Conversations Between the Punches • Superhuman Public Radio Season Two

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Hello, and welcome to this episode
of Superhero Ethics. Today, we have
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some returning guests, Max and John
from Superhuman Public Radio. It is an
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NPR style station podcast, a commentary
on the entire superhero genre and also just
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a great story, and these two
guys have created it. I had the
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mind to talk about season one a
while ago. They're back with season two
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and we're gonna be talking with them
not only about their what they put out
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and sort of thinking that goes into
it, but what it means to talk
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about superheroes in an audio only format. So let me just start with some
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introductions. Max, what don't you
go first? Yeah? Sure, Yeah,
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I'm Maximilian Clark. I've been the
co creator with Jack on this.
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My backgrounds in film and web,
and I'm I'm currently running three different shows
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and three different networks. Another fiction
show for Good Scory Guild and a non
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fiction show for Podcast one, but
Superhuman Public. But Superhuman Public Radio is
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my baby and I love it so
much. You can also find me like
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trolling at QAN on events on socials
Nice nice as you should be. And
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mister Dorsey, Yeah, and I'm
John sometimes Jack John Jack Dorsey, co
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creator of the show. I produce
less programs than Max, and beyond being
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a podcaster and writer, I work
as a union prop master in the DMV
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area. Awesome, DMV. That's
the Department of Motor Vehicles. That's true
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department. But I am wherever you
get your license played. I was thinking,
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I mean, I've seen some DMV
agents who I think think they are
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on set with the like level of
Pedanta Tree, so that would make sense
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to me. Well, good,
good to have union folks involved. So
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let me kind of just get started
with what is SPR It is not Superhero
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Public Radio, as I put out
under our social media last time, and
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Maximilian was very kind enough to gently
correct me, But what is Superhuman Public
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Radio? Yeah, Superhero Public Radio
would have been a good title, as
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it turns out from an SEO spit
standpoint, but human. Let's see what
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I did there, Jack, I
don't like the branding. Yeah yeah,
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yeah no. So we tell original
stories in a superhero world through the lens
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of an NPR station. So we
do in depth news reporting in our fictional
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world, but we also have segments
like These American Supers or one hundred sent
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Invisible that does deep dives into the
lives and behind the scenes of some of
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the things that make a superhero world
work. It's the shorthand is it's what
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MPR would sound like if superheroes were
real. Yeah, right right, yeah,
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and yeah, when we just try
to tell really personal, original stories,
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it's a playground for us to do
little thought experiments on stuff and you
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know, like all or just express
our own world through goofy stuff. Right
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well, And I really love that. I think the term goofy that you
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used is really perfect because it is
both you give a great picture into the
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world and I feel like, you
know, it's funny. Yesterday I started
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listening to a couple of the older
episodes because I wanted to kind of have
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it in my head, and I
wanted to all build up to the first
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episode and the trailer that you have
out for season two, which we'll definitely
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talk about at a later point in
the podcast. And I was thinking to
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myself, like, Okay, we'll
just listen to like three or four,
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and I got so wrapped up and
things I couldn't stop. So I had
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to be like, wait, no, how much time to have before we
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record. Let me finish that this
morning and and we'll talk more about the
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superhero side of it, but I
want to hear you talk more about why
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NPR specifically, Like there are a
lot NBR is a very particular brand with
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very particular sort of quirks that you
really play into. Well, you know,
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everything from the kind of like gentle
music in the like fresh air type
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segments and then this American life that
is this American soups to the your version
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of click and clack, the Clackett
Brothers of car talk in what utility about?
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Thank You? What was it about
that kind of like because clearly my
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senses you both listened to a lot
of NPR. What was it that made
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you kind of choose NPR? And
kind of how how has it been?
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Like what have been your thoughts about
what you're saying about that before you can
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get into the superhuman side of it. So a lot of it came from
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So the original idea for the show
came from, you know, I write
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movies that nobody buys, but I
wrote a gag into one of them,
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you know, that was essentially an
NPR station called SPR and me and Max
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worked on a project that was going
to be an independent web pile and that
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didn't wind up going anywhere, but
we talked about the project, and you
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know, both of us are dirty
liberals, so we both listened to an
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incredible amount of NPR. But it
was also just the fact that if you
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look at their programming, it's less
it's it's a lot of it's not informative,
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isn't the right word, but it's
a lot of you know, human
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stories, And it felt very easy
to kind of go from there and you
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know, find a basis. The
first segment that was ever written on the
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show was the interview between Cosmos,
who's our Superman analog, and Kelly Close,
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who's basically Terry Gross, and from
there it just kind of felt like,
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oh, we should just really dig
into that and beyond that the ethos
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that we have on the show,
because you know, there's a lot of
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superhero parody out today. You know, you have Invincible and you have The
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Boys, and you know they do
a really good job of skewering comic book
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heroes. But we we like to
use the phrase it's it's parody with a
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purpose. So whenever we pick a
topic, we try to make sure like,
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Okay, what are we actually saying
about this? Yeah, well,
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I mean as someone on Reddit actually
said it better than we did, uh,
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where they said it's not so much
a deconstruction of comic books as it
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is a deconstruction of the real world
using comic books, Like like we're sating
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we're satirizing the news cycle more than
we are comic books. But what I
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really like about the format too,
is like it gives us a lot of
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variety. Like, I mean,
you named like five of our different shows.
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We have another one based on Cereal
this season, which is gonna be
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a lot of fun, and so
we just get to attack it from a
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lot of different angles using a lot
of different voices. And I mean we
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have a sixty three person cast,
Like we we get to make this big,
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immersive world, and we designed it
in a way that like, if
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you're playing in the car, like
and you're not paying attention, your brain
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will just say, like, hey, I'm listening to NPR right now.
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And it's really cool to just sort
of like be able to like create a
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world that feels very tangible for people. That's been one of the big great
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pieces of feedback we've done. One
thing, if I understand how you're doing
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it, Like you gotta pay the
bills and you do have advertising in it,
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but but you generally have a like
an actual ad from some company that
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I'm hoping, you know, help
help support you all, and then a
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fake ad that would exist in your
world. And like, there's one ad
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that that played sometimes on mine that
was, you know, for Nordstrom and
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I so we can immediately tell.
But there was another one that was for
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kind of like kind of new advance
in eyeglasses, and I honestly couldn't tell
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if it was an ad you had
created or an AD someone had put in
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that was helping to make you money. And because it came followed by your
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ad for uh, Spanko I think
or not spanko. That's a real thing,
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sp spandexo. And I just thought
it was so brilliant that like I
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could literally couldn't tell what was the
ad from our own world and what was
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the ad internal to your own to
your world. Oh that's always fun to
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hear. Yeah. No, we
we typically uh like to play on like
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a lot of the podcast aids you
here. Uh we have like uh over
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Armor this season, we have like
Dollar Shoe Club in the Tar Shave Club.
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But what's the one from the first
episode, big ass shorts, Yeah
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for for for Hulksters. Basically,
uh, the extra stretchy what was the
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what was the one that we did
with the squares space shield Space Shield space
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that like builds your custom uh superhero
lare in minutes and and and plugs it
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in. But yeah, it's it's
great. Actually, I think my favorite
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this season is going to be Rings
dot Com. Oh my god. Yeah,
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yeah that's h episode six. And
if you want to hear why it's
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my favorite, you know, come
back later. I I was thinking about
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this the other day because we made
so in our first season, like even
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for our press releases, we did
it all in universe. We even got
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an email back from somebody who's like, this is the weirdest press release I've
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ever gotten. I don't know what's
happening, but I am going to publish
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this, which is kind of like, oh, that's great. But then
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a lot of people sort of missed
out on the joke. So we've sort
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of we've dropped the mask a little
bit. Yeah, we're on Fable and
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Folly this season, and it was
into our trailer and looked at some of
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our promos and they're like, hey, we liked the trailer, you never
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you never mentioned that it's like audio
fiction and that people can listen to it
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and then you make episodes of the
thing. And we both looked at each
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other like, yes, because in
a trailer that would be good for people
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to know that it's a show.
But that's a level of like dedication and
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immersiveness. You know, it feels
like the equivalent to the actor who just
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like method, you know, is
never breaking character. I like that.
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Yeah, I mean, we might
do intellectually, but as it turns out
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inside like a great yeah. But
it I was, I was, I
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was really thinking about like why I
love doing this, and I was,
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I guess I still remain. I
was a huge fan of Lost, and
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specifically I loved that expanded universe that
they had with the Dharma Foundation, and
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they even published the book that Sawyer's
reading in season one, and it felt
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like this this you know, it
felt like this world that you could could
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could scratch at just endlessly and find
new nuggets of information, which is what
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we've tried to do with the show
and make sure it feels as real and
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seamless as possible. Right. We
have gags from the first season that people
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have not found that we like built
into the website, into the artwork,
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and just they're there. Well,
and folks, listeners, if you go
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back, hopefully you've already listened to
season one. If you haven't, definitely
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do so. And if you find
some new ones, send them into us.
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So I'll give you the contact avation
at the end and make sure John
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and Max get tagged. Yeah,
we'll send you a T shirt. Yeah,
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especially if you find the one that
promises you a teacher. That's true.
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Awesome, Okay, sounds good,
sounds good. Well, and I
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want to talk more about the superhero
format that you guys are satirizing in a
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bit. But but I want to
start to do with what you said about
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the way you're kind of using superheroes
as a method to make commentary on our
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own real world because one of my
favorite segments that I listened to from season
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one, so I fell okay,
Spoiling is about a man who gets rescued
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by a powerful woman and he's so
overwhelmed about the experience that he starts crying
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and then he like a picture of
that gets taken and it gets turned into
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a meme, and then that meme
winds up getting used to support causes that
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he's totally against, and he talks
about how much it affects his life.
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And as I was listening to that, I was struck by I have heard
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this story and if you take out
the fact that it was a super person
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who rescued him, a woman's superhero, and just make it some other embarrassing
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photo of him became an internet meme
and has been online and cause this person
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harm. Like, that's a real
life story. And to me that was
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a brilliant thing where you're just you're
making the superhumanists the cause of it,
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but it's really just an incredibly relatable
real life situation. Yeah, I mean,
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I mean that's always the goal.
I loved that segment. To Jeff
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Grimwood is a guy I always try
to plug into things I use. He
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plays the cry baby in that episode
and Hesus is such a good performer.
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I think that's actually a good example
the mix we try to do where we
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we like, we look at something, you know, and that goes the
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other way. Because that's something that
we think about a lot in comic worlds
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of like what is the traumatic ripple
effect of being rescued? Right? Like,
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like people to act like Superman pulls
you out of a like erupting volcano
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and then you're just fine. But
like, yeah, just the like the
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unintended consequences from just any interaction you
have in the superhero world fascinates us.
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And yeah and yeah, and we
we we we try to find like an
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emotional mirror when we're discussing something like
that, and we're just like, yeah,
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do you know what that feels like? It feels like the unintentional consequences
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of these people that like like hide
the pain Herald that's a real dude,
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right, like like like he has
to go out and live his life with
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people just like given him that that
little grin at him and uh, like
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all he did was sign up for
a stock image like photo shoot. He
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probably got paid like twelve hundred buckstops
and now his life is defined by this
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thing. And and I think that
both of those are fascinating and it's really
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cool when we get to Nixon.
Yeah, I mean, I apologize in
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advance for anyone who's going to feel
chronologically challenged by this. But you know
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a lot of the kind of like
pictures of young children that became internet memes,
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like you know, angry baby or
girl in front of fire with a
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mysterious smile on her face, Like
those people are now adults and or you
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know, they'll talk about how like
they didn't even get page twelve hundred bucks.
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Maybe their parents did, but you
know they're constantly minded of you know,
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or they're trying to hide the fact
that please no one record, no
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one look at my baby pictures because
you'll see that I'm that meme that everyone
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has seen. Yeah, yeah,
I mean I think that's sort of like
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the weird thing about internet culture in
general too, is like anything you do
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online could potentially like just spiral way
out of control for no reason. And
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so you're now kind of at the
point where like when you're here or have
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you always been at this kind of
point, or where you're hearing a new
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story, or you're thinking about some
new you know, group of people who
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are getting screw it over, or
some new kind of evil that's happening in
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our own world, or you know, terrible thing and thinking, Okay,
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how can we make this, how
can we put this into the super human
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world. It's definitely something that we
talk about a lot, because even when
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you look at just like the characters
that already exist Superman, Batman, Spider
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Man, and I feel like the
stories that really kind of carry through and
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are the ones that are iconic,
They're the ones that are inspired by world
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world things, all right. Clark
Kent's whole identity is based in the fact
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that the writers were Jewish during a
time when it was not cool to be
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Jewish, and they wrote this character
that was about the fact they couldn't be
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there their real selves, they couldn't
feel that they could live up to their
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potential, and they created Superman,
and he's he's become this icon that,
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like you know, is eternal.
So when we're trying to tackle these stories,
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it's it's never We almost never start
with comix first. It is usually
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something going on in the world.
So when we finished season one, you
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know, just like a couple of
weeks later, January sixth happened, and
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you know what, we watched I
live outside of DC, and I was
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holding my newborn son and I was
like, oh my god, is the
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United States going to burn down?
And that's made its way into the show.
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The Women's March has made its way
into the show. Yeah, I
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mean Markland, Yeah, I mean
season two. It's been two and a
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half years since season one ended,
and in that time, like I've been
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producing for my friend Walter Masterson for
like all that time, and he was
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at January sixth. I was only
not there because my wife has a long
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thing and we didn't we weren't.
This is prevacs and I was like,
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oh no, like I can't wear
a mask, like I'll join you for
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the inauguration. But like, you
know, we spent a lot of time
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in the ault Right spaces and talking
to people, like like having these deep
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conversations with QAnon, and that's shaped
one of our main antagonist groups in season
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two. And it's funny because some
feedback that I've gotten on our draft is
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that it seems like a characterature,
and I'm like I have to explain,
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like, no, this is so
authentic to the way that these that the
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that the ault Right is right now, like like I am sometimes like lifting
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quotes for our segments here. It
just seems like two dimensional satire because of
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the nature of the space. But
yeah, like I don't know, this
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is well, I mean, you
know, the world's on fire and this
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is how we cope. Yeah,
yeah, well, I mean that's one
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thing I really appreciate because I think
it's all the stray before, but I
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know it's all the stray before,
So I'm trying to make a brief.
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But I got into science fiction because
my mother would sit me down to watch
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all the episodes of Star Trek,
the original series, and she didn't care
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at all about the spaceships and that
the science of it, but she wanted,
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you know, to talk to me
at like age eight or nine,
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about like, yeah, this episode
where these people have different colors on their
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face, what do you think is
going on there? And what does it
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have to think? She she introduced
me the idea of science fiction as holding
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up a mirror to worn world,
and I figure, like comics can do
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that. You guys are really doing
that too, and I love how intentionally
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you're being about that. Yeah,
yeah, thanks, I mean I mean
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that's I mean, that's why we
tell stories, right, I mean,
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like like it's why literally any story
exist, is to con face something about
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the world. And yeah, it's
just nice that we have this like outlet
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where we get to like talk about
so many different things. And it also
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like it softens it, right,
like like it's hard, like you know,
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are especially season two is incredibly political, but it is softened a little
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bit by the fact that, you
know, we're talking about people who are
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concerned about getting melted in their seats, uh, you know, by their
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classmates, and that's why they want
to ban supers from public schools. You
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know. Yeah, you know,
it's just another way in go ahead,
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please check. Well. I was
just gonna say, it's just the stories
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that you're talking about, the ones
that are taking things in the real world.
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Those are the ones that you remember, just just the sort of blank
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hero fights, villain saves day.
You know, those are not the ones
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that stay with you because they're kind
of inherently hollow. Yeah. Yeah,
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I mean, I mean not to
dis sky beams, but I mean,
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how many of us really think about
sky beams in your day to day life.
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Yeah, that's fair, that's fair. Well, and I I'm so
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tempted the one. I don't want
to ask you more about season two,
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but I also, with every media
cover have such a strong anti spoilers policy
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that I don't want to go too
deep. But I just what you said
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about like this idea of students being
afraid that someone else is gonna, you
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know, help them in their seat. You know, on the one hand,
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I get that there's a humor there
of oh, that is such a
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ridiculous fear compared to our own world. But also if you listen to people
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who are afraid of you know,
and I'm sure this is kind of where
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you're going, you know, trans
kids in their school or you know a
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certain books on the bookshelves, those
fears are actually just as fictionally ridiculous as
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the They're gonna melt me in my
seat. But that's what we're dealing with
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in our own world. So yeah, it is very believable. Yeah,
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I mean, I guess no official
comment given the spoiler, it's full,
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it's not a spoiler to say when
we were initially and you can kind of
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see because we wrote this over.
We wrote the season over last year,
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but we had been talking about it
for a year before, and it took
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us a while because I got COVID, I had one COVID, I was
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a sleeper, I've got a toddler. You know, I was working on
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a TV show, so everything was
getting in the way. And originally we
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had you know, imagine sort of
like you know, this sort of que
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kind of figure, you know,
leaking something about storyline that is so gone,
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and that was back when Q was
like, ha ha, look at
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this cute thing these fringe people are
doing. It's like, by the time
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we started writing that is really bad. This is incredibly dangerous, and then
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start thinking more about kind of our
world and sort of the pieces on the
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table. Well, I mean,
I think that storyline got kind of absorbed
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by what we are doing. But
it's also like it did. But one
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of the things that we we did
is just kind of we looked at where
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the baton was in season one and
we're trying to figure out, Okay,
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who's going to pick this up.
At the end of our first season,
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the the United States is considering publicly
registering all superhumans. So it's you know,
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what's that the response to that.
You're gonna have people who are for
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it, You're you know, all
right, and then you're gonna have well,
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I mean, who's centrist people do
who also are like caught up in
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the well you know, I hear, I hear these things. Yeah,
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and then it's how a how are
young people are going to respond? You
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know? Obviously, you know X
Men has been sort of overtly and unintentionally
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political throughout its run so kind of
you know, how are the youth gonna,
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yeah, going to respond to this? What's going to be the corporate
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response? And and it's worth pointing
out there that, like, you know,
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it's it's funny because like we talk
about things that are topical to a
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certain extent, but it's like,
you know, the cyclical nature of history.
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We're doing the mutant Registration Act.
I mean, when was that storyline
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first put out? Like like the
first time that X Men talked about that.
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But like what's old is new again, right, It's just there are
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certain societal dynamics that just keep rearing
their ugly heads, and yeah, we
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we try to bring a fresh perspective, but like him, yeah, it's
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twenty twenty three, and here we
are again. Yeah, you have people
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saying the thing that tried. You
know, I'm in DC Comics, Twitter,
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Marvel, Twitter, and every once
in a while they'll see it's just
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like, oh my gosh, this
book got political, and like people will
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be saying this about the They'll be
saying it about the X Men, a
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book where the leaders were based on
MLK and Malcolm X, and like it
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makes my head want to explode every
time, and they're trying to get everything
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scrubbed out of comics. I don't
know if you're familiar with like the Comics
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Code Authority, which was basically right, and like people are essentially asking for
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this thing to return. And while
like some very cool art kind of eked
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by just sort of how you know, there's a lot of very not controversial
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but artistically done films who were trying
to dodge like the Haze Code. It
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just seemed it's weird that people are
trying to muzzle themselves so that they don't
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have artwork that challenges any idea that
they might have. You know, it's
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so true. And we've got a
couple episodes on the history of comics on
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this podcast, and you know,
for those folks who say, like,
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why is it so woke? Now, you know, the first literal episode
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of Superman, some of the villains
he deals with are a greedy landlord who's
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overcharging tenants because they have nowhere else
to go, and a person who's you
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know, committing in him Department of
violence against their spouse, and a man
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who's beating his wife, and like, those certainly aren't issues in our own
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world anymore, but they were they're
very political now, and they were just
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a political then. Jack Kirby,
I'm convinced, created Captain America because he
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wanted the US government to pay him
to go over and punch Nazis in the
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army. And it was a nineteen
thirty nine and we weren't fighting the Nazis
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yet, so he created a person
who could punch Nazis because that's what he
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wanted to So yeah, and that's
actually a great segment because there's a way
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in which I never really put this
together, and I was listening to this
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these episodes again, there is a
huge frustration I have with the comic book
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superhero genre that you guys are addressing
in a way I've never really thought about
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before it and I want to talk
to you about it and wonder how much
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this is intentional, because, like
take Captain America, Civil War probably my
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favorite comic movie, one of them, in part because I think the question
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of if people have the ability to
use violence to do what they think is
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right, to what extent should they
be accountable to others and what happens if
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that accountability isn't good accountability and the
dangers of both sides, and what I
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want is Tony and Steve to sit
in a room and debate it for two
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hours, but that doesn't sell tickets, and so instead one of them states
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their point and the other states their
point, and then they start to punch
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each other. Or you know,
T'Challa his idea about how a powerful black
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nation should act, and kill Monger
has his idea, and they state it
359
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once or twice, and then they
start punching each other because that's what looks
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good on screen and on comic book
pages. You guys are telling a story
361
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about superheroes and supervillains and superpowered people
where you have some cool sound effects every
362
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now and then, but you can't
really do a fight scene. And so
363
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you're giving me kind of what I
wanted there, and that it is all
364
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just the talking, it's all the
lets. We don't have to put up
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a huge spectacle on screen, so
we can just go so much deeper in
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those conversations, to what extent is
that something that's been conscious in your head?
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Is it something you just kind of
stumbled into, because it seems like
368
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such a brilliant part of this is
that you can go deeper in a way
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that when it's on the page,
or on the screen, and people are
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expecting the visual side of it that
so often gets lost. Yeah, well,
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I mean, I mean something I
like about comics is the ability to
372
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maintain a conversation through an action scene, right, Like that's that like uh,
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you know, but it's just that
not everyone does it. But like,
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like you know, I mean Alan
Moore doesn't like stop talking. Yeah,
375
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that's fair. I think we should
say it's more about the on screen.
376
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Yeah, And I think that's for
showing because like the it's it's a
377
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very corporatized model, right, like
like the mcuth like like like these are
378
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these are products more than they are
stories to a certain extent, right,
379
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and so having a like you know, it's it's like if you have to
380
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drop a character because it's not going
to test well in China or they're not
381
00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:45.920
going to screen you in China,
you're no longer making art, right,
382
00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:48.400
right, you are making a product. And I think that a lot of
383
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the filmmakers, like we're like Jack
mentioned with like the haste code, it's
384
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like they find a way to insert
it, right. But but but like
385
00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:03.440
they are overcoming the the the mission. And I think because Jack and I
386
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have no one can give us money
or set the expectations for us. We
387
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get to just say things freely and
like you maintain a viewpoint. I yeah,
388
00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:17.799
I think this season we are bringing
a little bit more action in but
389
00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:22.559
it's audio, so it's it's like
zip zip talk talk talk. It is.
390
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But you know, like a catchphrase
we use for the show is,
391
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you know, these are the stories
between the panels, you know, and
392
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it actually it actually goes on.
I'll go on to say, like,
393
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you know, this is what happens
after the punching is done and the hero
394
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flies away, because you know,
as Max said, we're not beholding to
395
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Disney or anybody or even readers,
like we're just gonna We're just gonna have
396
00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:52.119
these characters wind up where they wind
up. You know. One of the
397
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big storylines that we have that we
carry through is, you know, our
398
00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:00.519
our Superman analog cosmos. You know, he got deported last season and he's
399
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now on an island with a bunch
of other people that have been rejected by
400
00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:10.359
the countries where they are from.
And this question of and this isn't a
401
00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:14.359
spoiler, because we talked a lot
about Magneto and sort of what would happen
402
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:17.319
with him, because you know,
we've seen a lot of evil Superman,
403
00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:23.480
but we've never seen We've never seen
a Superman who's just kind of dealing with
404
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:29.279
the consequences of his actions and just
with how people treat him. And we
405
00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:33.559
had a lot of conversations about where
this guy would end up, where is
406
00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:37.039
his head and what's going to happen
because of it? Yeah, yeah,
407
00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:42.200
yeah, And the interesting thing about
Superman to us is the restraint is the
408
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:48.519
responsibility that he feels. But like, yeah, we experimented a lot with
409
00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:52.559
untethering that from the rule of law
and like, like what happens when Superman
410
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:57.599
gets to pursue his own idea of
justice, which is like what the versions
411
00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:02.319
of Magneto we like best does.
It's like, yeah, right, you
412
00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:04.599
know, if you know this is
Malcolm X, like like what is the
413
00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:11.880
you know, just response not necessarily
the lawful response? Yeah, no,
414
00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:14.559
I think that makes so much sense. I mean, especially as and you
415
00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:15.920
know, and there's a lot we
actually did an episode recently on on the
416
00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:21.839
X Man and how the Malcolm x
mart Luke King comparison doesn't always hold up
417
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.720
directly, but it certainly does in
terms of the American perception of those two
418
00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:29.319
characters. And that one thing I
think is fascinating about the X Man is
419
00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:37.240
how the way Malcolm X was perceived
by most of America in the sixties really
420
00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:41.680
reflected who malcol who Martino was today, who at then. You know,
421
00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:45.000
today a lot of people have read
the autobiography of Malcolm X, like he's
422
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:48.960
not seen as the villain, whereas
Martin Luther King was the good guy,
423
00:30:48.359 --> 00:30:52.400
and and the perception of Magneto I
think has changed in a lot of similar
424
00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:56.599
ways. And so yeah, it's
it's I love how you can address those
425
00:30:56.599 --> 00:31:02.240
things and keep those stories going.
And a big piece of that is also
426
00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:07.279
consequence. We try to make sure
that if something happens, then we're gonna
427
00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:14.440
try try and take it to like
it's more it's most natural and most dramatic
428
00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:18.839
point. Yeah, because you know, comics are super guilty of you know,
429
00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:25.319
these huge storylines will happen, and
then because there's a change in editorial,
430
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:27.440
like you know, it's all reset. Like I'm a huge fan of
431
00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:36.279
Tom King. His run on Batman
was essentially a relationship drama between Batman and
432
00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:38.720
Catwoman where they get married and kind
of one are the stresses of all of
433
00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:45.200
that. And I like his comics
because he writes very adult storylines and not
434
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:48.799
in the sense of adult there's nudity
and gore and violence. It's more,
435
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.079
well, here, here's something that's
actually going to be interesting to you,
436
00:31:53.079 --> 00:32:00.240
you know, thirty five and up
man. And then immediately after his run
437
00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:02.880
was done, they're like, no, this is not married anymore, like
438
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.240
let's throw it all away. And
we we're not going to do that.
439
00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:12.960
These these characters are going to change
when something big happens, it's going to
440
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:16.279
affect everyone. Yeah, and and
and we try, I mean as hard
441
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:21.200
as we can too people who I
mean Season two was like three hundred and
442
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.200
fifty pages. Uh so, but
we try our best to maintain continuity.
443
00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:28.960
On my wall, I have a
map of the US with little posted flags
444
00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:32.079
of every story rerun, just in
case something happens in the area. It'd
445
00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:37.160
be like, oh wait, do
what happened in this area in season one?
446
00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:39.599
Right? Like like like because you
know, we said a story in
447
00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:45.240
the Southwest, We're like, okay, Hella Monster is the Legion hero.
448
00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:49.599
That's that's uh, you know,
assigned to this district, and so what
449
00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:51.279
do we know about this? Like, like, how is that going to
450
00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:55.319
affect things, which is extremely annoying
to do, and I do not recommend
451
00:32:55.359 --> 00:33:00.640
it for any creative just we get
guys, it's it's all. So we
452
00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:05.480
are a two man team not only
doing the business and the directing and the
453
00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:10.680
editing and the boys like just everything, and we just need like a writer's
454
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:14.519
assistant. But again, we have
no money, so we can't be like,
455
00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.759
come work for us for not even
exposure. You'll just be working in
456
00:33:17.799 --> 00:33:22.359
the dark. I mean, I'm
trying hard not to make myself volunteer for
457
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:25.000
that role. But that's the story
entirely. But no, I really get
458
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.440
it, and I there's like five
conversational directions I can take that in.
459
00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:31.559
But just just staying on this one
more second. That line about the stories
460
00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:37.160
between the panels. For me,
the thing that I've always been so fascinated
461
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:42.480
by and where a lot of this
podcast has gone, is that is what
462
00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:45.240
happens to people below the page.
You know, what happens to the people
463
00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:50.319
who are affected by all this.
And as you said, you know,
464
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:52.960
if you're gonna pay Chris Hemsworth a
huge amount of money, you're mostly going
465
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:58.079
to keep him on stage. You're
not going to have on screen. You
466
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:01.119
might get the few moments that we've
gotten the Avengers movies of a support group
467
00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:06.359
of people who were affected by the
blip in the MCU, but that's not
468
00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:09.480
the main part of the story.
And I just that as a sociologist,
469
00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:13.599
theologian and something like that, that's
what's fascinating to me. You know,
470
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:19.199
in The Boys, they do this
really interesting plot line of a religion that
471
00:34:19.239 --> 00:34:22.000
would form and how that would change, and like you know, Zack Snetter
472
00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:27.039
Superman explored that for like five seconds
but then moved on. But then I
473
00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:29.639
know you guys might understand it's gonna
go deeper and things like that. I
474
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:36.719
think there's just for me, there's
something really fascinating about asking how would society
475
00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:40.320
change when these superhumans exist? And
I just love to hear you talk more
476
00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:44.159
about kind of your thinking on that
and how you're exploring that side of it.
477
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:50.679
Yeah, Jack actually had a people
worshiping Cosmos story that it still exists
478
00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:54.920
in a folder somewhere because I couldn't
quite figure out the way to break it.
479
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.199
But it was we were gonna it
was a segment that was going to
480
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:05.519
be about someone who is specifically writing
about superhero cults and it was it was
481
00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:10.199
based on an interview I had heard
somewhere on the radio with a woman who
482
00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:14.840
was who was talking about cult leaders, because I was, you know,
483
00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:20.440
it's a it's again I like you. I just I'm endlessly fascinated by Okay,
484
00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:24.760
who's like, who's the Rosencrantz and
Gildenstern of this world? And what
485
00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:29.360
are the reactions to all that?
One of my favorite you know, we
486
00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:32.920
had talked about The X Men.
One of my favorite runs was The X
487
00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:38.400
Force, where a multiple man is
a PI in mutant town and New York
488
00:35:38.519 --> 00:35:43.840
and you know, it's again it's
the street level hero and you get to
489
00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:50.440
see how these mutants are getting treated
and the issues and trials of their lives.
490
00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:53.960
And you know, they were lower
stake stories and obviously we do hide
491
00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:58.960
stake stories, but we also kind
of delight and what are going to be
492
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:05.880
you know, what's what's going to
be the macro lens of what's going on
493
00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:09.679
in this world and we can go
further and further to the ground and look
494
00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:15.599
up instead of being that person and
the sky looking down. Yeah, and
495
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:19.320
we also we have a lot of
anime influences. I mean, you'll see
496
00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.800
traces of My hero and one Punchman
on this. But something I really love
497
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:30.559
about Attack on Titan is they will
spend ninety seconds on a random apartment of
498
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:34.920
characters you've never met, and it's
just like a old woman teaching her granddaughter
499
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:37.840
how to knit and there have finally
getting their life back on track and then
500
00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:43.519
boom of, like a giant fist
comes through and kills them all and what
501
00:36:43.719 --> 00:36:45.599
like when you zoom out, that's
like every time a building gets destroyed,
502
00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:51.719
that's happening, right, Like you
know we like you know nine to eleven
503
00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:54.599
was a week ago, and you
know you hear these personal stories. When
504
00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:00.800
the tower felt like every individual life
of there was a story and like and
505
00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:06.639
we never get them, and it
makes the destruction feel so small. Right
506
00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:12.199
if you destroy a city of nobodies, I mean, what do they say,
507
00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:14.519
Like a person dies, it's a
tragedy. A million people dies,
508
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:19.039
it's a statistic, right, and
it just like there's no emotional impact.
509
00:37:19.079 --> 00:37:22.400
But an Attacking Titan. You show
that scene for a minute and then when
510
00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:29.199
that building goes down, like your
heart just squeezes. Yeah. I had
511
00:37:29.239 --> 00:37:34.519
to take a break from that show
because I I just can't take it anymore?
512
00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:39.480
Fatherhood huh Yeah. A long time
ago. I used to love watching
513
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:44.400
Law and Order and my views on
the police and the way police retreated media.
514
00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:46.119
I've changed a lot, but but
still one thing I always remember is
515
00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:51.639
they would always have like three to
five minutes of either the people who are
516
00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:54.679
having this argument and they come across
the dead body and or whatever it is,
517
00:37:54.719 --> 00:37:57.079
and it often feel like, no, no, I want to know
518
00:37:57.159 --> 00:37:59.960
more about that story, like what
happened when you got back from the club,
519
00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.119
you know, like and it's such
a cree thing, but you know,
520
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:07.719
another one of my favorite segments you
guys did in season one was about
521
00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:13.199
the people who have powers that aren't
actually that useful and you're this great thing
522
00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:16.119
about a woman who can turn pickles
back into cucumbers and things like that.
523
00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:21.480
That's actually season two. Oh I'm
sorry, you're right, it is season
524
00:38:21.519 --> 00:38:24.079
two, and I just I loved
it because, like when I've talked to
525
00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:28.159
my friends about the X Men,
that was always my comment was, how
526
00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:32.039
is it that these completely random genetic
mutations always seem to be so useful in
527
00:38:32.119 --> 00:38:36.199
combat? You know? And what
about the people, like if it is
528
00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:39.079
just random genetic mutation aren't some of
them totally useless? And you guys normally
529
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:44.039
addressed that we're talked about how that
would be pretty devastating to find out you're
530
00:38:44.039 --> 00:38:49.480
a superhuman in a completely useless way. Yeah. Yeah, that second that
531
00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:54.079
actually used to be almost twice as
long too, just really going into like,
532
00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:00.320
yeah, like like the idea that
like if your superpowers you can jump
533
00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:05.639
six inches higher, you don't know
you have a superher a superpower. You
534
00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:07.719
think you're really good at track and
field, like you're great at basketball,
535
00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:12.599
you jump a foot and you go
to the NBA you jump twenty feet and
536
00:39:12.679 --> 00:39:16.800
you're a superhero, And it's like
that idea of degrees and how Yeah,
537
00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:22.079
I still I wish there's a way
that that could have made the funnel draft.
538
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:30.280
But but but yeah, just like
these like small little like like like
539
00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:34.280
it's a complete world, right Like
you look at you know, Savior School
540
00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:37.960
for the Gifted, and you know
they're recruiting for their paramilitary force, right
541
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:42.400
like, like you know, I'm
sure that there's the person who can tell
542
00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:45.400
you how many pulls ceiling fan has
before it turns off, But like you
543
00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:51.840
know they're not going to go in
the blackbird. Yeah, well, and
544
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:53.840
so let's start talking about season two, and I want to hear more about
545
00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:57.679
the overall process, but I want
to start with how how I got a
546
00:39:57.719 --> 00:40:00.760
little bit involved with this, because
I think it it really speaks to your
547
00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:05.480
writing process in a way that we
talk about so often is missing. It's
548
00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:08.199
the idea of representation not only on
screen but in the writer's room. Because
549
00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:12.199
and I and we'll talk much more
about this in the future. I have
550
00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:15.679
another episode with these folks planned after
a much later episode, which also for
551
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:19.400
those of you who are wondering at
you're yelling at your radios or your your
552
00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:22.760
podcast things of like forget about spoilers, Matthew, you asked them more about
553
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:24.719
upcoming storylines. We'll get to talk
to you much more about the upcom storylines
554
00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:28.519
when we do that. But the
reason we're doing that is because I know
555
00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:31.199
that disability is going to be a
theme you explore. And I know that
556
00:40:31.360 --> 00:40:35.920
because you all approached me a disabled
person and asked me to kind of like
557
00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:37.440
look at the script and look at
some of these ideas and talk with you
558
00:40:37.519 --> 00:40:44.000
through it, which I really loved
and talking to you more like my understanding
559
00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:45.400
is that yeah, when you cover
transisues, you like, reached out to
560
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:50.000
people in that community and things like
that. That is something that so often
561
00:40:50.119 --> 00:40:52.239
is missing and that will often hear. You know, you'll look at a
562
00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:55.440
character and people from a community will
be like, clearly they didn't like that
563
00:40:55.719 --> 00:41:00.000
character was written by people who don't
understand that community. Talk to us about
564
00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:06.119
like how that was a part of
your writing process and why I think it's
565
00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:08.920
well, personally, you know,
I come from a film background, so
566
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:13.440
I've like been around writers and I've
her into how they've run rooms. But
567
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:19.159
it's also just we're two straight white
guys, and you know, you can
568
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:22.239
come up with a great idea for
a story, and you can there's nothing
569
00:41:22.280 --> 00:41:28.519
that stops you from imagining somebody who's
you know, LGBT or you know who
570
00:41:28.679 --> 00:41:31.400
who is disabled. But then once
you're going to put that story out into
571
00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:36.239
the world, you know you're also
representing those people, and if you have
572
00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:40.880
zero input from them, it just
you know, it does not take much
573
00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:45.800
to make sure that you were doing
right by a community by reaching out.
574
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:51.519
You know, we have people in
our writer's room this season who were queer
575
00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:55.960
who gave us feedback on stories that
you know that weren't overtly queer, but
576
00:41:57.199 --> 00:42:02.679
dealt with those storylines and they certainly
weighed in on them. It's just it's
577
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:07.239
it. It's it's the way people
should do it. It just it feels
578
00:42:07.239 --> 00:42:08.599
like this should be common practice these
days. Well, you know, I
579
00:42:08.679 --> 00:42:14.639
think there was this toxic thing that
went around uh studio execs in like twenty
580
00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:17.480
fifteen is when I first remember hearing
it, the uh this idea of right
581
00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:22.119
what you know, but they misinterpreted
it. They're like, oh, you're
582
00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:24.960
a banker, you should write about
banking, Like like this is great,
583
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.960
you have a life. Like it's
like because the idea isn't that you can
584
00:42:30.079 --> 00:42:35.239
only write things that you yourself have
lived. It's that when you write something,
585
00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:38.679
you should be knowledgeable in it and
you it should be a in conversation
586
00:42:38.760 --> 00:42:44.599
with people who, like, who
have lived those experiences in order to bring
587
00:42:44.679 --> 00:42:45.440
it to life. I mean,
because not everyone's a writer, but you
588
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:49.880
know, everyone has, you know, distinct viewpoints and perspectives and it's important
589
00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:52.159
to collect those as you're as you're
writing things. And I love that,
590
00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:55.320
like you know, and like you
know, we try also, like in
591
00:42:55.440 --> 00:43:00.199
casting, to like make sure that
we create opportunities for uh, actors of
592
00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:05.239
all walks of life, and really
like as we're going, just like you
593
00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:09.079
know, uh, whenever I direct
someone, I always like try to like
594
00:43:09.199 --> 00:43:13.639
check in, like even regional things
like like when A characters from the South
595
00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:16.880
in places I've never been in it
like is this fog horn? Like horn?
596
00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:22.000
Is this? Like did I just
did I hear this in the Looney
597
00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:24.480
Tunes and write this down? Like
how would you say this? And you
598
00:43:24.519 --> 00:43:29.360
know, just fine tuning it,
yeah, because when I mean, you
599
00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:31.360
know, it's when doesn't hit,
it's just a minstrels show, like it's
600
00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:36.599
not like, yeah, it's not
substantive. And I love how you're talking
601
00:43:36.599 --> 00:43:39.079
about that with a really both hand
perspective, because like, yeah, you're
602
00:43:39.159 --> 00:43:45.360
right the right what you know can
sometimes me so no more like learn more
603
00:43:45.400 --> 00:43:49.119
about something before trying to write about
it. But also I think sometimes that
604
00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:52.880
can be Oh, I've got a
trans friend and I read one book about
605
00:43:52.039 --> 00:43:55.159
being trans, so now I know
how to write trans people. And I
606
00:43:55.280 --> 00:43:59.840
like what you guys are saying of
that. Both you want to educate yourself
607
00:44:00.440 --> 00:44:04.159
so that you know more, but
then also you're bringing those people into the
608
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:07.599
writing room and they're writers, not
just you know, your friend who had
609
00:44:07.639 --> 00:44:10.920
one conversation with Yeah. Yeah,
it's just like, yeah, you know,
610
00:44:10.960 --> 00:44:14.719
I guess the party didn't say.
It's like, if you just write
611
00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:17.840
what you know and you stay in
your box, then like, you know,
612
00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:22.480
guys like us will only write boring
stories about straight white dudes no thank
613
00:44:22.519 --> 00:44:27.000
you, which is a lot of
what we get right exactly, you know,
614
00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:29.880
yeah, because of the way the
note is usually assigned to people,
615
00:44:30.280 --> 00:44:37.480
but it's also just it's an opportunity
for different voices. My favorite segment on
616
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:43.840
this season period is in the next
episode, and it is one that someone
617
00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:49.320
else pitched and wrote, and it's
a writer named Rachel Music. She's working
618
00:44:49.400 --> 00:44:54.480
with Max on another series right now
called Josie and Josie's Onely Hearts Club Joe's
619
00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:59.599
Josie's Lonely Hearts Club, and she
she had heard the show. She approached
620
00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:07.320
Max at the Catalyst Festival. She's
become part of our writing team and she's
621
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:12.599
just she's one of those strongest writers
that we have. And again, like
622
00:45:13.239 --> 00:45:16.719
one of my favorite favorite pieces like
it came out of her and had we
623
00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:21.559
not thought like, hey, we
need women in the writings room, because
624
00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:25.719
it's otherwise it's just me and Max
making unblinking eye contact for like days,
625
00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:32.199
which you know, some gold nuggets
come out of but there is there's a
626
00:45:32.280 --> 00:45:37.880
lot of dry poop that falls out
of there as well. So there we
627
00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:43.400
are forty seven minutes in before Jack
mentioned poop. This is a miracle our
628
00:45:43.480 --> 00:45:45.440
recording sessions. When he does his
parts, it's this poop poop, poop,
629
00:45:45.440 --> 00:45:49.920
poop poop. And no, it's
not poop, it's specifically my armpit
630
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.760
butthole. Yes, I was trying, which is a piece of relationship lore
631
00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:58.119
between me and my wife that's somehow
bled into our recording sessions. Oh my
632
00:45:58.199 --> 00:46:05.960
goodness. So moving back to it's
awesome. I love it. But yeah,
633
00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:08.360
I love that idea, the process
and so so talk more about in
634
00:46:08.440 --> 00:46:12.719
writing season two. I imagine there's
a lot of lessons learned from season one.
635
00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:15.760
What did you learn after doing it
that you wanted to kind of either
636
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:17.519
like, oh, let's do more
of that in season two, or maybe
637
00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:21.960
this was like we could have done
this better differently, or what was that
638
00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:24.480
process, Like would you learn from
doing the first season of this? So
639
00:46:25.079 --> 00:46:31.320
a big piece was we kind of
had a main character in Stephen Singh,
640
00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:39.400
who's our newsreader and spoilers. He
dies and he's essentially we knew we wanted
641
00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:45.280
a sort of death of Superman storyline
for the first season, which I will
642
00:46:45.320 --> 00:46:49.800
admit was kind of for the shock
factor. We we decided it was going
643
00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:52.159
to be somebody's voice who our audience
was going to hear all the time,
644
00:46:52.960 --> 00:47:00.320
and through killing this character off and
it became this kind of big tipping point
645
00:47:00.440 --> 00:47:02.840
for the world and the politics of
the world, we decided, Okay,
646
00:47:02.920 --> 00:47:07.400
we need We're gonna need main characters. We're gonna need somebody that folks can
647
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:10.840
grab onto. I mean, one
of my favorite characters on the show was
648
00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:15.400
whiz Kid, and you know he
doesn't essentially have a story right now,
649
00:47:15.519 --> 00:47:20.519
so we wanted to go back figure
out, Okay, who's the heart of
650
00:47:20.559 --> 00:47:27.079
the show, and we it was
a throwaway line that Stephen Singh had two
651
00:47:27.159 --> 00:47:30.599
daughters, and we had just it
was something I wrote in a little bit
652
00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:34.760
of Hey, it's even worse that
this guy died because he has kids.
653
00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:37.960
But then we were talking like,
oh, where's season two going to go?
654
00:47:37.039 --> 00:47:40.280
Who are we going to follow?
We had started thinking about, Okay,
655
00:47:40.519 --> 00:47:44.639
this act is going to come this, the Superacts coming coming out.
656
00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:47.119
You know, there's gonna be pro
registration, there's going to be people are
657
00:47:47.119 --> 00:47:52.320
Auntie, and we've we've decided that
his daughters are essentially going to be on
658
00:47:52.440 --> 00:47:55.039
different sides of this issue. So
you're going to meet a poor of a
659
00:47:55.159 --> 00:48:04.159
Singh who is Stephen's eldest daughter who
works for spr and is balancing her life
660
00:48:04.480 --> 00:48:07.519
of being a reporter with her feelings
towards what's happening in the world. And
661
00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:13.440
his youngest daughter too. He's saying, who as an activist, And we
662
00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:16.679
don't because we like to present the
world. We don't like just saying like,
663
00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:21.719
hey, here's the main character.
You're following them. Now they we
664
00:48:21.920 --> 00:48:25.039
kind of slowly get to know them, and you know this isn't spoilers through
665
00:48:25.079 --> 00:48:30.360
the season, but you know,
really everything's going to revolve around these two
666
00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:35.800
young women, and especially as we
go into season three. Yeah, and
667
00:48:35.920 --> 00:48:38.840
especially as we go into season three, but it became, you know,
668
00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:43.360
we started caring about these characters more. And yeah, well, I mean,
669
00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:45.199
I mean, I mean that was
really huge for us, because you
670
00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:51.239
know, the first season is very
anthology based for the most part, but
671
00:48:51.599 --> 00:48:53.039
yeah, I mean, you know, because like we do like we have
672
00:48:53.119 --> 00:48:57.199
these big emotional beats, but then
we weave the characters for the most part,
673
00:48:57.639 --> 00:49:01.519
and we found that we tended to
miss them and like yeah, and
674
00:49:01.960 --> 00:49:07.280
that like, you know, because
we are telling a fictional story that like,
675
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:10.960
yeah, this like we wanted to
find more ways to make it,
676
00:49:14.519 --> 00:49:19.280
uh, and to to find an
overarching narrative and like you know, as
677
00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:22.360
Jack was saying, like like like
to make it about characters that we carry
678
00:49:22.400 --> 00:49:24.719
back and come back to, but
also have storylines that really feel like you're
679
00:49:24.840 --> 00:49:30.320
progressing as you listen to it.
And so uh, season two definitely listened
680
00:49:30.320 --> 00:49:34.920
to it in order there's gonna be
some really cool stuff that happens as the
681
00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:37.920
season progresses. No, and I
think I'm really interested in that that as
682
00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:42.079
well. First of all, it's
one thing I noticed with Stephen Stephens saying
683
00:49:42.119 --> 00:49:45.440
when I was listening to it is
because here again how representation matters in a
684
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:49.440
way that you don't have to lambshade
it. You know, that last name
685
00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:52.760
sounds South Asian, but it's not
a character beat at all. And then
686
00:49:52.880 --> 00:49:57.880
when I heard his daughter's names mentioned
and they both also were South Asian,
687
00:49:57.960 --> 00:50:00.719
I was like, oh, that
is just such again, a brilliant part
688
00:50:00.920 --> 00:50:07.800
of just making this feel like a
real part of our world. And here
689
00:50:07.800 --> 00:50:08.960
I want to it's such a brilliant
part of it, and I don't want
690
00:50:08.960 --> 00:50:10.800
to spoil anything, so I'm gonna
be as vague as I can. Here.
691
00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:15.920
In the first season, you have
someone call into your Car Talk story
692
00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:22.519
where it sounds like something bad happens
on air to that person and you're not
693
00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:25.800
sure about it. And then I
heard in the trailer that that storyline is
694
00:50:25.840 --> 00:50:29.480
get further explored, and I was
like, oh, that is so cool.
695
00:50:30.159 --> 00:50:35.559
How you know, because yeah,
it made me wonder and I might
696
00:50:35.639 --> 00:50:38.119
google this at some point or maybe
you know, like has anybody ever called
697
00:50:38.159 --> 00:50:45.760
in to I guess probably not because
it's no like it maybe wonder like has
698
00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:50.800
anyone ever called in like while they
were driving to click and clack it and
699
00:50:50.880 --> 00:50:53.719
then like people heard an accident happened
on air or something terrible like that?
700
00:50:53.880 --> 00:51:00.119
Oh my god, probably probably not
on car Talk nothing but that dramatic and
701
00:51:00.400 --> 00:51:02.519
we can talk about it, so
we have a well we can. It
702
00:51:02.599 --> 00:51:06.800
doesn't spoil anything. Yeah, I
guess it's in the season two trailer.
703
00:51:06.960 --> 00:51:09.840
But so look, if you're if
you haven't listened to episode four of season
704
00:51:09.920 --> 00:51:16.119
one, stop now, go over. Listen to it. A short episode
705
00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:21.679
to like twenty minutes long, but
it's it's essentially our World's Robin, you
706
00:51:21.760 --> 00:51:28.039
know, stole the batmobile and he
calls into the to the show asking for
707
00:51:28.159 --> 00:51:32.960
help, and then you know it
disappears under mysterious circumstances and a new segment
708
00:51:34.039 --> 00:51:36.840
on the show, which you know, we had tried to figure out how
709
00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:38.440
to do on the first season,
but we just we never could find the
710
00:51:38.599 --> 00:51:45.119
end. And after writing that,
segments like, oh, our show on
711
00:51:45.239 --> 00:51:51.280
Cereal should be about this this young
sidekick who disappears and what happened to him.
712
00:51:51.559 --> 00:51:53.320
Yeah, I mean, I mean
essentially we're doing you know, Jason
713
00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:59.320
Todd Yeah, yeah, right,
and as our version of Cereal, which
714
00:51:59.360 --> 00:52:02.440
is a lot of fun. And
Jack wrote these four episodes and uh,
715
00:52:02.880 --> 00:52:07.280
they are so good and the build
is so satisfying, and it was just
716
00:52:07.360 --> 00:52:12.239
like introduces his true crime into the
season, which is just a lot of
717
00:52:12.360 --> 00:52:19.000
fun. Got it so much him. Yeah yeah, And also like I
718
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:23.000
don't know, just like on on
on the Stephen sing diversity thing, it's
719
00:52:23.039 --> 00:52:28.679
like, you know, Sean Ahmed
who plays Stephen sing is great and we
720
00:52:28.760 --> 00:52:31.280
hated killing him off because he's like
one of the best supporters of our show
721
00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:36.039
works all the time, does Hallmark
Movies? Great actor he was, he
722
00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:38.559
was in the expanse. Yeah,
And when he told me that, I
723
00:52:38.679 --> 00:52:43.639
was like, wait And he told
and his scene is you know, he
724
00:52:43.760 --> 00:52:49.559
plays uh, he's he's a character
actor, you know, and I remembered
725
00:52:49.639 --> 00:52:51.679
his scene, like his scene popped
down. I was like, oh my
726
00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:54.679
god, we got that guy.
Yeah, yeah, no, it was
727
00:52:54.719 --> 00:52:58.800
great. But but when we cast
his daughter's uh, you know, we
728
00:52:58.920 --> 00:53:04.960
we we heard a lot of Indian
American actresses and it was actually God,
729
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:07.840
I have such mixed feelings about it. But like, uh, like whenever
730
00:53:07.960 --> 00:53:10.599
we did the cold reads and auditions
and when I brought them in, they're
731
00:53:10.599 --> 00:53:13.159
like, so, like do you
want the accent? I was like,
732
00:53:13.639 --> 00:53:16.960
why you grew up here? And
and just like the look of relief on
733
00:53:17.039 --> 00:53:21.719
their face. Yeah. Like it's
just like because you know, I mean,
734
00:53:22.639 --> 00:53:27.320
you know, we don't cast people
for their diversity for the most part,
735
00:53:27.400 --> 00:53:30.239
but like you we try to get
down to people from a mix of
736
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:35.480
different places. But it's like,
you know, because they're legitimate perspectives matter,
737
00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:37.559
not because we want to do like
well say, characters and it's so
738
00:53:37.840 --> 00:53:40.679
good. It makes it so big. That's why we have so many actors.
739
00:53:42.280 --> 00:53:45.440
Yeah, but also, you know, the context helps there might be
740
00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:49.480
something that we wrote that was wrong. And also we found a lot of
741
00:53:49.840 --> 00:53:52.880
you know, we found a lot
of really talented women through this who we
742
00:53:53.320 --> 00:53:57.840
you know, cast in other roles
outside of these two leading roles. And
743
00:53:58.039 --> 00:54:00.719
probably one of our favorite voices of
the season came from this casting call.
744
00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:06.880
And I don't know if she would
have auditioned for the show and Jolly Jolly
745
00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:13.480
she disappears and what is her last
name? Yeah? No, she has
746
00:54:13.480 --> 00:54:15.960
some move of sixty three people in
the okay, so Max is going to
747
00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:20.800
look up her last name. Anyways, This this woman who auditioned for us
748
00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:24.679
specifically because we were looking for,
you know, women of Indian descent.
749
00:54:25.519 --> 00:54:30.559
She came in and throughout the season
when she plays characters, I yeah,
750
00:54:30.559 --> 00:54:35.039
because I'm pretty removed from the editing
program, I would always ask Max,
751
00:54:35.199 --> 00:54:37.920
wait, which actress is this,
and you'd be like, it's in Jolly,
752
00:54:37.039 --> 00:54:45.360
and she would just vanish into a
role yeah, and Jolly Corona.
753
00:54:45.519 --> 00:54:49.239
Yeah, and like like like try
to listen to her voice without falling a
754
00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:52.760
little bit in love with her,
like it's tough and and but she plays
755
00:54:53.280 --> 00:54:59.559
a good spread throughout. She has
a really good part in episode seven.
756
00:55:00.199 --> 00:55:04.440
And I do think that way you're
talking about that is so important because yeah,
757
00:55:04.599 --> 00:55:06.320
like it'd be great to get,
you know, if you do a
758
00:55:06.400 --> 00:55:09.519
story that is mirroring something happening in
South Asia or India or Pakistan or whatever,
759
00:55:09.800 --> 00:55:13.239
to get actors from that world to
do it, but that they don't
760
00:55:13.239 --> 00:55:15.360
have to you know, like I, and that their story doesn't have to
761
00:55:15.440 --> 00:55:20.199
be about that. You can have
a story about a reporter who is an
762
00:55:20.280 --> 00:55:22.760
Indian man, but that's not what
the story is about. I, you
763
00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:27.920
know, growing up recognizing that was
bisexual when I was like sixteen or so,
764
00:55:28.239 --> 00:55:30.840
you know, And I was growing
up in the eighties and nineties,
765
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:35.199
and it was great at first that
gay man and queer man were finally appearing
766
00:55:35.400 --> 00:55:37.679
on screen, but they were all
dying of aids, which was, yes,
767
00:55:37.800 --> 00:55:40.719
a very real story. But I
still remember how important it was to
768
00:55:40.760 --> 00:55:45.280
me when that there was a queer
man who was on screen, but his
769
00:55:45.400 --> 00:55:49.440
queerness wasn't his character arc. His
character art was about something different. It
770
00:55:49.559 --> 00:55:52.400
just happened to be that the person
he went home to was a man instead
771
00:55:52.440 --> 00:55:54.639
of a woman. And so I
think the way you're doing that makes so
772
00:55:54.719 --> 00:55:58.320
much sense. Yeah, I mean, I mean I live in New York,
773
00:55:58.719 --> 00:56:00.760
right, I mean, like,
like I look at the like WNYC
774
00:56:00.960 --> 00:56:05.559
news team or any of the TV
news team, and it's a big mix
775
00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:07.480
of people, right, And it's
like it's just our desire to make the
776
00:56:07.559 --> 00:56:13.320
world feel authentic, right, Like
we need a giant mix of human beings.
777
00:56:13.639 --> 00:56:15.880
Like and also like this is what
my wife talks about a lot a
778
00:56:15.960 --> 00:56:23.480
lot of older actors too, which
it feels weird that they don't that people
779
00:56:23.639 --> 00:56:30.079
just aren't casting older actors as protagonists
and things like I don't know how important
780
00:56:30.079 --> 00:56:32.519
it is for them to be sexy
in like a horror movie. Yeah,
781
00:56:34.360 --> 00:56:37.280
because like there's some such good talent
out there and they're bored as hell.
782
00:56:38.920 --> 00:56:44.719
They're just so bored doing like old
person parts yea, instead of just like
783
00:56:44.960 --> 00:56:50.920
parts. Yeah, we stold a
sense anything else I want to not do
784
00:56:51.079 --> 00:56:52.719
too much more of our time,
And in our members only section, we're
785
00:56:52.719 --> 00:56:58.000
going to talk about a different part
of geekiness that I wonder if it's impacted
786
00:56:58.039 --> 00:57:00.039
how you do your world building,
because it's certainly what I thought of.
787
00:57:00.840 --> 00:57:02.599
But just for kind of like wrapping
up, Is there any other last things
788
00:57:02.599 --> 00:57:07.760
you guys want to say about lessons
learned from season one or things and how
789
00:57:07.840 --> 00:57:09.440
the plays into season two, or
to other stuff that about season two you
790
00:57:09.519 --> 00:57:14.800
want to get get into. I
mean, one big thing out of season
791
00:57:14.880 --> 00:57:17.880
one is we made the decision to
go bigger. We wanted to, like,
792
00:57:19.119 --> 00:57:21.760
you know, everything was in world
and we told like these quiet little
793
00:57:21.800 --> 00:57:24.079
stories throughout, but like at the
end of it, it's like, you
794
00:57:24.159 --> 00:57:27.920
know, we're in total control of
this. We could do whatever the hell
795
00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:31.559
we want, Like let's let's like
up the anti end and yo, it
796
00:57:31.679 --> 00:57:36.159
created so much more work for us. Season two is one hundred pages longer
797
00:57:36.239 --> 00:57:42.199
than season one was, and like
a bunch more characters, a bunch more
798
00:57:43.039 --> 00:57:46.559
like set pieces and things like that. And it's so fun the fact that
799
00:57:46.639 --> 00:57:55.079
we just like let ourselves like go
off, that's awesome. Jack. It's
800
00:57:55.199 --> 00:58:00.079
just I would say for season two, it's just it's more serialized. You
801
00:58:00.119 --> 00:58:04.480
know, we we really wanted season
one to feel a little bit more variety
802
00:58:04.599 --> 00:58:07.719
show. There's obviously an a story, but for this second season, we
803
00:58:08.639 --> 00:58:15.760
the story definitely takes bigger swings episode
to episode, and certainly from our first
804
00:58:15.840 --> 00:58:19.039
half and the second half, because
we're gonna have a two episode break where
805
00:58:19.760 --> 00:58:22.440
me and Max are going to interview
each other about behind the scenes and things
806
00:58:22.519 --> 00:58:27.000
we might not have told each other
about and sort of the inspiration of the
807
00:58:27.039 --> 00:58:30.000
show, and it'll be about the
podcasts that have inspired it, and then
808
00:58:30.039 --> 00:58:36.280
another episode that's just absolutely about the
comics that inspired it and mostly that exists.
809
00:58:36.320 --> 00:58:38.800
So Max gets a break because if
he hasn't said it, he's our
810
00:58:38.920 --> 00:58:45.039
series director and editor as well as
the co producers, so he wears a
811
00:58:45.119 --> 00:58:51.239
lot of hats and needs he needs
time. Yeah, I'm I'm we are
812
00:58:51.400 --> 00:58:57.039
we really season. We release episode
two on Wednesday of this week, and
813
00:58:57.480 --> 00:59:00.880
I have the first six done and
then there's another six episodes that are not
814
00:59:01.480 --> 00:59:06.239
quite done, and so those are
two weeks. It couldn't be great.
815
00:59:07.079 --> 00:59:08.880
I understand that. I understand it. Well, Yeah, it is really
816
00:59:09.119 --> 00:59:13.639
wonderful what you're doing with it.
It's like I'll say, there's kind of
817
00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:16.000
especially about the directing part, like
in terms of like the music and things
818
00:59:16.039 --> 00:59:20.400
like that. One thing I think
is so interesting. I'm also a liberal
819
00:59:20.440 --> 00:59:24.320
I'm a New Yorker, I'm a
lifelong NPR listener, and I love that
820
00:59:24.440 --> 00:59:31.320
you managed to poke gentle fun at
some of the NPR things without it becoming
821
00:59:31.440 --> 00:59:36.079
satire, without I mean it's satire, but without it becoming mockery. Like
822
00:59:36.760 --> 00:59:39.880
there are times where the music is
like every now and then I'll kind of
823
00:59:39.960 --> 00:59:43.599
roll my eyes a little the way
I roll my eyes about that music during
824
00:59:43.639 --> 00:59:45.559
an NPR segment. But I'm also
there are other times where the music is
825
00:59:45.599 --> 00:59:50.880
just it's having the effect on me
that the music during NPR has, and
826
00:59:50.960 --> 00:59:53.400
I'm just like, oh, that's
it's such a hard line to walk that
827
00:59:53.519 --> 00:59:58.079
it's it's tribute to NPR as much
as it's poking gentle fun of it,
828
00:59:58.360 --> 01:00:01.519
but also it's just recreation that in
ways that I just think are are brilliant.
829
01:00:01.800 --> 01:00:06.159
Yeah. Thanks, I mean,
we love comics, we love NPR,
830
01:00:06.880 --> 01:00:08.880
we hate the world, and so
NPR so so so so our show,
831
01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:12.440
like you know, on satirizes the
things we hate using the things we
832
01:00:12.519 --> 01:00:15.119
love. Yeah. I love that. I love how you do that well.
833
01:00:15.280 --> 01:00:19.920
And that's maybe my last question.
You're doing this all in NPR and
834
01:00:19.960 --> 01:00:22.480
showing us what NPR is like and
I hope you stick with that. But
835
01:00:22.639 --> 01:00:29.840
will we ever have like play a
moment from the CNN of your world or
836
01:00:29.960 --> 01:00:32.400
of the like the have a segment
about well we all know that, you
837
01:00:32.440 --> 01:00:38.000
know, Blonde Vanity gave a speech
last night, like yeah, talk about
838
01:00:38.039 --> 01:00:42.440
that. Uh. Well, it
was a Patreon exclusive with season one,
839
01:00:42.519 --> 01:00:45.480
but we released it on April Fool's
Day. We have an episode from The
840
01:00:45.559 --> 01:00:52.039
Villainous League news on our street.
Uh, and you can hear great shows
841
01:00:52.079 --> 01:00:59.880
such as Wait Wait, Don't Kill
Me and Frocks and Friends and yeah,
842
01:01:00.039 --> 01:01:04.719
yeah, it's It's episode thirteen.
Is that what we called it. It's
843
01:01:04.719 --> 01:01:07.320
a It's Episode thirteen live from VLN. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So
844
01:01:07.400 --> 01:01:14.039
we have that a little bit.
And you know, our third season is
845
01:01:14.159 --> 01:01:19.639
going to shift perspectives a lot a
little bit when we get there. Uh
846
01:01:20.920 --> 01:01:25.519
we can't say how, yeah,
but you'll you'll understand why by the end
847
01:01:25.559 --> 01:01:31.920
of the amount of work that we
give ourselves and specifically we're gonna just dogpile
848
01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:37.079
on Max in season three is going
to be so big but so worth it.
849
01:01:37.639 --> 01:01:40.320
I love it, I love I
can't wait. And for those people
850
01:01:40.400 --> 01:01:44.000
who are hearing about you guys for
the first time now, which want to
851
01:01:44.039 --> 01:01:47.000
hear more. First of all,
tell us how we can find superhero Let
852
01:01:47.000 --> 01:01:51.880
me, first of all tell us
how we can find Superhuman Public Radio,
853
01:01:52.280 --> 01:01:54.039
but then also how we can find
some of the other creative projects or our
854
01:01:54.039 --> 01:01:59.119
commentary of places that that Max and
Gen are up to. Sure, Superhuman
855
01:01:59.239 --> 01:02:02.199
Public Radio if you just search for
that on any place you get your podcasts.
856
01:02:02.599 --> 01:02:07.599
Also, spr pod is all of
our social head handles. It's our
857
01:02:07.639 --> 01:02:15.519
website sprpod dot com. And we're
also like doing some like social media stuff.
858
01:02:15.800 --> 01:02:17.639
The season will behind the scenes and
stuff you follow us on TikTok and
859
01:02:17.679 --> 01:02:22.960
in stuff. Yeah, Jack keeps
saying I need to make a website for
860
01:02:22.119 --> 01:02:29.840
things. Yeah, yeah, you
can hear me and Walter h go inside
861
01:02:29.920 --> 01:02:34.639
QAnon and uh, you know,
mock Moms for Liberty and Matt Gates and
862
01:02:34.679 --> 01:02:38.440
folks to their Face. We have
a show coming up called We Are Not
863
01:02:38.639 --> 01:02:45.440
Journalists, which does in depth dives
from people who are asking the question journalists
864
01:02:45.480 --> 01:02:51.840
are too smart to ask and uh
on Good Story Guild coming January, we
865
01:02:51.920 --> 01:02:58.599
have Josie's Womanly Hearts Club, which
is a fake am romance love guru show
866
01:02:59.079 --> 01:03:01.679
with a bunch of improvis that I
throw with the host and it's a lot
867
01:03:01.760 --> 01:03:07.639
of fun. That is conjunction with
series writer Rachel Music. Yeah, who
868
01:03:07.719 --> 01:03:12.320
is pretty much the star of episode
two, which comes out this Wednesday.
869
01:03:12.440 --> 01:03:15.719
Yeah awesome. We're recording this about
a week and a half before this episode
870
01:03:15.719 --> 01:03:20.239
will come out last Wednesday. All
that stuff will be upable by the time
871
01:03:20.280 --> 01:03:22.960
this all comes out. Yeah,
and if you want to find me,
872
01:03:22.119 --> 01:03:28.679
just look me up at J and
d i V. Pretty much anywhere this
873
01:03:28.880 --> 01:03:32.960
winter. I will be coming out
with my friends comedy special, which I
874
01:03:34.480 --> 01:03:38.800
directed and produced over the summer.
Yeah awesome. J N d I V.
875
01:03:39.000 --> 01:03:45.880
That's John Nelson Dorsey, the fourth
J and d I V. Did
876
01:03:45.920 --> 01:03:47.920
you just get that? No,
I've just thought it would be useful for
877
01:03:47.960 --> 01:03:52.880
people who can't like, if you
spell like something in front of a toddler,
878
01:03:52.000 --> 01:03:54.320
I won't get it, And so
I thought it'd be useful for people
879
01:03:54.480 --> 01:03:59.960
with auditory processing issues that you know, just saddler letters. What a guy
880
01:04:00.199 --> 01:04:01.679
just say six random letters at people
and they're like, oh, yeah,
881
01:04:01.679 --> 01:04:06.639
I'll follow your gens. Dan like, yeah, I'm on the internet.
882
01:04:06.639 --> 01:04:11.719
You can you can find me.
You know, my phone name is Matthew
883
01:04:12.079 --> 01:04:18.559
Davis McCreery. Fox and so my
on my email my personal stuff. I'm
884
01:04:18.599 --> 01:04:21.400
not gonna tell you the whole of
it, but it includes the words M
885
01:04:21.719 --> 01:04:28.320
D M Fox, which is what
makes sense. But I've realized some people
886
01:04:28.320 --> 01:04:30.920
are like, wait, when did
you become a medical doctor? It's medical
887
01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:34.519
doctor Matthew Fox, Like no,
no, not what this is about.
888
01:04:34.559 --> 01:04:38.719
Well, thank you both so much. And to our listeners, what do
889
01:04:38.800 --> 01:04:41.079
you all think? Like? Have
you listened to this? Are you NPR
890
01:04:41.159 --> 01:04:44.320
fans? What do you think some
of the storylines we're talking about. Love
891
01:04:44.360 --> 01:04:46.159
to get your comments and feedback.
You can find all the ways to contact
892
01:04:46.280 --> 01:04:49.280
us in the show notes. All
the ways to contact them and all their
893
01:04:49.280 --> 01:04:53.239
stuff is in the show notes as
well. Check it out. And of
894
01:04:53.320 --> 01:04:56.400
course, the best thing you can
do is become a member. Members for
895
01:04:56.440 --> 01:05:01.360
only five dollars a month get ad
free content. They get the bonus content.
896
01:05:01.440 --> 01:05:03.679
Like I said, we're going to
ask these folks about another geeky passion
897
01:05:03.679 --> 01:05:06.559
of mind that I think plays into
what they're talking about. And it's also
898
01:05:06.599 --> 01:05:10.880
just a great way to support everything
that's going on. One reason why I'm
899
01:05:10.880 --> 01:05:12.760
able to have these guys on,
which is great. As you all know,
900
01:05:12.880 --> 01:05:15.679
I'm supporting the strike, and so
I'm not doing any commentary on struck
901
01:05:15.800 --> 01:05:18.800
media, and so it's just wonderful
to seat. You know, Hollywood is
902
01:05:18.840 --> 01:05:23.960
not the only face that these stories
are coming out of. And but but
903
01:05:24.039 --> 01:05:29.239
a reason I say all that is
that during the strike twenty five percent is
904
01:05:29.280 --> 01:05:31.800
that during the strike, twenty five
percent of everything that I get in through
905
01:05:31.840 --> 01:05:36.199
those membership fees is being donated to
the Strike Fund. That helps out not
906
01:05:36.320 --> 01:05:41.360
only the actors and the writers themselves, but all the people who are affected
907
01:05:41.400 --> 01:05:45.719
by the strikes. You know,
the security, the caterers. John you
908
01:05:45.760 --> 01:05:48.079
mentioned you to prop work. I
don't know if you're affected by the strike,
909
01:05:48.119 --> 01:05:50.559
but I know certainly there are a
lot of prop people who are affected
910
01:05:50.599 --> 01:05:54.320
by it. The Strike Fund helps
support all of those kind of stuff,
911
01:05:55.440 --> 01:05:58.800
saying, oh, I've taken it
on the chin. I would normally be
912
01:05:58.880 --> 01:06:02.639
working a television show right now.
So my income went from you know,
913
01:06:02.840 --> 01:06:08.800
seventy K year to zero when the
strikes started. So yeah, like,
914
01:06:08.960 --> 01:06:12.400
I think there's just so many ways
that we're not we don't even think about
915
01:06:12.440 --> 01:06:15.880
how, you know, the awful
things that these studios are doing is affecting
916
01:06:16.000 --> 01:06:18.599
everyone. It's not just the you
know, people think, oh, you
917
01:06:18.679 --> 01:06:20.960
know, the writers and the actors, they get paid huge about some money.
918
01:06:21.119 --> 01:06:24.360
That's just the very top of the
bill. You know. There's everything
919
01:06:24.480 --> 01:06:29.639
from security, the prop masters.
There's some pizza shop that I'm sure you
920
01:06:29.679 --> 01:06:32.880
used to deliver late night pizzas to
some studio in Hollywood that has just lost
921
01:06:32.920 --> 01:06:35.559
all its business. You know,
these people, we need to help support
922
01:06:35.599 --> 01:06:39.599
it so the strike can go on
and so the people can get what they
923
01:06:39.639 --> 01:06:42.360
need. So yeah, if you
become a member of this, twenty five
924
01:06:42.360 --> 01:06:45.679
percent of that goes to that strike
fund throughout the strike and also just helps
925
01:06:45.800 --> 01:06:48.280
keep the lights on and keeps us
give me a chance to meet great people
926
01:06:48.320 --> 01:06:51.880
like Max and John and hear what
they're doing. So please help support the
927
01:06:51.920 --> 01:06:56.480
podcast, Please help listen and pass
us on to your friends. Check out
928
01:06:56.559 --> 01:07:01.559
Superhuman Public Radio. It's a fantastically
entertaining uh and informational and it's it's the
929
01:07:01.639 --> 01:07:04.119
kind of thing that you're gonna want
to pass on to people. So check
930
01:07:04.199 --> 01:07:06.480
that out. Check out all the
great stuff we're doing. Thank you all
931
01:07:06.519 --> 01:07:09.039
so much. We have spoken