Author Archives: Elana Levin

Daredevil Born Again Season 2 with cartoonist and organizer John Leavitt

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“ It’s not so much that Mayor Fisk is like [Former NYC Mayor] Eric Adams, it’s that Eric Adams is a comic book character,” — John Leavitt is a writer and cartoonist who works with the DSA Upper-Manhattan Bronx chapter and a published Marvel author with Strange Tales Volume One. 

I’ve been involved in New York politics for over 20 years and I’m a lifelong Daredevil reader so I was thrilled to geek out about this Disney + season him. 

Listen to Graphic Policy’s episode on Daredevil Born Again Season 1.
Checkout John Leavitt’s work at leavittalone.com/
Follow John on Bluesky: leavittalone.bsky.social
Follow me: levin.bsky.social 
Join DSA (which is a more effective means of winning social change than fighting ninjas)

Marvel’s Wonder Man with Filmmaker Brandon Wilson

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Marvel Disney’s recent TV series is about a struggling actor and I have the perfect guest to discuss it with me: filmmaker, life-long Los Angelino, and Marvel comics fan Brandon Wilson. Wonder Man is delightful and we’ve got a lot say about the show’s portrayals of LA, Simon Williams’s existence as a Black Haitian-American actor, the prison industrial complex, queer readings and more. You don’t need to know about Wonder Man to enjoy the show but Brandon gives us the download on Simon William’s comics history. 

Plus: the parallels with Midnight Cowboy run deeper than you think!

Spoilers marked at 20 min in.

I’m Levin on Bluesky — https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social

Graphic Policy Radio: X-Men and the MLK Legacy Roundtable

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One of our most listened to episodes of Graphic Policy Radio discussed the X-Men and their use as an allegory of the civil rights, it covered the series throughout its many incarnations and writers. The discussion also veered into the depiction of minorities in “comic” entertainment and Marvel’s continuity. In honor of MLK Day, we present that podcast discussion.

Guests joining in on the conversation were:

  • Steve Attewell – A political & union activist, Steve holds a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the founder and writer of Race for the Iron Throne as well as The Realignment Project
  • David Brothers – David works for a comics publisher, blogs about stuff at 4thletter.net, & tweets about everything at @hermanos. Find his life story at iamdavidbrothers.com.
  • Gene Demby – Gene Demby is an American writer and journalist & the lead blogger for NPR’s Code Switch team.
  • Emma Houxbois – Emma is a queer blogger for hire out of Vancouver, BC most recently attached to Girls Read Comics. Follow her @emmahouxbois
  • Kendra James – a blogger who writes on race, comics, television & more for Racialicious, follow her @wriglied

You can listen to the archive above or go here and download it for on the go.

Peacemaker Season 2 with Arturo Garcia, journalist and wrestling fan

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The Real fantasy of Peacemaker is getting your friends to agree to listen to your favorite bands—and them like them.

Journalist Arturo Garcia joins me for season 2 of James Gunn‘s HBO series Peacemaker staring John Cena.

The first 15 minutes of this episode are spoiler free.

In this episode:

  • How Peacemaker fits in to Cena’s Body of Work
  • More than you wanted to know about the band Nelson (and MTV)
  • How this series fits into DC comics and the DCEU’s future
  • How well does Peacemaker handle it’s heavy political parallels?

Follow Arturo Garcia on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/aboynamedart.bsky.social

Cancel Spotify https://spotifyunwrapped.net/ Social Media toolkit https://app.sosha.ai/toolkit/spotify-ice-trump-fascism-7980

Follow me on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social

Don’t miss our episode about season 1 with Jamelle Bouie, Spencer Ackerman and Cayden Mak.

Superman: Supermensch. Winning the Disney boycott & more

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The need for solidarity with Palestinians and Jewish Americans reconning with the historical myths we’ve been fed–– James Gunn’s new Superman movie really went there and did it superbly. Who better to process it with than Rafael Shimoff and Shoshana Brown, the hosts of Beyond the  Pale, radio’s home for NY’s Jewish left!

But first an update from Project Fulcrum, Get Free’s Star Wars fan organizing campaign striking a blow against censorship. 

Murderbot: A Premium Quality Queer Anti-Capitalist Violent Work-Space Comedy

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Murderbot is a queer space opera with a sense of humor and a bone to pick with corporate power. You can stream it on Apple TV Join myself and Sarah Daniel Rasher, who co-hosts our Deep Space Nine podcast, for a look at the new TV series based on a series of novelas by Martha Wells.

The first 13 minutes of our show are fully spoiler-free.

Audiobook of All Systems Red on Everand: https://www.everand.com/audiobook/633755086/All-Systems-Red

Realizing Sanctuary Moon is a soap opera

Follow Elana on Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social 
Sarah Daniel Rasher on Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/rasher.bsky.social 

Daredevil Born Again: Cuomo is Kingpin (& we can defeat him)

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Daredevil returns to tangle with Mayor Fisk, a villain with shocking parallels to Andrew Cuomo: the real life disgraced former Governor of NY who is now running to be Mayor of NYC! Our real election ends June 24 and New Yorkers need a better outcome than the election in the Disney+ TV Series. 

I’m joined by Janos Martin, a former candidate for Manhattan District Attorney and an expert on criminal justice reform. We discuss how the show depicts the criminal justice system, the political culture of NYC and what lessons we can learn from Kingpin’s appeal to voters that can help us dissuade voters from supporting Cuomo. 

I even explain Ranked Choice Voting. Rank ANYONE but Cuomo! 

Find my ballot guide jfrej.org/ballot 

Find your polling place and election details: https://vote.nyc/ 

Subscribe to Janos’ newsletter https://janosmarton.substack.com/ 

Andor Finale: Political lessons from Star Wars and history

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“No one can do this alone” Cassian Andor Season 2

That’s why we’ve got Project Fulcrum, where Star Wars fans are uniting with movement organizers to connect the stories on screen with the real history and theory of antifascist movements. 

In this episode we cover the second half of Andor season 2, with returning guests Anthony Vidal Torres from Project Fulcrum at Get Free, and Charles Lencher of Organizing 2.0. 

Join Project Fulcrum: a Star Wars fan activism campaign fighting for freedom and equality in a country not so far away: https://www.getfreetogether.org/project-fulcrum
Listen to Andor Season 2 part 1 https://bit.ly/andoractivismpod 
Follow Elana  https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social 
Follow Get Free https://www.instagram.com/getfree_mvmt

FULL SPOILERS to follow. 

Andor season 2 & Anti-Fascist Movements in Star Wars & Our World (so far)

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Project Fulcrum

“The Empire cannot win. You’ll never feel right unless you are doing what you can to stop them.” Andor season 2.

Bridging the gap between Star Wars’ Andor and the real life history and theory of antifascist movements, organizer Anthony Vidal Torres from the Get Free movement and critic Klaudia Amenábar join me to cover the first two arcs of Andor season 2. 

Join Project Fulcrum: a Star Wars fan activism campaign fighting for freedom and equality in a country not so far away: https://www.getfreetogether.org/project-fulcrum

Read issue 2 of Nemik’s Weekly Manifesto https://bit.ly/NemiksManifestoApril24

Take Action:

Keep up with us:

Listen to Andor Season 1 Podcasts

James Gunn’s Creature Commandos with journalist Nicholas Slayton

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“Do you think this Eric Frankenstein is into crypto?”
“This Frankenstein probably invented crypto”
“Frank-coin?”

National security journalist Nicholas Slayton joins me to talk about James Gunn‘s DC animated series for HBO, Creature Commandoes. We’ve got gothic horror, geopolitics and an impressive soundtrack. This episode opens with a spoiler-free conversation on whether the show is worth your time before diving in for a conversation about those who the law does not protect, disability metaphors and more.

Nicholas Slayton is a Los Angeles-based journalist covering the “panic beat” — inequality, war, climate change and protests. He’s currently a Contributing Editor at Task & Purpose and has bylines in the New Republic, American Prospect and Motherboard.

Follow Nicholas on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/nslayton.bsky.social

Subscribe to his newsletter; Let’s Do The Panic Again

Follow ME on bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social

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