Ticklish Business
Film critic Kristen Lopez and author Emily Edwards honor and celebrate Old Hollywood, the films and stars that continue to shine brightly for audiences today. With special guests brought along for the ride, the duo hope to celebrate the movies they love, and bring a new generation into an appreciation for classic film.
Episodes
February 18, 2026 • 61 mins
The listeners spoke and you wanted Kristen and Emily on the Moors to talk about Heathcliff, Cathy, and 1939's Wuthering Heights.
But we couldn't just talk about the movie and Emily Bronte. We needed a Bronte expert. And who better to join us as a guest than the director of the Emily Bronte biopic Emily: Frances O'Connor! O'Connor, Kristen and Emily discuss Bronte's life, whether Heathcliff was a person of color, and why we love th...
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February 4, 2026 • 63 mins
Emily and Kristen wanted to do a makeshift Flop-uary and we're doing so by watching what many consider the worst Best Picture winner ever: 1967's Doctor Dolittle. Emily and Kristen break down how the movie got made (blame My Fair Lady), Rex Harrison's talk singing, and the host of issues that made this another expensive disaster for 20th Century Fox.
We ran into some issues, technical and personal, with this one. Our original gues...
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January 21, 2026 • 67 mins
We're back for our 10th anniversary season!!!
And we're kicking things off with a listener favorite: our first time new discoveries of 2025. We look back at the year that was and the classic films we fell in love with. And we have former Ticklish Biz co-host, Samantha Richardson (nee Ellis) joining us.
The trio give their lists and share the movies that almost made them. We also read some of your favorites from last year.
...
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January 7, 2026 • 52 mins
We're on hiatus this week but here's one from our Patreon vault! Author, and Ticklish Biz friend, Scott Eyman joins Kristen and Emily to discuss his latest book, Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face. Eyman talks about dispelling many of the rumors about the star, including those crafted by her daughter Christina, Crawford's power as a star and more.
Ticklish Business returns with new episodes on January 21!
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December 24, 2025 • 65 mins
We all made it to the end of 2025! This podcast did a lot to keep me sane this year. Chatting with Emily about these movies has meant a lot, and the fact that many of you stuck around for our hiatus...I can't say what it means to us.
As we prep for the new year we're doing an old standard: a top 5 on our favorite Christmas movies. We share the ones that make us think of the holiday season, and one pick from Emily shocks Kristen! ...
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December 10, 2025 • 59 mins
The Christmas movie we'd planned to discuss last year finally gets its due as we're talking about the Rankin-Bass classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's just us this week and you know what that means: expect the unexpected. We go down some paths with this episode, from talking about the LGBTQ community this has fostered, to its disability storyline, and whether it's eschewing capitalism or not.
Did you know you can now watc...
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December 3, 2025 • 60 mins
An episode literally four years in the making! Maybe even five. Who knows how long Kristen has been promising this episode but the day has finally arrived!
It was one of the most that ushered in the death knell for Old Hollywood biopics, and Carole Lombard biographer Robert Matzen joins Kristen and Emily to separate fact from fiction in Gable & Lombard! The trio talk about James Brolin playing Gable, the struggle of portraying Lo...
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November 26, 2025 • 68 mins
Viva la resistance! We're closing the book on our Films of Resistance series as well celebrating the release of Kristen's latest book, Popcorn Disabilities, by talking about a movie looking at disabled activism.
The 1978 feature Coming Home attempted to tell an authentic story about the struggles disabled Vietnam War vets were experiencing. Along the way, it became a landmark for disabled representation in film. Guest Lawrence Ca...
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November 19, 2025 • 57 mins
Viva la resistance! Over the next four episodes we'll be looking at how Old Hollywood talks about politics, independence and democracy and we're looking at the end of the 1970s with this counterculture musical.
Hair shook up Broadway but how did it come off in the movies? Special guest Alex Steed joins Emily to discuss hippiedom and more.
Be sure to follow us via social media at @ticklish_biz on X and @ticklishbiz everywhere els...
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November 12, 2025 • 66 mins
Viva la resistance! Over the next four episodes we'll be looking at how Old Hollywood talks about politics, independence and democracy and we jump into the Cold War 1960s with this Stanley Kubrick satire.
Dr. Strangelove is the de facto movie about the Cold War, though it's presented alongside a spate of movies specifically in 1964 looking at nuclear fears. Film critic Jeff Ewing joins Kristen and Emily to discuss America's fasci...
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November 5, 2025 • 70 mins
Viva la resistance! Over the next four episodes we'll be looking at how Old Hollywood talks about politics, independence and democracy starting with this George Cukor comedy.
Born Yesterday isn't a movie associated with any political group, but it celebrates the joys of being an informed person and our country's history of freedom. Plus, Judy Holliday is perfect and Bill Holden looks hot in glasses. Washington D.C. critic Nell Mi...
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October 22, 2025 • 54 mins
The Halloween season comes to a close with director Rodman Flender talking to us about Roger Corman's A Bucket of Blood. Flender actually worked with Corman and lays out what he was like. We also talk the beatnik movement on-screen!
Be sure to follow us via social media at @ticklish_biz on X and @ticklishbiz everywhere else. Also like and subscribe to us on all podcast apps and, if you love us, leave us a review.
Find Kristen and...
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October 8, 2025 • 57 mins
We're kicking off spooky season with the OG vampire movie: 1922's Nosferatu. Author of Vampire Movies, Charles Bramesco, joins Kristen and Emily to break down the movie's unfortunate flaws, the benefits of stealing its source material, what the hell happened to F.W. Murnau's skull?
You can buy Charles's book Colors of Film: The Story of Cinema in 50 Palettes here.
Have you signed up for our Patreon yet? You don't just get episod...
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September 22, 2025 • 70 mins
Our unintentional Musical Month in September ends by going classical, to the original OG of music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Special guest Richard Kirkham joins Kristen and Emily to talk about this Milos Forman classic, the way this became an '80s classic, and who the hell is Tom Hulce?
Be sure to follow us via social media at @ticklish_biz on X and @ticklishbiz everywhere else. Also like and subscribe to us on all podcast apps and...
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September 10, 2025 • 66 mins
It's Kristen's birthday month and she decided to celebrate with the biggest (fake) rock band of all time. Kristen, Emily, and guest Alan Cerny sit down to talk This is Spinal Tap, the way it plays with the documentary format, and try hard not to spend the whole time quoting it.
Next Time: We unintentionally spend September in the year 1984 so we're looking at (another) musical feature, the Milos Forman classic biopic Amadeus.
B...
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August 27, 2025 • 71 mins
**This episode was recorded prior to Margo's unfortunate passing towards the end of July. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones.**
We're hitting the dance floor with Margo Donohue, the author of Fever: The Complete History of Saturday Night Fever.
Margo joins Kristen and Emily to discuss John Travolta's rise to fame, New York in the 1970s, and whether contemporary audiences can find any redeeming qualities in these cha...
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August 13, 2025 • 67 mins
Edna Ferber biographer Julie Gilbert joins us to discuss the 1956 Western epic Giant. The trio talk about James Dean, Liz Taylor's feminism, and how the movie isn't afraid to deconstruct the genre it's set in.
Buy Julie's book Giant Love by clicking this link.
Be sure to follow us via social media at @ticklish_biz on X and @ticklishbiz everywhere else. Also like and subscribe to us on all podcast apps and, if you love us, leave u...
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July 30, 2025 • 49 mins
Summer comes to a close and we're saying farewell to the beach with Esther Williams and the 1953 movie Dangerous When Wet. It's been a minute since we've disagreed on a movie and we look at Williams as a swimming star, her relationship with Fernando Lamas, and Kristen does dramatic readings from Williams's autobiography.
This episode was created thanks to our Patrons:
Ali Moore
Danny
David Floyd
Gates
mcf
Rachel Clark
Shaw...
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July 16, 2025 • 55 mins
John Malahy, author of the literal book on Summer Movies, joins us on the beach with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello for a discussion on 1965's Beach Blanket Bingo. John, Emily and Kristen talk about what makes a summer movie, the power of Frankie and Annette, and why Harvey Lembeck is the world's oldest teenager.
Buy John's book wherever you get books.
Find Kristen and Emily's books wherever you buy books. Kristen's lates...
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July 2, 2025 • 62 mins
You're gonna need a bigger boat to listen to this episode! We're hitting the water and trying to avoid becoming a hot lunch with a look at the 50th anniversary of Jaws. Christopher Shaw Myers, author and nephew to star Robert Shaw, joins us to break down the movie's significance, Shaw's performance, and why Peter Benchley's book sucks.
Buy Christopher's book Robert Shaw: An Actor's Life on the Set of Jaws and Beyond by clicking th...
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