Unnatural Selection – Details, episodes & analysis

It’s June so you know what that means! Kat and Emma return to the woods for their annual trek through the Twilight series. Listen along as Emma has an existential crisis realizing that Eclipse might actually be good, Kat gets into the lore of it all, and we realize that everyone, even Stephanie Meyer, might agree that polyamory could be the answer to this love triangle.   Content warnings for Eclipse include: references to domestic violence, controlling behavior, vague confederate sympathies, self-harm, weird racism towards werewolves, an unfortunate introduction to the concept of imprinting, and insensitive depictions of the Quileute people.

The article Emma promised to find and video essay Kat referenced can be found here: https://www.slashfilm.com/1700668/why-bryce-dallas-howard-replaced-rachelle-lefevre-twilight-victoria/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT5unKXnSUk   For more information on the Quileute people, visit https://www.burkemuseum.org/static/truth_vs_twilight/

You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca, Kat @StrawberrySiren, and the show @UnselectPod. Emma is also on bluesky at crabmoney.bsky.social. Kat can be found on Instagram @swordsandsirens and her dog Walter is @WalterWednesdays. Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork

The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can check out more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

It’s that time of year when our good friend Jonathan Harker takes a trip to Transylvania, and in honor of such it’s time for Jeff and Emma to break down what surely has to be the most accurate Dracula adaptation—Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). It’s even got the author’s name! The cowboy is there! Wait, what? What do you mean they make Dracula a brooding antihero? What do you mean Mina wants to fuck him like her life depends on it? What do you mean Jonathan is played by Keanu Reeves? Oh boy, sounds like the creatures of the night have sure made some… strange... music with this one.   Content warnings for Dracula include: sexual assault, gaslighting, death of a loved one, death of a family member, medical horror, racism and xenophobia towards the Romani people, some weird Victorian values, and the consuming of one baby.   Content warnings for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) include: all of the above content warnings PLUS a frankly ridiculous level of horniness.   The articles and interviews Emma references in this episode can be found here: https://people.com/movies/francis-ford-coppola-denies-winona-ryder-verbal-abuse-dracula/ https://ew.com/article/2015/10/06/francis-ford-coppola-remembers-dracula/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WwF6vRG3FE https://ew.com/article/2015/08/03/bram-stokers-dracula-francis-ford-coppola-bluray/ https://www.thedigitalfix.com/dracula/cary-elwes-interview-francis-ford-coppola https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/nov/20/bram-stokers-dracula-francis-ford-coppolas-very-horny-vampire-epic https://www.polygon.com/horror/507232/bram-stokers-dracula-1992-nosferatu-horny-vampire-sex https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/06/style/the-new-blood-culture.html   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. Emma is also on bluesky now @crabmoney.bsky.social. You can find Jeff @jeffstormer.gobirds.online. Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard from Emma and Jeff and want to support the network, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork.   The music for this podcast was composed by Jake Loranger. You can find more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com

It’s finally time to cover the adaptation that inspired this show! Set sail on the Orca with Emma and Marn for a nearly two-hour discussion about the beast known as Jaws. Bridge the brief gap between Benchley’s 1974 hit novel and Spielberg’s inaugural summer blockbuster in 1975 with these two podcasters as Marn lets Emma gush about real-life shark footage, Hooper’s affair with Brody’s wife, and mafia subplots.   Content warnings for Jaws include: graphic shark attacks, child death, graphic descriptions of sharks being killed, infidelity, mentions of rape and rape fantasy, 70’s-pulp typical nudity and horniness, and insufferable rich scientists.   The extra book Emma read for this episode is The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb. Emma read the 25th anniversary edition with introduction by Peter Benchley.   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. Marn can be found on most social media @corpserevivers. The web serial she writes with her wife can be found at https://prairiesongserial.com/

Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard from either Emma, Marn, or the myriad shows they make together, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork

The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can check out more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

Kat and Emma return to the woods for their annual trek through the Twilight series. This year, listen along to their thoughts on Stephanie Meyer’s New Moon as they muse about terrible CGI, laugh at ridiculous teen behaviors, and restart Team Jacob discourse in the year 2024.   Content warnings for New Moon include: depressive episodes, suicidal behavior, abandonment, the murder of a tour group, references to domestic violence, weird racism towards werewolves, insensitive depictions of the Quileute people, and an obscene number of references to Romeo and Juliet.   The articles Emma references can be found here:  https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/2/9/effects-CGI-new-moon/ https://screenrant.com/twilight-new-moon-behind-scenes-details-making-trivia/   For more information on the Quileute people, visit https://www.burkemuseum.org/static/truth_vs_twilight/   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca, Kat @StrawberrySiren, and the show @UnselectPod. Kat can be found on Instagram @swordsandsirens and her dog Walter is @WalterWednesdays. Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork   The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can check out more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

Travel to Arrakis and venture out into the desert for spice with Emma and Tom as they discuss the two-part 2021 and 2024 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965). Neither Emma nor Tom have mastered the voice, so no need to worry about any Bene Gesserit tricks. Just listen along for their takes on adapting a behemoth of a book, Jessica’s evil arc, and a firsthand account of the limited-edition Dune AMC popcorn bucket.   Heads up that the audio for this episode has more background noise than usual because it was recorded in person on one microphone.   Content Warnings for Dune include: mind control, colonization, violence, assault, religious fanaticism, death of a parent, death of a child, many other miscellaneous deaths, and a weirdly intelligent two-year-old.   The articles Emma references in this episode can be found here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/making-of-dune-denis-villenueve-novel-adaptation-1235052084/ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-10-21/dune-movie-book-changes-explained-denis-villeneuve https://screenrant.com/dune-2-denis-villeneuve-interview/ https://www.ign.com/articles/dune-part-2-is-a-perfect-adaptation-because-of-one-key-difference   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. Tom does not wish to be found on social media, but if you would like to connect with him on a cosmic level, try getting really into Twilight Imperium. Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork   The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can check out more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

What is this, a crossover episode? Unnatural Selection host Emma joins forces with PB and CJ of the Ga’Hoolingans Podcast to talk about, you guessed it, Zach Snyder’s Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010), an adaptation of the first three books in Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series! Join these three hosts as they go into the hollow of the Ga’Hoole tree to talk about egregious slow motion, uncannily detailed owls, and how amped we would have been as 10-year-olds witnessing this story about owl fascism.   Content warnings for The Capture, The Journey, and The Rescue include: cult programming and deprogramming, white supremacy, fascism, child slavery, cannibalism, graphic depictions of owl feeding and digestion functions, PTSD nightmares, a lot of owl deaths, attempted fratricide, successful parricide, owl swears, and a weirdly racialized way of handling a real dynamic between owls and snakes.   The articles Emma references in this episode can be found here:  https://movieweb.com/exclusive-john-orloff-talks-legend-of-the-guardians-the-owls-of-gahoole/ https://www.expandedcinematography.com/the-cinematography-of-legend-of-the-guardians.html   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. PB can be found on bluesky @paulyhedral and CJ @atypicalley. You can find PB’s ttrpgs at pauly3d.itch.io. Unnatural Selection and The Ga’Hooligans Podcast are both part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you want to hear more from Emma, PB, and CJ, check out the Moonshot twitch channel at moonshot.mov or support the network at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork.   The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can find more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com

Get ready to inhale some spores, step through the shimmer into Area X, and explore a ~~tunnel~~ tower with Emma and Jacqueline as they take a look at Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation and the 2018 film adaptation of the same name. Listen along as they dive into the creative use of repurposed visuals, the differences between a biologist and Natalie Portman, and overlooking scientific curiosity in favor of the military.   Content warnings for Annihilation include: body horror, gun violence, memory loss, hypnosis, gore, medical horror, and being replaced by a doppelganger.   The articles Emma references in this episode can be found at: https://www.theringer.com/movies/2018/2/23/17036466/alex-garland-annihilation-interview-ex-machina https://screen-queens.com/2018/04/06/the-dancer-behind-annhilations-epic-ending/   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. You can find Jacqueline on tumblr at swampert.tumblr.com. You listen to her show Unwise Girls on a podcatcher of choice. If you want to hear more of Emma and Jacqueline together, check them out on the show Dead Teen House Party. Unnatural Selection, Unwise Girls, and DTHP are all a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork.   The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can find more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

Put on your VR headset and load up a CGI courtroom as Jory and Emma discuss the 1992 “adaptation” of Stephen King’s 1975 short story The Lawnmower Man. Join them as they discuss how loose an adaptation can get before it’s just a different piece of media entirely, why Stephen King sued, and how sometimes a director is wrong even if they’ve put a quality monkey into a movie.

Content warnings for The Lawnmower Man (1975) include: animal death, descriptions of gore, public nudity, graphic lawnmower-based violence, and republican fathers.

Content warnings for The Lawnmower Man (1992) include: flashing lights, terrible cgi, monkey violence, gun violence, death of an animal, mental ableism, abusive fathers (both parental and religious), and an absolutely horrifying instance of cybersex.

The articles Emma references in this episode can be found at: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/976/824/47250/ https://collider.com/stephen-king-the-lawnmower-man-lawsuit/ https://www.thecompanion.app/lawnmover-man-cyberpunk/

You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. You can find Jory on most sites @NoImJory and @jory.zone on Bluesky. Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork. Jory’s podcast We Are! Watching One Piece can be found on twitter @WeAreWatchingOP

The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can find more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

This month on Unnatural Selection, Andrew has volunteered as tribute to dive straight into the second book in the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire, without ever reading the first one! Listen along as they compare it to the 2013 film adaptation of the same name and talk about cut characters, the YA love triangle craze, why Katniss is stripped of her interiority, and what makes Hollywood think the death games are more interesting than the budding revolution surrounding them.   Content warnings for Catching Fire include: police brutality, graphic depictions of violence, depictions of PTSD, torture, death of children, death in general, alcoholism, drug addiction, oblivious rich people, and fake dating.    You can find Emma on Twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. You can find Andrew on X the Everything App @CohostSherms and at the same handle on Bluesky. You can hear more from Andrew on the Argonauts Podcast, The Podcast Mines, and Mild Manor’d. All of these shows, as well as Unnatural Selection, are a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you’ve heard and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork.   The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can find more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

Travel through Christmas past, present, and future with Emma and Juliet as they take on one of the many, MANY, adaptations of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic A Christmas Carol. This December they focus on 1992’s The Muppets Christmas Carol, which might genuinely be the most faithful adaptation even if Bob Cratchit is a loveable frog. Join them to gripe about dancing penguins, wax poetic about Dickens’ use of language, and talk about more Neopets than you would expect!   Content warnings for A Christmas Carol include: hauntings, loneliness, death, death of a child (he gets better), violence against spirits, time travel, and the mortifying ordeal of listening to people talk about you when they think you aren’t there.   The articles Emma cites in this episode can be found at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/dec/21/how-we-made-the-muppet-christmas-carol https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/making-of-muppet-christmas-carol/   You can find Emma on Twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. You can find Juliet on Cohost @folly and their show I’ll Be Pod for Castmas @christmas. Unnatural Selection and I’ll Be Pod for Castmas are both a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. Become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork to hear even more shows from the two of them!   The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can find more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/