Our incredible listener, Sophie Day, emailed us awhile back about this week's episode of The X-Files, "Beyond the Sea," and the character of Luther Lee Boggs.Sophie explained that she works as a Capital Mitigation Specialist, which means that she is part of the legal team that represents folks who have already been sentenced to death on their last appeals. She explained, "basically it's my job to tell my client's story. I spend countless hours with my clients, their family, and anyone I can find who knew them before the crime they are convicted of. It is my job to help decision makers (a judge, SCOTUS, or the Governor) see my client as a full person. We do not seek to excuse the crime, but to help the person/people deciding if they should live or die how my clients' lives could have brought them to where they are. My primary goal is to reflect my client's humanity and dignity outward."We were so excited to bring Sophie into the pod-space for a deeper conversation, and in this bonus episode you will hear her discuss the way that folks in prison, and especially on death row, are portrayed in television and movies — and in this episode in particular!

Noted Gillian Anderson enthusiast Laura Zak joins us in conversation for today's coverage of The X-Files S1E13: "Beyond the Sea,"! We discuss Gillian Anderson's hold on generations of queer women, Scully's character finally being given enough emotional room to stretch her legs (and be called "Dana"), the CHEEK CARESS, and Jenny's childhood dream of riding in on horseback to save beautiful women. Something for everyone.We also have a special segment today in conversation with Sophie Day, a Capital Mitigation Specialist who works with folks on death row, and who sheds some more light on media portrayals of folks on death row and the system itself. We highly encourage you to listen to the full interview, found here:The full conversation with Sophie will also air in the main feed this Friday!Producer LaToya Ferguson gives "Beyond the Sea" a scary rating of 1/5 Thousands Of Souls Entering My Body

Have you ever wanted to stand intimately close to a tree while watching your crush sexily spin her lazy susan, and then later — after poisoning her bodyguard and having a quick Beer™️ at the local bar— set her current partner ablaze with the power of your cursed mind and a dash of accelerant? If so you may relate to our friend Cecil in this week’s episode, covering The X-Files 1.12 “Fire.”Producer LaToya Ferguson gives "Fire" a scary rating of 2/5 Three-Pipe Problems

A live recording in which whiskey was consumed, clones were discussed, daddies were exsanguinated, and Max Collins from Eve6 was interviewed. A truly wild time from swing sets to sodas, it’s Season 1 Episode 11: “Eve.” Producer LaToya Ferguson gives "Eve" a scary rating of 3/5 Tender Hearts In A Blender

An unidentified flying meteor has crashed into the Wisconsin woods and now an invisible alien is chasing after his long lost love: NICAP's own Max Fenig. Mulder is wearing a leather jacket. Scully is ENIGMATIC. Deep Throat is... double crossing us? It's Season 1, Episode 10: FALLEN ANGEL, and this episode summary was written by MF Luder.Producer LaToya Ferguson gives "Fallen Angel" a scary rating of 1/5 "Meteors"

It's an alien! It's a ghost! It's a combination alien-ghost?! Listen, we don't make the rules. What would you do if the hour was 0700 and your husband was in outer space and your boss was possessed with a Mars Ghosty who was going to take some time away from Earth and the ceilings of hotel rooms to zoop on over to your husband's space shuttle to boop it around and nearly kill the whole team?!?!! Well, this week you can find out what Michelle Genaroo will do, apart from flirting with Mulder and Scully. It's Season 1, Episode 9: SPACEProducer LaToya Ferguson gives "Space" a scary rating of 1/5 SCULPTED HUMAN FACES

You ever get that feeling that you are not ...who you are? This week we've got a trip to Alaska, a bevy of wiggly worms, a dog who does not die, and a very special conversation with Jeff Kober! It is Season 1, Episode 8: "Ice," and while we may be journeying deep into the arctic circle, we are dropping our cargo for absolutely no one, thank you for asking. LaToya Ferguson gives this X-File a scary rating of 3.5/5 DROPPIN' MY CARGO FOR NO ONES

Have you ever wanted to reboot your computer and have it come alive with the ability to think and feel and MURDER?! Listen, COS is just trying to survive, ok? It's not the computer's fault that the Defense Department wants to use technology for evil and that Brad's scruffy mind has to give it a virus to prevent world destruction!! Scruffy minds weren't meant for this sort of thing! HE IS DOING HIS BEST. (*COS voice* Brad... whyyyyyy.) It's S1E7: Ghost In The Machine, and don't worry because the AI survives and now, thirty years later, lives among us. bee boo bee boo bee boo LaToya Ferguson gives this X-File a scary rating of 1/5 NON-MURDEROUS SCRUFFY MINDS

Is it telekinesis or a poltergeist? Is his name Howard T. Graves or does that acronym actually stand for Howard The Ghost?? Why does Lauren Kyte have two green apples on her mantle?! This week's X-Files is absolutely chock full of shadowy mysteries! While Scully tries to convince Mulder that their car headlights are NOT haunted (they are totally haunted), the rest of us watch as a real angry ghosty blasts through town to protect his secretary/surrogate daughter Lauren Kyte. It's Season 1, Episode 6: Shadows.Plus plus plus!! In-episode this week we also have the extreme pleasure of speaking with Lisa Waltz, who plays Lauren Kyte!LaToya Ferguson gives this X-File a scary rating of 1/5 ABNORMAL POST-MORTEM MUSCLE REFLEXES***Kristin cautions that her rating would be at LEAST a 2 if you are scared of poltergeists!!!

This week we're going to the state of pizza, attitudes, malls, and Jennys: NEW JERSEY! Mulder is on a (wild) goose chase for the legendary Jersey Devil after learning of some recent woodsy cannibalism, Scully is going on a date with "Rob" after her best friend told her to get a life, and we've got college professors, park rangers, and VERY loud children also in the mix. Most importantly: Scully told her best friend that Mulder was CUTE. (kisssssssss!) It's Season 1, Episode 5: The Jersey Devil.LaToya Ferguson gives this X-File a scary rating of 1.5/5 GNAWED OFF APPENDAGES

RUBAAAAAYYYY!!! This week, we will continue to scream Ruby's name at the sky until the extraterrestrials return her to us. Meanwhile, Mulder is puzzling together 0s and 1s in search of his sist— oops I mean Kevin's sister Ruby, Scully is watching Mulder move through the loss of his sist— oops I mean Kevin's sister Ruby, and we all get to hang out at a biker bar and the library. It's Season 1 Episode 4: "Conduit," where we don't have friends, we just have people we like to hang with.

Special guest Hrishkesh Hirway joins us today (he scaled a wall and smooshed down a chimney to get here!!) in conversation on The X-Files S1E3: Squeeze. There's simply no one else we'd rather have with us in our beautiful basement bile-nest for the next 30 years.Hrishi gives this X-File a scary rating of 4/5 Ripped Out Livers

It seems the government is building military planes with UFO technology and our most trusted sources are a very stoned Seth Green and amateur-photographer Ladonna who runs the local diner: The Flying Saucer. Should we heed the mysterious warnings of Deep Throat and stay away from the case? OF COURSE NOT!! NO X-FILE STONE WILL BE LEFT UNTURNED!! It’s Season 1, Episode 2: “Deep Throat” and we are headed to Idaho to wear our Timberlands and have our memories erased.Producer LaToya Ferguson gives this X-File a scary rating of 1/5 Budahases

It's the inaugural episode of The eX-Files, and FBI Agent Dana Scully has been assigned to write field reports on (and become best friends with) Agent Fox "Spooky" Mulder. Our first X-File has us going to Bellefleur, Oregon where the Class of '89 simply cannot stay away from the woods, where Scully takes a bath in the dark and gets some mosquito bites, and where Mulder has a f*cking blast losing 9 minutes of that most beloved of universal invariants: TIME!!! Could it be the stinky alien babies?!?!?! Come with us on our newest podcast rewatch adventure, where Jenny Owen Youngs is showing her ex-wife Kristin Russo each and every episode of The X-Files one at a time.Producer LaToya Ferguson gives this X-File a scary rating of 2.5/5 Grey Metallic Implants

Welcome to The eX-Files, an episodic rewatch podcast in which Jenny Owen Youngs & Kristin Russo dig into every episode of The X-Files, spoiler free, one at a time.Jenny grew up watching The X-Files when it aired, but Kristin has only ever seen the pilot episode. (Her review: "hot.")The podcast’s title — The eX-Files spelled with an “e” — is a credit to our relationship: in addition to being longtime business partners, we are also ex-wives. *cue spooky music*If you can't wait for the pilot episode to air, or if you just love having a blast, please join us for our Official eX-Files Launch Party on Sunday, March 19th at 7pm Eastern — exclusively on Stage Pilot. Tickets go on sale to the public at 10am Eastern: bufferingcast.com/stream

As a "special gifty" we now bestow upon you our very first episode covering Season 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as written in comic form and published by Dark Horse Comics! We are two episodes into the journey over on Patreon, so if you'd like more you can use the links below to join us!

Buffy may be off, vacationing in the UK (???) but Angel is still hard at work at a new law firm with some new Sunnydale arrivals... As a treat, here is the first episode of our sister-pod, Angel On Top, for those of you who might need a little of the Buffyverse in your ears after our departure. Hosted by LaToya Ferguson and Morgan Lutich (with a dash of Kristin), it is a very good time and will be here to cover all of Season 5!! In fact, today in the feed 5.02 "Just Rewards" released! Find all of the Angel goodness right here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/angel-on-top/id1383009934 5.01 Conviction | Scoobies, a new era has arrived. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is dead. Long live Buffy the Vampire Slayer!  And with its ending, so endeth the Buffering the Vampire Slayer/Angel on Top FEUD. But the show must go on, as there is still one more season of Angel left. Which means Angel on Top just has to provide a corker of a return episode. So join your hosts LaToya Ferguson and Morgan Lutich this week as they discuss the Angel Season 5 premiere "Conviction," a re-pilot of sorts.

One last one for the road, scoobs — in this very special Curtain Call episode we journey through Jenny's "Supernaturalatives," discussing some of our favorite arcs (and favorite hunks) in the series, read through some of your beautiful letters, talk about our music writing process over the course of 161 songs, and also share some feelings about each other and our future together in the pod space. WE LOVE YOU, OKAY?!

Anything we say is gonna sound like goodbye.It's Season 7 Episode 22, "Chosen," live from Brooklyn's Bell House.We love you oh-so-much.

It's a scythe, it's an axe, it's a great big .... one handed weapon, okay?! Buffy is BACK, the team is back together, the sword has been pulled from the stone, there's an old lady (she looks great for her age) in a tiny temple who has been there for so long, Spike has feelings, Faith has feelings, WE have feelings, and... Angel is back?!?!?! A doozy indeed. It's Season 7 Episode 21: End of Days.

The First is blippin' in and out all over Sunnydale and our scoobies are doing a lot of their own blippin' on many surfaces of 1630 Revello Drive. It's Season 7 Episode 20: Touched and the end is fast approaching (of the world, of the series, of the podcast) so get out your ice cream, find someone to hold you, and — OH NO NOT A BOMB?!?!

LaToya Ferguson, pod-nemesis, joins us in conversation about S7E19: Empty Places! There are hot pockets, sexual tension on the Revello porch that might make your head set aflame, a proper recipe for a bloomin' onion, and a power struggle for the ages that results in Buffy being ousted from her own home...

Kristin is talking with with Rabbi Leah Jordan and Pam Grossman — writer, curator, and teacher of magical practice and history — to dig deep into Willow's Jewishness, her witchy-ness, and how those two identities are in conversation with each other (or how we *wish* they would have been!) across seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.This episode contains spoilers through the end of Season 7 of Buffy!

Faith is back in Sunnydale and we are feeling dirtier than ever, Nathan Fillion's bangs are the most evil part about Caleb, Spike remembers the entire galloping, warm champagne monologue (vampires, they're just like us!), and a lot of other really hard, really bad shit happens because this is Season 7! We are LIVE from Chicago's Lincoln Hall this week discussing S7E18: Dirty Girls, with special guests Jess Abbott, Rosemary Maybe, Morgan Lutich, and Alba Daza!

We've got mommy issues, we've got daddy issues, and we've got A LOT OF BULLSHIT! In flashbacks, Spike wants to bring his mom on vacation with Drusilla (lol) and tiny, adorable Robin knocks over a trash can to assist his slayer-mom Nikki. In present day, the power of iTunes 1.0 triggers Spike inside of Robin's cross-laden garage and they FIGHT, while elsewhere Giles behaves like a f*cking asshole. Yes, yes, it is time for Season 7 Episode 17: Lies My Parents Told Me!