Episode 6: Anti-Dystopia
From Everyone Deserves Sunshine: Girls in the Crease - A Heated Rivalry Podcast by Girls in the Crease
February 15, 2026 · 40 min · Season 1 · Episode 6
About this episode
The episode explores the concept of anti-dystopia through the lens of the work 'Heated Rivalry' and discusses the restorative power of earnest and romantic media.
In this episode, we dive into anti-dystopia because the world feels heavy, and Heated Rivalry gave us something radically different: joy. We talk about escapism and why consuming something earnest and romantic can actually feel restorative instead of avoidant. We’re joined by Jenka Garfinkel, who wrote “Heated Rivalry is Anti-Dystopian Art,” and she helps us unpack how modern media conditions us to expect brutality and punishment - especially around sex and intimacy - and how Heated Rivalry subverts that template. We discuss why feeling hope might be the most radical thing of all.
People in this episode
Guest: Jenka Garfinkel
Topics covered
- anti-dystopia
- escapism
- romantic media
- hope
- modern media
- intimacy
Keywords
- anti-dystopia
- Heated Rivalry
- escapism
- romantic media
- hope
- intimacy
- modern media
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Heated Rivalry
More episodes of Everyone Deserves Sunshine: Girls in the Crease - A Heated Rivalry Podcast
- Episode 20: Season One Finale - A Heated Rivalry Reflection · June 1, 2026 · 49 min
- Episode 19: Sex and Intimacy in Heated Rivalry · May 26, 2026 · 54 min
- Episode 18: Hockey & Heated Rivalry · May 17, 2026 · 49 min
- Episode 17: The Mothers of Heated Rivalry · May 11, 2026 · 40 min
- Episode: 16: Heated Rivalry the Book vs Heated Rivalry the Show · May 4, 2026 · 57 min
- Episode 15: Queer Representation in Media · April 27, 2026 · 41 min
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