• 1 hour 6 minutes
    525 – Beyond This Death
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which Warren Kenneth Worthington III is a terrible teacher; we are all Magneto’s children; Sooraya Qadir deserves a better origin story; teenagers have a lot of feelings; and we meet one of the modern age’s most controversial mutants.

    X-PLAINED:

    • The destiny of Quentin Quire
    • New X-Men #131-134
    • An underattended funeral
    • How to fly? Kinda? I guess?
    • A kiss
    • A friendship
    • Another bit of ruby quartz marginalia that will never be mentioned again
    • A somewhat ill-founded psychic metaphor
    • Emma Frost’s Dark Phoenix costume
    • Some kind of weird affair
    • Echoes of 9/11/2001
    • Genosha, a year later
    • Ghosts
    • Polaris’s paternity
    • Shocker (the mutant one)
    • The last words of Genosha
    • Islamophobia post 9/11
    • Sooraya Qadir (Dust)
    • An attempted hijacking and the aftermath thereof
    • Some Shi’ar nonsense
    • X-Corporation Mumbai
    • Jumbo Carnation
    • Telepathy class
    • An artist’s interpretation of the fate of mankind if mutants are not driven out, as predicted by Bolivar Trask
    • Accountability
    • Professor X’s weird little paintings
    • X-adjectives
    • Best and worst X-Men with whom to share a psychic rapport

    NEXT EPISODE: Quentin Quire’s teen angst bullshit gets a body count!

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    25 May 2026, 2:50 am
  • 59 minutes 50 seconds
    524 – House in a House
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which Xorn goes out on the town; silverware is morally neutral; Cyclops pursues dubious counsel; the X means ten; and Fantomex is eminently enjoyable.

    X-PLAINED:

    • The parentage of Hope Summers
    • New X-Men #127-130
    • Mutant Town
    • A monster who is not a monster but is, perhaps, a metaphor
    • X-Corporation Paris
    • The whole Phoenix situation
    • Fantomex
    • Weapon XII
    • A gene-hazard
    • Corporal Animal
    • E.V.A.
    • The Weapon Plus program (somewhat)
    • The World (somewhat)
    • The Shi’ar Empire vs. Earth
    • Xorn variations

    NEXT EPISODE: A Memorial of Magnetism

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    11 May 2026, 2:43 am
  • 51 minutes 38 seconds
    523 – This World of Liars
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which Wolverine learns to fly; pants are a basic human right; we decide to cherry-pick our Xorn retcons; Xavier’s eyebrows follow his mind; and the first year of New X-Men ends with a bang.

    X-PLAINED:

    • The origin of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard
    • New X-Men #124-126
    • The current state of Charles Xavier’s body
    • G-Type
    • Neosaurus
    • Plutonia
    • Schism
    • Oracle
    • Stuf
    • Gladiator (more) (again)
    • Angel disambiguation
    • Several plans
    • Mutant justice
    • Several miracles of magnetism
    • Mummudrai
    • Horror movie shit
    • Subtle visual foreshadowing
    • A ruse
    • Education
    • Long-lost family members
    • What may or may not come after this

    NEXT EPISODE: Fantomex!

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    4 May 2026, 3:01 am
  • 50 minutes 3 seconds
    522 – Fetus Fight
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which Marvel goes wordless; Cassandra Nova breaks space; none of the X-Men have media training; and Gus was the best dog ever.

    X-PLAINED:

    • Erik the Red (more) (again)
    • Kin Crimson
    • A big messy bag of mutant glory
    • New X-Men #121-123
    • ‘Nuff Said
    • A journey into Charles Xavier’s mind
    • What Emma is drinking
    • A fetus fight
    • The criminal culpability of a fetus
    • Space problems
    • A cosplay challenge
    • Space
    • Charles Xavier’s weird last wish
    • A press conference
    • Teen romance
    • The Stepford Cuckoos
    • Gus
    • Charles Xavier’s age
    • Nanosentinels
    • Stuf
    • Pre-ride safety announcements from the X-Men
    • Whether Cassandra Nova should’ve been a component of Onslaught

    NEXT EPISODE: Cassandra Nova vs. the X-Men (Round 2)!

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    27 April 2026, 3:36 am
  • 51 minutes 41 seconds
    521 – Snowflakes
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which John Sublime sucks; Angel Salvatore rules; trauma does not justify evil; and you should never, ever, ever mess with Jean Grey.

    X-PLAINED:

    • A horrifying revelation
    • The universe where Jay and Miles work for Cassandra Nova
    • New X-Men #118-120
    • John Sublime (more) (again)
    • The U-Men
    • Psychic energy, gender-reveal party-style
    • The Stepford Cuckoos
    • One way to disperse a mob
    • An uncivil conversation
    • The death and/or discomfort of many U-Men
    • An awakening of sorts
    • Squaring the phoenix
    • Hank McCoy’s “coming out”

    NEXT EPISODE: The Shi’ar invade!

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    14 April 2026, 3:20 am
  • 45 minutes 20 seconds
    520 – Head Like a (Black) Hole
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which several individuals are not what they seem; John Sublime sucks; Cyclops talks Xorn down from a cosmic ledge; we meet the inimitable Beak; and Cassandra Nova makes herself (limitedly) known.

    X-PLAINED:

    • John Sublime
    • Marvelscope™
    • New X-Men 2001 Annual
    • New X-Men #117
    • Xorn
    • X-Corporation
    • The U-Men
    • Ao Jun (and his super gross mutant power)
    • Synchronized heists
    • Psychometry vs. telepathy
    • A big eventual twist
    • Beak (Barnell Bohusk)
    • A kiss
    • Some really fucked up use of telepathy
    • Some Moira MacTaggert continuity nonsense

    NEXT EPISODE: U-Men vs. X-Men

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    6 April 2026, 2:37 am
  • 1 hour 6 minutes
    519 – Beautiful People With Incredible Powers
    Illustration by David Wynne

    In which we start the Morrison Run; Professor X gets his hands on Chekhov’s gun; Cassandra Nova raises X-villains to a new level of weird; and humanity is running on borrowed time.

    X-PLAINED:

    • No-Girl
    • New X-Men #114-116
    • Grant Morrison and their approach to the X-Men
    • Superhero fashion
    • Cerebra
    • Beast’s new look
    • Ugly John
    • Interpersonal dynamics
    • Cassandra Nova (somewhat)
    • Donald Trask
    • Master Molds
    • Wild Sentinels
    • Emma Frost (more) (again)
    • Negasonic Teenage Warhead (the original)
    • The fall of Genosha
    • Secondary mutations
    • The most strapless bra of all time
    • The Black Bug Room
    • Summers problems
    • Official X-Men and the designation thereof
    • Wonder Man and mutants

    NEXT EPISODE: Beast has a bad day

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    30 March 2026, 2:43 am
  • 56 minutes 48 seconds
    518 – Mapping the X-Gene

    In which Dr. Jey McCreight joins us to discuss all things X-Genetics!

    X-PLAINED:

    • The genetics and taxonomy of Marvel’s merry mutants

    NEXT EPISODE: The Morrison run begins!

    Follow Dr. Jey on Bluesky, and check out Beyond X and Y!

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    16 March 2026, 1:45 am
  • 43 minutes 58 seconds
    517 – Sliding Scale Ransom

    In which we totally forgot to record a cold open (sorry); a lot of characters die (but not in Earth-616); Vampires may already be in command of America’s atomic arsenal; and we revisit a favorite.

    X-PLAINED:

    • What If vol. 2 #9
    • What If vol. 2 #24
    • What If: Magik #1
    • Rahne Sinclair (moppet stage)
    • The deaths of the Silver Age and All-New-All-Different X-Men
    • Fancy television
    • Sliding-scale ransom
    • Then Ani-Men, somewhat
    • The Living LASER, somewhat
    • An orgy of satiation
    • Wolverine, Lord of the Vampires
    • Several highlights of Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose
    • Vampire nonsense
    • The Darkhold
    • The Montessi Formula
    • Some alligators
    • August 5
    • Frank Punisher, Vampire Hunter
    • What If vol. 2 #37 (briefly)
    • A kinder alternate history
    • A singularly beautiful montage
    • The Soul Staff
    • Summers family connections
    • How Wolverine climbs

    NEXT EPISODE: Unspooling the X-Gene, with Dr. Jey McCreight!

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    9 March 2026, 2:45 am
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    516 – The Evolution of Magneto (feat. Asher Elbein)

    In which Asher Elbein joins us to discuss the complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics.

    X-PLAINED:

    • Some complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics.

    Check out links to some of what we discuss in this episode on our blog.

    Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

    Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

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    2 March 2026, 3:05 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    515 – Origins

    In which we do a thing and are not even sorry.

    X-PLAINED:

    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine

    Next Episode: Magneto, with Asher Elbein!

    Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog.

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    Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

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    16 February 2026, 2:20 am
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