We Are DYING To Watch - Queens of the Dead | Zombie Book Club Ep 122

We’re buzzing with anticipation for Tina Romero’s upcoming queer‑zombie film Queens of the Dead! From the moment we caught the first trailer; a glitter‑soaked Neon lit warehouse rave gone horribly right, we’ve been dissecting the film’s bold premise, the promise of sequined power tools and six‑inch heeled zombies, and the way Tina Romero’s DJ‑nightlife roots could translate into kinetic, club‑ready choreography. We can’t wait to see how the all‑star drag lineup; Margaret Cho, Nina West, Dominique Jackson, Katie O’Brien and more, turns a typical zombie apocalypse into a celebration of chosen family, joy, and creative survival.

We're also challenging listeners to join our “Boycott the Machine” holiday push—support indie, BIPOC and local business and starve the giants who are supporting blatant fascism.

• The film is now streaming on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Fandango At Home, and Plex; rottentomatoes.com
• Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a 92 % critic score, praising its “glam‑gore” aesthetic and heartfelt humor fandango.com

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ollieeatsbrains/maze-1-staken-not-stirred

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:19):
Well the Mazami Book Club, the only book club where
the book is a movie we haven'tseen yet.
That could be a podcast all onits own.
Movies we haven't seen yet.
But would like to.
We'll never watch them.
I'm Dan, and when I'm not addingendless movies and shows to my
never-ending list of things Ineed to sit down and watch one
day, I'm writing a book aboutWestern civilization clinging to

(00:39):
life by its fingernails amid azombie apocalypse.
And spoiler alert, it doesn'tend well for Western
Civilization.

SPEAKER_00 (00:46):
Even though that means probably doesn't end well
for us, I'm sort of okay withthat.

SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
Yeah, I guess it depends on how hard you're
clinging to Westerncivilization.

SPEAKER_00 (00:53):
Western civilization is so 2000s.
Yeah.
Western Civilization is theTitanic.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00):
And you can you can uh you can play off the Titanic
on the deck, um, or you can jumpinto the freezing water where
the zombies are.

SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
It's also literally a Titanic because there's all
the rich people up top who areentirely dependent on all the
people in the lower decks whomake it possible.
We're trapped in the lowerdecks.
We're absolutely in the lowerdecks, yeah.
Well, some very rich peopleabove us are having a good time.
And I'm Leah.
And if you asked me when westarted this podcast what my
dream zombie story would beabout, I would have told you
it'd be drag queens in a zombieapocalypse.

(01:28):
Oh.
Yeah.
But nobody asked.
Nobody asked.

SPEAKER_01 (01:31):
If only somebody had asked.

SPEAKER_00 (01:34):
Today is a casual debt episode where you'll get
the usual personal lifeapocalypse updates.
There are many.
Oh.
Uh, and then we're going to chatabout the movie we've all been
waiting for, or at least I haveforever, from Tina Romero,
Queens of the Dead.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:50):
I it's I've I feel like we've been waiting so long
that I thought it was alreadyout.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:57):
And I'm like, why haven't we watched that?
It was I I don't think it's intheaters anymore because it had
a very short release.
Yeah, it's an indie film.

SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
So like that it went it went to the you know, it went
to like Tribeca Film Festivaland like those places.

SPEAKER_00 (02:10):
Yeah, it was in the film festivals or in June, and
then it was released on October26th uh to AMC theaters, and I
tried so hard to find a placewith for us with tickets, but
everywhere was at least threehours away.
Granted, we live in the middleof nowhere.
But also it was like you haveone opportunity at 10 p.m.
on Tuesday.

SPEAKER_01 (02:29):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
There's a there's a a um a 9 a.m.
matinee.
Which is so upsetting becausethis is like more hotly
anticipated, in my opinion, fromthe zombie community than a lot
of the blockbusters that havecome out because of who has
written it and produced it.

SPEAKER_01 (02:45):
Yeah, which is Tina Romero.
Yeah.
Who is the daughter of GeorgeRomero.
No big deal.
It should be a bigger deal thanpeople have made it to be.

SPEAKER_00 (02:55):
Really?
And honestly, even if it wasn'tTina Romero, I truly have wanted
zombies and drag queens foryears.
In fact, Nicole Bayer, uh, herpodcast, Why Won't You Date Me,
I remember listening to one ofher episodes with you.
I remember where there was adiscussion of this.
Yeah.
So I kind of wonder if NicoleBayer and Tina Romero had like a
that would be the dream.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (03:15):
I hope there's a cameo.

SPEAKER_00 (03:16):
I just think at the very least, this was like the
the universal consciousness wasbegging for it to come through
from somebody.
And if it had to come through,come through via Tina Romero.
Uh Nicole Bayer's vision, um,she she called Apoca Sluts.
Yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_02 (03:32):
And it was hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 (03:34):
But I think there's room for two.
I still want Apocalyps.
But immediately it like itfilled my head with so many
visions that that would havebeen hilarious.
Like you could do a modern dayzombie comedy that would like
make people like like rolling inlaughter.

SPEAKER_00 (03:51):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (03:51):
Like I I could see just like a whole like season of
RuPaul's drag race like hangingoff the side of like some kind
of zombified ice cream truck,and they're all in like Mad Max
drag, and they're just likewhipping zombies and stuff as
they're driving past and justscreaming and being crazy.
That is not what Queens of theDead is.

SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
Yeah, I know, but this is my vision, Leah.
What if this is if they spun offa whole subgenre of zombie
films, which is just like dragqueen zombie films?
I demand this happens.
I'm going to personally DM everysingle one of my favorite drag
queens and say, please.
Yeah.
I need this.
Yeah, let's do it.
Also, Tina Romero, please comeon the show.

(04:32):
I haven't actually written toyou and asked, but I'm putting
it out there.
That is my pipe dream.
Yeah.
I mean, Tina, Tina listens.

SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
Long time listener.
For sure.
Maybe she does.
You never know.
We don't know.
Well, if you're listening toTina, big fan.

SPEAKER_00 (04:47):
No.

SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
She hasn't commented on our many social media posts.

SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
So no, it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
Uh we release episodes every Sunday.
So subchaser.
That's a word.
It is.
What is what is that word?

SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
Uh, the definition is a small maneuverable patrol
or escort vessel used foranti-submarine warfare.
Oh.
Yeah.
But what we're really saying isplease subscribe if you haven't
yet.

SPEAKER_01 (05:10):
Yeah, subscribe.
Sub subchaser is a differentthing.

SPEAKER_00 (05:14):
Yeah.
But we're doing every week now.
I feel like we need a word ofthe week.
And I've been thinking we shouldbe helping educate all of us,
including ourselves, with somefun definitions.
So if you can find a way toincorporate the word subchaser
into your week, let us know.
Like how Ernest Hemingway was asubchaser.
I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01 (05:31):
Did I did I talk about that on an episode?

SPEAKER_00 (05:34):
No.
What happened was I told youthis was going to be the word,
and then you started likeriffing off about Ernest
Hemingway, and I was like, saveit for the pod, love.
Save it for the pod.
So tell us, tell everybody.

SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
There's not much to know except uh, you know, very
boring details about how ErnestHemingway, the writer, um,
hunted German U-boats in hisfishing boat with uh a Tommy gun
and a box of hand grenades.
Um, so I I went and I made surethat this was factual because
I've been saying this for yearsand never looked it up.
So it is true.

(06:05):
He bought a fishing boat.
It's a 37-foot-long fishingboat.
It I guess it could move prettymuch.

SPEAKER_00 (06:11):
Your notes say 38 feet long, Dan.
What's the truth?
What?

SPEAKER_01 (06:14):
Okay, I'm changing my notes.
Uh he called it OperationFriendless, and it was in act it
was actually in conjunction withthe U.S.
military, this program for uhcivilians to help America um
search for German U-boats thatwere trying to get to the shores

(06:36):
of the United States.
So um they provided a Thompsonsubmachine gun and boxes of hand
grenades, and he went out in hisfishing boat and got drunk and
just threw hand grenades in thewater.
And I feel like I don't thinkthat's a sub chaser, though.
He he is, he's he's chasing subswith a boat.

(06:57):
I guess it is a smallmaneuverable vessel.
Yeah, that's exactly how um itjust happens to be a fishing
boat.
He figured that if if likeGerman U-boats were targeting a
lot of like civilian um luxuryliners and fishing boats, so he
figured if he went out into afishing boat into the Caribbean
Sea, if there's a U-boat outthere, it might try to attack

(07:18):
him, and then he's just gonnatoss hand grenades at him, and
then when they come up tosurface, he was just gonna jump
up on top of the submarine anduh just start fire firing down
through the through the uh exithatch, um, which is a lofty
goal.
But you know what?
He had to have something towrite about.
Something to do.
You know, I feel like as awriter, you gotta do interesting
things so that you haveinteresting things to write

(07:40):
about.

SPEAKER_00 (07:40):
Hmm.
I wonder what version of that isfor you in this time and place.

SPEAKER_01 (07:44):
I mean, I've done a lot of interesting things, so
I'm kind of working on thethings I've already done.

SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
Um, I think you should do new scandalous things.
Yeah, should I uh hunt GermanU-boats?
No, just Nazis.
Okay, I'll hunt Nazis.
Uh, we have some groans from thehorde, long overdue um to share.
We have some really nice Applereviews that were given to us a
couple of months ago, and I'vebeen meaning to give folks

(08:10):
shout-outs.
It's just been, if you've beenfollowing the podcast, a
personal life apocalypse thelast few months, so haven't
gotten to it.
But we've got two new ones.
One from our friend Tyner1000,who says, Love Dan and Leah with
zombie chicken cluck to the moonand back for these two.
Always fun and new topics andentertaining banter.
Keep it up.
It is true.
I remember when Tyner chickenclucked and then thought nobody

(08:32):
would hear it.
And then we found out that Tynerwas friends with Ollie.
Yeah, and then somebody made asong about it.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (08:39):
And included it.
Yes.
Yeah.
So not only did Tyner was Tynerwrong about nobody ever hearing
it, but Tyner is alsoimmortalized in song.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
We realized we were all one degree of separation
because of Tyner calling in togive a chicken cluck.
Oh, I didn't realize that.
Yeah.
I didn't realize that was theconnection.
That was the that was the momentwhere Ollie DM'd us and was
like, I won't tell you thedetails because that's their
personal stuff, but whatever.
They know each other, eventhough they live in different,
totally different parts of thecountry.
So that was the instance.
Montre is like, okay.

(09:12):
Yeah.
We are clearly meant to be bestfriends.
Uh also we have a review fromFrance to Paris, which I thought
Paris was in France.
So I would love an explanationof your name, uh, where they say
zombie tastic.
I love that word.
We're gonna have to use that.
Leah and Dan, you all are magic.
Magic is in all caps.
That's nice.
Yeah, isn't this great?
Yeah.

(09:33):
I need to read this every time Ifeel like I'm never gonna get a
job.
I love listening to you all.
Your chemistry is fantastic.
I don't even like zombies.
But you make it so fun, and I'mhere for it.
Keep doing this podcast.
A lot of exclamation marks.
And Dan, write that book andpublish it.
All caps, XOXO.

SPEAKER_01 (09:50):
You know what?
One one of these days.
One of these days.

SPEAKER_00 (09:54):
You're getting close.
Yeah.
You're getting close.
But thank you so much for thereviews.
They really do keep us going.
We love you all from afar andclose up for those of you who
are around the corner andactually met some, but I'm not
gonna say who because they couldbe listening to this podcast.
But I discovered somebody in ourlittle town is also a big zombie
fan.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
And I would have never guessed.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (10:14):
What what was wild was that um we were like
rattling off movies.
Like, have you seen this movie?
Have you seen this movie?
And they're like, uh, no, I'mjust I don't really watch zombie
movies.
I I prefer to read my zombies.
And we're like, hold on.
We got a podcast for you.

SPEAKER_00 (10:35):
We may randomly have them on.
They could be our secondin-person guest.
Um, I don't know.
Do you think that they would beplaying guitar the entire time?
That would be love.
I mean, I did request thisperson is a musician, you know
who you are.
And uh, I did request that theygive us like a zombie um ambient
soundtrack.
Oh, I think it would be good.
Yeah, I'd love that.
Yeah, that's our specialrequest.

SPEAKER_02 (10:57):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (10:58):
Um life updates.
Life updates, Leah.

SPEAKER_01 (11:01):
How's it going?
Me?
Yeah.
Oh, you know what?
By the time this episode isreleased, I hope I'm also laid
off with you so we can both befun employed.
Yay, together.
Uh, for people who areunfamiliar with my situation,
I'm a seasonal worker.
Um, so when I get laid off, it'sfun.
Because it's only for fourmonths, you know it's gonna end.

(11:22):
I get hired back after thewinter.

SPEAKER_02 (11:24):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (11:25):
Um, but you know, I like people people know my how
things are in the summer.
I'm barely keeping it together.
Um, I'm I'm foregoing sleep.
Um for re for reasons I don'tknow.
I don't I don't know where thesleep goes.
You just don't have time for it.
Yeah, I just don't there's notime for sleep, so I get to

(11:45):
sleep during the winter.
I hibernate like a bear.
Uh, and it's great.
And this is the winter time iswhen I have when I have the time
to write, and that's where Imake most of my progress.

SPEAKER_00 (11:56):
Yeah, I pointed out to you because the other day
you're like, I've been writingthis book for three years, and I
was like, Well, if you actuallyadd up your four-month periods,
you've been working on it for ayear.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (12:05):
Still a long time.
Yep, the closer I get, thefurther away I am.
That's how I feel about writing.
You were telling me some prettyinteresting stuff.
I feel like you've got it.
Um, you know, some other thingsthat I am excited about this
winter is uh, you know, I I I Iwanna I wanna make some some
zombie apocalypse weapons.

(12:25):
Um I've uh I've made somethings, you know, like some
actual zombie chop like zombieshopping implements made out of
steel.
I've done that, and I'm like,that's cool, I wanna do that,
but um, but then I was I I put alot of thought into it.
I'm like, you know what peoplereally want though is stuff that
they can take to cons.

(12:46):
Uh you know, they they wantstuff that they don't get
stopped by security and thrownout of the building for.
So I'm like, I'm gonna make somelike prop zombie apocalypse
weapons, and I'm gonna I'm gonnado my best to make them as like
convincing as possible.
Um, so I don't know, keep an eyeout for that if that's something
you're interested in, because II will probably have something.

SPEAKER_00 (13:06):
I think between the two of us, we really could do
some very cool cosplay stuff.
Yeah, and if there's gonna be aLiving Dead weekend at
Monroeville Mall again this yearor next year in 2026, I think we
could just have like zombieprops.
Zombie cosplay props.
Cosplay props.
That's really say that.
It's hard to say.
Cosplay props.
There's too many P's Cosbyprops.

(13:28):
No, we don't like Cosby anymore.

SPEAKER_01 (13:30):
We don't.
Um I also want to make stuff outof out of metal.
You know, I want to make likereal uh like zombie survival
tools.
It might be in the in the worksdown the road, but I do I know
somebody locally that I used towork with who now owns like a
really expensive CNC plasmacutter, and I'm like, you know,
I could actually make something.

SPEAKER_00 (13:51):
You can make something cool.

SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
I could.

SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
And we don't live in the UK where machetes are
illegal.

SPEAKER_01 (13:55):
Yeah.
You know, that's a good thingabout making the prop ones, is
like if you live in the UK andlike here's a a zombie
decapitation knife, it'sdefinitely because it's plastic.

SPEAKER_00 (14:06):
If there's like a uh for all of our UK listeners, hi,
how's it going over across thepond?
Hope that you're enjoying beingin a slightly less fascist
situation than us.
Uh, but uh if there's any likereally cool zombie conferences
or horror conferences that youthink we could go to in a world
where we can afford to fly, letus know.
It would be really great to havelike a meetup.

(14:26):
Yeah, let's go to the UK.
Dan can bring all those fakeweapons and get them checked at
the airport.

SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
They they just stop me and they're like, this
backpack's filled entirely withknives.
I'm like, it's okay.
It's fine.
But being a baby and let methrough.

SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
My life update, I think first and foremost, all
the folks who have supported ourGoFundMe to have a six-month
survival plan for the podcastwhile I am getting a job.
Just want to say again, thankyou.
It's taken a load of stress offfor us.
Uh the job search continues, butthere are some lights on the
horizon now.
There were not.
If you asked me two weeks ago, Iwas like, I this is bad.

(15:03):
There's no lights in thehorizon.
There are no lights.
Nobody wants me.
I'm rejected from all.
Yeah, there's no jobs anymore.
Yeah.
No one will ever hire you again.
But apply to Walmart.
It's actually a lot of like itis a weird time because I
personally know a lot of peoplehave been laid off.
Yeah.
Nonprofit world is definitelyfeeling it.

(15:23):
Um, this administration.
And I don't just mean people Iwork with, I mean people that
I'm friends with across thecountry are recently laid off.
And a lot of people will saythings like, if I get a job, I
gotta be like, we are going toget jobs.
We have to believe we're gonnaget jobs.

SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
But it can feel scary out there.
I remember you sent me one jobposting.
And what how much was it?
It was like it was like 3,000applicants, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
I think it was more than that.
Hold on.
I think I screen captured itbecause it was so upsetting to
me.
Yeah, so for this job, it was achief of staff job.
Uh 3,300 people have applied and1,500 of them in the past day.
And then um Canada educationlevel, 25% had a master's
degree, like me.
30% had a master's of businessadministration, and then

(16:07):
everybody else had somethingelse.
But it's that's that's what I'mup against.

SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
Yeah, so like a good uh like if you added it all up,
I mean it it'd probably it'dprobably be over a thousand
people have master's degrees.

SPEAKER_00 (16:20):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, and then another more thanthat, like another 1200 or so
have MBAs.
Yeah.
Well, I was combining those two.
Oh, oh, okay.
That makes more sense.
Math is bad right now.
It's still my still working onmy coffee.
But that's why I was feelingpretty down on things.
But more recently, I'm startingto get some interest.
I've done a few interviews.

(16:41):
I feel like I will get hiredsomewhere.
Um, how much money I make isquestionable.
And um definitely thinking aboutways to make this podcast
sustainable longer term.
I have a personal commitmentthat we never make it so that
people who can't afford tosupport us cannot get access to
things at the same time.
But we might try and figure outlike a pay what you can

(17:03):
scenario.
So stay tuned for that.
Um, some fun things though.
Uh I had my first art show lastnight.
Yeah.
Our little local town through anart show, and it was weird.

SPEAKER_01 (17:14):
I couldn't hear what anyone was saying.
Yeah.
It's in it's in like an oldhistoric building.
So like very loud.
The reverberation of sound islike you hear everyone
everywhere all at once.

SPEAKER_00 (17:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (17:26):
And you already have a hard time in crowds, like
hearing.

SPEAKER_02 (17:29):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
And also, I don't know if this is like a thing
that uh 70 to 80-year-old peopledo, but like in this incredibly
noisy atmosphere where my earsare ringing from the noise,
people are just like talkingwith the softest possible voice.
Like I just see their lipsmoving.
I don't even hear sound comingtowards me.

(17:52):
And I'm just nodding along andjust like kind of catching every
tenth or twelfth word thatthey're saying and just being
like, oh yeah, I have lived herea while.
Uh-huh.
Oh, the post office, you say.

SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
You know my favorite part.
I don't remember what it was uhthat she said to us, but we were
talking to a couple that were intheir 70s that were our like art
neighbors, really great art.
And um, she said something, andthen I I forget what it was, but
it was something like verygendered.
And the husband like gave youlike a knowing side-eye glance,

(18:27):
and it was so strange.
There was definitely agenerational gap, like just for
context in Vermont, Dan and Iare younger than the average age
in Vermont.

SPEAKER_01 (18:36):
We were the youngest people there.

SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
We were not the youngest, except for the
children.
There were some children, yes.
There were children, and thatwas it.
Yeah.
Uh but we were the youngest.
I was the youngest artist,except for that's not true.
There was one child artistunderage two.
She was 12.
So I was the second youngest.
Next to a 12-year-old.
And um, I just realized likeCOVID plus not really spending a
lot of time with older people ina while that there's like old

(19:00):
people social cues that I don'tget anymore.
And also, I cannot count on bothfingers how many times um older
women would come up to me andtell me to protect my skin from
the sun so I don't get wrinkly.
It was really bizarre.
And I'm just gonna put it outthere on the podcast.
I am pro-wrinkles.
I am pro-aging because agingmeans you get to be here.

SPEAKER_02 (19:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (19:23):
Well, it's not gonna happen because a lot of people,
and for everybody, andespecially in our generation, a
lot of folks choose to um doBotox and all of those things.
And if that's your choice, getit because there's so much
pressure to look young forever.
But um, I will just say briefly,with my sister dying at 42 years
old from cancer, I know that shewould give anything, including
her smooth face, to have somewrinkles to still be here.

(19:46):
And I think aging is anincredible privilege.
So I'm Team Wrinkle.
So I just was like, yeah, okay.
I'm gonna get wrinkly.
Sorry to disappoint you.
It comes for all of us,especially white people.
You should see my grandmother.
My granny on my uh dad's side isvery wrinkly.
Yeah, yeah.
She had the wrinkles.
Yeah, she it's it is truethough, she was in the sun.

(20:07):
She was basically a childlaborer.
This is going sideways.
And my you know what?
It's true.
And I think it my other grandmaalways wore a hat, and she was
less wrinkly.

SPEAKER_01 (20:15):
Yeah.
I mean, I think I think it's agood job of not being totally in
the sun all the time.

SPEAKER_00 (20:20):
Yeah.
I mean, I just like it wasn'tlike don't get skin cancer.
It was like, don't get wrinkles.
Yeah, I look so youthful becauseI spent a decade playing video
games.
I mean, I've got wrinklesalready and like literally a
huge gray streak in my hair.
So I don't know.
But it was it was strange, um,but also lovely, some very nice

(20:41):
people.
And then um I would say ifyou've noticed we've been a
little quieter on the socialmedia, it's because I feel like
my creative energy has beengoing primarily to job
applications and then local artshows.
So I'm gonna try and get betterat that.

SPEAKER_01 (20:54):
Yeah, I mean there's also not a whole lot of time
after you after you're applyingto all these jobs.
Like it's a it's a full it'sliterally a full-time job.

SPEAKER_00 (21:02):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (21:03):
Plus some.

SPEAKER_00 (21:04):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
Um, you you don't really have the ability to like
allow yourself to relax whenthings are bad.
So like you'll you'll apply forlike two jobs in a whole in a
day, which like for you thatprocess is a really long time
because it's not like you'reapplying for McDonald's or you
just fill out the application.

(21:25):
Like, this is a this is a aprocess.

SPEAKER_00 (21:28):
Every application is like a bespoke application,
yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (21:31):
Um and like even after that, it's like it's six
o'clock and it's time to to eatdinner.
And um, that's when I find outusually that Leah has not had
lunch, hasn't eaten anything buta slice of toast for breakfast.
Yeah.
And uh is still like, I gottaput one more in.
And I'm like, the food is infront of you, Leah.

(21:52):
And she's like, hold on, let mefinish this email.
So there's really not a wholelot of time to to make a lot of
posts.

SPEAKER_00 (21:59):
Well, I think it's just the creative energy.
Like, I had a full-time job andI wasn't I was putting out posts
and reels all the time, but likemy my day job required
creativity and thoughtfulness,but it didn't this kind of like
having to reinvent myself andlike speak about myself in a
very specific way to match thespecifics of this job
opportunity and like do theresearch about the organization
and picture myself there andlike it's just a lot of a lot of

(22:23):
not just mental labor butemotional labor.
Um, because I have to get likeslightly attached and excited
every time, knowing that oddsare I will never hear from them.
Yeah.
Um, so and then up preparing forinterviews.
I don't have ask that shit.
So I like hardcore prepare foran interview.
Yeah, like like days, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
Days of preparation.

SPEAKER_00 (22:42):
I will do, yeah.
At this point, you could ask meanything, Dan, and I would have
a great answer in the starformat.
Situation, task, actions, andresults.

SPEAKER_01 (22:51):
Seriously.
That's that's uh that's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 (22:53):
Yeah.
Anyways, oh yeah, also our dogdied a couple weeks ago.
So there's that.
It's been it's been weird outhere, but I I think we're doing
okay.

SPEAKER_01 (23:01):
Yeah.
Uh also, I mean, we've beenhearing from a lot of creatives
out there who are strugglingright now because of just
because of the absolute fuckshow that is the world that we
live in right now.
Um and all of that doom andgloom, it really affects people

(23:22):
in a way that like not everybodycan just turn it into creative
energy.
Um some people are likecompletely demoralized and and
cannot create under thoseconditions.
And it's it's been it's beenrough for some people out there,
me included.
You know, I've I've been doinglike writing sessions on
Saturdays, and some someSaturdays I'm just like, I got

(23:45):
nothing.
I got nothing left.
I've got nothing in the tank,and the the headlines are just
kicking me while I'm down.
It's it's bad.
Yeah.
Um I don't have any solutionsfor that.
I just I'm just putting it outthere.

SPEAKER_00 (24:01):
I think it might be helpful for people to hear
because I think there was Ithink I don't know, did you feel
alone before you started hearingother authors say the same thing
to you?
Because now it's been like fivepeople in the last couple of
weeks.

SPEAKER_01 (24:12):
You know, a little bit.
Um Yeah, I I I do remember acouple times like trying to
explain to some people like why,like why I feel like I can't
really focus and write.
And you know, I I would get thatanswer where it's just like you
gotta you get you gotta turn,you gotta use that as fuel.
And I'm like, yeah, it's um Ihave PTSD.

(24:35):
It shuts down the center of mybrain that allows me to
communicate when I get likethis.
Yeah, I literally I can onlyjust kind of stare blankly
sometimes.
Um, you know, whenever wheneverpeople have like that
thousand-yard stare, or youknow, like the story of like,
well, my uncle Jeff went toVietnam and I asked him if he

(24:55):
killed any people in Vietnam andhe got real quiet.
It's like the reason that theyget real quiet is not because
they're mad or like they justwant to be stoic.
It's because their brainremembers something and like
suddenly like I'm gonna shiftall the blood that went to the
part of your brain that allowsyou to speak, and I'm gonna put
it in the part of your brainthat makes you survive.

SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (25:16):
And suddenly you're just like, I I bat bat
literally, that's what you soundlike.

SPEAKER_00 (25:23):
Yeah.
The most important thing I cando for you in those ones is give
you a hug.
That's what I've learned.
It helps.
I love hugs.

SPEAKER_01 (25:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
With from me, you don't likehugs from anybody else.
I mean, yeah, from you, from myboss at work.
Um wait, we hug a lot.
You and Matt are hugging alittle?
No, uh, when we're out therepaving, um, it can be hard.
And something that people don'tknow about paving crews is that
uh when when they're in themiddle of paving a road, there's

(25:50):
times where everybody like theyblow a whistle and everybody
just gets together and startshugging.

SPEAKER_00 (25:54):
You know what?
I actually wish this was true.
As long as there was consentinvolved for everybody, but it
would be just the opposite ofthe toxic masculine culture that
is construction work.
Yeah.
To be like, I've I support youremotions in this moment.
I know that the stakes are high.
I think we just need a hug.
Yeah.
Let's co-regulate our nervoussystems together.
Let's all hum.
Humming is very good for yournervous system.

SPEAKER_01 (26:16):
Yeah.
I actually I actually think itwould help a lot because like
this week I got yelled at bysomebody.

SPEAKER_00 (26:22):
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 (26:22):
I don't know who it was.
And I don't know what they wereyelling about because I was in
my truck and I didn't evenrealize they were yelling at me
until they walked away.
But yeah, some somebody uh acone got misplaced.
And it wasn't me.
I hadn't touched the cone, whichis why I didn't think he was
yelling at me.
But the guy comes walking out inthe middle of the road, grabs
the cone, throws it down, throwsup his hands, he's yelling, he's

(26:43):
yelling, waving his handsaround, and he looks really
angry.
Then he walks away.
And then uh then I like lookedbehind me and I'm like, there's
nobody behind me.
I think he was yelling at me.
So then I had to ask him, I'mlike, was he yelling at me?
And they're like, I think hewas.
I'm like, oh, good thing Ididn't didn't know because I
probably would have would havescreamed at him.

(27:04):
Because that's where I'm at.
But imagine if instead we justhugged.
He's like, I'm upset about thiscone.
I'm like, bring it in, bring itin.

SPEAKER_00 (27:12):
It's okay.
We're gonna be okay, we're gonnafigure this out together.
Yeah, we're all on the sameteam.
None of us want to die or behurt today, so let's figure it
out.
Yeah, which has happened a lotthis season for you.

SPEAKER_02 (27:23):
That's true.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (27:24):
Uh speaking of dying and getting hurt, let's do our
little zombies in the news.
Queens of the dead is out.

SPEAKER_01 (27:31):
I don't know anything about this.

SPEAKER_00 (27:33):
Yeah, so I've written a few uh of our casual
dead like outlines becauseyou've been really busy and I
wanted to have the opportunityonce you're laid off for us to
just like get through somerecordings.

SPEAKER_02 (27:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (27:44):
Um, and this one was definitely one of the times
where I was like, I cannot applyfor another job and talk about
how I'm an amazing strategicleader anymore.
Hire me.
I good at strategy.
I make numbers go up.
I mean, I think that's enough.
Yeah.
If you hire me, your resultswill triple.

(28:05):
I triple done in this thing.
All of your dreams will cometrue.
Yep.
I think I should just make allof my cover letters hire me.
I make shit happen.
Yeah.
That actually is one of the nicecompliments I ever got from an
old boss was that I make shithappen, but in a really like
positive, human-centered way.
And it's like, thanks.
Yeah.
That's that is me.
Yeah.

(28:25):
Yeah.
Hire me.
Hey, anybody want to hire me outthere?
I'll triple whatever number youneed tripled.
Maybe I'll you know what?
I'll quintuple it.

SPEAKER_01 (28:34):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 (28:34):
That's that's my guarantee.

SPEAKER_01 (28:37):
That's the Leah guarantee.

SPEAKER_00 (28:38):
Quintu is quintuple the word?
Yeah.
Okay.
Anyways.
Time X4.
X that's quadruple.
X5.
Yeah, because quintuplets,right?
I guess.
There's five babies all at once.

SPEAKER_01 (28:51):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (28:51):
This has gone somewhere else.
I'm back.
Queens of the dead.
It's out.
Yeah, it's not out when we'rerecording this.
But it will be out streaming,available for you all to go
watch when you're listening tothis.
Um, it's coming out November11th.
We're recording this November9th.
So maybe some of you havealready watched it.
I hate to say this is theepisode where we talk about it
and we haven't watched it yet,but I felt like it was too

(29:12):
exciting to not talk about andhype up.

SPEAKER_02 (29:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (29:15):
And if you have watched it, because we are also
going to be watching it thisweek, you should send us your
hot takes.
We would love to incorporatethem into the episode.

SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
Yeah, do our homework for us.
Send us your opinions about it,and then we'll use your opinions
to make an episode.

SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
Yeah, I will not give you any credit, just like
bosses do sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 (29:33):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (29:33):
None of mine.
Um sorry, I just realized one ofmy former bosses might be
listening.
I just want to be clear, I'm nottalking about you.

SPEAKER_01 (29:39):
Hi, Leah's former boss.

SPEAKER_00 (29:41):
You were great.
You should hire her.
It doesn't work that way.
We would work together forever.
Leah called Quintuple.
Any number you have.
Yeah, that's right.
All the numbers that I Iincreased, I will increase more.
Yeah.
Leah owns a calculator.
Leah knows how to make aspreadsheet.
Okay.
Wow.

(30:02):
Sorry, you can tell where mybrain's at, which is survival.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (30:06):
You know, that's I mean, that's that's what we do.
We survive.
Yeah.
We're survivors.

SPEAKER_00 (30:11):
Now I feel bad.
Like my boss might think I thinkthat they take credit for they
never you never did that.
I'm pretty sure you listen now.
Hey, this is the moment whereyou get to out yourself if you
have been listening, because I'mpretty sure you have.
I just want to say, MT, that youwere a great boss.
And I miss you.
Okay.
Um, Queens of the Dead is out.

(30:32):
It's out.
It's out.
It it was released in theaterson October 26th.
It's out, available now, Ithink.
On I hate to be like go to Primebecause I hate Amazon, but it's
available on all the big things.
Apple, Amazon, Fandango, as ofNovember 11th.
We just pre-ordered it.

SPEAKER_01 (30:49):
Yeah, I so uh so I thought that it was only gonna
be on Apple.
Um, so I'm glad that it's onmore platforms.

SPEAKER_00 (30:56):
Have been reading all the things.
That's why I want this movie tobe the cult classic that I'm
pretty sure maybe I'm going inwith too high of an expectation
and I'm gonna get disappointed,but I don't think so.
I'm pretty sure that this moviedeserves so much more attention
than it's been getting.
So I just want to hype it asmuch as possible and get people
watching it.

SPEAKER_01 (31:12):
Well, I guess there's no danger in thinking
it's going to be the greatestthing ever and an instant
classic and legendary and willbe forever remembered in the
annals of history as thegreatest movie of all time.

SPEAKER_00 (31:22):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (31:22):
So let's just assume that'll happen.
I'm gonna believe it.

SPEAKER_00 (31:25):
Because the preview looks amazing.
Yeah.
Seeing a zombie drag queenstumbling and like barely
hanging on with their extremelyhigh six-inch eels is hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 (31:35):
Yeah, that is that's comic gold.

SPEAKER_00 (31:37):
Yeah, it's just a bedaz a b a bed.
I can't say the word bedazzled,a bedazzled screw gun in the
forehead of a zombie, alsowonderful.

SPEAKER_01 (31:48):
Yeah, should we be bedazzling all of our power
tools?
I think so.

SPEAKER_00 (31:52):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (31:52):
I mean, I buy a Ryobi, and that's already pretty
plain.

SPEAKER_00 (31:56):
So I have some fun facts for you about this movie,
Dan.
Okay.
But first, I'm gonna read theplot from IMDB for those who are
not familiar with this movie.
Uh, when a zombie apocalypsebreaks out in Brooklyn on the
night of a giant warehouseparty, an eclectic group of drag
queens, club kids, and frenemiesmust put aside their drama and
use their unique skills to fightagainst the brainthirsty,
scrolling undead.

(32:17):
I love it.

SPEAKER_01 (32:18):
Um I would I would not bet against a group of drag
queens in the zombie apocalypse.
Um, it's my firm belief that uh,you know, you you grow up, um,
you grow up being scrutinized byeverybody in your class.
You you grow up tough.
Yep.
And uh and I've watched a lot ofRuPaul's drag race, and all of

(32:42):
the things that they do, I couldnever ever in a million.
The death drops, the voguing.
I couldn't even stand up therefor the amount of time that they
needed to for so long in thoseheels.
Yeah, I just I would justcollapse and the heavy athletes
down.

SPEAKER_00 (32:57):
It's true, you gotta be an athlete.
I feel like you know what, dragqueen, uh yeah, drag needs to be
in the Olympics.
I think it is a sport.

SPEAKER_01 (33:03):
Even the heaviest drag queens are so much more
athletic than anyone that Iknow.
Maybe more athletic than theskinny drag queens.

SPEAKER_00 (33:12):
Sometimes I think that's absolutely true.
Yeah.
And they wear corsets that lookexceedingly painful.
Yeah, I'd pass out.
I wouldn't be able to breathe.
Yeah.
They they tuck that alone.
I I don't know what that wouldbe like because I don't have
one, but I feel like that'scommitment and shows true
strength.
Yeah.
And commit, you know.

(33:33):
We we judge our greatestwarriors on their ability to
tuck.
I mean, it wouldn't be theworst.
I don't know.
I wonder what it would be liketo run tucked.
I wonder if this will bediscussed in the movie.
Yeah.
Like what does it feel like ifyou're running, but also that
your stuff's like taped betweenyour legs?
Is that easier or harder to run?

SPEAKER_01 (33:50):
I can't imagine.
It's it's easier in any way.

SPEAKER_00 (33:52):
No.
I mean, they're death droppinglike that.

SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
Yeah, they're they are throwing themselves into the
air and landing on their tuckedgenitalia.
I I can't even imagine.
I no, no, no, this is already anightmare.
Let's move on.

SPEAKER_00 (34:09):
Okay.
Fact number one.
I'd love to get your take onthis.
No guns.
No guns.
They're creative kills and glamgore aesthetic only in the way
that they kill zombies.
What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 (34:19):
I I actually really like this.
I um I think that there's acertain apocalypse aesthetic
that some people go for.
And uh, for some people, it'slike they they want to live out
their SEAL team six fantasies.
Um and you know, we c we couldtalk all day about the
practicality of firearms versusuh versus using handheld melee

(34:43):
weapons.
But I think truly, first of all,that uh while the United States
of America has more guns percapita than any other country,
um, most of those guns belong tocollectors.
Uh not everybody in America hasa gun.
Yeah.
Um and they don't want to get toin Brooklyn.

(35:05):
Not in the nightclub inBrooklyn.
I mean New York City in generalis is uh it's kind of like a gun
desert.
It's not that there aren't anyguns there, but it's like the
majority of people don't ownguns.
So really the only place thatyou would find them is on police
officers or um very specificowners of firearms who are not

(35:27):
leaving those things out.
Like they have them locked up ina safe, in a high rise.

SPEAKER_00 (35:32):
Yeah.
Again, I think drag queens havea lot of interesting weapons at
their disposal.

SPEAKER_01 (35:36):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (35:37):
High heels.

SPEAKER_02 (35:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (35:38):
Uh when I was 14 years old, I remember an
ex-childhood friend of mine wasmad at me for saying no to them.
And they were in uh stilettos,don't ask me why, another
14-year-old in stilettos.
It's a whole long story.
And they came up to me and theyliterally stomped on my big toe
with their stiletto.
It fucking hurt.
Yeah.
And also, like, it just showsyou the juxtaposition of like

(35:59):
this person's still a childbecause they felt the need to
harm me with their stilettobecause I said no to doing
something.
Um, but it was also in astiletto.
That's being a teenager, Ithink, all in one little
nutshell, that whole thing.
Yeah.
But it was bad.
And I think a stiletto couldhurt a zombie.
I think you could absolutely useit through the eye.

SPEAKER_01 (36:17):
Yeah, I mean, people people have been murdered with
high heels.

SPEAKER_00 (36:21):
Yeah.
Uh, if they had really excellentnails, although that would be a
sacrifice, you probably loseevery time.
Every time you stuck a nailthrough the eyeball of a zombie,
you'd lose it.

SPEAKER_02 (36:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (36:31):
So that's kind of like your ammo.
And it has I'm talking aboutlike the really long ones, like
the four-inch long ones that arespiked at the end and like um
jewel encrusted.
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (36:40):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (36:41):
Um, I'm gonna reveal something about my story because
I feel like it's relevant tothis, is that in in my zombie
apocalypse world, uh, thegovernment is clinging to power.
And something that it is it isdoing while it's collecting
surviving citizens andcontrolling them, is they are

(37:01):
also collecting all thefirearms, all the ammunition,
and consolidating it for theirown use.
Of course.
So in in my story, uh firearmsare actually also rare because
people are hoarding them.
So, like people out in thecountry, they're gonna hoard.
Uh hoarders gonna hoard.
And you know, for people whoonly think in one in one way

(37:25):
about how what survival is,their their safety is going to
feel like just collecting thesethings, making sure that they
have more than everyone else.
And are your zombies alsoglamorous?
They some of them might be.
I would love that, but uh Ithink it's a more interesting
world.
Yeah, that's why I like themovies from overseas.

(37:46):
Yeah, like if if your survivorgroup is a ragtag group of of
people that like sharpen theedge of a shovel, and another
person has a piece of rebar withsome concrete still stuck to the
end of it, like yeah, we'retalking about like a much more
interesting story than like weall found M4s and we're just

(38:07):
gonna mow them down with allthis ammunition that we have
stockpiled in our giant dieselpickup truck that can run over
all the zombies.

SPEAKER_00 (38:15):
Yeah, and from a writing perspective or a film
perspective, like some of themost memorable things that I've
read, especially lately, are umwhen you kill a zombie by hand.
It's just so much moreinteresting than a gun.
And I'm thinking of specificallythis one moment in Joe Salazar's
uh sequel, The DeadweightResistance, where Quinn is being
trained by somebody about how tokill better.

(38:37):
And like I'm not gonna describeit, you should just read the
book, but it's really it livesrent-free in my head.
And I could also never do that.
Quinn is not a drag queen, butalso has some athleticism that I
do not have.
Uh, do you be ready for thesecond fact, Dave?
I'm ready.
Uh the idea came from her daysDJing in New York's queer
nightlife scene.

SPEAKER_01 (38:56):
That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (38:57):
Yeah, she says, quote, I sort of honed my chops
as a DJ in the queer nightlifescene, especially in my young
twenties.
It was not only a place where Iwas able to express myself
musically, I also discovered myperformance alter eagle.
Eag Eagle.
Alter eagle! Soaring high, alterego, who's called DJ Trix, T R
X.
She wears a mask, sometimes awig, and it's a space where I
felt completely safe to playwith those types of expressions.

(39:19):
It's also a space where I've metsome of my chosen family.

SPEAKER_01 (39:22):
That does sound awesome.
I've never been a queer DJ.
Me neither.
But it sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (39:27):
But I think I can speak for a lot of um femme
people that being in a queerclub is like one of the most
safe and wonderful experiencesyou can have.

SPEAKER_01 (39:37):
I owned a nightclub in GTA 5.
Does that count?
No.
I thought it was pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (39:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Was it a queer nightclub?
It could have been.
Was it a strip club?
I don't know who went there.

SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
Oh.
You never went in?

SPEAKER_01 (39:48):
No, I was I was there all the time.
I just didn't, you know, Ididn't ask the NPCs what they
were up to.

SPEAKER_00 (39:52):
Yeah, your alter ego and GTA, Grand Theft Auto, for
those who don't know thatacronym, uh, was pretty pretty
wild.

SPEAKER_02 (39:58):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (39:59):
Factoid number three.
This one was really interestingto me.
Uh the origins of the film.
So we have the uh we have thelocation and that there's a main
character who's a DJ and a clubclub promoter.
But uh Tina shared that the filmwas inspired by online drama.
Ooh, I said that like at aCanadian.
Drama?
That's how we say it.
We say drama, Mazda, uh notdrama, Mazda.

(40:22):
It's a Canadian accent thing.
Sorry.
Online drama in the club andparty scene after a co-promoter
for Hot Rabbit began advertisinga rival party to be held on the
same night.
Oh.
The original promoter postedthis manifesto begging the
question when will the queercommunity stop devouring its
own?
And it hit me like a bolt oflightning.
So the zombies in this case, weknow we love zombies with a that

(40:43):
are good metaphor, are ametaphor for the
self-destructive dynamics withincommunities, including the queer
community, which is like I'mvery much looking forward to
seeing how they depict that.

SPEAKER_01 (40:53):
Yeah.
That does that, I mean, I'veI've I've seen things like that
go down where like you're like,hey, I want to have a party at
my house.
And then other people are like,well, we're going to this other
place.
And everybody that your partyshould go with us.

SPEAKER_00 (41:10):
It's so juvenile.
Yeah.
I gotta give a shout out toOllie Eats Brains and their
Discord, the Brain MunchersCollective Discord, because it
it's a Discord for all of thezombie podcasts out there.
So instead of us all fightingwith each other for listeners,
we are supporting each other.

SPEAKER_02 (41:24):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (41:25):
And being a part of a broader community.
Yeah, we're surviving.
Together.

SPEAKER_01 (41:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (41:30):
In the same camp.
We are.
Survivor camp for podcasters.

SPEAKER_01 (41:34):
Yeah, it just happens that there's a zombie
inside of the camp named Ollie.

unknown (41:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (41:38):
Ollie is the camp leader.

SPEAKER_01 (41:40):
Yeah.
It was a zombie.
Yeah, it's a little.
Welcome to our zombie survivorcamp.
There's our leader, a zombie.
You do need to trade yourbrains.

SPEAKER_00 (41:51):
Yeah.
Don't get it.
Uh factoid number four.
It's about community and joy,which is also why I'm looking
forward to it, because that'swhere the humor comes in.
And I think what what goodmovies are about is more than
just zombies attacking us.

SPEAKER_01 (42:07):
Yeah, I think that's the best part of a zombie
apocalypse story.
Like my favorite parts of TheWalking Dead are when we're just
seeing the dynamics betweencharacters in the same group
forming deeper bonds.
Um and I think it's also like wewe just interviewed Sarah Lyons
Fleming, and she gets thecommunity aspect perfect in her

(42:29):
books.
Um and also we have so many uhauthor friends who do the same
exact thing as well.
And I think I think that's whywe all kind of, you know, came
together.
Is that like there's uh zombieapocalypse stories out there
that are like the lone wolfsurvivor story, which is fine if
that's what you're into, but wewant the community.

SPEAKER_00 (42:51):
Yeah, there's like a place for it, but it shouldn't
be the dominant only story thatgets told and or especially
promoted and like well known.

SPEAKER_02 (42:58):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (42:59):
Um so yeah, I love this.
I've got a quote from Tina.
Uh they say, I wanted to makesomething more lighthearted than
bleak.
I feel like that's so importantin this time.

SPEAKER_02 (43:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (43:08):
Especially because it takes place in the queer
community.
We have enough bleak stuffalready.
I wanted it to feel joyful andhopeful.
That's why it's not a final girlstory.
I didn't want it to come down toone lone survivor.
I wanted the queer community tostick together and most of them
to make it out alive.
Of course, we have to lose themalong the way, but not all.

SPEAKER_01 (43:24):
Yeah.
And I think that's just alsojust realistic.
You know, in in real life, um, acommunity that comes together is
going to be the one thatsurvives.
I mean, you see examples of thatin in the headlines.
Uh, right now, as horriblethings are happening, it's
always when a community comestogether that they push out the

(43:47):
the the elements that arecausing the problems.

SPEAKER_00 (43:51):
Yeah, it's been really inspiring to see.
So, my favorite story ofcommunity coming together to
help people survive, especiallyin this horrifying moment where
we have um a really lovelyelement water that is frozen
called ice that's getting a badname now.
I don't like that.
Yeah.
Ice is I used to like ice.
Yeah.
It's fun for skating on, itmakes your drinks cold, but

(44:12):
they're ruining it.
They're ruining ice.
Anyhow, uh Juan de la Cruz inVermont had a had been requested
to come in to immigration uh inSt.
Albans.
And obviously in this time, uhthey said, quote, it was
definitely terrifying becauseyou don't know what's going to
happen.
And so uh basically uh theyapplied for asylum in 2017 from

(44:33):
and they've been here fromMexico 20 years ago now.
Their wife lives there.
Uh, they talked to a lawyerabout it, and they uh their
community backed them up.
They had 200 friends go withthem to this appointment,
basically saying, we arewatching and we care what
happens to this man.
And so uh nothing bad happenedto him, and I think that that's
part of why, frankly.

SPEAKER_01 (44:55):
Um, I've got uh also an example of community coming
together.
Um this happened uh a while ago,actually back in February, and I
want to check up on this againto see see how things are going.
But um Lincoln Heights, Ohio,uh, which is a historically
black neighborhood in Ohio, hada group of neo-Nazis show up to

(45:17):
protest over the freeway um neartheir town, and the police
weren't doing anything about it.
They in fact the police wereescorting them.
So the residents of LincolnHeights armed up, got their
shotguns and their rifles, theygeared up, and they went out to
meet the the neo-Nazis and thecops and forced them to leave.

(45:40):
I love that.
And since then, because thingsare so dangerous and because the
the it's clear that the policehave no intention of protecting
them, they now patrol their ownstreets.
So if you want to go to LincolnHeights, you're gonna run into a
roadblock where a resident ofLincoln Heights is standing
there with an AR rifle, andthey're gonna stop you and ask

(46:01):
you what you're doing there.
And if you don't have a goodanswer, they're probably not
gonna let you in.

SPEAKER_00 (46:06):
It's really sad that we're at that point, and it's
also really beautiful to seepeople banding together like
that.

SPEAKER_01 (46:10):
It's it's definitely both.
But they're all volunteering.
Um, nobody like there's no moneyin this for anybody.
There's they're taking they'respending their own time to
protect their own neighborhoodbecause no one else is going to.
Um, but I I find it reallyinspiring because it it is a
community that's comingtogether, even if it is, it does
sound scary and forceful,they're doing what they have to

(46:31):
do to keep their people safe.
And uh and these these guardswill also walk children across
the street as they're going toschool.
Um, they go to help people thatare having problems, um like
domestic disturbances and stuff,because nobody's calling the
police.
Okay.
Because the police are justgoing to cause more problems.

SPEAKER_00 (46:49):
Yeah, they can't be trusted, they're part of the
institution that is uh harmingpeople.

SPEAKER_01 (46:53):
Yeah.
And I knew more about thehistory of um Lincoln Heights,
but I don't have it uh stored inmy brain right now.
So I'd I'd just say if you'remore if you're interested in
that, you should just check outwhat this community, uh what
their historical significanceis, because I remember it's very
significant.

SPEAKER_00 (47:10):
Their historical significance is very
significant.
It is.
I'll have to look it up.
Uh I did have one more fact.

SPEAKER_01 (47:18):
Oh, tell me, tell me.

SPEAKER_00 (47:19):
Which is just it's about the cast.
It has a lot of queer and dragicons.
Margaret Show with theirbedazzled uh screw gun in the
preview.
Can't wait to see more of that.
Uh Nina West, Dominique Jackson,Katie O'Brien, and more.
So it's a really star-studdedcast in the best kind of way.
And I just cannot two more days.

(47:40):
I have to wait two more days towatch it.

SPEAKER_02 (47:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (47:43):
But we're we're we're gonna be up at uh 12 a.m.
when it maybe you'll be laidoff.
Is that possible?
It's possible.
So I have tomorrow off becauseof snow Monday.
Yes, yeah, snow.
Tomorrow's the 10th.
Yeah, Tuesday the 11th.
I presume since they didn't tellme that I was laid off, I'm
probably not.
Um from my inside sources, theysay uh a lot of people were laid

(48:06):
off on Friday, this last Friday.
Um, and if it if you weren'tlaid off this last Friday, it's
gonna be this coming Friday.
Which when you're listening tothis, is two days ago.

SPEAKER_00 (48:20):
Uh and this is definitely out right now.
So again, please watch it.
Go support this indie film byTina Romero that should have
gotten way more widespreadpromotion, in my opinion.
Uh streaming on Apple, Amazon,Fandango.
I don't love any of those, but Ido love Tina Romero and this
movie.
I like Fandango.
Yeah?
Yeah, that's where we rentmovies.

(48:40):
Oh, okay.
I don't know anything about it.

SPEAKER_01 (48:41):
I don't like Apple and Amazon.
It used to be called Voodoo, butthey changed it to Fandango at
home, I think.

SPEAKER_00 (48:47):
It rebranded.
I think it's gonna be on Shuddertoo.
Oh yeah.
That would make sense because itwas produced by Shudder.

SPEAKER_02 (48:53):
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (48:54):
But yeah, let us know what you think.
Uh you can send us a voicemailuh 614-699-00006.
Give us your hot take verbally.
You can send us an email atzombiebookclubpodcast at
gmail.com.
We'll probably make a post aboutthis next week.
You could just share with us onInstagram.
There's so many ways to reachus.
Let us know what you think.
Tell us if you hate it, and thenwe'll never talk to you again.

unknown (49:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (49:15):
And I haven't even watched it yet.
I'm kidding.
Leah's ready to write you off ifyou don't like this movie.
We can agree to disagree, ormaybe I won't like it.
Watch, watch we come back andwe're like, I actually wasn't
that good.
Yeah, that would be, I justcan't uh that would be really d
devastating.
Um, and I'd like to end thisepisode with a fuck the orange
menace tip of the week.
Oh, that sounds fun.

(49:36):
Yeah.
Or fuck fascism tip of the week.
Fuck the plutocracy we're in,which is uh plutocracy basically
means when corporations andreally rich people rule your
country instead of a democracy.

SPEAKER_02 (49:47):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (49:48):
Um it's a basic one.
It's one that frankly peoplehave been saying forever, and we
need to really get serious aboutdoing it, which is don't feed
the machine this holiday season.
Don't do it.
It's the only, not the only, oneof the few points of power we
have is where we spend ourmoney.
So it's nice to have, if youhave the money to give gifts, uh

(50:08):
buy local.
Buy them from Black, Latinx,Indigenous-owned businesses when
possible.
Avoid big box stores.
No Amazon, no Walmart.
Uh, there is a boycott going onthe week of Thanksgiving slash
the day of mourning.
But I would say let's just let'sjust boycott for the entirety of
the holiday season, and anygifts you get should be handmade

(50:31):
or from a local source.

SPEAKER_01 (50:32):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (50:33):
Or just don't.
Just hug each other and like begrateful.

SPEAKER_01 (50:36):
Yeah, hug each other like when we're paving roads.

SPEAKER_00 (50:38):
Yeah.
Hug each other, and maybe thegift is like figuring out what
your own version of LincolnHeights is in your community.
Yeah.
Uh what's needed in yourcommunity?
I mean, not every community isin a position where you need to
be armed with uh uh a roadblock.
And if you're not in thatsituation, what else can you do?
There's a lot of hungry peopleright now, thanks to Orange Man.

SPEAKER_01 (51:00):
Yeah, and you know, people with with uh with
children have a hard, hardertime um doing stuff like this
because you know, there'sthere's expectations when you
have kids.
Like the kids don't understandthat Jeff Bezos is trying to uh
make us all slaves to thecapital system even more than we
already are.
So like we gotta we gotta avoidAmazon, which means that you

(51:22):
know you you can't have theteenage mutant ninja ninja
turtles turtle van like youwanted on in the third grade.
Mom.
Actually, I did get that turtlevan.

SPEAKER_00 (51:34):
I mean, I I hear what you're saying, and I also
hear like that the truth of thematter is like why Amazon,
Walmart, Walmart.
It's Walmart now.
Yeah, Walmart, Walmart,Hallmark, whatever, all those
online places, Best Buy, um,etc.
etc., are easy.
You know, you just punch acouple buttons and you get
something, and doing somethinglocal takes more time.

(51:55):
So I understand that a lot ofthe time, unfortunately,
resistance requires more effortthan not resisting.

SPEAKER_02 (52:03):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (52:04):
Um, but I think if you're in a position where you
can take a little time to buylocal, and also just talk to
your kids about it.
I feel like kids can understandthis.
Yeah.
They watch lots of movies wherethere's bad guys, and like Jeff
Bezos is a bad guy.
We're not gonna help the bad guyout this Christmas.
Maybe instead we can get umsome, or we can even make our
own play-doh and like make ourown Ninja Turtle.

(52:26):
I know that's less exciting,kid, but then you get sued by
Mattel.
Do you want to help the bad guy?
I think kids are inherently sogenerous and kind they're gonna
understand.

SPEAKER_01 (52:34):
Yeah.
At least I hope they are.

SPEAKER_00 (52:36):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (52:36):
I would I would prefer if the if our if the
generations replacing us weremuch more uh generous and kind.

SPEAKER_00 (52:43):
Yeah, and maybe talk to your friends about it, talk
to your family about it.
Like I plan on telling myfamily, like, just don't buy me
anything, please don't.
I don't need anything.

SPEAKER_01 (52:50):
Yeah, I don't want anything.

SPEAKER_00 (52:51):
Yeah, if anything, if I'm still unemployed, please
give me some cash.
Like cash money.
Yeah, that's what's mosthelpful.
And frankly, that is mosthelpful for a lot of people
right now.
Maybe, you know, bake somecookies for someone, whatever.
Whatever is within your realm ofpossibility.

SPEAKER_01 (53:08):
I want cookies.

SPEAKER_00 (53:09):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (53:10):
Yeah, I want I want oatmeal cookies.

SPEAKER_00 (53:13):
Yeah.
So that's that's the tip of theweek.
There will be more.

SPEAKER_01 (53:18):
And I mean, recent history has shown that this is
effective.
I mean, look what happened whenuh when Disney tried to cancel
Jimmy Kimmel.
Yep.
It wasn't even specificallyDisney, it was the it was uh an
umbrella corporation that alsoowns Disney.
Or Disney owns the company.

(53:38):
I don't know.
But they're they're in thethey're in the pipeline.
So they're like, we're we'reshutting down Jimmy Kimmel, and
everyone's like, okay, thenwe're canceling our Disney Prime
subscriptions.
And then Disney's like, wait asecond, I didn't know that this
was an option.
Everybody, we take it back.
Yeah.
Please, please don't un uhunsubscribe from Disney.

(54:00):
We need your money.
Yeah, it's a good reminder.
People aren't riding enoughroller coasters to to pay our
bills.
We need that money.
Our shareholders are gonna be sopissed.

SPEAKER_00 (54:11):
I'm curious how many people that are listening to
this are trying to like buildtheir own physical libraries
again.
Um, a friend of the podcast,Eric, his fiance, is actually
working on, I forget what hesaid it was called, but he's
making his own online server ofthe things that they love the
most, um, which would be reallycool to learn more about.
But I also think like maybe wedon't resubscribe to Disney.

(54:32):
Yeah.
I mean we don't.
I mean, you and I don't havewe've never had Disney, so this
is a real easy thing for me tosay.
I am not a Disney kid.
Um, and I, you know, we all needjoy out there in the world, and
none of us are, you know, wecan't we can't live in a
capitalist world within a waythat is like perfectly aligned
with our values.
So like do what you can do.
But I think one thing that wecould all do is maybe just shop

(54:54):
a little bit less slashcompletely from those stores
whenever possible.

SPEAKER_01 (54:58):
Uh I was actually just talking to my brother this
afternoon about like he wantedto watch some older movies, some
older he was he was disappointedbecause his hollow Halloween
season um wasn't as Halloween yas he wanted because he wanted
to watch some old slashermovies, some old Halloween
movies, and they just weren'tavailable.
They weren't on the streamingservices, and these are just

(55:19):
like I I don't I don't I don'tknow what to do.
I can't watch these old moviesthat I wanted to watch.
And like we started talkingabout like this we this is why
we have to start like buyingDVDs again.
We have to go back to owning ourmovies that we buy.

SPEAKER_00 (55:33):
Yeah, or go into the library, like we were able to
watch 28.
Was it 28 days later or weekslater that was 28 days?
28 days later, impossible tofind for a while.
Our librarian had to likeinterlibrary loan it to get to
us.
Yeah, it was a whole process.
It was um, but libraries, veryvaluable resources.
So get a membership if you don'thave one, they're very cool.

SPEAKER_01 (55:53):
Support your local library, yeah.
Um, but thanks everybody forjoining us today on the Zombie
Book Club.
That's us.
We talk about you too, becauseyou're listening.
Yes, part of the club.
You're in the club.
Um, if you want to support us,which at this point we've said
that now you're part of theclub, so you're actually
supporting yourself by doingthis.

(56:14):
You could leave us a rating or areview, like on iTunes or Apple.
What what is it called now?
It's not iTunes anymore.
That was like 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 (56:23):
iTunes was the I think it's Apple Music was is
was formerly iTunes, and uh it'sApple Podcasts.
Apple Podcasts allows you towrite a review, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (56:32):
Um, or wherever you listen to this, uh you could
probably do something.
Um leave as many stars as youcan, or if they're hearts, leave
as many hearts, whatever theicon.

SPEAKER_00 (56:43):
Give us the most.
Give us the most of that.
Help counteract the couple ofone stars we've gotten because
somebody doesn't like that.
We don't like the orange man.

SPEAKER_01 (56:51):
Yeah, they're like they're like, you don't like the
things that I love that areoppressing us.
One star.
Um, if you could also give us acall at 614-699-0006, uh, like
we said a couple minutes ago.
Leave us a voicemail up to threeminutes.
Um we love voicemails, yeah.
You can also follow us on ZombieBook Club Podcast um or join the

(57:14):
Brain Munchers CollectiveDiscord that we talked about
even in this episode where Ollieis the zombie in charge.
Yeah, zombie the head Z I C.
Yeah.
Ollie decides who becomes azombie and who survives.

SPEAKER_00 (57:30):
That's a lot of weight on your shoulders, Ollie.
Tell us how you're doing.
Are you okay out there?

SPEAKER_01 (57:34):
Uh all the links are down there in that description
area.

SPEAKER_00 (57:38):
Is our Facebook group link in our description
area?
I don't know.
I think it's time to add it.
We have a Facebook group.
A lot of Gen Xers were like,where's the Facebook group?
And I was like, I don't know howto run this, but there is one
now.
Yeah.
Does anybody want to run aFacebook group for us?
That'd be great.
Yeah, I am so bad at it, butthere is one for the Facebook.
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (57:58):
Email us your resume.
Um, there is no pay button.
Cover letter.
Oh my gosh.
Of uh a five-minute video of youexplaining your resume in cover
letter, and then um a three-hourwork assignment that we'll use
to evaluate your skills as aFacebook uh group moderator

(58:20):
moderator.
Um, and then a three to fivehour interview.

SPEAKER_00 (58:24):
That is yes, there is a there is a process I'm in
right now that involved all ofthose things and will involve
more of those.
It's I'm gonna just say it.
This is this is why I'm busy,y'all, and not putting so many
reels out there, and then we'llsay goodbye.
This job, which would be a verycool job, required my resume.
And then I think there were likefour specific questions that

(58:44):
they uh wanted and answeredinstead of a cover letter, which
was fine.
And then I had to do athree-hour skills test that was
timed, um, which I aced.
Thank you very much.
Now I have a half hourinterview.
If I get past that, I'll getanother one-hour interview, and
if I get past that, I'll have atwo to three hour interview, and
then they'll check references,and then maybe I'll have a job.

(59:08):
Yeah, maybe.
So that's what I'm doing with myfree time.

SPEAKER_01 (59:14):
But uh, thanks everybody for listening.
The end is it's here.
The end is here.

SPEAKER_00 (59:20):
The end is here.
Oh dear.
We're not gonna even do therhyme.

SPEAKER_01 (59:24):
Bye.
Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00 (59:25):
Bye-bye.