In this week’s episode, our friend John Whittemore joins us to talk about all things pop culture. He talks about how he got into pop culture, the importance of Star Wars and Star Trek (especially Dr. McCoy), when he was growing up. His history with Mint Condition, collecting
comics, playing collectable cards games, and how we all became friends.
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:20 James introduces John and asks John what got him into pop culture. John talks about his introduction to Star Trek and Star Wars and how that opened him up to the rest of pop culture. He talks about his first comic, going to Mint for the first time, and being drawn
to Cyclops over Wolverine for his favorite X-Men.
8:18 James asks John who his go-to childhood hero was. John originally leaned toward Kirk, but soon discovered a deeper kinship with and admiration for Dr. McCoy. This launches a discussion about McCoy and what a great and overlooked character he is.
13:32 James asks John about his current favorite pop culture hero/character. This starts a discussion about Doctor Who.
15:50 John talks about how he met Chris and Joe.
25:00 We start a conversation about gaming at Mint Condition.
30:00 We return to our conversation about Star Trek, discussing John’s love of Q and his favorite Star Trek
episodes.
38:37 We return to our conversation about gaming and talk about the Collectible Card Games (CCGs) Young Jedi and Lord of the Rings. This launches us into a brief discussion about the second owners of the store: the Garofalo’s.
42:53 We talk about how we spent our time at the store, bringing us to a conversation about how
Adrienne got us into Buffy and Angel, and how the Garofalos shared their love of pop culture with us.
46:00 John talks about how even when he switched over to card games, he would buy the occasional comic based on recommendations at the store.
50:00 As the episode ends, John talks Dungeons and Dragons.
