Aack Cast by Jamie Loftus
5.0/5
Critic Rating
Aack! Cathy, the iconic and much-maligned comic strip by Cathy Guisewite, chronicled the day-to-day tribulations of its titular working woman for 35 years, met with equal praise and derision. In this podcast, Jamie Loftus (Lolita Podcast, My Year in Mensa) weaves between reporting and fiction, putting a cruelly treated cartoon everywoman in context.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Andy Dehnart • Reality Blurred • Oct 12, 2021
"Aack Cast! perfectly balances material from the strip, historical context, and insight from Cathy Guisewite herself. I learned about Cathy and boomers and feminism. Aack Cast! is cultural criticism that appreciates the work but treats it seriously, and helped me understand and appreciate Guisewite’s work even more, as it’s both funny and acutely subversive."
Score: 5
Marnie Shure • AV Club • Sep 13, 2021
"...listening to all 12 installments of Aack Cast By Jamie Loftus in one marathon run is actually the superior experience—and if you think you don’t need several hours of content unpacking the enduring legacy of the Cathy comic strip and defending the character against her mocking detractors, prepare to feel as foolish as Cathy shopping for swimwear. Loftus, nimbly zooms in and out on Cathy’s 34 years on the funnies page to examine the strip’s place in comics history..."
Score: 5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Jul 12, 2021
"Loftus has enormous empathy for the character, and that makes up the `backbone of the podcast’s philosophy. A huge part of what’s appealing about Loftus’s longform audio projects is how personal they seem to her. Between delivering her arguments and findings, Loftus periodically dips into her own life, refracting her insecurities and uncertainties into the analysis. Loftus insists on complexity, placing a strong emphasis on how we’re always negotiating the politics of the moment, our own perspective, and the hand we’re dealt. A position of relative privilege doesn’t necessarily cancel out the pains you may feel. Both things can be true at the same time."
