Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
@gavia.bsky.social
Film and TV critic. Co-host of the Overinvested movie podcast, co-editor of the Rec Center newsletter.
Bylines: TV Guide, Inverse, Vulture, Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, Empire, etc. she/her
Bylines: TV Guide, Inverse, Vulture, Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, Empire, etc. she/her
Pinned
On Heated Rivalry, Sex Scenes Do the Talking
The hockey romance series offers a clear counterargument to complaints about gratuitous sex scenes on screen
www.tvguide.com
I wrote about the narrative importance of the sex scenes in Heated Rivalry, how this reflects the magic of romance novel storytelling, and how the plot is fuelled by a genuinely bleak view of homophobia in hockey culture.
(Spoilers for ep 4!)
(Spoilers for ep 4!)
fascinating olympic micro-scandal unfolding as the USA hockey team manager intentionally excludes one of the best American goal-scorers from the roster, because... the guy is mostly just good at scoring goals? which is his job.
January 6, 2026 at 1:03 AM
fascinating olympic micro-scandal unfolding as the USA hockey team manager intentionally excludes one of the best American goal-scorers from the roster, because... the guy is mostly just good at scoring goals? which is his job.
it's so cold and dry rn that realistically the only way to stay moisturized is to sleep in a giant ziploc bag full of liquid beeswax
January 5, 2026 at 5:27 PM
it's so cold and dry rn that realistically the only way to stay moisturized is to sleep in a giant ziploc bag full of liquid beeswax
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
i would suggest an online safety act that can’t deal with CSAM on a widely used social network frequented by most westminster public figures isn’t doing a very good job of keeping anybody safe online
January 5, 2026 at 2:55 PM
i would suggest an online safety act that can’t deal with CSAM on a widely used social network frequented by most westminster public figures isn’t doing a very good job of keeping anybody safe online
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
As the deadline to register for WSFS membership approaches (January 31), it's a great time to toss in some recs of art you loved from 2025! #HugoAwards
The Hugo Awards (2026)
docs.google.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:52 PM
As the deadline to register for WSFS membership approaches (January 31), it's a great time to toss in some recs of art you loved from 2025! #HugoAwards
reaching my final form: checking the pens score while physically attending a different hockey game
January 3, 2026 at 8:29 PM
reaching my final form: checking the pens score while physically attending a different hockey game
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.
January 3, 2026 at 2:01 PM
People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
(daft punk One More Time voice) Auld Lang Syne
December 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
(daft punk One More Time voice) Auld Lang Syne
one of my fav pieces of hockey commentator folderol is when they describe something as "a real goal-scorer's goal." ok thanks man that means a lot.
December 30, 2025 at 9:12 PM
one of my fav pieces of hockey commentator folderol is when they describe something as "a real goal-scorer's goal." ok thanks man that means a lot.
in the midst of my annual Best Films Of The Year catch-up festival, and if you're in the market for a fun, low-stress documentary, I can recommend The Golden Spurtle (about a Scottish porridge contest; 75 mins long) and Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (hilarious; free on youtube).
December 29, 2025 at 1:14 AM
in the midst of my annual Best Films Of The Year catch-up festival, and if you're in the market for a fun, low-stress documentary, I can recommend The Golden Spurtle (about a Scottish porridge contest; 75 mins long) and Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (hilarious; free on youtube).
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
you know how evolution keeps trying to create crabs again? i feel like that’s where we are with television. social media? tv. podcasts? tv. explanatory articles? tv. movies? tv.
December 29, 2025 at 12:44 AM
you know how evolution keeps trying to create crabs again? i feel like that’s where we are with television. social media? tv. podcasts? tv. explanatory articles? tv. movies? tv.
very beautiful that despite the 24-hour webcam and in-person guards, it got taken out by birds in 2023.
One of my favorite Wikipedia tables documents how each year's Gävlebock met its maker en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A4...
December 27, 2025 at 6:29 PM
very beautiful that despite the 24-hour webcam and in-person guards, it got taken out by birds in 2023.
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Goat down! I repeat: Goat down! www.dn.se/sverige/stor...
December 27, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Goat down! I repeat: Goat down! www.dn.se/sverige/stor...
ok in fairness this guy deserved his mononymous status because he really WAS Hairstyles Leonard back in the day. a massively influential hairdresser in the 1960s-70s, worked with Bowie, Twiggy, The Beatles, Lisa Minelli etc, along with helping to style several Kubrick movies.
December 27, 2025 at 12:59 PM
ok in fairness this guy deserved his mononymous status because he really WAS Hairstyles Leonard back in the day. a massively influential hairdresser in the 1960s-70s, worked with Bowie, Twiggy, The Beatles, Lisa Minelli etc, along with helping to style several Kubrick movies.
big week for the humble gavia* in popular culture
*loon cry sound effect in Heated Rivalry finale
*loon cry sound effect in Heated Rivalry finale
December 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
big week for the humble gavia* in popular culture
*loon cry sound effect in Heated Rivalry finale
*loon cry sound effect in Heated Rivalry finale
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
if you head over to the main Overinvested feed, you can find a new episode on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining! merry christmas one and all, a very festive choice for midwinter viewing.
December 24, 2025 at 10:27 PM
if you head over to the main Overinvested feed, you can find a new episode on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining! merry christmas one and all, a very festive choice for midwinter viewing.
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
*at a christmas party* oh Rudolph is your favorite reindeer? That’s cool yeah yeah he’s pretty great
*in reindeer chat*
BlitzenBoy92: at the work thinh. take a guess
DonnerTime: buncha dolphies?
VixenLover: fuckin lame bro just keep ur cool change the subject
The Dasher Enjoyer: thinh
*in reindeer chat*
BlitzenBoy92: at the work thinh. take a guess
DonnerTime: buncha dolphies?
VixenLover: fuckin lame bro just keep ur cool change the subject
The Dasher Enjoyer: thinh
December 25, 2025 at 4:14 AM
*at a christmas party* oh Rudolph is your favorite reindeer? That’s cool yeah yeah he’s pretty great
*in reindeer chat*
BlitzenBoy92: at the work thinh. take a guess
DonnerTime: buncha dolphies?
VixenLover: fuckin lame bro just keep ur cool change the subject
The Dasher Enjoyer: thinh
*in reindeer chat*
BlitzenBoy92: at the work thinh. take a guess
DonnerTime: buncha dolphies?
VixenLover: fuckin lame bro just keep ur cool change the subject
The Dasher Enjoyer: thinh
if you head over to the main Overinvested feed, you can find a new episode on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining! merry christmas one and all, a very festive choice for midwinter viewing.
December 24, 2025 at 10:27 PM
if you head over to the main Overinvested feed, you can find a new episode on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining! merry christmas one and all, a very festive choice for midwinter viewing.
not to pile on here, but to my knowledge no actual NHL players have publicly acknowledged Heated Rivalry, and the NHL itself only namechecked it this week because the show has noticeably led new fans to buy tickets. I kind of doubt it's moving the needle in terms of ingrained cultural homophobia.
Again, I truly *loved* this week’s episode of Heated Rivalry, but IT IS A WISH FULFILLMENT ROMANCE. The success of a gay hockey romance TV show, largely watched by people who are neither hockey players nor hockey fans, is not “proof that the world is ready and all we would do is love you”
December 24, 2025 at 5:26 PM
not to pile on here, but to my knowledge no actual NHL players have publicly acknowledged Heated Rivalry, and the NHL itself only namechecked it this week because the show has noticeably led new fans to buy tickets. I kind of doubt it's moving the needle in terms of ingrained cultural homophobia.
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Every six months some guy says he’s figured out who the Zodiac Killer was and the answer is always the same: he was some guy
December 24, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Every six months some guy says he’s figured out who the Zodiac Killer was and the answer is always the same: he was some guy
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Overinvested's latest Patreon episode is up now! Morgan and I recommend a diverse array of books we've enjoyed this year: www.patreon.com/posts/correc...
Correction (with podcast!): Bonus Episode: Books We've Loved in 2025 | Overinvested
Get more from Overinvested on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Overinvested's latest Patreon episode is up now! Morgan and I recommend a diverse array of books we've enjoyed this year: www.patreon.com/posts/correc...
as a note for anyone currently buying last-minute Christmas gifts: I have you beat because I forgot and/or delayed getting birthday presents for all but one of my closest friends this year, so they're all just getting them at once on January 1st 2026.
December 22, 2025 at 6:59 PM
as a note for anyone currently buying last-minute Christmas gifts: I have you beat because I forgot and/or delayed getting birthday presents for all but one of my closest friends this year, so they're all just getting them at once on January 1st 2026.
so sleep deprived that I just thought to myself "i'm plumbing new vistas of sleep deprivation." how tha fuck do u plumb a vista.
December 22, 2025 at 6:54 PM
so sleep deprived that I just thought to myself "i'm plumbing new vistas of sleep deprivation." how tha fuck do u plumb a vista.
Reposted by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
as the person at the centre of the experimental music/heated rivalry venn diagram i have to interview connor storrie about his industrial electronic music in 2026 i am so so serious
December 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
as the person at the centre of the experimental music/heated rivalry venn diagram i have to interview connor storrie about his industrial electronic music in 2026 i am so so serious
Overinvested's latest Patreon episode is up now! Morgan and I recommend a diverse array of books we've enjoyed this year: www.patreon.com/posts/correc...
Correction (with podcast!): Bonus Episode: Books We've Loved in 2025 | Overinvested
Get more from Overinvested on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Overinvested's latest Patreon episode is up now! Morgan and I recommend a diverse array of books we've enjoyed this year: www.patreon.com/posts/correc...