Episode 60: John LeMay vs. THEM!

Published: April 7, 2022, 5 p.m.

b'Hello, kaiju lovers! We enter the 1950s era of \\u201cAmeri-kaiju\\u201d to discuss a film that released the same year as the original Godzilla and inspired a subgenre and countless imitators: THEM! (yes, it\\u2019s in all caps and has an exclamation point). Who better to join Nate on this than the kaiji film scholar from the state in which the film takes place, John LeMay. Thankfully, John and MIFV\\u2019s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, have settled their differences so he could be there. While THEM! has the trappings of a B-movie, as Nate and John explain, it has far too good a production values (it was nominated for the best special effects Oscar!) and acting to be reduced to that. The film is genuinely horrifying at points, but what may surprise many modern viewers is it is strangely progressive with its female lead, who is a competent and professional scientist and not a \\u201cscream queen.\\u201d While Nate considered researching McCarthyism since this is very much a Cold War film, he instead discusses American nuclear tests in the 1940s and 1950s.\\nBefore the broadcast, Nate gets an e-mail from Dr. Elsie Chapman, a member of H.E.A.T., after receiving an announcement that the Island\\u2019s beaches are closed. She says she has something to show Nate. After the broadcast, he meets her, Dr. Mendel Craven, and Monique Dupre on the shoreline and learns the shocking reason why the beaches were closed.\\nCheck out John\\u2019s books and magazines on Amazon!\\nThis episode\\u2019s prologue and epilogue, \\u201cThey Might be Gi-Ants,\\u201d was written by Nathan Marchand.\\nGuest stars:\\nRebecca Hudgens as Elsie Chapman\\nTravis Alexander as Mendel Craven\\nDani Cruz as Monique Dupre\\nDaniel DiManna as N.I.G.E.L.\\nAdditional music:\\n\\u201cPacific Rim\\u201d by Niall Stenson\\n\\u201cChant My Name!\\u201d by Masaaki Endo\\n\\u201cThe Edge Calls Me\\u201d by MkVaff\\n\\u201cSon of Chaos\\u201d by Xaleph\\nSound effects sourced from Freesound.org.\\nCheck out Nathan\\u2019s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip.\\nWe\\u2019d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!\\nYou, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!\\nBuy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!\\nThis episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.\\nTimestamps:\\nPrologue: 0:00-3:29\\nIntro: 3:29-10:32\\nEntertaining Info Dump: 10:32-17:21\\nToku Talk: 17:21-\\nPromo: 1:08:43-1:09:49\\nToku Topic: 1:09:49-1:31:34\\nHousekeeping & Outro: 1:31:34-1:48:40\\nEpilogue: 1:48:40-end\\nPodcast Social Media:\\nTwitter\\nFacebook\\nInstagram\\nFollow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy\\nFollow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD\\nFollow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam\\nFollow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1\\nFollow The Henshin Men Podcast on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod\\nFollow Dr. Dourif on Twitter: @DrDorif\\nwww.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com\\n#JimmyFromNASALives \\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 #MonsterIslandFilmVault\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 #Amerikaiju\\n\\xa9 2022 Moonlighting Ninjas Media\\nBibliography/Further Reading:\\nBogue, Mike. Apocalypse Then: American and Japanese Atomic Cinema, 1951-1967. McFarland & Company. 2017.\\nDrum, Kevin. \\u201cAtomic Tests During the 1950s Probably Killed Nearly Half a Million Americans.\\u201d Mother Jones. Dec. 22, 2017.\\n\\u201cInternational Day against Nuclear Tests, 29 August.\\u201d United Nations.\\nKaijuvision Radio, Episode 18: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) (The Effects of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing).\\n\\u201cList of United States nuclear weapons tests.\\u201d Wikipedia.\\n\\u201cNevada Test Site.\\u201d Atomic Heritage Foundation.\\n \\u201cTHEM!\\u201d Park Ridge Classic Film.\\nTHEM! blu-ray special features. Warner Bros. Pictures.\\n\\u201cThem!\\u201d Classic Sci-Fi Movies.\\nWaldman, Katy. \\u201cThe Nuclear Monsters That Terrorized the 1950s.\\u201d'