Hellscape
A triad of storytellers take you on a journey through some of the world’s darkest tales. From aliens and ghosts, to true crime and cults, join us as we delve into the realms of mythology, murder, and mystery - with a sprinkling of spicy comedy to boot!
Episodes
Living Dead Girl: Silent Hill 2 and the Monstrous Feminine
On today's creepy epi, we talk about the Silent Hill video-game, specifically the second instalment of the franchise. Kendra offers up a great dissection from the lens of Barbara Creed's The Monstrous Feminine, Julia Kristeva's theory of ab…
SSwifties: The Semiotics of White Feminism
On today's epi, we rip into Taylor Swift. Why? Because its timely and the release of her newest album has generated a wave of deserved critique. Grab a snack, get behind the wheel or have us in your ears as you do your dishes - either way, …
Hot Takes: From the Altar to Your Algorithm
This week K&C talk about current events, including the discourse around public mourning, the nature of political violence, Etsy witches, the Unknown Number doc on Netflix, and Shein using AI renderings of Luigi as a model - it's SO MUCH.
A Tight Little Hour: Conversations on the Use of AI in Therapy
The use of AI has been steadily gaining traction in the realm of therapy. Today, K&C talk about why this might be the case, and what the outcomes and pitfalls of this course might be. In continuation of our summer series, today's epi is loo…
Craft and Community: The Antidote to the Fast Fashion Crisis
This week, K&C yap about fast fashion, the origins of grunge, and the commodification of the aesthetics of subculture (among other things). We have a good time and we hope you do too!
Love Island x The Stanford Prison Experiment
This week, K&C chat about the reality TV phenomenon that is "Love Island". Part dating show, part social experiment, Love Island carries cultural weight even though it's marketed as escapism. The parallels between this show and the Stanford…
The Last of Us, Part Two: The Dark Frontier
We are back from summer break with our version of a "heavy-hitter"! This week, K&C continue their deep dive into the video game and TV series franchise, The Last of Us. How much of a chokehold does ideology have in a post-apocalyptic world?…
Hot Takes: Reality Bites
This week, K&C do a little palate cleanser and chat about reality TV and the way it highlights certain discourses in the culture.
The Voice Inside My Head: Blink-182 After 9/11
On today’s episode, Kendra delves into her career as a music journalist to bring to light the legacy of blink-182’s 2003 self-titled or “untitled” album. We explore the themes of hope, intimacy, and growing up.
Performative Enlightenment: Examining The White Lotus
This week, K&C do another cultural analysis! The White Lotus TV series invites us to think about topics surrounding identity, privilege, class, and healing, among other things. We hope you enjoy this week's chat!
The Last of Us: A Cultural Analysis Part I
This week, we take a deep dive into The Last of Us video game and subsequent TV series adaptation. We’ll examine the cultural importance of the narrative, and the permission for philosophical musings granted by the genre. Look for explorati…
Zheng Yi Sao: The Pirate Queen of the South China Sea
Today, K&C look into the life story of Zheng Yi Sao, the woman who ruled the seas of South China at the turn of the 19th century.
Ruby Franke, I Don’t Give a Damn: The Pitfalls of Family Vlogging Part II
On today’s episode, we conclude our miniseries on family vlogging by offering commentary on the case of Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt.
VARIETY PACK | Introducing… Hot Takes
This week, K&C chat about the latest true crime roundup, including the harrowing disappearance of Emily Pike, Casey Anthony’s TikTok foray, Lori Vallow’s jailhouse chat with our grandfather, Keith Morrison, the Gabby Petito case, and much m…
Meet the Stauffers: The Pitfalls of Family Vlogging Part I
K&C dive into the world of family vlogging by looking into various channels and their downfalls. This week, we kick-off the series with the infamous case of the Stauffer family.
Cunt Up Your Jets: The Great Glitter Mystery
In 2018, The New York Times published an article detailing the multi-billion dollar glitter industry. This interview produced far more questions than answers. Today, K&C look into the material known as “glitter”, and muse about the identity…
Orange Sunshine: LSD in the Counterculture
From the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials, to experiments at Harvard, LSD has expanded people’s minds and carried weight in the culture for a long time. Join K&C today as they chat about LSD as a tool for the counterculture.
The Atomic Priesthood
In 1983, the Reagan administration signed a bipartisan solution to manage nuclear waste. Part of this endeavour included creating a panel of experts to answer the question: how do we steward information for millennia? Join K&C on today’s ep…
Living Deity: Lake Baikal
On today's episode, K&C do a little ecological interlude... a mystical palate cleanser, if you will. We dive into the clear yet deep and dark waters of the "Pearl of Siberia", Lake Baikal! Join us as we chat about eco-capital, biodiversity …
VARIETY PACK | World on Fire
On this politically charged interlude episode, K & C talk about the LA fires, the price of worshipping capital, cucky Yuckerberg’s painfully obvious play, how a Canadian journalist is exposing MPs and so much more. History, she repeats he…
Ransom & Ritual: The Killing of JonBenét Ramsey Part II
On part two of our series on the killing JonBenét Ramsey, we look into the strangeness of the ransom note, the price of privilege, some esoterical connections, and key suspects.
Bumble Cops: The Killing of JonBenét Ramsey Part I
This week, Kendra and Chloë delve into a true crime classic: the tragic story of JonBenét Ramsey. Join us as we set the scene and talk about the first days after the crime unfolded, with a pointed focus on the Boulder PD’s actions.
END OF YEAR REVUE | 2024
On the last episode of the year, Kendra and Chloë do a ‘revue’, except it’s only jokes and current events, and a minor segue about the death of our future. It’s going to be fine, but only if we stick together!
YULE SPECIAL | The People’s Timeline
This week on Hellscape, Kendra and Chloë chat about the making of a folk hero.
Bubbling Cauldron of Bullshit: The Salem Witch Trials
On this episode, Chloë walks Kendra through the basics of the Salem Witch Trials, and Kendra acts as a stand-in for the audience, but adds her fiery and insightful takes. NB: We are aware of the sound issues, and we ARE working on it!
Night Parade: Halloween Traditions
Today on Hellscape, Teague & Chloë take a jaunt around the world and chat about some of the ways that Halloween is celebrated in different countries. Enjoy, you creepy-crawlies!
Haunted Appalachia
There are old gods in Appalachia. The rounded mountains, like sleeping giants, are tinged with mist and swaths of endless trees. Deep browns, startling reds, and swarthy greens. It’s the land of weather-beaten rock; it’s the land before tim…
VARIETY PACK | Mor[Mom]Tok
This week, K&C chat about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives as an appetizer for a future deep dive on Mormonism. Light and breezy, but oh-so-Hellscape! Enjoy!
VARIETY PACK | 1,000 Bottles of Baby Oil on the Wall
On today's Variety Pack, K&C talk about Diddy's conviction, the disappearance of Aundria Bowman, and the case of Madeline Soto- and guess what, it's all bad!
VARIETY PACK | American Fuckface
This week on Variety Pack, K&C talk about Number 1 Boy Mom Cindy Watts, the Midnight Order, the evolution of reality TV, the Mazan case, Laci Peterson, and much more!
Facehugger in Paradise : Deepthroating the Alien Movie Franchise
In this episode, Teague, Kendra, and Chloë do a gonzo cultural analysis of the Alien movie franchise.
VARIETY PACK | Quick and Quippy
This week, we are channeling the chaotic nature of summer. We'll be talking about theoretical breakdancing, the new "Betrayal" series, It Ends With Us drama, Love Island, and more!
VARIETY PACK | From Rad Lives to Trad Wives
This week, Kendra and Chloë talks about the Ballerina Farm article and examine how the trad wife trend is a pipeline to right-wing extremism, with a special focus on the Mormon church! We also look into spiritual charlatanism through the le…
VARIETY PACK | Hothouse Summer
This week on Variety Pack, we talk about shoplifting for survival, heatwave summer, the “presidential debate”, the Sherri Papini case, the Gypsy Rose doc, the Karen Read trial and MORE!
Toxic Mirepoix: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Hey, ever think about the fact that there's a huge pile of garb' just floating in the vast expanse that is the ocean? We do. Then, we get scared. To arm ourselves against the end times, we like to blend comedy with knowledge. So, join us to…
Hide & Seek: The Vanishing of Shannon Marie Sherrill
On a sunny day in October of 1986, a group of children were playing a game of hide and seek in rural Thorntown, Indiana. As they scattered to find the best hiding spots, they had no idea that their act of innocent play would devolve into on…
"Honey, That's a UFO" - The Michigan Mass UFO Sighting of '94
On the otherwise cold and calm night of March 8th, 1994, many residents of West Michigan were left “alarmed and amazed” when a series of unexplained phenomena began coalescing in their skies. Today, on Hellscape, we take a look at one the l…
VARIETY PACK | Willie Dead
This week on Variety Pack, Kendra & Chloë talk about the 7M Tiktok cult, the Nick Carter documentary, starseed “downloads” telling us Lyme disease is “a gift”, the appropriately gruesome death of Robert Pickton, and the developing and harro…
Lifeblood: Indigenous Resistance in the Grassy Narrows
For decades, blind industry fuelled by rabid and unchecked capitalism poisoned the waters of the Wabigoon River, in Northern Ontario. This river is the lifeblood of the Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation of the Grassy Narrows. Join us today …
The Underworld of Girlhood: The Murder of Reena Virk
On November 14th, 1997, 14-year-old teen Reena Virk joined a group of peers from her neighbourhood for some late-night partying under the Craigflower Bridge, in the Saanich district of Vancouver Island. Little did she know, the night of rev…