{"podcast":{"title":"The Worst of All Possible Worlds","slug":"the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds-3988838","podcast_index_feed_id":3988838,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/worstofallpossibleworlds/feed.xml","website_url":"https://www.worstpossible.world","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/11885637/twoapwlogo.jpg","author":"Josh Boerman, A.J. Ditty, and Brian Alford","episode_count":267,"summary":"The first and only podcast bringing you weekly case studies in the pop culture of a dying empire. Every Wednesday, co-hosts Josh, Brian, and A.J. dissect an artifact of popular culture, breaking down how its narrative choices reflect or subvert the reactionary political project. From video games to movies to theater to an apparently infinite supply of evangelical Christian radio drama, we expose the machinations of the worst of all possible worlds in order to figure out how to build a better one. Also, we have bits.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds-3988838"},"episode":{"title":"59 UNLOCKED - Chess: The Musical  (feat. Jake Beckhard)","slug":"59-unlocked-chess-the-musical-feat-jake-beckhard","published_at":"2026-01-12T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds-3988838/59-unlocked-chess-the-musical-feat-jake-beckhard","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds-3988838","url":"https://worstofallpossibleworlds.podbean.com/e/59-unlocked-chess-the-musical-feat-jake-beckhard/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/4udfsqafadrznyzm/59_-_Chess_The_Musical_UNLOCKED_feat_Jake_Beckhard_7o72s.mp3","summary":"Time to reach once more into the ol' Cool Vaultaire. If you still can’t get enough Chess, check out our BRAND NEW BOBUS (with Jake!) about the new Broadway revival on our Patreon here. Jake Beckhard (Blue Balls NYCFC) challenges the lads to the match of the century as they try to outmaneuver the bopping songs and confounding political intrigue of the infamous Tim Rice/Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus flop musical: Chess. Topics include the many different versions of the show, the innate appeal of a broken musical, and the ever increasing eccentricities of one Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice. Want more TWOAPW? Get access to the rest of this episode, our full back catalogue of premium and bonus episodes, and add your name to the masthead of our website by subscribing for $5/month at Patreon.com/worstofall! Jake Beckhard Website: jake-beck.com Bluesky: @jakebeckhard.bsky.social Instagram: @jakebeckhard Blue Balls NYCFC: You’ve got Blue Balls! How lucky for you. Check in every week for rapturous pod talk on all things NYCFC. With NYC Hosts Jake Beckhard and Trey Fillmore. Listen on Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Podomatic Media Referenced in this Episode: Get Onto My Cloud: The Tim Rice Podcast: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts “Chess Seeks to Shed Its Checkered Past” by Stephen Holden, NYTimes Chess (1986 London Concept Cast): Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon Chess In Concert (2008): AppleTV / YouTube / Letterboxd TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: brendan-dalton.com / brendandalton.bandcamp.com","meta_description":"Time to reach once more into the ol' Cool Vaultaire. If you still can’t get enough Chess, check out our BRAND NEW BOBUS (with Jake!) about the new Broadwa…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":7732,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds-3988838/episodes/59-unlocked-chess-the-musical-feat-jake-beckhard/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds-3988838/59-unlocked-chess-the-musical-feat-jake-beckhard.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}