• A loner young man who becomes radicalized, you know, for a change
• “We are doomed to repeat the mistakes of previous generations” is maybe what Stephen was going for, but....
• This is a 1 to 1 metaphor about addiction

The lighter side:

• This book is what’s the phrase *checks notes* EXTREMELY GAY
• Christine did nothing wrong
• A lil smooch
• An exciting new flavor of overbearing mother and bumbling dad
• Lillie makes the Best Freud Joke

Recommendations:

• Songs about evil and/or dangerous transportation that simply slap: Satan is My Motor by CAKE, Survival Car by Fountains of Wayne, Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf
• Supernatural episode “Route 666” aka RACIST TRUCK
• Queer Theory in 80s and 90s Action Movies video essay by Renegade Cut
• video essay by Renegade Cut
• Any of the Tim Burton directed or produced Batman movies
• Gone Home video game

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Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• We really, really, REALLY hate Ben Richards
• Whoooo boy there is so much racism and misogyny here
• Sex work is just a part of this world and is totally unremarkable unless my wife does it
• A man’s sense of self and ego are more important than anything else in his life
• The YMCA basement scene! No thanks!

The lighter side:

• Stephen King's Beard From When He Was Going Through It
• The explosives thing is real dumb
• We had to read the word pudenda with our very own eyeballs

Recommendations:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, Bright: The Apotheosis of Lazy World Building video essay by Lindsay Ellis, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
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Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Get in loser, we’re getting existentially traumatized
• Displacement of grief
• THE. LEECHES!
• Teddy’s anger and his relationship with his dad
• Stud City has some… troubling implications

The lighter side:

• Real 1960s childhood sad boi hours
• Gordie, you and Chris are absolutely in love and you’re so fucking valid.
• Hemingway and Faulkner… you wish my dude
• What do we have to do to get invited to this damn secret society?
• “If this woman giving birth in my taxi had been screaming hysterically instead of breathing weirdly, I wouldn’t have crashed the car.” Sure my dude.
• David’s wife sure is… there…

Recommendations:
Eighth Grade, Over the Garden Wall tv mini-series, Harry Potter series, Wuthering Heights or any other gothic Romance, Crimson Peak, any Sherlock Holmes novel.

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Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
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Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Red is not a sympathetic narrator, he is a barely remorseful murderer
• The horror and failure of the American prison system
• Nazis, the Holocaust, and the deaths of millions
• Todd and Dussander’s toxic relationship ruined them both

The lighter side:

• In which we learn why Margot hates Adam Sandler
• EVERYONE is doing crime in this prison, can you believe
• Fellas, is it gay to break your parole and run away to Mexico to run a hotel with your friend whose companionship helped you cope with prison?
• In which we meet Stephen’s worst parents ever
• Todd is a unit. Absolutely in awe at the size of this terrible lad.
• Dussander is old and gross, Todd is mad about it, and we laugh at him for it.

Recommendations:
Orange is the New Black, Exhibit A (both on Netflix)
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Well I guess SOMEBODY had to read Trigger Warning video by Jenny Nicholson
What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right from the Washingtonian

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Eating disorders, addiction, control, and inertia
• EVERYONE in this book is anxious about something
• Donna's maternal transgression is punished by losing her son
• Hot take: addiction is bad

The lighter side:

• Tad is a sexy lamp
• Dog actors are bad at being bad
• Keep your sneeze kink off our podcast, Lillian
• 38 YEARS OLD??? HELLO???

Recommendations:
Russian Doll tv series, Sawbones episode 160: "Frankenberry Stool," "Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered" by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, and anything written by Carrie Fisher.

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
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Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Four and a half years in a coma…. No Thanks
• Stephen’s writing about women, based on the intersection of religious fanaticism and motherhood
• The argument that serial killers are often abuse victims is one put forth by the serial killers
• Nazis, Hitler, Trump, and how to actually create political change

The lighter side:

• A fatal hotdog mistake
• The Dead Zone could’ve been more of a Fun Zone
• “Hell yeah I’d kill Hitler!”
• Everyone is SUPER down with psychics for some gd reason
• Skepticism as the plot demands

Recommendations:  Castle Rock on Hulu, Broadchurch season 1, “Hope Chest” by Garth Nix

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Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
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Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• There are SO MANY horrible deaths
• McVries is a problematic fave to put it lightly
• Stephen brings race into this AGAIN when will he stop.

The lighter side:

• Lillie's Hot Beach Reads™
• Raw hamburger?? Hello???
• That watermelon sounds so good
• Jahoobies
• Don't be a coward, let's be gay.

Recommendations:
1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and The Maze Runner films.

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Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
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Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Stephen does not have a nuanced grasp of how to do Native American representation and we REALLY wish he would stop trying.
• Charlie's mom gets very murdered. Thanks, we hate it.
• The monstrous feminine, spooky little girls, and the destruction of the family

The lighter side:

• In the battle between the dangers of harboring a psychic fugitive vs the civil liberties of a pontificating man, who will win? (It's the dude of course it's the dude you shouldn't be surprised at this point)
• Orcs, balrogs, and trolls are DIFFERENT
• Miss Honey is the absolute best
• Carrie and Charlie should be besties
• LITTLE GIRL LIKE HORSE

Recommendations:
Matilda, Killing Eve, Charlie's Angels (2000), and therapy.

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Measles is fucked up, get vaccinated.
• Nadine’s rape and the wasted potential of her character
• Tom Cullen is effectively a new character and it is bad
• Stephen’s addiction issues are really showing

The lighter side:

• Knife fighting in a Denny’s parking lot - The Scientist Way
• Margot's wife, Dayna Jurgens, is still amazing
• Levitation = virility??? or something????
• Ghost slaps vs corporeal slaps - which has the moral high ground?
• A family can be four ride-or-die people who aren't related

Recommendations:
Mean Girls, David Tennant Does A Podcast With..., Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Bojack Horseman, The Good Place

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Follow Isabel on Twitter: @IsabelOtt
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Writing disability, ableism, and the euphemism treadmill
• The Kid is awful and completely superfluous
• Harold is an incel and it is terrible
• Stephen King spends a lot of time in school shooter’s mindset and should REALLY stop doing it (and thankfully he finally has)

The lighter side:

• Joe/Leo and his emotional support knife
• You know how to make this wasteland livable? Mountains of bureaucracy!
• Larry follows the philosophy of What Would Harold Do and it is very funny
• Frankie’s diary is written to piss Margot off, specifically
• How to properly accessorize evil minions
• Flagg is evil but his camp isn't really????

Recommendations:
Mad Max: Fury Road, The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, World War Z by Max Brooks, Sean of the Dead, and Incels by Natalie Wynn AKA ContraPoints

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• We really hate Larry Underwood
• Stephen has... issues with mothers and family dynamics
• This book appropriates the Kent State massacre
• This book has . some egregious racism in it
• The Military Is Both Malicious And Incompetent: The Novel
• Stephen could you please write more than one type of parent-child relationship

The lighter side:

• We love and recommend Station Eleven AKA it is a day ending in y
• Frankie is hardcore and we love her
• Why do people always look right at the crotch of dead bodies
• We also love Stu. And Nick.
• Harold pls shut up you’re making us tired
• Stephen is scared of Morlocks and really wants us to be, too
• Lillie is a doomsday prepper

Recommendations:
Chernobyl tv series, In The Flesh tv series, Station Eleven by Emily Saint John Mandel, 28 Days Later

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

Heavy topics:

• Will we ever be done talking about addiction on this show? Maybe next week.
• HP Lovecraft was a terrible person - what do we do with that?

The lighter side:

• The corn-based religion! is! valid!
• Margot gives us a Bible lesson
• Is Stephen #woke?
• It takes us a while to figure out who is who in Jerusalem’s Lot
• Cal and Charles are in love with each other, and we love them
• Lillie isn't afraid of worms
• Transgression, horror, and faerie tales

Recommendations:
Children of the Corn, Tithe by Holly Black, Outsiders: How to Adapt H.P. Lovecraft in the 21st Century by hbomberguy.

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Jack sucks for a million reasons and we're gonna talk about as many as we can
• Alcoholism and the mindset of the alcoholic
• Emotional and physical abuse
• Abusive men and patterns of abusive behavior
• What the fuck is in that playground tunnel

The lighter side:

• Mean Girls and The Shining: two great tastes that taste VERY BAD together
• Wendy Torrance is a goddamned hero
• Stuart Ullman is GREAT at his job
• Jack is TERRIBLE at his job
• Horace Derwent is Howard Hughes, we dunno if you got that, it's kind of subtle

Recommendations: Why Does He Do That by Lundy Bancroft, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, Creating the Innocent Killer by John Kessel, and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Follow us on Twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• The acknowledgment of serial killers and the realization that we are not safe
• Ruthie Crockett and the virgin/whore dichotomy
• Everyone in this town is monstrous and transgression begets transgression

The lighter side:

• Ann Norton is right exactly one (1) time
• Everyone in this book is not like other girls
• good clean capitalism vs dirty modern capitalism
• Susan gets mansplained by a literal child
• Lillie got a bingo!

Recommendations:
Dracula by Bram Stoker, Let The Right One In, What We Do In The Shadows, and moving if you suspect your town is beset by vampires.

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our intro song is by Lena Orsa

• Trauma and repression
• Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection
• How this book resonates today in regard to school shootings
• Kids are assholes

This week’s silly topics:

• Margot is petty on three (3) occasions
• Stephen doesn’t understand periods or teenage girls
• We solve the mystery of Flash Bobby Pickett
• Freud is right and Lillie is mad about it
• Billy and Margaret are canceled

Recommendations: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik, Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler, and the Diva Cup.

Follow us on twitter: @Listen_Stephen
Email us: listenstephenpod@gmail.com
Support the show at: patreon.com/listenstephen
Follow Margot on Twitter: @whattehfoxtrot
Our music is by Lena Orsa.