Features some real talk. Because all of the podcasts that I’ve been a part of this week do.

From the episode description, as presented by P!TC co-host James Leask (@Leask):

This week, the boys get together to catch up after a week off, as James insisted to Brandon that “in the middle of moving” is not a good time to record a podcast and gave him the night off, before promising that he’d “figure something out,” which turned out to be “nothing.”  James talks watching a 5.5h Bollywood movie with the hosts of Bollywood Is For Lovers (@bollywoodpod) and they settle down to discuss the most recent episode of Gravity Falls and the season premiere of The Mind of a Chef.  Then they talk about some comics, and then things get real.

You may have noticed a discussion about the announcement of Marvel’s Red Wolf solo series last week and the controversy around it.  You may have also noticed that DC canceled their book with an aboriginal character in it.  James has some emotional thoughts about these announcements, the overall landscape of indigeneity in comics, and getting burnt out on bad news.

Uh… enjoy.

It was a good conversation. I mean, I always have fun making this podcast with James, but those last few minutes, that’s where the money is. It’s always good to hear James dig his hands into something he’s really passionate about because honestly, he’s one of the best pop culture commentators I know – though unfortunately, it was under some infinitely less-than-ideal circumstances.

To that end, if you’re around Edmonton on Monday, September 28th, and would like to dig into the issue of indigenous representation in pop culture, Variant Edition will be holding a panel featuring James, Richard Van Camp, Patti Laboucane-Benson and Kelly Mellings talking on that very subject. You can RSVP here, if you’d like – it is an important conversation that needs to take place more often, and we’re happy to at least help facilitate part of that conversation.