Adoption Pop!

E047 | Orphan (2009) – Adoption at the Movies

We have been dying to do a horror movie on the pod, and this week we get our chance! 2009's Orphan stars Peter Saarsgard and Vera Farmiga as a wealthy couple who have two children and, after the tragic loss of a third child, adopt a psychopathic, nine-year-old Russian orphan with a mysterious past. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert didn't hate this one; he rated in 3 ½ out of four stars saying, "You want a good horror film about a child from hell? You got one." Not all of us were so generous with our complements for this one. Join podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer as we carve up this adoptee horror classic.

Orphan was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace. It was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on October 28, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Orphanages, as depicted in the film, no longer exist in the US, though institutional and group homes do.

Yes, Sullivan did Google "can a child drag a dead body" because she was trying to confirm or deny Kristal's on-air assertion that the scene where Esther and Max drag the dead nun's body from the roadside was "ridiculous." This search is not to be used against her in a court of law. (And, FWIW, it depends. Apparently).

Esther, it turns out, is not from Russia, but from Estonia.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace investigated whether Natalia Barnett was an exploited Ukrainian child, or a dangerous adult pretending to be a child. Natalia was adopted in 2010, one year after Orphan premiered in theaters. Life imitates art imitates life, as Esther in Orphan was based on Barbora Šklová, a Czech woman in her 30s who posed as a 13-year-old girl to infiltrate a family and abuse the children in the household.

Rachel Abramowitz, "Quick Takes: Uproar Over Orphan Movie," LA Times (July 10, 2009)

Melissa Fay Greene "The New Movie Parents Hate," The Daily Beast (July 15, 2009)

Sara Nelson, "How One Working Mom Adopted 5 Kids—and Lived to Write About It," Oprah.com (May 2011)

"Interview with Melissa Fay Greene," Adoptivefamilies.com

Melissa Fay Greene, "A Son's Suicide: The Last Person on Earth," AfterTalk

It is a long-cited statistic that adopted people are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than non-adopted people. The study supporting that finding is here. A more recent study was published in March 2026, finding adoptees 35 times more likely to attempt suicide than non-adoptees.

Adoptee Remembrance Day is October 30. According to founder and adoptee Pamela Karanova, it is a day to remember the adoptees who died too soon through suicide, homicide, abuse, neglect, systemic failures, deportation, addiction, homelessness, institutionalization, and other adoption-related tragedies that are too often ignored or forgotten.

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We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E046 | Angels in the Outfield (1994) – Adoption at the Movies

Whether you have root root rooted for the same team your whole life or, like Kristal and Sullivan, you consider yourself a more generalized "fan," there's only one team to get behind in this episode of Adoption Pop! Angels in the Outfield, originally written and filmed in 1951 centering the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates, was remade in 1994 featuring the California Angels (the present-day "Anaheim Angels," which they became in 1997). This film has an all-star line-up: Danny Glover, Tony Danza, Christopher Lloyd, Durmot Mulroney; Adrian Brody; Matthew McConaughay; and a 12-year-old Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays Roger, a boy living in a temporary foster home until he can reunite with his dad and be a family again. This was a Pop! Star recommendation is a home run in our book!

Angels in the Outfield was written by Dorothy Kingsley, George Wells, and Richard Conlin (Father Richard F. Grady). It was directed by William Dear.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on October 21, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

At the time of this recording, the Angels are, in fact, in last place in the American League West, 18 games behind division leader, the Houston Astros. They're going to need divine intervention to salvage this season.

Angels in the Outfield was only Matthew McConaughay's third role, the second in which he played a named character. The first was his scene-stealing turn as David Wooderson in 1993's Dazed and Confused, the film 17-year-old Sullivan was watching instead of Angels in the Outfield.

Actress Diane Amos has been playing the "The Pine Sol Lady" since 1993, longer than she has been sitting in the Angels' center field bleachers. (OMG there is a fantastic joke about cleaning products in here somewhere).

In baseball, the manager and the head coach are the same person. In this film, it was George Knox played by Danny Glover. (We blame the Radke boys. Boys—your mom needed a few extra warm-up swings before stepping into the box on this one).

The "hearing with the Commissioner of Baseball," as Sullivan references it is in the 1951 version of the film. In 1994, it's simply a press conference. This is what happens when Sullivan watches too much background media, and she regrets what she is positive is an 18-second violation under MLB pitch clock rules.

Proof there is crying in baseball: "The kid sees an angel."

Neil Grimes, "Angels in the Outfield," University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library blog (May 16, 2016)

Information about the US Baby Scoop Era, encompassing the time in which Angels in the Outfield was written, is available here.

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

Alright alright alright.

E045 | Immediate Family (1989) – Adoption at the Movies

If you happened to see this one before, it might be because you rented it at the video store. On the cover — two couples, one teenaged and one middle aged, staring at the very pregnant belly of the teenaged girl who plans to relinquish her baby to the older couple. This film is from 1989, the hair and the wardrobe is on point, and so is the cast: James Woods and Kevin Dillon play adoptive and bio dads; while Mary Stuart Masterson plays the pregnant Lucy, and Glenn Close, post-Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons plays the hopeful adoptive mother. We have Pop! Stars Greta and Bruce to thank for suggesting we cover Immediate Family, a first-watch for podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer.

Immediate Family was written by Barbara Benedek and directed by Jonathan Kaplan.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on October 14, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Kristal and Sullivan are swept away just briefly in their love for actress Mary Stuart Masterson in her role as Idgie in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and as Watts in Some Kind of Wonderful (1987).

According to the Mayo Clinic, a doctor may advise a pregnant woman against flying after 36 weeks, and some airlines do not allow it. So we'll give Linda and Michael a pass on making Lucy schlep the 35 hours from Ohio to Seattle by bus.

Linda and Lucy share an emotional dance in the baby's nursery to Lucy's mother's favoriate song, Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic."

Lucy is alone with adoptive parents Linda and Michael while giving birth. We discussed a similar dynamic in Adoption Pop! Episode 24 Virgin River Season 7.

Learn more about Haley's project examining the realities of contemporary adoption at the On Adoption website.

Rita Kempley, "Review: Immediate Family," Washington Post (October 27, 1989).

Moira Farrow, "Pursing the Tears — and Laughter — in Parenting," New York Times (January 8, 1989).

Mary Stuart Masterson for "Immediate Family," the Bobbie Wygant Archive on YouTube.

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

And now, Kristal has to go loosen her bra.

E044 | Because She's Adopted (2023) – Adoption at the Movies

This is a very special episode of Adoption Pop!, as we cover the film Because She's Adopted, which follows a Cree adoptee from Kelowna, BC who embarks upon a journey to understand the complicated reality of her adoption, and to understand herself. Who picked this? The filmmaker and star of Because She's Adopted, our very own Kristal Parke!

You can rent Because She's Adopted and, if you are watching and listening in real time, check out Haley's and Kristal's social media to find out how you can meet them for a live screening of Because She's Adopted in the Seattle area.

Because She's Adopted was directed by James Alton, edited by Chelsea McEvoy and produced by Kristal Parke.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on October 7, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

The Adoptee Film Festival was founded by Alexandra Mann. The 2025 Shorts selections are available for viewing on demand.

The website of the Sixties Scoop Network of survivors is here.

CBC News Manitoba, "What Remains of McKay Residential School in Northern Manitoba" (September 30, 2025)

Katie Knol, "Remains of 12 children who died at Carlisle Indian School to be returned to their tribes," Pennsylvania Capital-Star (August 31, 2026)

In Episodes 27 and 28, Adoption Pop! covered Little Bird, a series centering a First Nations woman adopted into a Jewish family during the Sixties Scoop as she attempts to reconnect with her birth family and heritage

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E043 | The Sopranos "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" (2006) – Adoption on Television

A big "thank you" to Pop! Star Hannah for giving us the chance to revisit what some critics have called "the greatest, and most groundbreaking television show of all time." The Sopranos ran for six seasons from 1999 through 2007, and followed New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini, and his journey through the criminal underworld—and through therapy. In episode 4 of the final season we meet Tony in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound with a chief henchman by his side, Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri, who is about to learn he is not who he thinks he is. Join podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer as we revisit this pillar of prestige television.

The Sopranos Season 6, Episode 4 "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" first aired on April 2, 2006. It was written by Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider. It was directed by Alan Taylor.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on September 30, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

According to Brooks Vernon in ScreenRant, Paulie would have been nearing 70 in the show's final season, which makes Sullivan feel much, much better. (Also, this is exactly why she doesn't let Kristal call herself an honorary member of Gen X).

We covered the film Philomena in Episode 15 of Adoption Pop!

Dr. Amanda L. Baden et al., "Delaying Adoption Disclosure: A Survey of Late Discovery Adoptees," Journal of Family Issues (May 2019)

Learn more about the US baby scoop era at the Baby Scoop Era Research Initiative

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E042 | Sex and the City "Just Say Yes" (2001) – Adoption on Television

It may have been one of the biggest shows of the era, but its adoption story line has aged about as well as a Mandarin chicken skewer left out on the buffet too long. Season 4, Episode 12 of Sex and the City, "Just Say Yes" follows characters Charlotte and Trey as they toy with the idea of adding a Chinese daughter to their clan, much to the chagrin of Trey's mother, and much to the chagrin of podcast journalist, Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer.

Sex and the City Season 4, Episode 12 "Just Say Yes" first aired on August 12, 2001. It was written by Cindy Chupack, Candace Bushnell, and Julie Rottenberg. It was directed by David Frankel.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on September 23, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

This is the second time we have explored Charlotte's adoption story on Pop! We covered Sex and the City: The Movie in Episode 5.

According to Handwoven Magazine, all tartans are plaid, but not all plaids are tartan. Tartans have an identical pattern of stripes running vertically and horizontally, typically in a two-over-two twill pattern, resulting in overlapping square grids and the illusion of new colors blended from the originals; while the stripes in plaid vary in color, size, and/or pattern. Turns out that Sullivan is wearing plaid in this episode, not tartan. Which is fine, since she's not Scottish anyway.

If you find yourself in New York City in April, you can attend the annual Tartan Day Parade. Sullivan won't be there.

Turns out Vogue published "The 25 Best 'Sex and the City' Quotes" in 2023 and, surprisingly, Bunny McDougal didn't make the list.

Resolve is a national organization offering support and advocacy around infertility issues. It "believes adoption should be accessible to all families, regardless of income" and engages in federal lobbying to this effect, though, according to its website, does nothing to support birth/first families or adopted people. Got it.

Adoption Pop! covered the Modern Family "Pilot" in Episode 7.

Kimberly McKee, Adoption Fantasies: The Fetishization of Asian Adoptees From Girlhood to Womanhood (The Ohio State University Press, 2023)

Cindy Chupack, We Waited for You: Now We're a Family (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2023)

Cindy Chupack, The Longest Date: Life as a Wife (Penguin Publishing, 2014)

Cynthia Littleton, "Motherhood From the Heart: Cindy Chupack on Celebrating Family in All Forms with 'We Waited for You' Picture Book," Variety (May 12, 2023)

Zibby Owens interview with Cindy Chupack, Totally Booked with Zibby (November 15, 2023)

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E041 | Superman (2025) – Adoption at the Movies

Why are there so many superheroes with parental separation in their origin stories? Wikipedia has whole pages devoted to Marvel Comics orphans, and DC Comics orphans; the latter of which includes Superman, most recently rebooted in 2025 and played by David Corenswet. The film grossed nearly $619 million dollars worldwide, including contributions from the Radke family who partook of the IMAX experience. Haley, alongside filmmaker Kristal Parke and cultural critic Sullivan Summer have takes on this one hotter than the Earth's yellow sun.

Superman (2025) was written by James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, and Joe Shuster. It was directed by James Gunn.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on September 16, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Turns out the superhero hair stylist is already taken. Shamrock, also known as Molly Fitzgerald, comes from the Marvel universe. According to Wikipedia, Molly's father was a militant member of the IRA and, as Shamrock, "functions as a vessel for displaced poltergeists and the souls of innocent people who died during the war." In retirement Molly becomes a — you guessed it — hairdresser to the superheroes. Try again, Kristal!

The television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman ran for four seasons from 1993 until 1997. It starred Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane, alongside an actor so politically misaligned with us that we refuse to type his name.

The television show Smallville ran for 10 seasons from 2001 to 2011 and starred Tom Welling as Clark Kent. The show follows Clark's teenage years in Smallville, Kansas, before he formally becomes Superman.

According to Forbes magazine, Google searches on "adopt a dog near me" spiked 513% following Superman's 2025 opening weekend, with credit to the film's CGI-created dog, Crypto. Hollywood never met a child-pet-adoption mash-up it didn't like.

Man of Steel, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Henry Cavill, premiered in 2013.

The OG Superman, written by Mario Puzo, directed by Richard Donner, and starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder and others premiered in December 1978 with a 16-month-old Sullivan in the audience. This explains a lot about her taste in movies.

Joey Paur, "James Gunn Explains Superman's Controversial Krypton Parents Twist," GeekTyrant.

James Grebey, "The New Superman Hinges on a Radical Reinvention of the Man of Steel's Parents," Time (July 11, 2025)

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E040 | Frontline: Baby Brokers (2026) – Adoption on Television

As Haley works on her investigative series podcast On Adoption, other docs are also telling real stories about the adoption industry, including PBS's Frontline, which in June of 2026 aired an episode titled "Baby Brokers." Produced in collaboration with the not-for-profit, independent news organization Retro Report, the episode looks at the adoption tourism industry — the luring of pregnant women to adoption-friendly states and pressure put upon them to relinquish their children to waiting adoptive parents. Tune in as podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer discuss where the doc pushed on the conventional narrative, and where it didn't push far enough.

Frontline: The Baby Brokers first aired on June 23, 2026. It was written by Gabrielle Glaser and Sarah Weiser, and directed by Glaser.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on September 9, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Learn more about Haley's investigative series podcast, On Adoption.

Sociologist Gretchen Sisson, PhD, studies abortion and adoption. Her book, Relinquished: The Politics and Privilege of American Motherhood dispels many of the myths underlying the adoption industry.

Paul Petersen pled guilty to state and federal charges in Utah, Arizona, and Arkansas for his role in an illegal human trafficking and adoption scheme. At the time of this recording, he is in an Arizona state prison.

The Offshore podcast season three, "The Blood Calls" can be found here.

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is a co-sponsor on the ADOPT Act, as well as the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, which will grant citizenship to international adoptees adopted as children not otherwise covered in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. She is not a cosponsor of open records legislation, as indicated by Sullivan during the episode.

Adoption Pop! previously covered Apple TV's Shrinking Season 2 and Season 3, which feature a character who is an adoption consultant.

Check out Kristal's adoptee interview podcast, Because She's Adopted.

"Klobochar, Britt, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan ADOPT to Protect Adoptive Families from Exploitation," (November 20, 2025)

"National Council for Adoption Announces Adoption Hall of Fame 2025 Honorees," (October 17, 2025)

Jon Husted, "Adoption not only changed my life, but the lives of every member of my family," (November 27, 2025)

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E039 | The Blind Side (2009) – Adoption at the Movies

When the summer heat burns itself out, kids head back to school, and a hint of fall breeze rustles the trees, one thing becomes clear: football season is upon us. And while Hollywood has made many a football movie, there is one that scores bigger with audience than all the rest. 2009's The Blind Side follows the story of Michael Oher, a once-homeless Memphis teen who, with the help of a community of people throughout his young life, works his way to the NFL. The film is the highest grossing football film and sports drama of all time (unadjusted for inflation) and, as of late, the subject of controversy, all of which we get into in this very special episode of Adoption Pop! Join podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer live from Kristal's home in Canada (isn't that where all the good stuff is filmed?) as we take a close look at this Oscar winning film and the real people behind it.

The Blind Side was written and directed by John Lee Hancock. It is based on the 2006 book, The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on September 2, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Little Giants is a 1994 film starring Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill in which "misfits form their own opposing team to an elite peewee football team, coached by the elite team coach's brother," according to IMDb.

For the uninitiated, "D1," or Division 1, are those US colleges and universities competing in athletics at the highest level, and represents the most direct path to professional sports for student athletes.

You can read more about segregation academies here.

In this episode, Sullivan takes issue with the portrayal of Michael Oher as an implicitly dangerous big, Black man in the book and movie. She wishes she had been more explicit in her explanation of why this is so problematic. The supposed "threat" Black men and boys pose to white women has for centuries been used as justification for their murder, mutilation, torture, and lynching. Michael Lewis, as a white American, knows this. To lean into descriptions of Michael Oher that imply he is a threat to white women is to court violence against him, and against all Black men and boys. This was true in plantation days. It was true in the early aughts when Michael attended Briarcrest and Ole Miss. And it was true at the time we recorded this episode. It is still true.

During the discussion, Sullivan says that Sean Touhy and The Blind Side author Michael Lewis were college roommates. They were not college roommates, but rather, childhood friends.

I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to the Blind Side, and Beyond by Michael Oher with Don Yaeger

Steve Almond, "The back and forth over 'The Blind Side' misses the big picture. So did Michael Lewis," L.A. Times (August 17, 2023)

Michael Sokolove, "The Blind Side Made Him Famous. But He Has a Different Story to Tell," New York Times Magazine (August 18, 2024)

In re Michael Jerome Williams, Jr. filed in the Probate Court of Shelby County, Tennessee August 14, 2023

Ree Hines, "Sandra Bullock opens up about the challenges of being a white mom raising Black children," Today (December 1, 2021)

Emma Banks, "All About Sandra Bullock's 2 Kids, Louis and Laila: She 'Couldn't Be More Proud,'" InStyle (August 19, 2025)

Box Office Mojo, "Football Movies at the Box Office" and "Sports Drama Movies at the Box Office."

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.

E038 | Two and a Half Men "The Ol' Mexican Spinach" (2025) – Adoption on Television

The CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men aired for 12 seasons from 2003 to 2015, and originally starred 1980s film icon Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, alongside his brother Alan, played by Jon Cryer. Sheen exited the show in the ninth season and was replaced by the aughts-television-famous Ashton Kutcher (we cannot bring ourselves to type "icon" but, for a while there, he was everywhere), playing a billionaire named Walden who buys Charlie's house after he dies, allowing Alan to continue to live there. None of this matters to the opening episode of the final season when, after a serious health scare, Walden decides he should adopt a baby. Thank you to Pop! Star Alé for recommending we cover this episode!

Two and a Half Men was created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. Season 12 Episode 1, "The Ol' Mexican Spinach," originally aired on October 30, 2014, and was written by Don Reo, Jim Patterson, and Steve Tompkins. It was directed by James Widdoes.

This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on August 26, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Regular listeners and viewers may know that Sullivan is responsible for our show notes, and will break the fourth wall now to confirm: Reader, Kristal and Haley are correct. I hate this show.

We drop a lot of names in the early part of this episode, none of which are necessary to the storytelling. But if you enjoy celebrity gossip, we will remind you that in March of 2011 star Charlie Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men after a spectacular public breakdown fueled by substance abuse. He was replaced by Ashton Kutcher, star of That '70s Show (1998-2006). In 2023, Kutcher's That '70s Show co-star Danny Masterson was convicted of raping two women in 2003, and is serving 30 years to life in a California prison at the time of this writing. After Masterson's conviction, but before his sentencing, Kutcher wrote a letter to the court in defense of Masterson's character. Yuck. (OMG, Reader, they're still going. How is it that Haley and Kristal spent so much time talking about these actors' past lives? This episode is only 29 minutes long.) Jon Cryer rose to fame with the 1986 John Hughes classic Pretty in Pink, in which he played Ducky, the best friend of actress Molly Ringwald's character, Andie. It is Ducky whom Cryer dresses as in this Halloween episode of Two and a Half Men.

Where do we know the actress Aisha Tyler from? The answer is Adoption Pop! Episode 19, Friends "The One with the Donor," in which she stars as Joey's girlfriend. Reader, how did Kristal and Haley miss this callback? Talking about The Santa Clause…

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist specializing in parenting support.

Kristal missed the callback to Friends, but not to Adoption Pop! Episode 3, The Family Stone when she had something inappropriate to say about actor Luke Wilson. Oh, Reader.

Ashton Kutcher was married to actress Demi Moore for six years from 2005 to 2011. Kutcher was 25 and Moore 40 at the time they began dating.

Lesley Goldberg, "'Two and a Half Men' to Explore Gay Adoption in Final Season," The Hollywood Reporter (July 17, 2014).

"Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher planning to adopt a baby boy," Celebitchy.com citing The National Enquirer (January 30, 2009).

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram. She returns next week to put the wheels back on this thing.