BFG Week in Review Podcast #33: ‘West Side Story,’ ‘The Expanse,’ and the Year in Horror Fiction

In this week’s suspenseful and brilliant episode of the BFG Week in Review Podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes first-time guest Philip Fracassi, who runs down a terrific year for horror fiction. A horror writer himself, Fracassi covers the community for BFG, and he’s amazed both by the prolific genre writers who brought out new stuff this year and also a new wave of diverse authors who are transforming this genre. It’s a Horrorsance! And we’re covering it all at BFG.

Then here comes Stephen Garrett, loving up Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story,’ which, despite its lack of box-office success, is getting lots of praise from critics. Garrett is no exception. He praises the dancing, the score, and fabulous performances from Mike Faist and Ariana DeBose.

Then William Schwartz returns to the podcast to chat with Neal about ‘The Expanse,’ which has just launched its sixth season on Amazon Prime. Schwartz and Pollack both love The Expanse for its action, grittiness, and complex political narrative. Schwartz also points out that The Expanse has a far more realistic view of politics and the military than Star Trek, which can seem over-optimistic and naive by comparison.

So watch ‘The Expanse,’ go see ‘West Side Story,’ and read horror fiction. And listen to the podcast! You will be a pop-culture-saturated citizen of the Milky Way.

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