, our fan theories and headcanon, and how it's ultimately a spiritual film. We also talk about "Who shot JR?", cool European AIs, high-caliber flipping, digital goulash, being more Dicky than Gibsonian, the Google Agent Smith AI, 'punkin in the '90s, Happy Meal levels of cultural penetration, Kate Moss kicking ass, fascinating straight people, killing a car with a sword, and a heist PLUS a rave cave?!Matthew Lillard is the One!The new edition of Lyda's book, Ressurection Code, is out now!https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-lyda-morehouse/resurrection-code/Join Kaliban on Twitch weekdays at 12pm for the Cyber Lunch Hour!http://twitch.tv/justenoughtropePut Just Enough Trope merch on your body!http://justenoughtrope.threadless.comMLOP is a part of the Just Enough Trope podcast network. Check out our other shows about your favorite pop culture topics and join our Discord!http://www.twitter.com/monalisaoverpodhttp://www.justenoughtrope.comhttp://www.instagram.com/monalisaoverpodhttps://discord.gg/7E6wUayqBuy us a coffee on Ko-Fi!https://ko-fi.com/justenoughtrope

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  1:54:40
• MLOP 15: Brazil (1985)

  Welcome to Mona Lisa Overpod, the show that asks the question "What is cyberpunk?" On each episode, hosts Ka1iban and author Lyda Morehouse dive into the genre that helped define sci-fi fiction in '80s and they break down its themes which remain relevant to our lives in the 21st century. Pull on your mirrorshades, jack into the matrix, and start your run with us today!Christmas is a time of good cheer and goodwill to all, while cyberpunk presents a world of grimness and the brutality of institutions towards the individual. So, clearly, there's no such thing as a cyberpunk Christmas story, right? Enter Brazil, the terrifyingly funny film by Terry Gilliam that takes 1984 and places it squarely in the middle of British fascist Christmas. Gilliam milks humor from the absurd degradations of an oppressive society, all while highlighting the techno-fetishism and enforced consumption that substitute for human connection in the world of the film and often our own. In this episode, we discuss the origins of Brazil as a film, the story's parallels with other Christmas tales, the enforced consumption of a cyberpunk society, the influence of Brave New World and 1984 on the film, the radical act of giving away labor, Tom Cruise?, fascism's banal ideologies, commoditizing art, and becoming immune to satire. We also talk about being charged for your own interrogation, being iffy on Gilliam, weird baby people, medium ball questions, dumb frogs, Robert de Niro fixing your pipes, the implication of corn, getting distracted by the hamster, and skeeting in the right way!Consumers for Christ!The new edition of Lyda's book, Ressurection Code, is out now!https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-lyda-morehouse/resurrection-code/Join Kaliban on Twitch weekdays at 12pm for the Cyber Lunch Hour!http://twitch.tv/justenoughtropePut Just Enough Trope merch on your body!http://justenoughtrope.threadless.comMLOP is a part of the Just Enough Trope podcast network. Check out our other shows about your favorite pop culture topics and join our Discord!http://www.twitter.com/monalisaoverpodhttp://www.justenoughtrope.comhttp://www.instagram.com/monalisaoverpodhttps://discord.gg/v8NC3JMRBuy us a coffee on Ko-Fi!https://ko-fi.com/justenoughtrope

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  1:36:01

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