Jack Halberstam, the author of The Queer Art of Failure, is someone I’ve wanted to talk to since I first started this podcast. As a professor and scholar, Jack has dedicated his career to dissecting the often-radical undertones of popular cultural media. Together, we look at how animated kids’ movies like Shrek, Finding Nemo, and Chicken Run offer critiques of a system that fails so many of us. We also talk about Jack’s experience as a queer child in England, since where we come from always informs where we go. It’s a wide-ranging conversation that calls into question the very essence of this podcast, as we examine what it means to be a failure in this world — and why Samuel Beckett’s phrase “fail better” isn’t all that inspiring when read in context. Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Stay up to date with Lemonada on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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