Stream the movie:
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John Carpenter’s The Thing
What: An alien life form threatens humanity at an antarctic research facility
Directed by: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David
Featuring guest co-hosts
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| Caelum Rale, artist | Ryan Bingham, lawyer |
Recommended and Related Media
Lee Hardcastle’s The Thing Claymations
These are all wonderful 
The Things by Peter Watts
The story of The Thing from the other side.
I am being Blair. I escape out the back as the world comes in through the front.
I am being Copper. I am rising from the dead.
I am being Childs. I am guarding the main entrance.
The names don’t matter. They are placeholders, nothing more; all biomass is interchangeable. What matters is that these are all that is left of me. The world has burned everything else.
Listen to a reading of the story Clarksworld Podcast
The Politics of Experience & The Divided Self by R.D. Laing
Cae and Ryan read books about things. Here are two that informed their thinking on this episode.
The Politics of Experience Amazon
The Divided Self Amazon
Show Notes
Movie origins
Who Goes There? short story. Previous adaptations: The Thing From Another World (1951) · Horror Express (1972) · The Thing (2011)
Antarctic Exploration
British and Norwegian missions. Cultures and approaches.
Antarctic Research
Conditions. Connectivity. Boredom. Whiskey, cigars, and shoe leather.
Antarctic Doctoring
You need a certain kinda Dr MacGyver badass for this job. Spinal self-diagnosis, etc.
John Carpenter cinematography and soundtracks and storytelling
Cae and Ryan understand these things, and explain them to us. We mostly get it.
The Thing
So many questions. Where did it come from? How does it work? The nature of the creature. Is it intelligent?
The nature of consciousness
If you were The Thing, could you know you were The Thing? Would The Thing know it was The Thing? Self interest in all cases. Group interests in all cases.
Infection
If I can’t win, neither can you. The doctor was the only one acting rightly. Best plan: destroy the base and kill everyone, just in case. Sexual tests as alternatives to blood…
Goodbyes
Childs: Well, what do we do?
MacReady: Why don’t we just… wait here for a little while… see what happens?
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The post Carpenter’s The Thing (feat. Cae & Ryan) : Episode 61 appeared first on Decipher SciFi.