Episode 38: The Most Dangerous Game

We have made--and stand by--the claim that the whale is the most dangerous game of all. Well, apparently Richard Connell felt differently, because he wrote “The Most Dangerous Game” (1924), all about a Russian aristocrat and his human-hunting playground, Ship Trap Island, which is actually called that, and has a swamp called Death Swamp, which is actually called that. The story’s hero is also a giant dope, who falls off a yacht (?) smoking a pipe in the middle of the ocean because he’s super cool and hunts snow leopards for sport. And admits to it.

We discuss Obvious Symbolism, why you’d have a Russian villain in 1924 (because he’s Russian, duh), and genres of human-hunting fiction, which sadly seems not to be a field of academic study as of yet. The academic conversations around this work are so few that a Project Muse search for “Zaroff” turns up nine results, so we suggest you listen to the Orson Welles Suspense episode from 1943: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecEVvjBRqn8. We then suggest you watch or listen to everything Welles ever did because he was a comrade.

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