Hard N.O.C. Life

Hard NOC Life with Shawn Keith return from a brief hiatus to share what's Nerd Poppin' this week. This week, Keith reveals what it was like watching Crazy Rich Asians on opening night with a theater full of non-Asians (1:00) and why Michelle Yeoh deserves an Oscar nomination to make up for being snubbed for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2001 (3:00).  Shawn and Keith then take a deep dive in some of the discourse around Crazy Rich Asians (10:00) and why folks are trying to get a #GoldOpen for the John Cho thriller Searching (18:00). Then they celebrate Kelly Marie Tran's amazing New York Times editorial (22:00), N.K. Jemisin's equally amazing Hugo Award acceptance speech (24:30), and the announcement that Eve Ewing will be writing Ironheart, aka Riri Williams, for Marvel (27:30). Finally, they share their faves of the week, including HBO renewing Random Acts of Flyness and Bryan Edward Hill's upcoming Batman and the Outsiders comic for DC (30:00). All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and TuneIn Premium! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Shawn returns to Hard NOC Life as he and Keith break down the week that was in Nerd Pop. This week, Shawn talks more about decolonizing fandom (1:00) and decentering whiteness in pop culture (10:00). Meanwhile, Keith goes on an extended rant about Crazy Rich Asians backlash (14:00). Then they turn to television and talk about overlooked shows like HBO's Random Acts of Flyness (23:30), Netflix's Kim's Convenience and One Day at a Time (30:00) before diving into a show that definitely isn't being overlooked -- the Picard Star Trek show (35:00). Finally, Shawn and Keith share what's nerd poppin' this week (44:00), including the current run of Marvel's Fantastic Four comic, Ruby Rose as Batwoman, the movie adaptation of Ron Wimberly's Prince of Cats, and Spike Lee's BlackkKlansman. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and TuneIn Premium! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

This week on Hard NOC Life, Laura Sirikul fills in for Shawn and joins Keith for another week in Nerd Pop and celebrate the beginning of "Asian August!" Laura, who also co-hosts the Titans Podcast, shares her thoughts on the show's trailer (1:00), meeting Ryan Potter at Comic-Con (6:00), and why they started the hashtag #ImWithAnnaDiop (10:00). Then, they discuss Henry Cavill becoming a meme, why he should only do spy movies from now on (14:00), and why they couldn't watch it with MoviePass because the app is basically dead (18:00). They also discuss all of the movies that make up "Asian August" -- such as, Crazy Rich Asians, Searching, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, The Darkest Minds, The Meg, Dog Days, and more (22:00)! Finally, they share their favorite things in Nerd Pop, including live-tweeting Kim's Convenience on Netflix and the return of Faye Wong (45:00). All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and TuneIn Premium! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

This week on Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith recap the week in Nerd Pop, by running down what happened at Comic-Con and diving into the rise of the Black Auteur and Afro-Surrealism. Keith kicks off the show by recalling what he did in San Diego  (1:30) before he and Shawn dive into the James Gunn fiasco (6:45), Rally For Rose (10:30), the problem with Johnny Depp (16:00), and Warner Brothers' Hall H extravaganza (21:00). Then, Shawn breaks down his Sorry to Bother Your review and take a deep dive into Afro-Surrealism (30:30) and the rise of Black Auteur (45:00). Finally, Shawn survives a fire scare (52:00) before he and Keith share their favorite things in Nerd Pop: Teen Titans Go to the Movies, Mission: Impossible -- Fallout, Image Comics' Skyward, and Hannah Gadsby's Nanette on Netflix. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and TuneIn Premium! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

On a new episode of Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith Chow have another talk about the week in Nerd Pop, with a special focus on rebooting and reimagining classic shows. Before diving into the topic of the week, Keith and Shawn sing the praises of New York congressional candidate -- and low-key Nerd of Color-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  (1:30) and determine the difference between calling out someone for insufficient wokeness and calling out an actress like ScarJo for taking roles she shouldn't be taking (8:30). After that, they commemorate the tenth anniversary of The Dark Knight (15:00) and look ahead to DC's exciting slate of upcoming movies like Aquaman, Shazam, and a Cassandra Cain-led Birds of Prey (20:00). Later, they go into an extended conversation about rebooting fan-favorite shows like She-Ra (27:00) and which obscure properties Shawn would like to see brought back (32:00). Finally, Shawn and Keith share their favorite things in pop for the week, including looking forward to San Diego Comic-Con and celebrating all the Asian American Emmy nominees (44:00). All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and TuneIn Premium! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Welcome to a new era of Hard NOC Life! Starting with this episode, Shawn Taylor joins as the permanent co-host alongside Keith Chow as they break down the week that was in nerd pop culture. After introducing the newly revised format, Keith and Shawn throw back to the Childish Gambino episode and discuss the recent plagiarism controversy surrounding "This is America" (3:00). Then they remember the life of Steve Ditko (7:30) and share their thoughts on Marvel's Ant-Man and The Wasp film (11:45) before launching into an extended conversation about toxic fanboy culture (18:30). Later, they talk about the return of Billy Dee Williams to Star Wars (36:00) and preview the 'Rally for Rose' at San Diego Comic-Con (44:30). Finally, Shawn and Keith share their favorite things in pop for the week, including The Expanse on Amazon and Tom King's Batman #50 (49:00). All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts and Google Play! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Since it's the 29th anniversary of Tim Burton's Batman starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton, we're rewinding back to this classic Hard NOC episode from 2014 when we had a pre-Fatman on Batman Marc Bernardin as a guest! All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play!, and now on TuneIn Premium! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Ever since Kelly Marie Tran was bullied off of social media by Star Wars fanboys, an age-old debate in nerd circles has reemerged: Why is fandom so broken? In order to answer that question, Keith welcomes two amazing Star Wars fans to Hard NOC Life for the first time. Jessica Shitara is the co-host of Rebel Grrrl, and Swara Salih is the co-host of Beltway Banthas. They are also two of the originators of the #SWRepMatters hashtag and prominent voices battling the Dark Side of Star Wars fandom. Together, Keith, Jess, and Swara attempt to break down where we are in Star Wars fandom and how things like #FanArtForRose exemplify Rose Tico's iconic lines from The Last Jedi. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts and Google Play! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Coming off the heels of wrapping the second season of Atlanta on FX and a successful stint hosting SNL -- as well as being the musical guest -- he captivated the internet with the release of the music video "This is America." Now, he's currently portraying a young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story before going on to voice Simba in the live action Lion King adaptation for Disney. It may be safe to say that 2018 is shaping up to be the year of Donald Glover. On Hard NOC Life, Keith and Shawn Taylor talk about the discourse about the discourse of "This is America," Glover's very public journey to identity as it parallels his evolution as an artist, and how Atlanta celebrates Black Weirdness and the Black Mundane. They also briefly debate the qualities of The Last Jedi and Shawn's negative history with Star Wars before previewing Glover's take on Lando. Finally, Shawn announces That Moment, the newest addition to the Hard NOC Media family of podcasts! All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts and Google Play! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

This week on Hard NOC Life, we have the honor to be joined by star of stage and screen, Javier Muñoz. After Keith pesters Javier about starring in both In the Heights and Hamilton, they talk about shifting from the stage to television, going from one rabid fandom to another, and how his own Shadowhunters fandom got him a role on the show. Then they discuss other franchises he'd like to join -- hint, it's Star Wars -- and Javier nerds out about his love of science fiction. Finally, he reveals what it was like writing a comic book story for the upcoming Ricanstruction anthology. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

It's been a hell of a year for Lewis Tan. And for the next seven days, it's going to be one hell of a week! An O.G. and official Friend of the NOC, Lewis Tan is back on Hard NOC Life. Keith and Lewis talk about the amazing run he's on, making his debut on Into the Badlands on Sunday May 6, then following up that debut with a starring role as Shatterstar in next weekend's Deadpool 2! Lewis shares how he booked both roles -- while Keith takes full credit for his part on Badlands. Lewis also reveals the training regiment he and his co-stars undertake, working with his cinematic heroes, and what people may or may not do with a Lewis Tan action figure. Ladies and gentlemen, #HisThirstiness is in the building! All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts and Google Play! Support us on Patreon! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Keith invites his DC TV Classics co-host Britney Monae back to Hard NOC Life to break down the biggest movie in the universe: Avengers: Infinity War! Spoilers throughout!!! Go see Infinity War and come back as Keith and Britney go plot-point by plot-point to discuss what they loved about the latest chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts and Google Play! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

On a new Hard NOC Life, we're joined by Supergirl star David Harewood! But first, Keith takes a minute to tell the origin story of the WICOMICON Pop-Up in Baltimore over the weekend. David Harewood talks about growing up as a nerd in the UK reading comic books and watching Monty Python. Then reveals what it was like being cast as the Martian Manhunter on Supergirl. He also explains what it was like working alongside another classic J'onn J'onnz in Carl Lumbly and itching to wear a superhero costume. David also discusses the difficulties of being a Black actor in Britain, the difference between mo-cap and traditional acting, and why representation in media is so important. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

This week on Hard NOC Life, Peabody-winning journalist, poet, and podcaster extraordinaire Al Letson joins the pod! Keith and Al engage in a wide-ranging conversation that touches on, well, Errthang: how comics taught him to read, the ways nerd culture predicted the rise of Trumpism, his time in DC Comics' Talent Development program, Superman's red trunks, and what to look forward to in the second season of Errthang! All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon. As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

LA Times film reporter Jen Yamato is the special guest on Hard NOC Life as we break down the reaction to Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs. Ever since Anderson's latest animated feature was released in select theaters, the conversation around the film has revealed a split in the way white film critics and Asian American film critics perceive the movie. Yamato has received a fair amount of blow back on social media from Anderson's rabid following which places Isle of Dogs in the middle of the ongoing "war" between critics and fans. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

On Hard NOC Life, we continue Ricanstruction week on The Nerds of Color as Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez joins the show to talk about the origins of the anthology. Originally announced in the New York Times, Ricanstruction brings together over 100 artists, writers, and celebrities telling stories of Puerto Rico's past, present, and future, including crossovers between DC characters and La Borinqueña. In addition to discussing the aftermath of Hurricane Maria -- and how a conversation with Dan Didio at New York Comic-Con led to an arrangement to feature DC Comics super heroes in the anthology, they talk about the importance of intersectionality, social justice, and representation. Another Ricanstruction preview can be found in The Village Voice. Ricanstruction will be available in stores everywhere on May 23. You can pre-order it on Amazon or use the Diamond code JAN189143 when ordering through your local comic shop. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.  

Out in comic shops this week is Puerto Rico Strong, a new anthology from Lion Forge Comics created to aid in the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. On Hard NOC Life, we speak to one of the book's co-editors, and fellow NOC, Desiree Rodrguez. Keith and Desiree discuss the work that went into turning a massive project like this around in a matter of months, and why it's important that the book be seen as an educational tool for readers to understand the history, culture, and people of Puerto Rico. They also go on a brief tangent about the business of the direct market and the comic book retail industry. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

On Hard NOC Life, Keith is joined by one of the stars of Warner Brothers' upcoming Tomb Raider movie, Daniel Wu! Daniel talks about his role as Lu Ren and being a leading man in Hollywood and how movie magic turned South Africa into Hong Kong and the South Pacific. He also gets fans excited for season 3 of Into the Badlands, which returns to AMC on April 22. Tomb Raider, starring Academy Award-winner Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, opens in theaters everywhere on March 16. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

Former Vertigo editor Pornsak Pichetshote comes to Hard NOC Life to talk about Infidel, his new comic series from Image! Keith and Pornsak take a deep dive in to the comic book industry and discuss how comics have evolved into the dominant creative force of Hollywood. Later, they discuss the inspiration for Infidel and how to tell stories outside your own experience. All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops.

With historic Oscar nominations for Get Out and record-breaking ticket pre-sales for Black Panther, 2018 is shaping up to be a watershed year for mainstream genre pictures that center Black characters. Acclaimed speculative fiction writers and educators Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, who currently offer an online course dedicated to Jordan Peele's box office phenomenon, join Keith for a frank discussion of both films and their place in American popular culture. Also, Laura Surikul joins to invite our listeners to the first of several Black Panther Blerd Meetups at the Scum and Villainy Cantina in Los Angeles we are co-sponsoring with Black Girl Nerds, Geeks of Color, and a host of other Nerdy POCs including Fatman on Batman co-host Marc Bernardin! All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit "play," and check this. Subscribe to all of podcasts in the Hard NOC Media family on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and NPR One! As always, our official theme music is brought to you by the super team of Adam WarRock and Chops. Support us on Patreon!