For a long time, it’s felt like superpowers only went to lantern-jawed white men… but if we urge you to consider two up-and-coming Thirst Objects: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II — who started his comic book adaptation career as a villain in Aquaman before donning the blue paint of Watchmen’s Dr Manhattan — and Simu Liu, who went from Toronto car rental outfit in Kim’s Convenience to “master of kung fu” Shang-Chi in the upcoming Marvel movie. Sure, representation matters etc but it’s important to note that these two are tall drinks of water and we want several sips.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on Thirst Aid Kit each week. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

In this week’s Slate Plus, we’re joined by multi-hyphenate award-winning author and editor Roxane Gay, tackling Channing Tatum in ‘Explain Yourself’... Roxane is working on a couple projects with Channing, and the thing is, we’re already kinda onboard, so it’s more of a ‘tell us more” than “tell us why.” It’s a good time.

Follow us on Twitter @ThirstAidKit. Our music is by Tanya Morgan. You can find show notes, gifs and so much more on our Tumblr at thirstaidkitpodcast.tumblr.com. Remember, you can send us your own (short) drabbles by emailing thirstaidkit@slate.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices