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.[1][2] His guests have included authors, comedians, a Pulitzer winner, an Emmy nominee, as well as his own personal friends.[3] Entertainment Weekly listed it in their article "The 10 Best Podcasts of 2021."[4]
History
Goldsmith, a former senior literary agent at Fuse Literary,[5] 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.[3] The podcast is named after Cerebro, a device in the Marvel Comics universe that amplifies the user's telepathic abilities.[6]
In April 2024, the podcast hit one hundred episodes and over 300 hours of content.[7] 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."[8]
Format
Each episode highlights a different character in the X-Men comics, with Goldsmith 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."[4] 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 history - and then resuming his discussion with the guest. The end of the episode has Goldsmith and his guests answer questions from listeners.[7]
Episodes
As of January 11, 2026, the podcast has aired 124 episodes, with a number of bonus episodes.
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
See also
- List of LGBTQ podcasts
External links
References
- Chris Hassan. X-Men Monday #200 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular AiPT, 2023-04-24, retrieved 2024-12-18^
- Alex Schlesinger. X-Men Podcast Gets Essay Officially Published in Marvel's Voices: Pride ScreenRant, 2022-06-10, retrieved 2025-10-25^
- Kwame Opam. Podcasts About Marvel's 'X-Men' Resonate With L.G.B.T.Q. Fans The New York Times, July 27, 2022, retrieved 2024-12-18^
- C.H. The 10 best podcasts of 2021 Entertainment Weekly, December 14, 2021, retrieved 2024-12-18^
- Connor Goldsmith, Senior Agent retrieved 2024-12-18^
- CEREBRO Episode 001: Betsy Braddock (feat. Tini Howard) Connor Goldsmith, 2020-09-01, retrieved 2024-12-20^
- Jim McDermott. Celebrating 100 episodes of the deep-dive queer X-Men podcast Cerebro from Connor Goldsmith Popverse, 2023-03-06, retrieved 2024-12-18^
- Niko Stratis. Gutter Talk: I Promise This Is About Comics Autostraddle, September 1, 2022, retrieved 2024-12-18^