In the sixth episode of our ongoing podcast, The Pop Culture Lens, Christopher Olson and I discuss my favorite television series of all time, The X-Files. I was a huge, huge, huge fan of this series; I can still recall sitting there when the show premiered, on that magical Friday night back in 1993, with my father, and thinking that we had just seen something special.

I wrote a spec script for the series, about a ghost that stole teeth as a form of revenge (or something like that). I drew art based on the show for my high school art classes. I went online and discovered for the first time what spoilers are. I read up on the supernatural, cryptozoology, paranormal investigating — I event tried to develop my own psychic powers and started reading tarot cards. I thought Mulder and Scully were my ideal couple; I carried a picture of them around in my wallet. For awhile in college, I considered joining the FBI. I collected clips from all the newspapers and magazines I could.  I even wrote to Glen Morgan, executive producer of the series. To this day, no other television show, no other media product, no other fandom has meant as much to me as The X-Files.

What you see in this slideshow are just some of the artifacts I have kept for basically twenty years.

So, because it has been my birthday month, our two episodes for February have been focused on what I love. The first discussed Planet of the Apes and all of the myriad of ways the franchise has been able to comment upon our world and remain relevant through such commentary. With The X-Files, we talk somewhat about the nature of fandom and how it relates to identity and to this need for satiating nostalgia. But moreso what we discuss are the recent talks to revive the series, and whether or not a revival would work in our contemporary world.

Our conclusion is that it would, because of the increases in government mistrust and the endorsement of conspiracy theories that were so important to the original series’ concept. From birthers to truthers, from anti-vaxxers to climate change deniers, an adaptation that takes into account these current social, cultural and political factors — while throwing in a healthy dose of the supernatural and transmedia storytelling — could be a huge hit.