This week, Alex and Wesley talk about Maleficent and consider the overall effect of watching Angelina Jolie have a good time in a film. It’s been too long. They sort of disagree about the movie, but come come together about the idea that Jolie needs to lighten up. In some ways, Maleficent helps.

They move on to conversation about two artists back from different kinds of dead. First: Xscape, an experiment that surrounds unused Michael Jackson recording with 2014 production. Why? Is this starsploitation? Do we need “new” Michael Jackson on the radio, when there’s so much old Michael Jackson still on the radio? Also: What’s the radio?

Mariah Carey used to own the radio, too. She’s released her first new record in a while, and it’s the most fun she’s had singing in almost a decade. Is she still “current”? She doesn’t care! That’s why Alex and Wesley like it so much.

Here are links to topics discussed in this week’s show:

Maleficent

“Toil and Trouble,” Grantland, May 30, 2014

“Blockbuster Talk: Did Angelina Jolie Redeem the Mistress of All Evil in ‘Maleficent’?,” Grantland, June 2, 2014

Xscape

“Michael Jackson’s ‘Xscape’ Doesn’t Belong to Him — It Belongs to Us,” Grantland, May 14, 2014

“In ‘This Is It,’ the King of Pop lives on,” Boston Globe, October 29, 2009

Me. I am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse

“‘Me. I Am Mariah … The Elusive Chanteuse’: Mariah Carey’s 14th Album Isn’t a Secret Anymore,” Grantland, May 02, 2104

“Battle of the Summer Jams, Mariah Carey Special Edition: The Elusive Singleuse,” Grantland, May 29, 2014

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