Tender Subject

The only podcast that bites back! Jay and Kayte talk about the most delicious taboo: cannibalism. Join us as we devour movies, art and theory!

Listen on:

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Podbean App
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
  • TuneIn + Alexa
  • iHeartRadio
  • PlayerFM
  • Listen Notes
  • Podchaser
  • BoomPlay

Episodes

Monday Dec 15, 2025

Kayte is Joined by Langdon from Death/Sentence podcast for a discussion about Sayaka Murata's books Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman. We talk biopolitics, cannibalism both literal and figurative, trauma and living in a society. Media referenced: Gina Meyers' new book of poetry, Works and DaysBuy Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman on BookshopThe Biopolitical Body of Convenience Store Woman by Meg Horrridge
Langdon is the host of Death/Sentence and writes here!
Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!
 

Monday Nov 17, 2025

This Week, Kayte and Dave are joined by returning fave, comedian Gabe Pacheco for a deep dive into the drug fueled Ken Russell film Altered States. We talk about getting high, colonialism, the simian monster and the bliss of turning to sand with your lover. 
Media Referenced: Altered States: Visions and Divisions by Jessica Kiang
Patriarchal-Industrial Anxiety and the Return of the Repressed (Eco-critical) Simian Monster by David Christopher 
 
Gabe is the co-host of Halal Cartels. Go see Gabe perform by following him here and here!Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

041-Cuckoo with JJ and Mae!

Monday Oct 20, 2025

Monday Oct 20, 2025

This week Kayte and Mae are joined by writer and editor of Cul de Sac of Blood (a horror poetics journal) J †Johnson to sink our teeth into Gretchen Felker-Martin's nightmarish novel Cuckoo. We talk about the unknowable monster, the horror of the family and liken the book's desert conversion camp to the violence of ecological colonialism and memoricide. "Elements of Semitism" by Jake Romm, Parapraxis Magazine"The State Wants to Remember For You. Don't Let it" by Camelia Berry-GrassJJ is the co-editor of Cul de Sac of Blood, a horror poetics journal and the author of two books with Punctum Books. Their forthcoming book, Janky Materiality will also be published by Punctum.Mae is co-host of the podcast Pleasers and Punishers, is a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoeKayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here.

Friday Sep 26, 2025

Long live the new flesh. Kayte, Dave and guest Jake Flores dig into David Cronenberg’s weirdo masterpiece, Videodrome. We talk Marshall McCluhan, techno-utopians, techno-fascists, kink and more! Media referenced: 
The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McCluhan and Quentin Fiore 
Rev Left Radio: episode on Marshall McCluhan & The Medium is the Message with Matthew Furlong. Listen here.
Videodrome: The Slithery Sense of Unreality by Gary Indiana. Read here
Jake is the co-host of Pod Damn America, Why You Mad (on hiatus but listen to the old eps!) and The Preacher and The Slave. He’s also a standup! Follow him on insta for dates.
Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Monday Sep 08, 2025

Help us come ashore, we won’t eat you, my dear. This week, we deep dive into the mermaid musical, The Lure (2015) (directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska) with our guest DeVaughn Taylor. We talk about Poland in the ‘80s, mermaid lore, trans themes, disgust and desire and so much more. 
Find DeVaughn as a co-host on Specter Cinema Club and Tainted Love and a regular on The Pod and the Pendulum
Mae is co-host of the podcast Pleasers and Punishers, is a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoeKayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

Monday Aug 11, 2025

This week, we are slurping and crunching our way through Fruit Chan’s film Dumplings with guests Gretchen Felker-Martin and Sophie Lewis! We talk about the politics of food, abortion, class in Hong Kong and Birkin bags! 
Media referenced: 
Fruit Chan's "Dumplings"—New "Diary of a Madman" in Post-Mao Global Capitalism by Lu Tonglin
Buy Gretchen’s books: Manhunt, Cuckoo and newly published Black Flame from Tor Nightfire 
Buy Sophie’s books: Full Surrogacy Now!, Abolish the Family and Enemy Feminisms
Follow Gretchen and Sophie on Patreon (I do!)
 

Tuesday Jul 22, 2025

Boils and blood and side wounds, oh my! This week we are joined by artist/professor (and Kayte's MFA thesis mentor!) Jonathan Van Dyke to talk about Renaissance paintings, torture, eroticism and more. On the menu: Jesus's sexuality, saints in ecstasy, leaky artists and why so many old Christian paintings look so queer. 
About Jonathan Van Dyke:  Jonathan VanDyke is a New York City–based visual artist working at the intersection of painting and performance, with an emphasis on a queer, collaborative, and embodied practice. He is an Artist in Residence at Bard College and teaches for Pig Iron Theater and has many many shows you can read more about here! Or, follow JVD on insta!
This is probably our most research heavy episode to date so please peruse our media referenced! 
Readings:
Steinberg, Leo. The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and Modern Oblivion, University of Chicago, 1983.Jones, Amelia. "Performing the Wounded Body: Pain, Affect and the Radical Relationality of the Body", Parallax, 2009Van Dyke, Jonathan. "Hold, Still", free copy hereVan Dyke, Jonathan. "Why Do So Many Old Christian Paintings Look So Queer?", free copy here
Paintings we discussed:
Francesco Bachiacca, The Flagellation of Christ, 1512-1515, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Diego de la Cruz, The Mass of St. Gregory, 1490, oil and gold on panel, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.
Giovanni Bellini, Lamentation Over the Dead Christ with the Virgin, Saint Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalen between Saint Martha and Filippo Benizi, 1510-16, oil on canvas, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice.
Marcello Fogolino, Madonna and Child enthroned with Job and St Gothard1505-1508, oil on canvas, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk!
Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Monday Jun 23, 2025

The shoe is too small for her, the true bride waits for you. This week we dig our teeth into the bloody fairy tale of Cinderella retold as the film The Ugly Stepsister with our guest, writer/editor Payton McCarty-Simas. We talk through the rot of beauty standards, overbearing mothers and fuckboy princes through the many iterations of tale, including Angela Carter's Ashputtle and Grimm's Cinderella. Media referenced: "Cinderella" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (read for free here)"Ashputtle or The Mother's Ghost: Three Versions of One Story", American Ghosts and Old World Wonders by Angela Carter (read for free here)"Deconstructing a Disempowering Normative Identity: Angela Carter's Adaptation of the Ashputtle Story" by Per Bauhn and Fatma Fulya TepePre-Order Payton's book here!Read more of Payton's work here!Mae is also a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoeKayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

Tuesday Jun 03, 2025

Who are the real cannibals? Spoiler: it’s western imperialism! Kayte, Jay and guest Mark Steven dissect the cult classic Cannibal Holocaust and discover layer upon gristly layer of meaning. Topics we cover: found footage, the complicity of media, anthropology, groovy soundtracks and well-meaning liberals. a note: this movie contains a lot of SA, violence and animal cruelty. We still think it’s a really important film to watch! Media Referenced: "The Raw and The Cooked: An Interview With Cătălin Avramescu " by Justin E.H. Smith, Cabinet Magazine.Splatter Capital: The Political Economy of Gore Films by Mark Steven "Nightmare Green: Cannibal Holocaust as Theory-Fiction" by Micheal Uhaull, Ancillary Review of Books.
Where to find Mark:
Buy his book Capitalism: A Literary History here.
Find all of Mark’s other writing hereJay is also a co-host on Library Punk!
Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Thursday May 08, 2025

Out by 16 or dead in the scene but together forever! This week we are joined by writer/performer Addison Peacock to talk about Ginger Snaps! Topics include: being a weird girl, fashion before the internet, becoming a monster and sisterly incest! 
Media referenced: 
The Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed
”Out by 16: Queer(ed) Girls in Ginger Snaps” by Tanis McDonald
Where to find Addison: 
Listen to her on the steampunk fantasy podcast Kingmaker 
Listen to her on the queer cyberpunk audio drama KILLJAMXXX
Writing for Dead Meat
 
Mae is also a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoeKayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here

Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Version: 20241125