Episode 726: Schloctoberfest 2026 #1: A Discussion of The War of the Worlds / Robot Monster with Jeff Shuster

October 3, 2026

Episode 726: Schloctoberfest 2026 #1: A Discussion of The War of the Worlds / Robot Monster with Jeff Shuster

Episode 726 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature, is available on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

On this week’s show, Jeff Shuster and I discuss two zeitgeist-defining 1953 science fiction films, The War of the Worlds and Robot Monster.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Thank you, DJ Rout, for recommending Anders Runestad’s book!

For excellent tattoos in the Orlando area, check out The Tattooed Society.

Episode, Film, Schloctoberfest, Science Fiction

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thedrunkenodyssey

4 responses to “Episode 726: Schloctoberfest 2026 #1: A Discussion of The War of the Worlds / Robot Monster with Jeff Shuster”

D J Rout

October 9, 2026 at 1:07 am

Marvellous (and flattering) episode! I’m sure there’s room for more Freudian analysis of Robot Monster, and maybe some Jungian stuff as well. I would never have thought ot compare it to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” but I can see where you’re coming from. I wonder how early RM is for the ‘pre-emptive’ strike idea? Was mutually assured destruction around in 1953?

Well, the answer to that is the use of the hydrogen bomb against the indestructible Martians. I suppose that the War of the Worlds story is technically flawed in that the scientist doesn’t solve the problem, but isn’t 1953 a little early for the hero shot and the narrative that leads up to it?

On a final note, the space garrison does have people on it. The two astronauts blown up by Ro-Man are delivering th serum to the space garrison. Of course, in 1953 the garrison is probably manned only by men, meaning that once they’re back on Earth and immune to the calcinator death ray, Alice and Carla are going to be busy repopulating a planet with nothing above lepidoptera to eat… But I suppose we have to wait until Panic in Year Zero to see that sordid stuff even hinted at.

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