{"podcast":{"title":"Critical Darlings","slug":"critical-darlings-7771666","podcast_index_feed_id":7771666,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/THI7214278819","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/b70a2598-2185-11f1-9391-2f87e0e925cc/image/4c25862893adddea3f0c270dc90ba01c.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Blank Check Productions","episode_count":24,"summary":"Welcome to Critical Darlings: a podcast about the movies everyone is talking about, one new release after another. Every week, critics Richard Lawson and Alison Willmore cover the latest film driving the conversation—from big summer blockbusters to festival favorites, buzzy streamers, and major awards contenders. New episodes every Thursday. We’re a Blank Check Production! To catch up on our first miniseries covering the 2026 Oscars season, check out Blank Check on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Stick around on this feed for new episodes going forward. Produced by Benjamin Frisch Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, ⁠⁠Premiere Party,⁠⁠ and read Alison's work ⁠⁠at Vulture. Follow @blankcheckpod on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠!","last_synced_at":"2026-06-04T18:19:24.868644+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666"},"episode":{"title":"\"Sinners\" And The Academy’s Growing Genre Acceptance with Sam Sanders","slug":"sinners-and-the-academy-s-growing-genre-acceptance-with-sam-sanders","published_at":"2026-03-05T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666/sinners-and-the-academy-s-growing-genre-acceptance-with-sam-sanders","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/THI2105864879.mp3?updated=1774620399","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/THI2105864879.mp3?updated=1774620399","summary":"This week we’re joined by Sam Sanders of The Sam Sanders Show to discuss Sinners, the most nominated film in Academy Awards history. With sixteen nominations across directing, writing, music, and acting categories, Sinners is a somewhat surprising record breaker, as genre films, especially films with horror elements, are rarely awarded by The Academy. On this episode we discuss the film, why it was able to break through, if Sinners counts as a genre film; and if so, what genre it represents. We also get into what effect the Warner Bros. Paramount merger might have on the Oscars, the film’s blunt sexuality, Michael B. Jordan’s double act, and what to make of the film's coda. Finally, Sam makes an impassioned case for Sung Song Blue and Kate Hudson’s nominated performance. Check out Sam’s interviews with Kate Hudson, as well as some of the cast and crew of Sinners on ⁠The Sam Sanders Show. Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, ⁠Premiere Party,⁠ and read Alison's work at ⁠Vulture. ⁠Follow Critical Darlings on Instagram⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"This week we’re joined by Sam Sanders of The Sam Sanders Show to discuss Sinners, the most nominated film in Academy Awards history. With sixteen nominati…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5273,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/critical-darlings-7771666/episodes/sinners-and-the-academy-s-growing-genre-acceptance-with-sam-sanders/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666/sinners-and-the-academy-s-growing-genre-acceptance-with-sam-sanders.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}