Welcome to the first of an experimental format here on the podcast, where a topic is chosen and one of your hosts takes a swing at it. 

Today... we need to talk about Mike Hanlon and the new adaptation of Stephen King's It. How a brilliant and vital part of the Losers Club was reduced to a shadow of his former self, and how that may have happened.

So buckle in as we wind up the speculation machine and try to figure this all out, shall we?

If you like this format and want to see more, have an idea for a name, or an idea for a topic, please lets us know! We're available on Twitter (@womenincaskets) and email ([email protected]) and we'd love to hear from you.

Also, if you would, please rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you catch your podcasts. It really means a lot to us.

There were a lot of inspirations and sources for this episode so here we go:

• La Melle (BlackGirlNerds.com) "Mike Who? Mike Hanlon. The New Magical Negro of Derry, Maine."
• Zak Cheney-Rice (Mic.com) "Mike Hanlon, the black kid in Stephen King’s ‘It,’ has a remarkable backstory. The movie erased it."
• Jason Alston (Medium.com) "The Tragic Fall of Mike Hanlon: One of American Fiction’s Only Black Male Librarians is Re-Imagined… As a Drug Addict"
• Travis Johnson (FilmInk.com.au) "Mike Hanlon: It‘s Invisible Loser"
• Lindsay Ellis (YouTube.com/LindsayEllis) "The Hobbit: Battle of Five Studios (Part 2/2)"

Intro Music: "Have You Met Sir Belmont" Nostalvania (via OCRemix)

Outro Music: "Kindle the Soul" RoeTaKa (via OCRemix)