Best Of: Making ‘La Bola Negra’ / 'New Yorker' cartoonists lament their kitchens
Summary
Spanish directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrose discuss their epic film *La Bola Negra*, which adapts Federico García Lorca’s unfinished play to explore the persecution of gay men during the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship. The episode also features New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein, who share their new graphic memoir *The Two Saddest Kitchens*, a humorous collaboration about their dysfunctional cooking spaces. Finally, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new South Korean drama *Possible Love*.
Topics discussed
Sponsor: Capella University
Episode preview: La Bola Negra and The Two Saddest Kitchens
Sponsors: Capital One and LegacyBox
Introduction to La Bola Negra and its historical context
Cannes premiere and cast of La Bola Negra
Directors' inspiration from Alberto Conejero's play
Researching the personal life of Federico Garcia Lorca
Lorca's habit of discussing projects in public
The decision to make the film an epic
Stories from the LGBTQ+ community and the 'black ball' metaphor
Mixing genres to connect with younger audiences
Sponsors: Abrams Books and Con Edison
Historical context: Madrid in the 1910s and 1920s
Parallels between historical freedom and modern society
Lyrical dialogue and the Titanic reference
Javier Ambrose's uncle Carlos and coming out
Javier Calvo's early identity and Catholic school experiences
Calvo's role as a gay teenager on a teen show
Introduction to the film Possible Love
Plot of Possible Love: layoffs and family dynamics
Cinematography and the blurring of fiction and reality
Comparisons to Parasite and actor performances
Conclusion of the Possible Love review
Sponsors: Abrams Books, Con Edison, and Google Workspace
Introduction to The Two Saddest Kitchens
Personal feelings about their kitchens
Minimalism and the humor of kitchen chaos
What is hidden in the kitchens
Embarrassing kitchen items: fridges and cabinets
Using kitchen spaces for non-food storage
Handling expired food and expiration dates
The metaphor of expiration dates and death
Family cooking habits and childhood memories
Kitchen habits and cleaning after publication
The state of the cartoonist profession
The book as a story of friendship and collaboration
Credits and production team
Sponsor: Google Workspace with Gemini
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