You're traveling through another dimension - a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrously queer land whose heteronormative boundaries are made to be broken by your imagination. That's a signpost up ahead. It reads, your next stop: Fear Coded covering the anthology television series by Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone!
In particular, we take a queer reading of two episodes, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" and "Five Characters in Search of an Exit." We talk about how NextDoor in the modern day mob mentality, the unease associated with clowns and bagpipers, and take a detour to the fertile fields of Stardew Valley.
Note: David erroneously identifies anthropologist Robin Dunbar as deceased, stupidly believing that any thought leader he learned about in school must be long dead, but Dr. Dunbar is alive and indeed is publishing about how social media continues to reflect his work around how our poor little brains just weren't designed to know so many people. You can read more about his work in his recent text Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships from 2021.
This podcast is a proud part of the Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective.
Follow the podcast on social media (Twitter: @fearcodedpod and Instagram: @fearcodedpod)
Music credit to Alex Besss (@AlexBesss_Music on YouTube) "Dance with Fate" (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Other References:
Barker, Stephen. “‘Five Characters In Search Of An Exit’: These Two Plays Inspired The Classic Twilight Zone Episode" 2024
Fludd, J.A. "Say It Isn't So, Rod" 2009
Pargin, Jason. "What is the Monkeysphere" 2007
