05.07. John Wyndham, THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS (1957), and John Carpenter's VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995)
Merriam-Webster: (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brood%20parasitism)
"brood parasitism. noun: social parasitism among birds characterized by a bird of one species laying its eggs in the nest of a bird of another species and giving no parental care to the eggs"
Our episode this Halloween deals with brood parasitism on a cosmic scale. In the tiny village of Midwich, all of the women become mysteriously pregnant and give birth to a cluster of uncanny children. Who are these mysterious "cuckoos"? What is their purpose?
Cold War anxiety and parental anxiety meet in John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos and in John Carpenter's 1995 adaptation. Join us as we struggle through technical difficulties (and our own ambivalent feelings about the novel) on this Halloween edition of The Projectionist's Lending Library.
27 Sept 2026
05.06 Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg, and JAWS (1974/1975)
In 1974, Peter Benchley shocked the world with his story of a Great White Shark terrorizing a small resort community. In 1975, Steven Spielberg did it again, creating in the process the modern Hollywood blockbuster. Jaws is a story that made generations afraid to go into the water.
It’s also the story of a troubled marriage, of a man and a woman just reaching middle age and realizing that youth has passed. It’s the story of a police chief helplessly seeing his wife slip away from him and a woman who needs, just once, to dip her toes into the ocean of infidelity in order to feel alive—to feel anything at all.
And it’s the story of a community trapped between the forces of nature and Capital. It is, in short, a much more complicated tale than shark-bites-man.
Oh, but it’s that too. Because, at the end of the day, all yourtroubles at home or at work or with society somehow stop mattering when you’re between the shark’s teeth.
Today, on The Projectionist’s Lending Library, it’s JAWS.
If you want production details, check out the It was a Sh*t Show podcast. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN849ZdZhz4&t=115s)
7 Sept 2026
5.05: Ray Bradbury, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (1962) & Disney (1983)
Come one, come all - step right up to the Projectionist's Lending Library's very own carnival, featuring Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES! Kline and Booth are joined by returning guest Dr. Matthew Wells as they discuss Bradbury's haunted tale of a small town's visit from an uncanny carnival, as well as the later Disney adaptation of it.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.4 / 5
7 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
6 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
67
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
71
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