Intro/outro music: “Gay Bar Videogame” by The Wildbunchhttp://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Wildbunch/Gay_Bar/Gay_Bar_videogame

1:52 Introducing this month’s show3:20 Concept + episodic structure7:23 Previous experiences with show8:36 Introducing this month’s article11:02 Stereotypes: commodities, victims, and victimizers12:36 Jorge and Anfisa18:05 Most stereotypical/least sympathetic of storylines19:07 Russian women as “victimizers”20:21 Russian sex ratio imbalances22:02 Jorge and Anfisa on tell-all episode23:24 Matt and Alla27:31 Cultural differences around marriage b/w Alla and Matt’s family29:37 Is Alla “victimizer” stereotype like Anfisa or is this different? Is stereotype rooted in anxieties about modern marriage?31:40 Presence of child makes couple more sympathetic33:20 Chantel and Pedro35:40 Runs counter to traditional ‘mail-order bride’ narrative37:37 Show’s ‘male gaze’39:30 Are we more sympathetic b/c of cultural bias toward romantic love?42:15 Departing from standard narrative in terms of age, gender and race44:06 But still traditional conception of gender and marital roles45:53 Nicole and Azan50:34 Should Azan have been surprised about Nicole’s weight?52:44 Hard to read Azan b/c he didn’t come off as “eager for a green card”54:15 Cultural differences: religion, PDA, and gender roles56:17 Contrasting depiction of their families58:23 Praising counter-stereotypical portrayal of Morocco 58:57 Contrasts b/w main series and Happily Ever After1:00:12 Over-the-top style of spin-off made Mike question some of the authenticity in main series1:01:32 JS’s instinctive read on show’s authenticity1:02:44 More examples of possible producer manipulation; Mike’s Grand Unified Theory on show’s authenticity1:04:57 Role of technology, particularly video chat1:08:32 JS thinks show’s appeal lies in authentic portrayal of both success and failure1:10:35 Mike thought show was most interesting when it was more ambiguous than straight success/failure dichotomy1:12:01 Does show have a message regarding these kinds of marriages?1:15:58 Debuting our totally original rating system1:16:11 Upcoming episodes1:18:49 Announcements: email, rate/review, and subscribe