On-Air Deaths, SUPERMAN's Tragic Origin, HALLOWEEN Michael Myers Lost History

Content warning: The first segment covers real-life on-air suicides and may be distressing to some listeners.

This week, Adam shares a strange and tragic mix of stories: disturbing on-air deaths (one which anticipated Paddy Chayefsky's Network by two years); the real-life pain behind Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creation of Superman; and a buried Michael Myers (Halloween) backstory from 1979. 

Real On-Air Deaths

- The tragic story of Christine Chubbuck, the Sarasota news reporter who took her life on-air in 1974.

- Budd Dwyer, a Pennsylvania politician who died during a press conference in 1987.

- How both events shaped the conversation around broadcast delay.

- The unplanned early 2000s event that was the final straw for the FCC.

The True Origin of Superman

- The truth behind the meme that says Jerry Siegel’s father was shot.

- How Siegel & Schuster created Superman: from pulp zines to the character’s evolution in Action Comics #1.

- Influences ranging from Gladiator by Philip Wylie to John Carter of Mars, Zorro, and even early Jewish mysticism (Kal-El, Jor-El).

- The heartbreaking legal fight that left Superman’s creators broke – despite creating the most iconic superhero of all time.

The Forgotten Backstory of Michael Myers

- The 1979 novelization of Halloween, long out of print, included a mythic backstory tying Michael Myers to Enda, a cursed Celtic killer.

- How the novel’s folk horror take differs from John Carpenter’s minimalist vision.

- Why this supernatural twist was buried – and why it might have made more sense than the later convoluted Halloween sequels.

Show notes at https://magicalmystery.media