Doctor Strange Has Us Totally Entranced

Last night, Donald Trump won the US presidency. Last weekend, Doctor Strange won big at the box office. What do these two things have in common? Well, for one, they’re both surprising outcomes. And, for another, we’re talking about both of them in this week’s WIRED Culture podcast. First up, we’re discussing how Strange was received—both at the US box office, where it made $85 million this weekend, and with critics, who gave it a 90 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme isn’t one of the studio’s big names, but his movie has everyone entranced, including your Monitor hosts, who loved the movie’s quirky tone and trippy 3-D visuals. As for the election, we decided to take a few minutes to talk about the impact pop culture—specifically late-night talk shows—had on the outcome. (Note: Trump had not yet won the presidency when we recorded this week’s episode.) So please do tune in. We have writers and editors Peter Rubin, K.M. McFarland, and Angela Watercutter in the booth and they’ve got a lot to gab about. A few helpful links for things we talk about in the podcast: -K.M. McFarland’s piece on the best late-night TV moments of the presidential race -WIRED’s review of Doctor Strange -Angela Watercutter’s essay on why this election wasn’t funny -WIRED’s piece on what Doctor Strange’s success means for the future of Marvel