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The Worst of All Possible Worlds

Josh Boerman, A.J. Ditty, and Brian Alford

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The first and only podcast bringing you weekly case studies in the pop culture of a dying empire. Every Wednesday, co-hosts Josh, Brian, and A.J. dissect an artifact of popular culture, breaking down how its narrative choices reflect or subvert the reactionary political project. From video games to movies to theater to an apparently infinite supply of evangelical Christian radio drama, we expose the machinations of the worst of all possible worlds in order to figure out how to build a better ...
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The Socialist Shelf

The Socialist Shelf

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A podcast where we care about two things: good fiction and changing the world. From your favorite pseudointellectuals, Jacob Dallas-Main and Lenore Olson. Follow us on Twitter @SocialistShelf or shoot us an email at TheSocialistShelf@gmail.com
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Jake from the I Hate James Dobson podcast joins the lads for a Whit’s Endless Summer: Origins as they zero in on Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and his interview with one of the most vicious monsters in American history: Ted Bundy. Topics include the psychopathy of Bundy, the narcissism of Dobson, and the horrific societal implications of…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Jake from the I Hate James Dobson podcast joins the lads for a Whit’s Endless Summer: Origins as they zero in on Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and his interview with one of the most vicious monsters in American history: Ted Bundy. Topics include the psychopathy of Bund…
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Jason Koebler is a co-founder and editor of 404 Media. Throughout 2024 Jason has been reporting on Facebook and how it’s become overrun with uncanny AI content, and last month he figured out where it’s all coming from. This morning Josh sat down with Jason to learn more about his reporting, and over the course of 40 minutes they talked about the de…
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Join the shelfers as we enter The Zone and explore a classic work of Soviet sci-fi, the Strugatsky brothers' 1972 novel, "Roadside Picnic." Never heard of it? You may know the film adaptation, Tarkovsky's critically acclaimed 1979 movie, "Stalker." Learn about this book's troubled publication history, hear Jacob get annoyed about thematic pieces no…
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Justin Roczniak (Well There’s Your Problem) joins the lads from some good, old-fashioned city planning as they cover Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive’s 2015 city building simulator: Cities: Skylines. Topics include the origins of city building sims, the many pleasures of Ulm, and the horrors of fully-rendered teeth in a game where you just wa…
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Due to busy schedules and a mild back injury (explanations within) we didn't finish prep to talk about this week's novel, so instead we read and...let's say critique...Adam Wren's "How Lord of the Rings Shaped JD Vance's Politics" for Politico. You can read it here. Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart,) …
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads get photocopied and make their way to Jefferton, alive, as they cover Tim and Eric’s Adult Swim debut: Tom Goes to the Mayor. Topics include the origins of Tim and Eric, their many innovations to comedy, and the prescience of a show that predicted A.I. with a calcucorn. …
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That flesh do be tender The shelfers take on Augustina Bazterrica's 2017 horror novel (or cookbook if you're really weird I guess), "Tender is the Flesh." They're really out here eating people. This is a book about justifying your place as a node in the extractive machine of capitalism, and as such it's pretty intense. We try not to over-dwell on t…
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The lads throw on their Oakland A’s jerseys and get a little romantic about baseball as they cover Bennett Miller’s 2011 anti-sports film: Moneyball. Topics include the chaotic pre-production, the highs and lows of the Zaillian/Sorkin screenplay, and what it means to build a film around a philosophy that would ultimately change baseball for the wor…
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Yee...and I can't stress this enough...Haw The Shelfers dive into VP hopeful, evil lawyer, and overgrown garden gnome J.D. Vance's 2016 memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." Does this book (and its 2020 film adaptation) answer all the questions about the Rust Belt and the white working class??? Uh. No. Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads make their long-awaited pilgrimage to the rotten heart of the evangelical project, Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO, to cover the 1000th episode celebration of Adventures in Odyssey. Topics include the horrific vibes, Adventures in Odyssey trading…
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A blast from the past...we've dug up an episode recorded several months ago. Why didn't we release it? Uhh...idk honestly. Anyway! It's Harlan Ellison's work of sci-fi/horror, "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream." Why on earth does this evil computer hate us so much?? Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart,…
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OUR LIVE SHOW IN COLORADO SPRINGS IS THIS WEEKEND, SUNDAY, AUGUST 4. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS! Juniper (Western Kabuki) visits the lads in Odyssey for further adventures in escape rooms, game nights, and bidding farewell to a beloved Odyssian through the power of deepfakes. Topics include Jigsaw middle schoolers, the rage of the Whit 3, and t…
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It's a three-peat folks! They're calling him the three-peater! Josh Boerman of the Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast is BACK to help the Shelfers crack Ted Dekker's 2004 evangelical fantasy novel, "Black: The Birth of Evil." We examine the inherent weaknesses of the evangelical fiction author, figure out why Ted hates the French so much, ask bol…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Audrey and Korla (Data Transfer) take the lads on a trip to the post-cyberpocalypse as they cover Tales of Game’s infamous free-to-play sequel to a certain Michael Jordan/Looney Tunes mashup: Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden. Topics include the game’s overt racism, forum culture …
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"A Picture of Doran GAY" was too low-hanging of fruit, but I did consider that as an episode title. This week the Shelfers dive into the only novel Oscar Wilde ever wrote, 1891's "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Come for the Gothic horror, stay for the overt homosexuality. We discuss Wilde's life, which is so exciting and tragic we *almost* forgive hi…
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Tom and Joe (Anime Sickos) throw the lads in the Epoch and hop through time as they cover Square’s landmark 1995 RPG: Chrono Trigger. Topics include the thrill of flame tornados, the anxieties of action time battle, and the importance of camaraderie in the face of an apocalyptic DJ from space. LIVE SHOW TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IN…
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WE! ARE! BACK! The Shelfers have RETURNED! This week we discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's 1953 quintessential fantasy novel, "Fellowship of the Ring." (If you're interested in Tolkien as a guy, you may want to catch the first part of our episode on "The Hobbit," because we go into detail there) Is the Shire the perfect society? What's the deal with Tom Bomb…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads made this episode with their own hands! 😊 Why do episodes like this never get likes? 😢💔 AmenAmenAmen. 🙏🇺🇸 It is our birthday and nobody wished us one. So excited to begin our cake journey. 🎂 Did you notice when it left you? Why don’t you see these anymore? Gone too soon!…
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Alex Ptak (Quorators) and the lads check their power levels and slap each other silly as they cover the finale of the Frieza arc of Akira Toriyama’s seminal 90’s anime: Dragon Ball Z. Topics include the complex logistics of wishes, the gorgeous design of the characters, and the eternal popularity of a ripped protagonist who can eat and eat and eat …
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall LIVE SHOW TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW In preparation for their pilgrimage to Colorado Springs, Colorado, the lads take a gander at what the heck’s been going on in Odyssey in recent years and finally meet everybody’s favorite mail-delivering Odyssian: Wooton Bassett. Topics include the…
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Tall Bart (@verytallbart) joins the lads for another dip into the Prager Pool as they interrogate the painful sketch comedy and baby-brained moralizing of Dennis Prager’s educational video series: For Goodness Sake. Topics include Prager’s unique rhetorical style, the bafflingly high-profile cast, and how David Zucker, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone h…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Devon and Trinket (Traditional Scrench) join the lads for some adventures in Christian puppetry as they dive into the rich tapestry of Bible stories and malevolent paint brush gods that is: Gerbert. Topics include UK children’s programming, the militarism of evangelical ideology,…
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Stephen Stout (Puffs) and the lads hop into their red, white, and blue helicopters and completely obliterate France as they cover Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s 2004 fraught satire of the War on Terror: Team America: World Police. Topics include Parker and Stone’s origins, the film’s overwhelming racism, and what a movie so steeped in the post-9/11 h…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Anne Huston (Caveat NYC) joins Brian and Josh in getting bombarded by the twee writing, adorable anime girls, and abject existential terror of Team Salvato's 2017 dating sim/horror cult hit Doki Doki Literature Club! Along the way they talk about the appeal of fanworks, the peril…
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Scott Benson (Night in the Woods) returns once again to Odyssey as he and the lads finally wrap up their three-part coverage of the many spy-games, double-crosses, and hastily wedged in Christian morals of the epic, twelve-part Adventures in Odyssey saga: Darkness Before Dawn. Topics include the wiki-centric writing, the benefits of pirate mutiny, …
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads grab their iFoNeS and spam your inbox as they dive headlong into the nightmarish world of stalking and stand up comedy that is Richard Gadd’s hit 2024 Netflix series: Baby Reindeer. Topics include the show’s origins as autobiography, the incredible performances, and what…
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Josh Sawyer (Pentiment, Fallout: New Vegas) and the lads grab their razors and complete their arms as they attend the tale of Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 barber-ic bloodbath: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Topics include the show’s horror film origins, the unimpeachable score, and the long term ramifications of using S…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads hop into their wooden spaceships and fly straight into the dying sun as they cover Morbius Digital Games’ hit 2019 indie exploration/Newtonian physics simulator: Outer Wilds. Topics include the cozy/existentially terrifying vibes, the efficacy of the storytelling, and wh…
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Patrick Willems (Night of the Coconut) returns to finish some unfinished business as he and the lads fight off the deep conservatism and unending baby ninja armies of Dreamworks’ 2021 babypalooza: The Boss Baby: Family Business. Topics include the nebulous target audience, the uncanny animation, and the consequences of pivoting from the increasingl…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall! Trevor Strunk (No Cartridge) returns once again to the horrors of Odyssey as he and the lads face down the true return of the devious Dutchman, Regis Blackgaard, in part two of Adventures in Odyssey’s most notorious run: Darkness Before Dawn. Topics include the vocal dexterity o…
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Yurié Collins (@babypinkhaus) and the lads grab their shovels and go digging for babies as they cover Sam Shepard’s 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning fever dream of a play: Buried Child. Topics include the toxic masculinity of the cowboy persona, the plays’ morbidly rich imagery, and the terrors of any generation, past or present, facing the dead baby bu…
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Graham Techler (Tooning Out the News, Fairview) joins the lads for another cursed production of Macbeth as they return to both the New Burbage Theatre Festival and the second season of the hit AcornTV Canadian dramedy: Slings and Arrows. Topics include the curse of The Scottish Play, the showrunners’ dedication to an authentic portrayal of a life i…
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And so it begins...The Socialist Shelf Tolkien deep dive. The Shelfers begin an examination of the ultimate fantasy series, "The Lord of the Rings," starting with 1937's "The Hobbit" (not technically part of the trilogy but pretty darn important if you want to understand it.) We also talk about the life of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, a world-histori…
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The lads hop in a chopper and get into some morally dubious hijinks as they cover Robert Altman’s 1970 war/frat house comedy that inspired one of the most well-regarded TV shows of all time: M*A*S*H. Topics include Eliot Gould’s mustache, rampant 70s misogyny, and what it means to live in a country that can only define itself by settler conquest. W…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO at Patreon.com/worstofall This week, Josh and Brian are joined by Radio Free Tote Bag as they take the next direct flight straight to God’s Throne. We discuss the history of books about heaven, the Near-Death Experience community, and the many thrills of saying “Burpo” over and over again. Want more TW…
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It's short, but it's important (to us!) Ahead of our next month of Tolkien deep-dive, we need another week to read and study. However, we did want to use this time to announce that Jacob is now querying for his novel, "They Called Her Rebel." "They Called Her Rebel" is a story about people power, fantastical revolution, and queer love. If you're in…
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Devon (Kill James Bond!) becomes an Odyssian convert as they and the lads journey to Odyssey for further adventures in vandalism, charge cards, and the impending return of the Devious Dutchman himself: Regis Blackgaard. Topics include New York solo shows, the proper way to cook a Chansey, and what it means to be the only pirate in a gang of roaming…
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Alternate episode title: "Who Killed Captain Aleph?" The Shelfers get Zen as we dive into Ruth Ozeki's 2021 work of magical realism, "The Book of Form and Emptiness." This book has got it all: psych wards, nonbinary ferrets, anarchist goth GFs, Zizek in a wheelchair, disaster capitalism, Marie Kondo, ghostly fridge magnets...none of this is a joke …
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads grab their carts and make straight for the turkeys as they cover four iterations of one of America’s favorite game shows: Supermarket Sweep. Topics include the history of supermarkets, the insidiousness of Whammies, and the difficulties of weaponizing 90s nostalgia in th…
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It's time to talk about DUNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Educator and sci-fi lover Trent returns to the show to discuss Frank Herbert's 1965 epic tale of spice, sand, and worms. The movies get talked about a good bit too (we loved them.) Can Paul Atreides see the dialectic itself? Why is Frank Herbert so scared of women? What is "good" power and what is "bad" po…
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The lads return to Odyssey for further adventures in disability, grief, and how to solve a love triangle when the third point is Jesus Christ. Topics include the edification of the disabled, Bill Kendall’s penchant for cruises, and how to properly mourn the loss of a loved one like a good, honest Christian. Want more TWOAPW? Get access to our full …
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Right at the top: y'all need to get this book. You can find it here. Journalist and author Vincent Bevins joins the Shelfers to discuss his new book, "If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution." Topics of discussion: the need for organization during mass movements, Hunger Games GIFS, and V for Vendetta. Music by Solo Monk (@Sol…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Jake Beckhard and Andy Boyd (Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist) join the lads as they head on back to the U.S.S.R. to cover Warren Beatty’s 1981 communist blockbuster: Reds. Topics include the brilliance of Diane Keaton, the terrifying smoochability of Eugene O’Neill, and …
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Special thanks to THE Count Dracula for stopping by! This week we get into Leo Frankowski's 1986 sci-fi—let's not say "epic," exactly—"The Cross-Time Engineer," the story of the coolest, buffest, smartest, sexiest engineer that's ever lived (and TOTALLY isn't a self-insert power fantasy character of the author!!) What's the deal with creepy liberta…
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The voice of the NYC Subway Bernie Wagenblast (Cranford Radio, ITE Talks Transportation) and the lads conquer their drinking problems and call each other Shirley as they cover the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker comedy blockbuster Airplane!. Topics include the film’s incredible joke variety, the brilliance of Leslie Nielsen, and what it means to like gladia…
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This episode was delayed multiple times due to what is no doubt the curse of the ghost of Poe himself! This week we're discussing the life of famed American spook-smith, Edgar Allan Poe, with a particular focus on his short stories, "The Masque of The Red Death" and "Hop-Frog" Was Poe a tortured genius, or just some guy trying to get by? How do cla…
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THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall My name is Alan Wake. I’m a writer. Two years ago, three “critics” from The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast decided to slander my good name and drag my first game through the mud. Now, they’ve Returned from their previous Departure and have fully Initiated themselves into my…
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We're back with a Socialist Shelf author interview! This week we're talking to labor lawyer, long-time activist, and author of the book, "Fighting Times," Jonathan Melrod! Want to learn how to change the world through working-class organization? Jon is the man you need to hear from! He's an absolute fountain of wisdom. Don't miss this interview...o…
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My name is Alan Wake. I’m a writer. Three podcasters and their friend, Jack Horton Gilbert, played through my story and talked about it for three hours. What followed was wild and dark and weird, even by my standards. Stephen King once said, “My wife and kids won’t touch a pizza with anchovies on it. But I like anchovies.“* I think about that all t…
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