Beth Harmon
Fictional characterWikipedia
16
MENTIONS
5
EPISODES
4
PODCASTS
Search complete. 16 mentions across 5 episodes found for "Beth Harmon".
Oct 18, 2026
speaker_1HOST
Based on Walter Tevis's 1983 novel.
speaker_2HOST
Anya Taylor-Joy plays Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy in the 1950s and 60s who is battling a severe drug and alcohol addiction.
speaker_1HOST
And finally, rounding out this trio at rank number 13, we have The Lincoln Lawyer.
speaker_2HOST
Based on the Michael Connelly books.
speaker_1HOST
Manuel Garcia Rulfo plays Mickey Holler, navigating the criminal justice system from the back of his car.
speaker_1HOST
Now, I want to look closely at Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit and Alex and Maid.
speaker_2HOST
Okay, let's do it.
speaker_1HOST
I keep thinking about the contrast between their specific struggles.
Aiden RaynerGUEST
where there comes a time where you just need to be able to look away because the position in the calculation is so different than the one in front of you that the chances of ghost pieces is significantly higher and you just need to be able to do it that's why Naroditsky puts his head in his shirt that's why Hikaru looks at the ceiling you've just got to be able to do it
JeanHOST
That's why Elizabeth Harmon looks at the ceiling, right? Yeah, exactly.
JeanHOST
I
Aiden RaynerGUEST
love that it's
Baz GreenlandHOST
It's, it's a bit of an onion I think.
Baz GreenlandHOST
Um, there was a cliche analogy of the chess and Beth Harmon's journey is the core of it, but there's so much more to enjoy about the show as well.
Baz GreenlandHOST
So it is one of the ones that took a long, long time to get made, you know, decades to make this.
Baz GreenlandHOST
It became Netflix's most watched scripted miniseries and it did well.
Baz GreenlandHOST
... player.
Baz GreenlandHOST
And it, and it's done in such a way that you don't feel like you're watching something fictional.
Baz GreenlandHOST
I feel like they're adapting a life story of a woman called Beth Harmon who played chess very, very well and became the US champion and the world champion.
Baz GreenlandHOST
It's almost disappointing when you actually realize that that didn't happen.
speaker_12SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Close your eyes to get away Just bang my line and I'll arrange it Beautiful girl, you're stainless You'll be fine, I'll be painless, yeah All I'm taking is champagne All you want is the same thing
speaker_8SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Yeah The 10,000 building, get your f***ing apartment Put you inside a G-Class, that's just a starter Can plenty things count in life, but none of them is the thought of it New piece around my neck is chess games Cause shorties stay with calculated moves like Beth Harmon Swear I'm more a purple rain prince than Prince Charming Disappointment, I stay expectant And the pessimists, gold medalists, flush the magnums Just so they not collecting my specimens The way she with Poppy, man, you would think she's a veteran on remembrance.
speaker_8SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Clean it, ladies, sweep the room daily for all the evidence of everything I ever did.
speaker_8SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Do they have a pool there? Do they have a gym there? You used to do skincare, but now you do swimwear.
speaker_2HOST
Taylor-Joy is perfectly cast here.
speaker_2HOST
Her breakout role as Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit proves she can carry a complex, deeply flawed prodigy-type character who is constantly oscillating between genius and self-destruction.
speaker_1HOST
Lucky is definitely walking that line.
speaker_1HOST
She is a highly skilled con artist who pulls off schemes to survive.