Marvel Disney's recent TV series is about a struggling actor and I have the perfect guest to discuss it with me: filmmaker, life-long Los Angelino, and Marvel comics fan Brandon Wilson. Wonder Man is delightful and we've got a lot say about the show's portrayals of LA, Simon Williams's existence as a Black Haitian-American actor, the prison industrial complex, queer readings and more. You don't need to know about Wonder Man to enjoy the show but Brandon gives us the download on Simon Wilson's comics history.  Plus: the parallels with Midnight Cowboy run deeper than you think! Spoilers marked at 20 min in. Follow Brandon on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/geniusbastard.bsky.social On RogerEbert.com https://www.rogerebert.com/contributors/brandon-david-wilson Read on Hammer to Nail https://www.hammertonail.com/author/brandonwilson/ Donate to https://haitianbridgealliance.org/ Donate to Black Alliance for Just Immigration https://baji.org/ I'm Levin on Bluesky — https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social

The Real fantasy of Peacemaker is getting your friends to agree to listen to your favorite bands---and them like them. Journalist Arturo Garcia joins me for season 2 of James Gunn's HBO series Peacemaker staring John Cena. The first 15 minutes of this episode are spoiler free. In this episode: How Peacemaker fits in to Cena's Body of Work More than you wanted to know about the band Nelson (and MTV) How this series fits into DC comics and the DCEU's future How well does Peacemaker handle it's heavy political parallels? Follow Arturo Garcia on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/aboynamedart.bsky.social Cancel Spotify https://spotifyunwrapped.net/ Social Media toolkit https://app.sosha.ai/toolkit/spotify-ice-trump-fascism-7980 Follow me on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social Don't miss our episode about season 1 with Jamelle Bouie, Spencer Ackerman and Cayden Mak. https://graphicpolicy.com/2022/03/11/peacemaker-with-jamelle-bouie-spencer-ackerman-cayden-mak/ 

The need for solidarity with Palestinians and Jewish Americans reconning with the historical myths we've been fed–– James Gunn's new Superman movie really went there and did it superbly. Who better to process it with than Rafael Shimoff and Shoshana Brown, the hosts of Beyond the  Pale, radio's home for NY's Jewish left! But first an update from Project Fulcrum, Get Free's Star Wars fan organizing campaign striking a blow against censorship.  Listen to Beyond the Pale on WBAI or online https://wbai.org/program.php?program=461  I co-wrote about Project Fulcrum and the Disney campaign for WagingNonViolence.org : Why fandom organizing is a powerful strategy for movement building Read Zach Rabiroff on DC pulling Red Hood. https://www.tcj.com/horror-it-girl-gretchen-felker-martin-on-dc-pulling-red-hood-after-charlie-kirk-comments-i-had-no-regrets/ Catch up Project Fulcrum Andor coverage here Part 1 https://bit.ly/AndorInOurWorld  Part 2 https://bit.ly/AndorFinale  Join Project Fulcrum https://www.getfreetogether.org/project-fulcrum    

Murderbot is a queer space opera with a sense of humor and a bone to pick with corporate power. You can stream it on Apple TV Join myself and Sarah Daniel Rasher, who co-hosts our Deep Space Nine podcast, for a look at the new TV series based on a series of novelas by Martha Wells. The first 13 minutes of our show are fully spoiler-free. Audiobook of All Systems Red on Everand: https://www.everand.com/audiobook/633755086/All-Systems-Red Realizing Sanctuary Moon is a soap opera Follow Elana on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social  Sarah Daniel Rasher on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/rasher.bsky.social 

Daredevil returns to tangle with Mayor Fisk, a villain with shocking parallels to Andrew Cuomo: the real life disgraced former Governor of NY who is now running to be Mayor of NYC! Our real election ends June 24 and New Yorkers need a better outcome than the election in the Disney+ TV Series.  I'm joined by Janos Martin, a former candidate for Manhattan District Attorney and an expert on criminal justice reform. We discuss how the show depicts the criminal justice system, the political culture of NYC and what lessons we can learn from Kingpin's appeal to voters that can help us dissuade voters from supporting Cuomo.  I even explain Ranked Choice Voting. Rank ANYONE but Cuomo!  Find my ballot guide jfrej.org/ballot  Find your polling place and election details: https://vote.nyc/  Subscribe to Janos' newsletter https://janosmarton.substack.com/ 

"No one can do this alone" Cassian Andor Season 2 That's why we've got Project Fulcrum, where Star Wars fans are uniting with movement organizers to connect the stories on screen with the real history and theory of antifascist movements.  In this episode we cover the second half of Andor season 2, with returning guests Anthony Vidal Torres from Project Fulcrum at Get Free, and Charles Lencher of Organizing 2.0.  Join Project Fulcrum: a Star Wars fan activism campaign fighting for freedom and equality in a country not so far away: https://www.getfreetogether.org/project-fulcrum Listen to Andor Season 2 part 1 https://bit.ly/andoractivismpod  Follow Elana  https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social  Follow Get Free https://www.instagram.com/getfree_mvmt FULL SPOILERS to follow. 

"The Empire cannot win. You'll never feel right unless you are doing what you can to stop them." Andor season 2. Bridging the gap between Star Wars' Andor and the real life history and theory of antifascist movements, organizer Anthony Vidal Torres from the Get Free movement and critic Klaudia Amenábar join me to cover the first two arcs of Andor season 2.  Join Project Fulcrum: a Star Wars fan activism campaign fighting for freedom and equality in a country not so far away: https://www.getfreetogether.org/project-fulcrum Read issue 2 of Nemik's Weekly Manifesto https://bit.ly/NemiksManifestoApril24 Take Action: Protect our freedom to protest and free Mahmoud Khalil: https://bit.ly/Free_Khalil Stop the New York mask ban: https://covidadvocacyny.org/stopmaskbanny Know Your Rights guide for immigrants & allies: https://unitedwedream.org/resources/know-your-rights/ Keep up with us: https://www.instagram.com/getfree_mvmt/  https://bsky.app/profile/getfree-mvmt.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/avtorres4.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/kaludiasays.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social    Listen to Andor Season 1 Podcasts Part 1 https://bit.ly/ComradeAndor Part 2 https://bit.ly/AndorInternationale

"Do you think this Eric Frankenstein is into crypto?" "This Frankenstein probably invented crypto" "Frank-coin?" National security journalist Nicholas Slayton joins me to talk about James Gunn's DC animated series for HBO, Creature Commandoes. We've got gothic horror, geopolitics and an impressive soundtrack. This episode opens with a spoiler-free conversation on whether the show is worth your time before diving in for a conversation about those who the law does not protect, disability metaphors and more. Nicholas Slayton is a Los Angeles-based journalist covering the "panic beat" --- inequality, war, climate change and protests. He's currently a Contributing Editor at Task & Purpose and has bylines in the New Republic, American Prospect and Motherboard. Follow Nicholas on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/nslayton.bsky.social Subscribe to his newsletter; Let's Do The Panic Again Follow ME on bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social  

A Team-Up with Referential Podcast's Dr. Khaliden Nas to talk through our feelings about the state of X-Men comics. The first half, taped in September covers the Fall of X and the end of the X-Men's 'First Krakoan Age'. In December we met again to talk about the state of the X-Office and relaunched slate of X-Men comics under the 'From The Ashes' banner.  Follow me on Bluesky - @Levin In This Episode: Fall of X (also hear my earlier coverage of here) * From the Ashes (Spoilers starts at 47:46) * Kieron Gillen & Lucas Werneck Immortal X-Men, X-Men: Forever & Rise of the Powers of X * Gerry Duggan and Russel Daughterman's Fall of the House of X, Hellfire Gala 3 Invincible Iron Man & Uncanny Avengers * Al Ewing & Luciano Vecchio Resurrection of Magneto & X-Men: Red * Si Spurrier's X-Men Blue: Origins * Jonathan Hickman * Gail Simone & David Marquez Uncanny X-Men * Jed McKay & Ryan Stegman X-Men * Jackson Lanzing / Collin Kelly & Francesco Mortarino NYX * Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero Exceptional X-Men * Solos! * No, we will NOT call Ide "Temper" * Democracy in the 2nd Krakoan Age * The End of Hope [Summers] * Kate Pryde and the gates as bi metaphor revisited Reading Warden Ellis * Remembering Dr. Moira MacTaggart * Assimilation Or Unity Marvel not understanding why Hydra!Cap failed but Gerry Duggan makes the best of it * #XSpoilers and fandom meta One more time, Krakoans. For the children!  

Is Tony Stark a comrade? Spencer Ackerman, award winning national security journalist and author of the book "Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump", brings his knowledge of geopolitics, corporate power, and deep Iron Man lore to writing the new Iron Man series.    This podcast is for folks new to the character as well as long time fans. We open with an overview of why I loved this series and a discussion of Spencer's inspirations before delving into spoilers of the first three outstanding issues. We've got:  Busting anti-union thugs Boardroom Warfare Feats of engineering Survivor guilt    And some amazing pulls for bad guys that will please Iron fans and X-Men fans alike.    Follow Spencer on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/attackerman.bsky.social Spencer's Newsletter: https://www.forever-wars.com/  Elana Levin https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social