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’11/22/63′: Unpacking Stephen King’s Evolving Politics with Blowback’s Brendan James [The Losers’ Club Podcast]

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Stephen King Politics

Look, we would’ve been perfectly happy enjoying 11/22/63 without getting into the weeds of the JFK conspiracy, but Stephen King himself took pains to detail how his research for the book convinced him that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. “It is very, very difficult for a reasonable person to believe otherwise,” he writes in the book’s afterword. Since that’s no fun, we sought out some smart people to provide a counterpoint and share their own thoughts about the book’s depictions of Oswald, Kennedy, and the assassination.

In this episode, The Losers’ Club speaks with Blowback co-host (and recent King convert) Brendan James about 11/22/63‘s Oswald, conspiracy in the 21st century, and King’s political evolution over the years — from the paranoia of The Stand to the regret of Hearts in Atlantis to the ghastly spirit of Donald Trump pervading his latest novels (and Twitter account). Finally, Brendan leaves us with some conspiracy fiction recommendations.

Stream the episode below and return this Friday when the Losers continue their coverage with Pt. 2: The Janitor’s Father, which sees them returning to Derry. For further adventures, join the Club via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also listen to Blowback on Apple Podcasts and check out Brendan’s music project, The Great Vorelli.

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In case you missed it, here’s the first episode of our 11/22/63 coverage.

Podcasts

Is There More Beneath the Surface of ‘Deadpool’? [Guide to the Unknown]

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Deadpool isn’t typical horror fare, despite the franchise potentially being the bloodiest throughout the Marvel kingdom. (And in spite of the titular main character breaking the Fourth Wall and acknowledging the audience, which some people may find as jolting as a jump scare).

And look, the guy’s divisive! For the average person, the 2016 movie Deadpool may have been their introduction to the character, with Ryan Reynolds giving the titular character an abrasive, dirty sense of humor that some might place in the edgelord category.

But the character was spawned from a comic book series that’s changed hands a number of times and continues to this day. Naturally, that means there are several different interpretations of the antihero formerly known as Wade Wilson, including some that dial down the chimichanga jokes (a common fandom shorthand for the Deadpool of the comics’ baser comedy instincts).

This week on Guide to the Unknown, Kristen and Will discuss the good, the bad, and the unfortunate of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. They also learn about some of the comic storylines that highlight a little bit more of the pain Deadpool goes through, which makes the overabundance of A Lot-ness feel more palatable to people who may not be into that sort of thing.

Breaking the Fourth Wall a la the man himself: This is Kristen, cohost and writer of these GTTU posts. This week was not great for Will or me and included hospital stays and beloved dog goodbyes. We blew off some steam with a punchdrunk episode in which I complained about Deadpool’s dearth of euphemisms for male genitalia. If that sounds like your thing, dig in! If not, proceed with caution. Ooh, we’re so edgy.

Subscribe to Guide to the Unknown on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to get a new episode every Friday.

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