In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
- The Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit has become the pandemic’s latest must-see TV. Niki referred to the role of African-American character Jolene, discussed in this Bitch article, and to her own piece on female leads for CNN. Neil cited this piece on Russian prowess at chess from Slate.
In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:
- Natalia shared New York City mayoral candidate Dianne Morales’ Twitter thread about her portrayal in a New York Times roundup.
- Neil discussed Caitlin Flanagan’s Atlantic article, “Don’t Subject Your Kids to Rudolph.”
- Niki recommended Marianna Cerini’s CNN article, “A Cozy History of the Ugly Christmas Sweater.”
![A lantern slideshows four overlapping illustrations of the Earth depicting its tilt at different time periods in the past, present and future. Dates represented are 13000 BC, 5544 BC, 1921 AD, 2296AD. Handwritten in blue ink at bottom left corner of plate is the text 'G53 CLW [illegible] Aug '22'.](https://i0.wp.com/publicseminar.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Wragge_Earth.jpg?fit=768%2C749&ssl=1)
You guys watch too many horror shows. Most of the time (like 99.9% of the time) a kid can go down in a basement without getting raped, a woman can be in a hotel room with a man without being raped, etc. Yet you seem to imply it’s unrealistic (or maybe you were just disappointed?) when that’s exactly what doesn’t happen (ie, a sexual assault). What’s more likely to happen in real life is what was portrayed- nothing terrible. Your sensationalistic mindset has it all backwards.