Where did our obsession with zombies come from? Whether you cringe or cheer for the movie violence, plan for the zombie apocalypse, or animate corpses with your own home recipe, tune in to our latest episode for an exploration of zombies in pop culture. From its origins in Haitian and West African folklore to the serialized tv sensations of today, the zombie myth persists because it touches a very real, very universal fear. With a dash of Eighteenth Century history and philosophy, this zombie cocktail will delight and inspire.
Episode 58: Daenerys ex Machina
From Dragon’s Daughter to Mother of Dragons. From Orphan to Wanderer to Warrior to Martyr. With the most straightforward hero’s journey of almost any character on Game of Thrones, it’s easy to fall in love with Daenerys. She wins us over from episode one. This week on the Midnight Myth Podcast, come with us back to Westeros, where characters often represent whole schools of thought and morality. We’re exploring Secular Humanism through the arc of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria. We’ll also dive into her personal hero’s journey, and the religious imagery surrounding and elevating her. Will she win the Game of Thrones? Let’s hold up a magnifying glass to her greatest virtues as well as her most glaring faults.
Episode 57: Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things
If you’re like us, you’re missing Game of Thrones hard. As we wait (and wait, and wait) for Season 8 to drop, we’re jumping back into Westeros and its gray moral landscape to study fan favorite character, Tyrion Lannister. He’s a hedonistic nobleman whose philosophical alignment makes our heads burst with ethics questions, whose constant quips make for great tee shirts, and whose arc is as hard to parse as it is fun to watch. Join us as we deconstruct why we love Tyrion, and why we should look closer at some of his actions before we pick up where we left off with him. Questions of morality, monstrosity, and Medieval English history abound in this SPOILER-FILLED adventure of an episode.
Episode 56: Beauty is in the Eye of Truth
Listen on Apple Podcasts
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder—but what does that say about the beholder? In an exploration of this year’s Best Picture, The Shape of Water, Derek & Laurel examine its structural similarities to the tale as old as time, Beauty & the Beast. Aesthetic philosophy, Enlightenment politics, and civil unrest all find their way into the discussion as we try to understand what makes a fairy tale for our troubled times. Come on in, the water’s fine.
Episode 53: See You Later, Alligator
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Is there a soul? One of the oldest questions humankind has ever asked works its way through almost all of our stories in some form or another. But it’s a question that pops up continually in the popular Netflix series, Black Mirror. A vision of a technological future that often devolves into dystopia, Black Mirror pits humanity against machine-learning tech, sentient digital copies, and transferred consciousness on a frequent basis. We’re taking this question up with a quieter episode though. Season Four’s Crocodile asks about whether we have a soul, not as opposed to a robot, but as opposed to the rest of the animals. And if we have a soul, what happens when it’s corrupted?
Episode 38: I Turned Myself Into A Podcast
I turned myself into a podcast is a reflection and meditation on the Sci-Fi interdimensional madness of Rick and Morty. While we all covet the power of turning ourselves into sentient pickles, the question remains, what is this show about? Is it really a hodgepodge of nihilistic philosophies turned into comedy so tragic that we don’t know if we should laugh or cry? Rick and Morty makes us laugh at the very futile nature of human existence, but somehow gives Derek and Laurel hope. Listen, as we Meseek and Destroy!
Episode 36: House Full of Mustard and no Hot Dogs
I am Jack’s toxic masculinity. Few movies attempt to address a crisis of masculinity with as much style or swagger as David Fincher’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s anarchist classic, Fight Club. But what happens when the charm and wit of your villain takes over the steering wheel? Perhaps there’s a one in a million chance the whole car blows up. So grab your fists, and remember that even the Mona Lisa won’t last forever, as Derek and Laurel dive deep into the symbolism, intentions, interpretations, and legacy of Fight Club. I am not a space monkey, I am a unique snowflake.
Episode 35: The Podcast We Deserve
Everything is Batman. Listen as Derek and Laurel lift up the Batmobile hood to look at Gotham’s favorite son Bruce Wayne and his true self, the darling of pop culture, the Dark Knight, hero of heroes, Batman. In particular, we examine Frank Miller’s the Dark Knight Returns as a watershed moment in rebranding of the crime fighter from a campy Adam West cheeseball to a tortured lonely man who will stop at nothing to fight crime. The theme, why Batman? Why is he our hero, the one who’s fame and power shakes pop culture to its very knees?
