Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Jay Edidin and Miles Stokes have spent over a decade doing what nobody else had the stamina to attempt: walking through the entire X-Men comics canon, issue by issue, arc by arc, retcon by retcon. With 554 episodes and counting, this biweekly show has become the definitive companion podcast for anyone reading (or re-reading) the X-Men from the beginning. Jay brings sharp literary analysis and an eye for thematic threads that connect decades of storytelling, while Miles keeps things grounded with a knack for pointing out the genuinely weird stuff that longtime readers have learned to accept without question. Their chemistry is the real draw here. They finish each other's thoughts, argue productively about character motivations, and somehow make editorial decisions from 1987 feel urgent and important. The format is straightforward: pick up where the last episode left off, summarize what happened, then talk about why it matters. But the execution is anything but simple. They pull in cultural context, creator histories, and comparisons across eras that make you see familiar stories differently. The show skews explicit in language but never in a gratuitous way. It is worth noting the hosts have announced the podcast will be wrapping up after nearly twelve years, so now is actually the perfect time to start from the beginning and binge your way through. If you have ever wanted to understand why Cyclops made that one decision, or what exactly the Siege Perilous does, this is your answer.