material girls

September Shenanigans from the Material Girls

Welcome back to The Monthly Hoot: Witch, Please Productions' Newsletter!

Witch, Please Productions

— 7 min read
September Shenanigans from the Material Girls

Hey lovely people!

Happy September! We hope that if you’re going back to school (either as a teacher or a student!) the year is starting off swimmingly. I (Gaby) don’t typically consider September the start of fall because it’s still pretty darn hot on the East Coast, but we’ve had a stretch of lovely weather here in Baltimore the last few weeks that have had me craving pumpkin spice.

We’ll get on with the rest of the news that’s fit to print! Thanks as always for your support. <3

Hugs,

Hannah, Marcelle, Coach, Zoe, and Gaby

Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a masterpiece both firmly planted in the rich tradition of horror and at the forefront of the growing genre of new Black horror. As auditors of the zeitgeist, we simply had to talk about the splash it made in 2017 and the conversation around its legacy since.

In this episode we consider what made the narrative so impactful and we take a closer look at its reception by white audiences and critics who were particularly interested in claiming Peele's work as an example of “Black Excellence.” Marcelle and Hannah parse the complexity of the term and pull on Cheryl Thompson's work to understand how “Black Excellence became the veil that shielded people from seeing how our systems and institutions are still rooted in White supremacist notions of ‘success’.”

To better understand the film itself, Marcelle then draws on “Horrifying Whiteness and Jordan Peele’s Get Out" written by Julia Mollenthiel — an article that defines a theoretical lens to help us think about the growing genre of new Black horror: “horrifying whiteness.”

Even if you're a weenie when it comes to horror, this is an episode you don't want to miss! We promise there are no jump scares!

It's been ten years since Hamilton premiered on Broadway and that's just enough time to have some perspective on its lasting impact. For this episode, we had to bring on previous guest and brilliant academic, Shira Lurie (who joined us on Witch, Please for Book 7, Ep. 2). As an expert in American History, Shira helps Hannah and Marcelle explore "Hamilton" as a reflection of the Obama era's rhetorical progressivism and political centrism. They discuss how the show leans on the myth of the American Dream and Hannah places the show in the hagiographic tradition of biography. If you love the musical or hate the musical, not to worry! We promise, this episode is for fans and critics alike.

As always, we had some fun on Material Concerns this month. Hannah, Marcelle and Coach discuss The Pitt, Labubus, and dig into some classic Material Concerns segments, including Left on the Table; Okay, Hear Me Out; Creature Reports; and more.

As always, get part two of all Material Concerns episodes on Patreon!

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Watch Along: October 26th (open to $10+ tiers)

We tend not to spoil our upcoming episodes because we like the idea of you turning to your podcast feeds on Tuesday mornings to find a zeitgeist-surprise! But rules are meant to be broken so here’s the deal: on October 28th we’re releasing an episode about The Craft (1996). Join us on October 26th for a watch along ahead of that ep’s release! Let’s dress up, get our Halloween-themed snacks ready and spend the afternoon with these weirdos. ;)

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Did you know that Marcelle is running for election to the Public School Board? It's true!

If you live in Alberta you can support Marcelle's campaign! She needs volunteers to help deliver her campaign postcards and lawn signs.

Don't have time to volunteer? Consider making a donation at marcelle4trustee.ca/donate.

Strapped for cash? Spread the word about Marcelle's campaign to your friends and family in Edmonton.

School Boards shape both the policies and the budgets for the school district, so they are super important but very few people pay attention to them!

Marcelle, as you can surely imagine, wants to make sure the Edmonton Public School system is a safe, welcoming, and accessible place for ALL kids, including queer and trans kids, kids with disabilities, newcomers and refugees and undocumented kids, Black and Indigenous kids, kids of colour, and kids of all religions, cultures, and socioeconomic status.

And hey, if you don't live in Alberta but feel fired up about this issue, consider looking into your own public school board! Municipal politics are the new hot thing.

✌️

This has been an unpaid advertisement by Marcelle for Marcelle4Trustee.

iykyk

Some late summer tunes, courtesy of your favorite team! We’re running the gamut this month. Coach got Hannah and Gaby hooked on Petey USA, a band she’s evangelized for years, plus there’s a new Sabrina Carpenter album. As such, there’s a lot going on. Enjoy and listen on Spotify here and Apple Music here!

This weekend I engaged in my Labour Day tradition of watching Knives Out and now The Glass Onion, which are two satisfyingly mean movies about the downfall of terrible rich people. Knives Out is, I think, the better movie, more tightly plotted and beautifully shot, but it was The Glass Onion that really moved me this time around because Miles Bron (the tech billionaire played so disgustingly by Edward Norton) is so clearly a send up of Elon Musk, and the movie’s thesis is so clear: the greatest hoax these assholes play is convincing people that they’re smart. When someone calls Bron’s scheme “so dumb it’s brilliant” and Benoit Blanc responds with outrage “NO! It’s just dumb!” That’s me @ the world.
See below.
I am someone who doesn’t grocery shop for weeks at a time when I get busy and that usually leaves me eating like this. But when I DO go to Mr. Coco (my local grocer with a fab name), as I did yesterday, I tend to go hard. SO here’s the rec: Get yourself roasting veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, cauliflower), farro and tahini and make yourself the best bowl ever! I did this last night and it slapped. The dressing I made was olive oil, tahini, mustard, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. I dressed that over the roasted veggies and farro, threw in some feta, onion, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and red peppers and it was great. I don’t really follow recipes so excuse the chaos. <3
Last month I treated myself to a new tattoo! And not just any tattoo- a tattoo of my own artwork! I created this lil frog gal as part of a project when I was in the Master of Publishing, and a few years ago a friend of mine said, hey that would be a great tattoo. Ever since then I’ve been idly thinking about it, and finally last Saturday it happened! The artist who was kind enough to tattoo her on my body is @thefourthcup on instagram. :)
It’s been a bit of a light reading year for me for a number of reasons, primarily because I was dealing with some very stressful work stuff for the first half of 2025. But I have quite a bit more free time now and I’ve read a handful of things that I’ve really enjoyed. In July, I read Woodworking by Emily St. James, about a trans high school teacher who befriends the only other trans woman she knows: one of her students. I loved the way St. James played with point-of-view in this book! It was a fascinating way to help tell the story. I also just finished Whidbey by T Kira Madden, which was masterful. It’s not out until next year, but I recommend preordering! Please heed the content warnings—it’s heavy.

Have a topic you want us to tackle? Feel free to submit to this form!

Something else you want us to know? You can always email us at ohwitchplease@gmail.com.

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Okay, bye! xoxo

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