Sister podcasters raised by 80s and 90s movies: Tracie Guy-Decker, lover of animation, Muppets, comedy, and feminism & Emily Guy Birken, storytelling nerd, mental health advocate, and pop culture aficionado
140 episodes listed below
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80s and 90s movies and early 2000s tv may be called stupid shit by some, but you know it matters. So do we. We're Tracie and Emily, sister podcasters who love well-crafted fiction and one another. In this comedy podcast, we look at the classic movies of our Gen X childhood and adolescence, analyzing film tropes to uncover the cultural commentary on romance, money, religion, mental health, and more. From Twilight to Ghostbusters, Harry Potter to the Muppets, comedy to drama to horror, we use feminism, our super smart brains, and each other to uncover the lessons lurking behind the...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker turn remembered screen comedy into sharp conversations about culture, craft and the assumptions hiding inside a joke.
Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Comedy Podcast turns familiar movies and television into lively arguments about what their jokes, romances and villains quietly teach.
Scream's work boots turn your rewatch into a pleasantly suspicious little investigation.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm, thoughtful rewatch that finds fresh weight in a beloved baseball film.
Tracy Guy-Decker and her sister Emily revisit A League of Their Own as something more than a nostalgic rewatch. They move from memorable lines and strong performances, especially Geena Davis and Madonna, into the film's harder edges: the Dottie and Kit dynamic, the pressure…
A sitcom memory becomes a sharp look at money, power, and why pop culture gets dismissed.
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker use The Nanny as a familiar starting point, then steer the conversation toward why pop culture still deserves serious attention.
A pop-culture conversation that starts with a rom-com-looking poster and opens into labor, class, and the film's real stakes.
This episode treats Brassed Off as something sturdier than a casual pop-culture nod. It begins with the poster's rom-com surface, then moves into miners, coal, labor, and the pressure hanging over the town behind the film.
A sharp Gremlins conversation that treats pop culture like it matters.
Gremlins gets treated here as more than a nostalgia trip. Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken keep circling the film's movie love, and the references they catch, from It's a Wonderful Life to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Disney's Snow White, give the talk its shape.
A grief-forward reading of a dinosaur classic that keeps critique and affection in the same room.
The Land Before Time becomes a discussion about grief, memory, and the work of carrying loss forward. Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken move from Littlefoot's mother and the leaf he keeps with him to the film's ideas about belonging and discrimination, and they treat those…
A sharp talk on Wall Street that keeps its money games feeling uncomfortably current.
Emily Guy-Burken, with Tracy Guy-Decker and guest Joe Saul Sehi, uses Wall Street to talk about money, culture, and why the film still lands now.
A sharp, affectionate look at why Scream still holds up and still rewards close reading.
This episode breaks down Scream with care, using the film to think about bodily autonomy, pop culture, and the pleasure of reading too much into something others might shrug off.
A personal revisit to a classic comedy that keeps the laughs, the discomfort, and the awkwardness in view.
Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken revisit A Fish Called Wanda through memory, reaction, and discomfort. They move from a childhood memory of watching it with their grandmother Ruthie to what still hits now: Jamie Lee Curtis's insult-to-stupid line, Kevin Kline's grotesque…
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracee Guy-Decker revisit the 1998 film The Truman Show, with Tracee recalling the catchphrase “good morning, and if I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night” and the “how will it end” button on Sylvia’s shirt.
Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken analyze Barry Levinson’s 1988 film Rain Man, focusing on how it introduced many viewers to autism through Dustin Hoffman’s Raymond and Tom Cruise’s Charlie Babbitt.
Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Comedy Podcast looks at the 1995 film Home for the Holidays, a Thanksgiving movie set in Baltimore and built around Claudia Larson, played by Holly Hunter.
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker revisit the 2005 film V for Vendetta after Stephen Colbert’s late-night cancellation and the coincidence of immediate fallout after his CBS merger jokes.
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker focus on Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 film Strictly Ballroom, especially the Pan Pacific Grand Prix Latin dance and the way a tiny amateur trophy gets treated like a life goal.
Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken revisit The Jerk as a comedy built on racial stereotype, whiteness, and absurd taste.
Tracy Guy-Decker opens by making the case that pop culture is worth taking seriously.
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker discuss Cameron Crowe's 1989 film Say Anything, focusing on John Cusack's Lloyd Dobler, Ione Skye's Diane Court, and John Mahoney's Jim Court.
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker revisit the 1989 film Weekend at Bernie's, using it to test whether a one-joke movie can still carry cultural meaning.
Tracy Guy-Decker talks with Aaron Reynolds, the mind behind F and Birds, about The Log Driver's Waltz, a National Film Board of Canada animated short tied to CBC children's programming.
Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker dig into the 1997 film Grosse Pointe Blank, with Tracy hearing it for the first time and Emily revisiting why she loved its soundtrack, John Cusack’s performance, and Minnie Driver’s role as Debbie Newberry.
Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Comedy Podcast spends this episode on the 1990 film Dick Tracy, with Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken comparing it to Batman and to their own memories of seeing it with their dad.
Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken revisit Penny Marshall's 1992 film A League of Their Own, centering Geena Davis as Dottie Hinson, Lori Petty as Kit Keller, and the league's move from an Oregon dairy to the Rockford Peaches.
Emily Guy-Birkin and her sister Tracy dissect the 2003 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, exploring how Johnny Depp's Keith Richards-inspired Jack Sparrow permanently rewired pop culture's image of pirates, why the film's 'pirates as rock stars of the 18th century' framing is insulting in both directions, how the screenplay's tight plotting and both-and moral nuance elevated a movie everyone expected to flop, and where the film's early-2000s performative feminism falls short despite Elizabeth Swann's surface-level agency.
Tracy and Emily analyze the 1985 sci-fi film Enemy Mine, discussing its themes of non-binary representation, cross-cultural empathy, and practical effects, while critiquing elements like saviorism and how it holds up today.
Emily and Tracy analyze the 1998 film 'What Dreams May Come', discussing its visual beauty, afterlife cosmology, and problematic elements like misogyny from Richard Matheson's novel and racial microaggressions.
The show opens with a childhood memory of the fun nanny.
Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken revisit the 1994 film The Road to Wellville, which Emily remembers as “an extremely uncomfortable film to watch with our dad.” The conversation centers on Anthony Hopkins as Dr.
Tracy and Emily analyze the animated TV show Daria, exploring its themes of 90s feminism, intelligence as a burden, and cynicism as privilege.
Emily and Tracy analyze the 1987 film Roxanne, a Steve Martin adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, discussing its themes of romance, masculinity, femininity, and comedy.
Emily and Tracy analyze Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film, discussing its themes of income inequality, vigilantism, and art.
Tracy opens by picking Brassed Off as the film under discussion.
The movie makers clearly love movies.
Emily and Tracy analyze the 2003 film Love Actually, critiquing its portrayal of love, fat-shaming, and consumerism while acknowledging its nostalgic appeal.
Tracy opens by tying Land Before Time to grief, arguing that you do not really move on from loss so much as carry it and keep walking.
Hosts Emily and Tracy interview Joe Saul-Sehy about the film Wall Street, analyzing its themes of greed, masculinity, and morality.
Emily and Tracy analyze the 1996 horror film Scream, exploring its feminist themes, meta-commentary on horror tropes, and personal impact on Emily, who credits it with sparking her love for the genre while grappling with its portrayal of murder as entertainment.
Tracy Guy-Decker and Emily Guy-Burken revisit A Fish Called Wanda through memory, family history, and a new adult reading of the film.
Emily opens by arguing that Speed deserves more than a shrug.
Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Comedy Podcast focuses on The Golden Girls, with Emily Guy-Burken and Tracy Guy-Decker tracing why Rose, Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia still matter.
The hosts discuss the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, analyzing its plot and themes from a pop-culture perspective.
The hosts discuss the 1989 film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, analyzing its charm and dated elements with humor.
The hosts discuss the Muppet Christmas Carol with a guest, analyzing its impact and Muppet storytelling.
The hosts discuss the 1988 film Beetlejuice, analyzing its themes and cultural impact.
The hosts discuss the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, sharing memories and analyzing its cultural significance with humor.