Dolly Parton and 9 to 5
Dolly Parton let the world underestimate her for fifty years, then spent that underestimation as leverage every single time. Days after her...
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TV & Film
Superhero Ethics
Exploring ethical questions from Superhero movies and TV shows, sci-fi, and everything else geeks love
Episodes
20 of 411 episodes
Lanterns and the Ethics of Adaptation
“Lanterns” so far is more cop drama than cosmic weirdness, and comic book historian Jessica Plummer isn’t convinced the trade was worth it....
Avatar Aang: Did We Need This?
Should a beloved story get a sequel twenty years later, and does anyone actually want it? Matthew Fox and Paul Hoppe take on Avatar Aang: Th...
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Thanos says he “had to” sacrifice Gamora. Vader tells Luke it’s too late to turn back. Professional poker player Paul Hoppe joins Matthew Fo...
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
What if the hero afraid of his own power is exactly what makes it easy to fear an entire population? Matthew Fox is joined by returning gues...
Evaluating Risk: Poker, Life, and Nick Fury's Nuke
What actually separates a poker player from a gambler? Professional poker player, coach, and writer Paul Hoppe steps in as Matthew Fox’s ful...
Lattice and Writing
What happens once a society finds a way to turn a human body into an energy source, and decides that’s a good deal? Podcaster and TruStory F...
The Crystal Shard: D&D, as Game and as Story
What do you owe to a culture that built you — especially when that culture is evil? Writer and poker thinker Paul Hoppe (ZenMadman) returns...
EPISODE 400!
What happens to a friendship and a podcast over ten years and four hundred episodes? On this milestone episode, Matthew sits down with longt...
Supergirl
Did Supergirl earn her killing of the already defeated villain, or did the movie just tell us not to worry about it? Matthew Fox is joined b...
Pride (2014): When Thatcher Made Allies of Queers and Miners
In 1984, a group of London lesbians and gay men decided to raise money for striking Welsh miners, because Thatcher was going after both comm...
Spider-Noir: A Hero for the Wrong Reasons
"Ben's PTSD manifested as his alcoholism and his self-destruction as the Spider. ‘I'm just going to go out there and get punched in the face...
Masters of the Universe: He-Man and Nostagia Bait
He-Man was always camp. The loincloth, the harness, the flexing, the pink tunic, Masters of the Universe was masculinity as WWE spectacle.....
The Boys • Final Wrap Up
The Boys is over — but did it actually answer the questions it spent five seasons raising? Matthew is joined by returning guest Ocean Murff,...
Damn the Man! Empire Records After 30 Years
“Empire Records” bombed in 1995, got panned by critics, and spent the next thirty years becoming a cult classic — which tells you something...
Judges of the Card Rooms — TCGs & Poker
What does it mean to hold real authority in a card room? Matthew Fox has spent years as a judge for TCGs like Magic: The Gathering and Star...
What Made Rob McKenzie Rebel Scum?
What made you the kind of person who questions things? Returning guest Rob McKenzie joins Matthew to trace the science fiction and fantasy t...
Maul: Truth-Teller, Manipulator, or Self-Deceiver? • Maul – Shadow Lord Discussion
This conversation first aired on Star Wars Generations and we're sharing it here because it raises exactly the kind of question this show wa...
Are Superheroes Cops? Cyclops, Green Lantern & ACAB
Is Cyclops from X-Men actually a cop, or is he just annoying? That question turns out to be the perfect entry point for a much bigger one: w...
Project Hail Mary • Ethics in a Crisis
When the survival of every person on Earth depends on one unwilling scientist, one who explicitly said no to sacrificing his own life for hu...