# Cerebro (podcast)

Cerebro is an audio podcast hosted by writer and literary agent Connor Goldsmith. Each episode, Goldsmith talks with a guest about a single X-Men character and their entire history, going "through the byzantine maze of continuity that inevitably builds up over 60 years of storytelling," often with a queer lens. His guests have included authors, comedians, a Pulitzer winner, an Emmy nominee, as well as his own personal friends. Entertainment Weekly listed it in their article "The 10 Best Podcasts of 2021."

## Show History

Goldsmith, a Senior Literary Agent at Fuse Literary, started the podcast in 2020 as a way to keep from going stir crazy during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. After encouragement from a friend, he decided to start with an interview with then-Excalibur writer Tini Howard about Betsy Braddock. The podcast is named after Professor Charles Xavier's mutant database machine called "Cerebro".
In April 2024, the podcast hit one hundred episodes and over 300 hours of content. Niko Stratis of Autostraddle stated, "It’s got a long backlog of episodes, but it’s a really fun, joyfully chaotic listen through a joyfully chaotic timeline of messy mutants."

## Format

Each episode highlights a different character in the X-Men comics, with Connor and his guest often discussing themes of LGBTQ+ and how the character relates to the X-Men's minority metaphor. Entertainment Weekly described it as them "excavat[ing] the many queer allegories that are possible with these colorful characters." He will often talk about the character's history chronologically, before stopping for a brief segment called the "Cerebro Character File," an abridged version of the character's entire history, and then resuming his discussion with the guest. The end of the episode has Connor and his guests answer questions from listeners.

## Episodes

As of January 31, 2025, the podcast has aired 118 episodes, with a number of bonus episodes.

### Season 1

| No. | Title | Length | Original release date |
| 1 | "Betsy Braddock (feat. Tini Howard)" | 1:21:00 | September 1, 2020 (2020-09-01) |
| 2 | "Kurt Wagner (feat. Daniel Kibblesmith)" | 1:34:00 | September 8, 2020 (2020-09-08) |
| 3 | "Emma Frost (feat. Alex Abad-Santos)" | 2:18:00 | September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15) |
| 4 | "Piotr Rasputin (feat. Mattie Lubchansky)" | 1:51:00 | September 22, 2020 (2020-09-22) |
| 5 | "Ororo Munroe (feat. Rashida Renée Ward)" | 1:46:00 | September 29, 2020 (2020-09-29) |
| 6 | "Scott Summers (feat. Jay Edidin)" | 1:47:00 | October 6, 2020 (2020-10-06) |
| 7 | "Dani Moonstar (feat. Darcie Little Badger)" | 1:39:00 | October 13, 2020 (2020-10-13) |
| 8 | "Bobby Drake (feat. Anthony Oliveira)" | 2:28:00 | September 8, 2020 (2020-09-08) |
| 9 | "Warren Worthington III (feat. Jay Jurden)" | 2:28:00 | October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) |
| 10 | "Raven Darkhölme (feat. Patrick Sullivan)" | 2:27:00 | November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03) |
| 11 | "Hank McCoy (feat. Spencer Ackerman)" | 2:23:00 | November 10, 2020 (2020-11-10) |
| 12 | "Brian Braddock (feat. Jordan D. White)" | 2:40:00 | November 17, 2020 (2020-11-17) |
| 13 | "Logan (feat. Gerry Duggan)" | 2:26:00 | November 24, 2020 (2020-11-24) |
| 14 | "Opal Luna Saturnyne (feat. Tini Howard)" | 2:51:00 | December 1, 2020 (2020-12-01) |
| 15 | "Jean Grey (feat. Sara Century)" | 2:46:00 | December 8, 2020 (2020-12-08) |
| 16 | "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (feat. Spencer Ackerman)" | 2:58:00 | December 18, 2020 (2020-12-18) |
| 17 | "Anna Marie (feat. Cass Morris)" | 3:09:00 | December 30, 2020 (2020-12-30) |
| 18 | "Meggan Puceanu (feat. A.R. Moxon)" | 2:55:00 | January 5, 2021 (2021-01-05) |
| 19 | "Tessa (feat. Valentine M. Smith)" | 2:49:00 | January 21, 2021 (2021-01-21) |
| 20 | "Lorna Dane (feat. Cori McCreery)" | 2:38:00 | January 19, 2021 (2021-01-19) |
| 21 | "Mortimer Toynbee (feat. Tim Platt)" | 2:20:00 | January 26, 2021 (2021-01-26) |
| 22 | "Doug Ramsey (feat. Annalise Bissa)" | 2:56:00 | February 3, 2021 (2021-02-03) |
| 23 | "Cassandra Nova (feat. Patrick Willems)" | 2:31:00 | February 9, 2021 (2021-02-09) |
| 24 | "Alex Summers (feat. Allison Senecal)" | 2:50:00 | February 19, 2021 (2021-02-19) |
| 25 | "Kitty Pryde (feat. Stephanie Burt)" | 3:31:00 | February 26, 2021 (2021-02-26) |
| 26 | "Adam Neramani (feat. Fabian Nicieza)" | 1:51:00 | March 2, 2021 (2021-03-02) |
| 27 | "Moira MacTaggert (feat. Zach Rabiroff)" | 3:12:00 | March 10, 2021 (2021-03-10) |
| 28 | "Alison Blaire (feat. Evan Narcisse)" | 3:25:00 | March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19) |
| 29 | "Rachel Summers (feat. Sara Century)" | 3:23:00 | March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25) |
| 30 | "Stryfe (feat. Anthony Oliveira)" | 3:07:00 | March 30, 2021 (2021-03-30) |
| 31 | "Armando Muñoz (feat. Angélique Roché)" | 2:08:00 | April 8, 2021 (2021-04-08) |
| 32 | "Mojo (feat. Ann Nocenti)" | 1:37:00 | April 13, 2021 (2021-04-13) |
| 33 | "Regan & Martinique Wyngarde (feat. Alex Abad-Santos)" | 2:38:00 | April 28, 2021 (2021-04-28) |
| 34 | "Megan Gwynn (feat. Josh Cornillon)" | 3:23:00 | May 5, 2021 (2021-05-05) |
| 35 | "Sally Blevins (feat. Jordan Blum)" | 2:45:00 | September 8, 2020 (2020-09-08) |
| 36 | "Monet St. Croix (feat. Tini Howard & Kendra James)" | 3:38:00 | May 16, 2021 (2021-05-16) |
| 37 | "Sarah Rushman (feat. Steve Orlando)" | 1:20:00 | May 21, 2020 (2020-05-21) |
| 38 | "Joanna Cargill (feat. Mike Carey)" | 2:20:00 | May 27, 2021 (2021-05-27) |
| 39 | "Xuân Cao Manh (feat. Sara Century)" | 3:48:00 | June 7, 2021 (2021-06-07) |
| 40 | "Jean-Paul Beaubier (feat. Steve Foxe)" | 3:34:00 | June 17, 2021 (2021-06-17) |
| 41 | "Julio Richter (feat. Louis Lopez)" | 2:42:00 | June 28, 2021 (2021-06-28) |
| 42 | "Gaveedra Seven (feat. Luke Ruddick)" | 2:33:00 | July 10, 2021 (2021-07-10) |
| 43 | "Roxy Washington (feat. Stephanie Williams)" | 2:25:00 | July 16, 2021 (2021-07-16) |
| 44 | "Roberto da Costa (feat. Alex Segura)" | 2:05:00 | July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) |
| 45 | "Sam Guthrie (feat. Zoe Tunnell)" | 3:06:00 | August 5, 2021 (2021-08-05) |
| 46 | "Everett Thomas (feat. Kendra James)" | 2:33:00 | August 11, 2021 (2021-08-11) |
| 47 | "Jamie Madrox (feat. Elana Levin)" | 3:30:00 | August 22, 2021 (2021-08-22) |
| 48 | "Paige Guthrie (feat. Karen Charm)" | 3:20:00 | August 27, 2021 (2021-08-27) |
| 49 | "Remy LeBeau (feat. Chris Robinson)" | 2:28:00 | August 31, 2021 (2021-08-31) |
| 50 | "Charles Xavier (feat. Spencer Ackerman)" | 3:41:00 | September 7, 2021 (2021-09-07) |

### Season 2

| No. | Title | Length | Original release date |
| 51 | "Nathan Christopher Summers (feat. Vishal Gullapalli)" | 3:17:00 | September 29, 2021 (2021-09-29) |
| 52 | "Candy Southern (feat. Sara Century)" | 4:37:00 | October 7, 2021 (2021-10-07) |
| 53 | "Angelo Espinosa (feat. Terry Blas)" | 2:21:00 | October 18, 2021 (2021-10-18) |
| 54 | "Theresa Rourke Cassidy (feat. Valentine Smith)" | 4:33:00 | October 24, 2021 (2021-10-24) |
| 55 | "Selene Gallio (feat. Alex Abad-Santos)" | 4:38:00 | October 31, 2021 (2021-10-31) |
| 56 | "Illyana Rasputina (feat. Leah Williams)" | 3:51:00 | November 5, 2021 (2021-11-05) |
| 57 | "Sooraya Qadir (feat. Khaliden Nas)" | 4:26:00 | November 11, 2021 (2021-11-11) |
| 58 | "Warlock (feat. Stephanie Burt)" | 2:57:00 | November 21, 2021 (2021-11-21) |
| 59 | "Karl Lykos (feat. James Goldsmith)" | 3:24:00 | November 30, 2021 (2021-11-30) |
| 60 | "Valerie Cooper (feat. Patrick Sullivan)" | 3:50:00 | December 8, 2021 (2021-12-08) |
| 61 | "Bennet du Paris (feat. Anthony Oliveira)" | 3:14:00 | December 18, 2021 (2021-12-18) |
| 62 | "David Alleyne (feat. Ash Alleyne)" | 3:11:00 | December 26, 2021 (2021-12-26) |
| 63 | "Nate Grey (feat. Zack Jenkins)" | 2:46:00 | December 31, 2021 (2021-12-31) |
| 64 | "Arkady Rossovich (feat. Ben Percy)" | 2:06:00 | January 4, 2022 (2022-01-04) |
| 65 | "Laura Kinney (feat. Zoe Tunnell)" | 3:05:00 | January 16, 2022 (2022-01-16) |
| 66 | "Callisto (feat. Spencer Ackerman)" | 2:49:00 | January 23, 2022 (2022-01-23) |
| 67 | "Irene Adler (feat. Nola Pfau)" | 2:39:00 | January 31, 2022 (2022-01-31) |
| 68 | "Shiro Yoshida (feat. Justin Park)" | 2:36:00 | February 7, 2022 (2022-02-07) |
| 69 | "Miranda Leevald (feat. Josh Cornillon)" | 3:09:00 | February 16, 2022 (2022-02-16) |
| 70 | "Victor Creed (feat. Victor LaValle)" | 2:04:00 | February 28, 2022 (2022-02-28) |
| 71 | "Jono Starsmore (feat. Kat Overland)" | 2:45:00 | March 15, 2022 (2022-03-15) |
| 72 | "Sophie, Phoebe, Irma, Celeste, & Esme (feat. Charles Pulliam-Moore)" | 4:13:00 | March 18, 2022 (2022-03-18) |
| 73 | "Kwannon (feat. Caroline Bird)" | 3:16:00 | April 3, 2022 (2022-04-03) |
| 74 | "Sean Cassidy (feat. Thom Dunn)" | 3:16:00 | April 10, 2022 (2022-04-10) |
| 75 | "Eleanor Murch & Peter (feat. Zeb Wells)" | 2:21:00 | April 18, 2022 (2022-04-18) |

### Season 3

| No. | Title | Length | Original release date |
| 76 | "Nathaniel Essex (feat. Kieron Gillen)" | 3:02:00 | May 22, 2022 (2022-05-22) |
| 77 | "John Proudstar (feat. Nyla Rose & Steve Orlando)" | 1:36:00 | May 30, 2022 (2022-05-30) |
| 78 | "Cecilia Reyes (feat. Stephanie Williams)" | 2:39:00 | June 14, 2022 (2022-06-14) |
| 79 | "Abigail Brand (feat. Al Ewing)" | 4:06:00 | June 2, 2022 (2022-06-02) |
| 80 | "Rita Wayword (feat. Jordan Blok)" | 3:06:00 | June 29, 2022 (2022-06-29) |
| 81 | "Rahne Sinclair (feat. Rebecca Gault)" | 3:55:00 | July 14, 2022 (2022-07-14) |
| 82 | "Amara Aquilla (feat. Alex Abad-Santos)" | 3:57:00 | July 28, 2022 (2022-07-28) |
| 83 | "St. John Allerdyce (feat. Anthony Oliveira)" | 4:06:00 | August 8, 2022 (2022-08-08) |
| 84 | "Maria Callasantos (feat. Darryl Ayo)" | 2:52:00 | September 8, 2022 (2022-09-08) |
| 85 | "Lila Cheney (feat. Margot Mutter)" | 2:41:00 | September 15, 2022 (2022-09-15) |
| 86 | "Colin McKay (feat. Sam Guido)" | 1:54:00 | September 24, 2022 (2022-09-24) |
| 87 | "Pietro Maximoff (feat. Luke Ruddick)" | 3:56:00 | October 2, 2022 (2022-10-02) |
| 88 | "Andrea & Andreas von Strucker (feat. Spencer Ackerman)" | 3:51:00 | October 22, 2022 (2022-10-22) |
| 89 | "Tabitha Smith (feat. Leah Williams)" | 3:54:00 | October 27, 2022 (2022-10-27) |
| 90 | "Melody Jacobs (feat. Jordan Blok)" | 5:09:00 | November 4, 2022 (2022-11-04) |
| 91 | "Eden Fesi & Gateway (feat. Kaetun Khlynne)" | 4:29:00 | November 19, 2022 (2022-11-19) |
| 92 | "Tom Cassidy (feat. Eoin Higgins)" | 3:34:00 | December 6, 2022 (2022-12-06) |
| 93 | "Amahl Farouk (feat. Khaldoun Khelil)" | 3:24:00 | December 16, 2022 (2022-12-16) |
| 94 | "Longshot (feat. Nola Pfau)" | 3:53:00 | December 31, 2022 (2022-12-31) |
| 95 | "Jubilation Lee (feat. Jason Loo)" | 4:24:00 | January 14, 2023 (2023-01-14) |
| 96 | "Forge (feat. Josh Trujillo)" | 4:58:00 | January 29, 2023 (2023-01-29) |
| 97 | "Sebastian Shaw (feat. Steven Attewell)" | 4:25:00 | February 11, 2023 (2023-02-11) |
| 98 | "Jamie Braddock (feat. Holly Raymond)" | 5:12:00 | February 21, 2023 (2023-02-21) |
| 99 | "Annie Ghazikhanian (feat. Chuck Austen)" | 2:35:00 | March 17, 2023 (2023-03-17) |
| 100 | "Madelyne Pryor (feat. Sara Century)" | 18:03:00 | April 15, 2023 (2023-04-15) |
| Due to the extra-length nature of this episode, it was broken up into five parts, each named after a section of the crossover "Inferno": "Prologue: Vanities!" 4:15:00 "Part the First: Strike the Match!" 3:27:00 "Part the Second: Fan the Flames!" 3:57:00 "Part the Third: Burn!" 3:21:00 "Part the Fourth: Ashes!" 3:03:00 ||||

### Season 4

| No. | Title | Length | Original release date |
| 101 | "En Sabah Nur (feat. Jonathan Hickman)" | 3:35:00 | May 30, 2023 (2023-05-30) |
| 102 | "Nekra Sinclair (feat. Jordan Blok)" | 6:41:00 | June 24, 2023 (2023-06-24) |
| 103 | "Calvin Rankin (feat. Chad Anderson)" | 3:49:00 | July 16, 2023 (2023-07-16) |
| 104 | "Amanda Sefton (feat. Anna Peppard)" | 6:51:00 | October 10, 2023 (2023-10-10) |
| 105 | "Cain Marko (feat. Anthony Oliveira)" | 6:56:00 | November 25, 2023 (2023-11-25) |
| 106 | "Laurie Collins (feat. Alex Abad-Santos)" | 3:56:00 | December 15, 2023 (2023-12-15) |
| 107 | "Candra (feat. Kat Driscoll)" | 5:56:00 | February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02) |
| 108 | "Hepzibah (feat. Jordan Blok)" | 9:32:00 | February 27, 2024 (2024-02-27) |
| Due to the extra-length nature of the episode, it was divided into two: "Part One: Stepmutha Has Arrived" 4:51:00 "Part Two: Skunk, Interrupted" 4:41:00 ||||
| 109 | "Arcade (feat. Annalise Bissa)" | 3:42:00 | April 13, 2024 (2024-04-13) |
| 110 | "Trish Tilby (feat. Patrick Sullivan)" | 3:50:00 | May 10, 2024 (2024-05-10) |
| 111 | "Eva Bell (feat. Karen Charm)" | 3:04:00 | May 28, 2024 (2024-05-28) |
| 112 | "Gloria Dolores Muñoz (feat. Alex Segura)" | 4:09:00 | June 18, 2024 (2024-06-18) |
| 113 | "Hope Summers (feat. Kieron Gillen)" | 4:10:00 | July 15, 2024 (2024-07-15) |
| 114 | "Namor McKenzie (feat. Spencer Ackerman)" | 4:57:00 | September 17, 2024 (2024-09-17) |
| 115 | "Jeanne-Marie Beaubier (feat. Sara Century)" | 6:06:00 | September 30, 2024 (2024-09-30) |
| 116 | "Victor Borkowski (feat. Jay Jurden)" | 3:12:00 | November 7, 2024 (2024-11-07) |
| 117 | "Yuriko Oyama (feat. Jordan Blok)" | 8:54:00 | December 24 & 26, 2024 |
| Due to the extra-length nature of the episode, it was divided into two: "Part One: A Lady Deathstrike Christmas" 4:04:00 "Part Two: Heavy Metal & Reflective" 4:50:00 ||||
| 118 | "Lilandra Neramani (feat. Josh Trujillo)" | 5:38:00 | January 31, 2025 (2025-01-31) |