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The Truman Show (1998) – Adoption on the Big Screen
E016 | The Truman Show (1998) – Adoption on the Big Screen
Long before we all had front-facing screens in our pockets—even before it would have occurred to us to use the term "front-facing screen"—there was somebody born to be on camera: Truman Burbank. The first baby to have been legally adopted by a corporation, Truman and his namesake show were watched, loved, and protected by millions of fans around the world—right up until he started to question that world's reality. Join podcast journalist, Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic, Sullivan Summer as we revisit a favorite, The Truman Show, on this episode of Adoption Pop!
Thank you to Pop! Star Frankie for this episode suggestion via Spotify.
The Truman Show was written by Andrew Niccol and directed by Peter Weir.
(If you start "The Imperial March" now and read really slow, it will soundtrack these entire show notes)
This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on March 25, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:
When Sullivan said, "the march of the Storm Troopers," she was obviously talking about John Waters's, "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" from The Empire Strikes Back, the NPE theme songs to rule all NPE theme songs. But you know all of this already because you're listening to it in the background. And because you're probably just a little bit evil.
Ed Harris played Sheriff Alan J. Pangborn in the 1993 film Needful Things, adapted from Stephen King's 1991 novel of the same name. There's this one scene near the end when everything is coming to a head, and it's cold and its dark and it's raining, and Ed Harris gets out of his truck and he wants to get everyone's attention, so he pumps his shotgun with one hand…
The Adoptee Consciousness Model was developed by JaeRan Kim, Susan Branco, Grace Newton, Paula O'Loughlin, and Stephanie Kripa Cooper-Lewter.
Hannah Andrews, "Cue the Sun: My Truman Show Life," Medium (April 10, 2023)
The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.
We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, what you'd like for us to cover in the future, and whether you, too, have been radicalized by us. 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, on Instagram, and on Substack.
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By Haley Radke, Kristal Parke, and Sullivan SummerE016 | The Truman Show (1998) – Adoption on the Big Screen
Long before we all had front-facing screens in our pockets—even before it would have occurred to us to use the term "front-facing screen"—there was somebody born to be on camera: Truman Burbank. The first baby to have been legally adopted by a corporation, Truman and his namesake show were watched, loved, and protected by millions of fans around the world—right up until he started to question that world's reality. Join podcast journalist, Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic, Sullivan Summer as we revisit a favorite, The Truman Show, on this episode of Adoption Pop!
Thank you to Pop! Star Frankie for this episode suggestion via Spotify.
The Truman Show was written by Andrew Niccol and directed by Peter Weir.
(If you start "The Imperial March" now and read really slow, it will soundtrack these entire show notes)
This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on March 25, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:
When Sullivan said, "the march of the Storm Troopers," she was obviously talking about John Waters's, "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" from The Empire Strikes Back, the NPE theme songs to rule all NPE theme songs. But you know all of this already because you're listening to it in the background. And because you're probably just a little bit evil.
Ed Harris played Sheriff Alan J. Pangborn in the 1993 film Needful Things, adapted from Stephen King's 1991 novel of the same name. There's this one scene near the end when everything is coming to a head, and it's cold and its dark and it's raining, and Ed Harris gets out of his truck and he wants to get everyone's attention, so he pumps his shotgun with one hand…
The Adoptee Consciousness Model was developed by JaeRan Kim, Susan Branco, Grace Newton, Paula O'Loughlin, and Stephanie Kripa Cooper-Lewter.
Hannah Andrews, "Cue the Sun: My Truman Show Life," Medium (April 10, 2023)
The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.
We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, what you'd like for us to cover in the future, and whether you, too, have been radicalized by us. 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, on Instagram, and on Substack.