Critical Wade Theory

There’s a word that comes up again and again when we talk about stories, especially old ones.

Real.

We ask whether a tale is real folklore. A real myth. A real fairy tale.

If you were coming of age in the early 2000s and even slightly tuned into indie music, there’s a good chance The Shins found you before you ever went looking for them.

They’re an American indie rock band known for melodic, introspective songs and sharp, literate lyrics. Music that doesn’t shout for attention, but somehow stays with you. The kind of songs that feel personal, even when you can’t quite explain why.

We like to believe our systems work — that justice is blind, democracy is fair, and truth has a fighting chance...

Main photo credit: Origin unknown (if you know the original source, go ahead and let me know).

Today I'm talking about After We Fell, the 2021 romantic drama and the third installment in the After franchise. If you’ve made it this far into the series, you already know what kind of ride you’re signing up for. Big emotions, messy relationships, and a lot of arguing in nice-looking rooms.

If you think of the Divinyls purely through the lens of “I Touch Myself,” you'll have an idea of what this album might provide — even if the lyrics don't unsettle prudes as much as their hit about handling the bearded clam.

Released in 1965 as the title track of Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited, the song stands as one of the clearest statements of his break from acoustic folk into electric blues-rock. This wasn’t a gentle evolution. It was a confrontation — with tradition, with authority, and with the idea that music should behave itself.

Remembering a rock festival...that I never went to.

What happens when a country hands the keys to a werewolf?

More broadly, I discuss Latin America's far-right shift.

When we think about fairy tales, most of us picture the cleaned-up versions. Soft edges. Clear morals. Princesses who suffer quietly until someone saves them. These are the Victorian-era revisions many of us grew up with, stories that have been sanded down to feel safe, instructive, and polite.

But that’s not where these stories began...

Today, I'm talking about a song that lives at the crossroads of pop music and movie history. It’s called “Romancing the Stone”, and it comes from Eddy Grant in 1984. It was also made to promote a film of the same name.

There's a lot I could take about regarding Trump, like the Epstein files.

But today I'm talking about a building.

But really, I'm talking about power.

And the line between law and ego.

A fan of Myles Kennedy asked me to post the full video version, so here it is! Now you can see my goofy face, in addition ti hearing my goofy voice.

Welcome back. Today we’re talking about Ty Segall — the 2017 self-titled album by Ty Segall. Not the first one. The second. And that detail actually matters.

Today, I'm talking about a surprisingly common pattern in predators, both living and extinct. It’s a dental setup where teeth are concentrated toward the front of the jaws, while the back of the mouth has fewer teeth or none at all.

Also, what's a key difference between alligators and crocodiles? It's all right here!

IMAGE CREDIT: Some joke on Reddit. Not sure of the original source.

Today we’re digging into Highway 61 Revisited, the 1965 Bob Dylan album that marked the moment he threw himself fully into electric rock. If you know even a little Dylan, you know this is the record that split audiences, rewired songwriting, and helped move popular music into a new era.