The Midnight Myth Podcast: Recent Episodes
Derek Jones and Laurel Hostak
Derek & Laurel dish on myths, history, pop culture and more as they explore universal themes in storytelling. From Game of Thrones and Harry Potter to the Marvel Universe and Star Wars, we've been making pop culture sound smart since 2017. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Steve discuss the second book in the Bill Hodges Trilogy, Finders Keepers and how it connects to the Dark Tower
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
The Sleep & Sorcery book, written by Laurel, is now available in hardcover at Crossed Crow Books - and you can pre-order the paperback! crossedcrowbooks.com
Support indie bookstores by ordering at bookshop.org.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
After spending the last few months talking nothing but Star Wars, Derek and Laurel finally get to the real question we’ve all been wondering…What’s the deal with the Jedi? Religious order or security forces? Warrior or priest?
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
The Sleep & Sorcery book, written by Laurel, is now available in hardcover at Crossed Crow Books - and you can pre-order the paperback! crossedcrowbooks.com
Support indie bookstores by ordering at bookshop.org.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Steve and Derek talk Mr. Mercedes
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
The Sleep & Sorcery book, written by Laurel, is now available in hardcover at Crossed Crow Books - and you can pre-order the paperback! crossedcrowbooks.com
Support indie bookstores by ordering at bookshop.org.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
We conclude, at long last, our series on the Star Wars prequels with an in-depth look at Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. How do the Jedi sow the seeds of their own downfall? How does the Force - and our relationship to it - evolve throughout the prequels? Is this movie just a post-Freudian adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?? Come along with us to our favorite galaxy far, far away, and discuss…
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
The Sleep & Sorcery book, written by Laurel, is now available in hardcover at Crossed Crow Books - and you can pre-order the paperback! crossedcrowbooks.com
Support indie bookstores by ordering at bookshop.org.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Steve and Derek talk Stephen King’s Misery and how it relates to the Dark Tower
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Let it snow, listeners, because this is it - the definitive debate! We’re going to answer, once and for all, whether Die Hard (1988) is Christmas movie, with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY… kind of. We get deep into the internet’s favorite festive debate, and where it intersects with Post-Modernism, linguistics, and folklore in the digital age. Yippee-ki-yay, Merry Christmas!
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
And now for a movie that’s as coarse, rough, and irritating as sand! Still, in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, we find meaningful parallels to military history across the world (the US, Ancient Rome, and Enlightenment France, for example). Plus, why the Jedi should adopt a practice of courtly love.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, two podcasters strapped in for an exciting undertaking… It’s been years since we first sat down to analyze the original Star Wars trilogy, one movie at a time; now, we take on the prequels. Framing our conversation about the much-maligned films are questions about the nature of the Force, the balance of politics and fantasy escapism, and recurring narrative conventions. It’s like poetry - they rhyme.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…
We’re back for a spooky Halloween special covering Mike Flanagan’s latest anthology outing for Netflix, The Fall of the House of Usher. This reworking of the bibliography of Edgar Allan Poe opens many avenues for discussion, including a focus on Egyptian mythology and burial ritual, the multifaceted symbolism of the raven, the role of the mysterious and ancient Verna, and the recurring themes of Mr. Poe’s iconic work. Nevermore!
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Perhaps it is time to begin again…
In this wrap-up and breakdown of Ahsoka, we look to the limits (and limitlessness) of the galaxy George Lucas created over forty years ago. We share our impressions, predictions, and analysis of the show’s first season before heading into a larger conversation about the future of Star Wars.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Come on Barbie! Let’s go party!
In this laidback Midnight Myth Meditation, we’re discussing the smash-hit Barbie. We talk about its impact on cinema-going, the folklore of Barbenheimer, and how one little doll is taking on the patriarchy. With lots of love for Greta Gerwig’s triumph.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
The thrilling conclusion of our Wes Anderson series is here! This week, we take a close look at Moonrise Kingdom and its mythic and musical roots. What lies beneath the surface of this seemingly familiar story of star-crossed lovers? What makes the island of New Penzance such a unique place to set the scene? And what does Noah’s Flood - the Biblical story and the opera by Benjamin Britten - have to do with all of this?
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Steve talk Stephen King's the Talisman Part 2.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
While we gather our notes for the continuation of our Wes Anderson series, enjoy this meditation on HBO’s recently wrapped Succession. What kind of tragedy unfolds in the high echelons of corporate America? Why does the “war of succession” story compel us, wherever or whenever it is set?
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Wheel of Ka Returns to talk Stephen King’s the Talisman
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Happy Wednesday! Enjoy a little bonus meditation: our thoughts on the final(?) season of Ted Lasso, Apple TV+’s flagship show about football, positivity, and mental health. Our thoughts on the show’s most resounding themes, its wonderful characters, and applications of its lessons in real life.
COYG
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Come shed a tear or two with us on an odyssey through the Mediterranean. We’re discussing The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. We’ll plumb the depths of its emotional impact, its inspiration in the life and work of Jacques Cousteau, and the mythological stories it reworks.
This is the continuation of our mini-series on the works of Wes Anderson, everyone’s favorite symmetry-obsessed, pastel-painted auteur.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Join us, if you like, in the perfectly imperfect house on Archer Avenue, where lived the once—great Tenenbaums, a family of geniuses. A decade of failure has brought us here, the Tenenbaum children scattered across New York and the seas, and their father, Royal, at last estranged. What will happen when we get everyone back under one roof?
This is the start of our mini-series on the works of Wes Anderson, everyone’s favorite symmetry-obsessed, pastel-painted auteur. In our exploration of The Royal Tenenbaums, we’ll uncover mythological and historical connections hidden in the pastiche. Greek mythology, Roman family law, masculinity, and patriarchy are at play.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Part 3 and the conclusion of our discussion on Stephen King’s novel, 11/22/63.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Fellow Traveler's on the Path of the Beam, Derek and Steve are back doing part two of Stephen King's 11/22/63. We talk about the first two third's of the book, where its going and where it relates to the Dark Tower
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
There’s a little town upstate, a close-knit community - mainly Dutch - called Sleepy Hollow. The village is haunted by a terrible specter: the Headless Horseman. Only Ichabod Crane, a squeamish, yet sensible officer of the law can crack the mystery that plagues Sleepy Hollow - if he can avoid losing his head. Tim Burton’s Gothic melodrama Sleepy Hollow is a lush adaptation of the Washington Irving short story, ripe for exploration of its inspiration and deeper meaning - if there is a deeper meaning, that is. We talk about witchcraft, cardinals, feminism (maybe?), early American law enforcement, and the many headless horsemen of folklore and mythology.
Joining us as we get to the bottom of this movie is returning guest Jeff Lippman, the host of Garden of Doom. Thank you Jeff for your insight!
Follow Jeff on Twitter @icarusfellmd
-
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, Derek and Steve are back discussing the first four parts of Stephen King’s time traveling epic, 11/22/63. If you could change the past, would you? If you tried, would you actually change the events or would you cause a new reality to spring into existence? If you live long enough pretending to be someone else, do you become the fictitious person? All this plus predictions on where this book is heading and as always, how it connects to The Dark Tower, say thank ya, big-big.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s a Midnight Myth Meditation disguised as a two-parter, carrying on from last week’s conversation around Big Fish. What is the difference between folklore and myth - if, like 18 and 28, there’s any difference at all? Are Edward Bloom’s stories myths or folktales? Does it matter? We’ll debate and discuss in this week’s bonus episode.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Here to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth, we’re back with a long overdue discussion of Big Fish, Tim Burton’s 2003 ode to fathers and sons. We peel back the layers of this Southern Gothic fairy tale to uncover truths - objective and symbolic - mythic antecedents, and even more questions. Some Irish mythology, some Homeric epic… plus, the door is open to a second discussion, diving deep into the distinctions between myth and folklore.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, Wheel of Ka is back! On this episode Derek and Steve go to Colorado to the Overlook Hotel with Jack, Wendy and of course, little Danny Torrence. Yes my friends, this is the Wheel of Ka episode on Stephen King’s The Shining. One of his first books, it helped put King on the map as one of America’s greatest novelists. But what is this book about? How does it relate to King’s masterpiece, The Dark Tower? Is the Shining and the Touch the same? Listen as we break it down. See you at the clearing at the end of the path!
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
2022! What a year. Join the Midnight Myth for a special year-in-review, in which we discuss what we watched, what we loved, and what we learned. Some spoilers for Our Flag Means Death, White Lotus, and Andor.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie? We'll try to answer that question through a lighthearted discussion of some of our favorite seasonal flicks. Exploring the sub-genres of Christmas comedies, Christmas horror, and feel-good family films, we'll pull out the connecting threads and notice unexpected similarities.
Films discussed:
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Elf
Gremlins
Krampus
It's a Wonderful Life
Muppet Christmas Carol
—
Want more in-depth discussions of these movies? Listen to our previous episodes on Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol.
And check out some very cool episodes on Krampus, Gremlins, and Muppet Christmas Carol by friend of the pod Verbal Diorama.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the annual Midnight Myth Holiday Special! This year, we have singing Christmas-grams, narwhals, a throne of lies, and representatives from the four food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup! That’s right, we’re discussing ELF (2003), the instant Christmas classic starring Will Ferrell as the lovable Buddy. We’ll talk about the movie’s value nearly 20 years later, the history of elves and how they became associated with Santa Claus, and the notion of Christmas spirit. Plus, a story of sincerity and belief inspirational enough to power Santa’s sleigh: the story of the most famous newspaper editorial ever written.—Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.comCheck out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorceryTwitterFacebookInstagramIf you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What is canon, and why does it have such a hold on the hearts of fandoms? In this brief Midnight Myth conversation, we’ll meditate on the role of canonical judgment in our beloved pop culture franchises. With a particular eye toward The Rings of Power and Obi-Wan Kenobi, we’ll explore where the term “canon” comes from, and how we can liberate ourselves from its strictures in storytelling.
—
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, Sleep & Sorcery and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Check out Sleep & Sorcery, Laurel’s podcast for fantasy and folklore-inspired bedtime stories. Support on Patreon: patreon.com/sleepandsorcery
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
CW: discussion of pregnancy and infant loss, traumatic birth, suicide
In this week’s episode, we’re revisiting Westeros and the seeds of a Targaryen civil war. HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon brings an overlooked era of medieval history and politics to the screen - and adds dragons! We’ll discuss our impressions of the series, its attitudes toward women in power, and its sometimes ill-advised attempts to subvert fantasy expectations. Plus, a crash course in “The Anarchy,” the civil war of succession for the English throne in the 12th century. What can we learn from Stephen and Matilda’s bloody 19-year power struggle? And what can we learn from House of the Dragon’s repackaging of history?
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Oh my god, we’re back again.
It’s been a minute - huge life changes and all. But we’re determined to get behind the mics more in the coming months. This week, a new bonus series begins: Midnight Myth Meditations. These shorter, looser episodes will begin with a question. Something we want to meditate on with relation to our core subjects: history, mythology, philosophy, and pop culture. We’ll look at the question from all angles, with kindness and curiosity.
This week, we’re meditating on the use of the words “myth” and “mythology” to describe untruths, superstition, and world building/lore. Are we using these terms right? What can they teach us about language and critical response?
—
Podvoices.help
Please consider donating to the National Network of Abortion Funds - or to a fund in your community.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, Derek and Steve are back after a very very very long break having finally finished the Stephen King masterpiece, The Stand. As one of the King's books closest to The Dark Tower, say thank ya, The Stand offers a wealth of references, intertextual links to other King works, and a treasure trove of thoughts, reflections, and analysis. Derek and Steve pick up after part one, Rome Falls, and talk about the book after the super flu all but wipes out the human race. Derek and Steve offer their thoughts on this enigmatic tome, wondering where to place it within the body of King's broader works. Does it live up to its reputation as King's best novel? Lastly, Derek and Steve ask and attempt to answer what this book is really all about, with surprising results.
If Captain Trips has you down, don't worry, as the Wheel of Ka keeps turning and the Beam's live on, say true? Say thank ya, big big.
Podvoices.help
Please consider donating to the National Network of Abortion Funds - or to a fund in your community.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
SatanicSummer sends you out as sheep among the wolves, to the heart of Babylon! This week, we’re discussing the sinful delight that is 1997’s Devil’s Advocate. We’ll talk about the religious origin of Satan and theological efforts to explain free will (it’s a bitch!) Then, we’ll dive deep into Devil’s Advocate’s greatest literary origins: Faust and Paradise Lost. At once a legal thriller, a gothic horror, and a domestic epic, Devil’s Advocate plays in murky moral waters that are a treasure trove of philosophy, history, and mythology.
—
Podvoices.help
Please consider donating to the National Network of Abortion Funds - or to a fund in your community.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
SatanicSummer continues with our roundup and discussion of Stranger Things Season 4. In this season, Netflix’s runaway hit introduced a monstrous new villain and lovable new side characters, and found interesting ways to reshape their formula. Meanwhile, it takes inspiration from the very real, very disturbing moral panic, known as the Satanic Panic, of 1980s America. We discuss the complexities of American social and political change that led to mass persecution of outsiders, as well as the psychiatric “innovation” that laid the groundwork for it. Additionally, we’ll discuss the Dungeons & Dragons villain Vecna, who lends his name to this series’ Big Bad. Who is Vecna the Archlich? Where did he come from? Is he anything more than a namesake for the Stranger Things character?
WARNING: Major spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4! Mild content warning for some of the Satanic Panic details discussed.
—
Podvoices.help
Please consider donating to the National Network of Abortion Funds - or to a fund in your community.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?
Join us – and special guest Jeff Lippman of Garden of Doom – for a special episode on Robert Eggers’ feature-length directorial debut, The Witch: A New England Folk Tale (2015). It’s the story of a 17th century Puritan family cast to the edges of the wilderness, where they’re met with misery and ordeals at the hands of an evil presence in the wood. Turning against their eldest daughter Thomasin, the family succumbs to doubt, pride, and envy as their worst nightmares unfold.
This episode brings delights more sumptuous than the taste of butter, or a pretty dress. We discuss how witch persecution was legally codified in the early modern world, the development of the figure of Baphomet or the Sabbatic Goat, and the ancient and medieval mythologies that connect the threads.
—
Special thanks to Jeff Lippman of Garden of Doom! Find Garden of Doom and Garden Views on:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
…and most anywhere you can find podcasts!
—
Big shout-out to Black Mass Appeal: Modern Satanism for the Masses for their wonderful History of Baphomet.
—
And hey! EFF YOU SCOTUS!
We are donating our Patreon proceeds this month to the National Network of Abortion Funds. If you don’t support us on Patreon, consider making a gift to the NNAF or your local/regional abortion fund.
Abortion is health care.
Abortion is a human right.
Protect people with uteruses.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Death is only the beginning…
Dear listeners, we have a treat for you today! An epic centuries in the making - we’re thrilled to join forces once again with an adventurer, scholar, podcaster extraordinaire: Em from Verbal Diorama! Even better, we’re teaming up to cover the 1999 action adventure blockbuster The Mummy. One part ancient love story, one part classic monster flick, one part Indiana Jones-style adventure, The Mummy walks genre lines with elegance and humor to create one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. We’ll dive into the history and legacy of the film with Em (wait till you hear who was supposed to direct this one!), learn about the Imperial ironies that dictate historical study of Ancient Egypt with Derek, and explore surprising literary connections to another classic monster with Laurel.
You can check out more of the history and legacy of movies you know (and movies you don’t!) at Verbal Diorama, available wherever you get your podcasts!
Apple
Spotify
And catch up with Em on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We bring you this episode for the glory of our beloved company, in deference to Kier.
We’re back! With a breakdown of one of the year’s most puzzling, thrilling, and mind-boggling new shows, Severance. This show has everything: Kafkaesque bureaucratic nightmare; Humorist drama inspired by Hippocratic medicine; late capitalism; academic buffoonery; wellness horror; and ritualistic workplace waffle parties. As we try to unravel the mysteries of Lumon, the controversial Severance procedure, and the rather hollow notion of “work life balance,” a couple of key themes necessitate further exploration. We’ll look to philosopher John Locke for the emergence of modern conceptions of the self and human consciousness as they relate to memory. Plus, we’ll jump in the time machine to explore a lesser-known moment in American history with strange parallels to the cult-like corporate labyrinth of Lumon: John Humphrey Noyes’s 19th century free-love commune, the Oneida Community.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
From the Godfather to the grandfather of modern cinema… This week, we’re taking on another epic American classic, considering one of—if not the finest film ever made: Citizen Kane. From the technical cinematic innovations of young director Orson Welles to the timeless tale of a media magnate turned political hopeful, Citizen Kane proves painfully resonant with the world of today. We explore the twists and turns of this slanted biography, one haunted by the figure of Kane, who, himself, remains voiceless. We track the historical evolution of mass communication and media that gave rise to Kane’s real-world analog, William Randolph Hearst—and the Yellow Journalism wars that precipitated a real-life international conflict. Ultimately, in the search for truth, we are always missing a piece of the puzzle—whether we’re looking for the truth about a man’s life, a nation’s foundational myth, or human nature itself.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Midnight Myth is proud to present our 200th episode spectacular - covering Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic The Godfather. In its 50th anniversary year, the underworld epic still burns with outstanding technical achievement and searing tragedy. With arguably career-best performances from its leading cast, rich cinematography, and a gripping story of the American Dream won and lost, The Godfather is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. We discuss the delicate strings and long-set machinations that drive our protagonist, Michael Corleone, to his moral downfall (much like a Greek tragedy), the pastoral promise of Michael’s Apollonian interlude, and how the experiences of Sicilian and Italian immigrants in America shaped generations to come. And much, much more.
Thank you for joining us for 200 episodes. May there be 200 more.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to Episode two hund— just kidding! We’re kicking off the lead-up to our big Episode 200 Spectacular with a reading of listener-submitted questions. You sent us your questions, we pondered, and we're ready to share how the sausage is made here at the Midnight Myth. Come along for our thoughts on Egyptian mythology, American Pie(?), Stephen King, working parenthood, and other out-there topics. Thank you to everyone who submitted a question. Your listenership and engagement with us is so meaningful.
Listen to the end as we reveal the winner of our Norse mythology/Marvel-themed GIVEAWAY!
AND
The announcement of our topic for Episode 200, coming soon from the Midnight Myth…
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In the beginning…
Join us for a podcast 7,000 years in the making, as we take on Marvel’s Eternals (2021)… for the second time in a few weeks - Check out our review of Eternals alongside the incomparable Geek Salad here. It’s a film teeming with history, mythology, and philosophy - the energy cocktail that powers our podcast. We discuss the mythological counterparts for the characters and artifacts in Chloe Zhao’s film, debate some of the movies most cogent themes, and argue for its place within the MCU. We also explore the interesting space Eternals occupies at the intersection of Charles Darwin, Walt Whitman, and Rene Descartes.
Be sure to participate in our Q&A - ask on any of our social platforms or via the web contact form at midnightmyth.com to be entered in a Norse myth/Marvel giveaway bundle for our 200th episode!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Coming in spring of 2022, Sleep & Sorcery is a folklore and fantasy-inspired sleep series from the co-creator of The Midnight Myth Podcast. Step across the threshold into a world of myth and magic, where you can safely drift off into a deep and comfortable sleep. Sleep & Sorcery is one part bedtime story, one part guided meditation, and one part dreamy adventure.
My name is Laurel, and I’ll be your guide on infinite fantastical journeys. On each episode of Sleep & Sorcery, I’ll whisk you away to a far-off time and place. Visit a cozy cottage in the mythical village of Slumbershire, where you’ll share a cup of tea with old friends, reminiscing on your past adventures to misty mountains and elven halls. Travel through the mysterious forests of Bohemia, encountering fairy tale creatures and exploring gothic churches. Go back in time to the court of King Arthur and embark on a meditative quest for lost relics. Soar in a spaceship among the stars, taking in the awesome sights of cosmic phenomena. Each sleep story is carefully crafted to evoke feelings of comfort, safety, and relaxation – paired with breath work or a soothing body scan to send you naturally into sleep.
Sleep & Sorcery. See you in your wildest dreams.
Music: A Glimpse of Avalon by Flouw, from EpidemicSound.com
Special Thanks to Derek Jones
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Drawers! Floors! Doors! Let’s go!
Come with us to Casa Madrigal, the magical casita that sits in the heart of a wondrous Colombian community. After spending weeks with “Surface Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” buzzing in our heads, we’re discussing Disney’s 2021 animated smash Encanto, and the myriad ways it evolves the studio’s offerings. Drawing inspiration from the beautiful landscape, culture, and music of Colombia, the literary magic of Marquez, and the tragic history of the country, Encanto weaves a vision that’s truly moving. We discuss how the Madrigal family suffers from intergenerational trauma, and the intense work they must undertake to heal their collective wounds. We also dive into the history of Colombia to try and place Encanto in time, giving the story additional emotional context. Lastly, we acknowledge some of the many mythological parallels in the story. The stars don’t shine, they burn.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Whether you wear blue robes or red, serve the White Cloaks or the Aes Sedai, or follow the way of the leaf, you’re welcome at our fire for this week’s discussion of Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time, based on the books by Robert Jordan. We explore religious, mythological, and philosophical traditions that subscribe to a cyclical cosmology (a “wheel of time”) and contemplate the implications on the story world. We also delve into the three oaths of the Aes Sedai, and the limitations of deontological moral systems in corruptible institutions. Unexpected cameos by Isaac Asimov and Cleopatra, as well.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Laurel are back, and on the eve of 2021 ending and 2022 beginning they look back on the last year and ask about how living life as new parents in a pandemic challenged, changed, and evolved their relationship to contemporary story telling. As The Midnight Myth gets close to two years since having attending a movie in a theater, what themes connect the experience of interacting with media in a pandemic environment? What narratives drew us in and how did we grow as individuals, a family and a podcast?
We discuss supporting local theater, the evolution of the MCU as it jumps into streaming television, and how the prospective of the pandemic permeates into our view of narratives… from Don’t Look Up, too Hawkeye, Ted Lasso, Midnight Mass, Morning Show, Mythic Quest, Loki, and so much more!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:
anch.co/midnight
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! For lo, I bring you tidings of a great podcast. We’re thrilled to be back in the studio with a 2021 Christmas Spectacular. This year, we’ll use the 1965 classic A Charlie Brown Christmas to explore the sweeping history of Christmas traditions like the Christmas tree, pageants, and ritual media consumption. From ancient pagan festivals to medieval mystery plays, from Washington Irving to postwar capitalism, A Charlie Brown Christmas prompts the kind of philosophical inquiry you might not expect from a 25-minute cartoon. Whatever and however you celebrate, and with whom, we wish you a happy holiday season and a joyous new year.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
I must not fear. Fear is mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings you a new Midnight Myth episode! We haven’t stopped thinking about Denis Villeneuve’s spectacular vision of Frank Herbert’s Dune for the past few weeks. Join us on Arrakis to debrief some of the historical and religious inspiration for the Dune-iverse, meditations on the purpose of mythology (is it a helpful framework for understanding our world, or a tool of the powerful to manipulate the masses?), and reflections on the bleakness of the story’s outlook. We’ll visit the Sassanid Persian Empire and a 1980s conference on nuclear semiotics along the way.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Surprise, and happy Hallo-Wednesday! We made it into the studio for a very special edition of our Perfect Movie Gauntlet. As we continue to test our criteria for the Perfect Movie (evaluating on the basis of dimensions like Timelessness, Technical Achievement, etc…), we’ve made a few tweaks to determine the Perfect Spooky Movie! Listen to find out if your fall faves—like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas—can pass the ultimate test.
Send us your contenders, or tell us why we’re wrong! We’ll head back to the lab to continue refining our formula…
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Midnight Myth returns out of a sense of duty to our listeners, inner virtue, and faith in the podcasting empire. This week, we are discussing Derek’s all-time favorite movie, and a springboard for in-depth discussions of historical fiction—Ridley Scott’s 2000 smash-hit Gladiator. We take a journey through Greco-Roman conceptions of the afterlife, interrogate the historical liberties taken by the film, and question the impact of the Roman Empire on the modern world. Learn about the connections between Maximus and the early Roman dictator Cincinnatus (who also heavily influences an important American historical figure), the Stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, the damnation of Commodus’s memory, and so much more…
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re back, fellow travelers, and we’re just racing along the path of the Beam! We have begun the massive undertaking that it Stephen King’s The Stand - and this episode will cover just the first 230 pages of the epic tome. These 230 pages contain multitudes (if you know, you know!) How do empires fall? What lies ahead after the world moves on? And how does the first act of The Stand relate to The Dark Tower? Join us for a stimulating discussion… and for the love of god, get vaccinated.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, Wheel of Ka returns with another episode, covering The Mist. This Wheel of Ka takes us to a small New England lake town. When a powerful storm knocks out the power, a strange mist descends on the town. David and his son Billy go to the market when the mist comes and the monsters who live within it. This short novel delves deep into human nature as David attempts to reconcile with what is more dangerous, the monsters who live in the mist or the monsters his neighbors become as they are trapped inside the market? As always, we discuss how this book relates to Stephen King’s masterpiece, The Dark Tower, say thank ya sai!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome back to the Midnight Myth as we cross the mighty waters of the Pacific Ocean and travel back to Medieval Japan with the Miyazaki written Studio Ghibli produced masterpiece Princess Mononoke! Listen to us ask the questions, what is Shinto, how does it inform this wonderful movie, and how does it relate to the identity of god killers and industrialists alike? As the forces of modernity threaten the Kami- the ancient spirits, gods and demons of the forest- the cursed prince Ashitaka attempts to negotiate peace between the powerful and compassionate Lady Eboshi and the mysterious and ruthless San. If there is a perfect story, its likely written by Miyazaki! Check out Verbal Diorama’s Princess Mononoke episode next: https://t.co/22P8jD5n9V — Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com Twitter Facebook Instagram If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Looking to be regaled with some marvel, myth, or tale? Look no further, for the Midnight Myth is back with some bonus material covering David Lowery’s epic Arthurian fantasy The Green Knight. Adapted from, and in conversation with, the 14th century poetic masterpiece Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, the film takes viewers on a surreal and deliberate quest with some unexpected turns along the way. In this bonus episode, Laurel discusses some of the way in which The Green Knight transforms the source material, making broader intertextual connections with the Arthurian legend. Who is St. Winifred, and why does she make an appearance in the film? What is this new take on Gawain saying about honor? Meditations on these questions and more lie before you…
—
This is the blog post I referenced about Gawain and The Lord of the Rings.
Here is our episode on Bran Stark, which discusses, among other things, talking heads in folklore and mythology.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re back, and we’re burdened with glorious purpose! On the heels of the Disney Plus series Loki, we’re looking back at the God of Mischief’s marvelous run in the MCU thus far. How did a trickster from Norse mythology become the most beloved comic book movie villain, then become an antihero, then transform into a true hero? To answer that question, we have to look at the trickster archetype in both ancient mythology and contemporary psychoanalysis. And if the Timekeepers will allow it, a conversation about the virtues of chaotic freedom in the face of authoritarianism seems in order. Dance while you still can!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
An old and disinterested king, a young and dashing prince, the heir to the throne, a beautiful queen raising her son to be kind, generous, and brave, and when the queen gives birth to a second son, the cruel maligned court magician Flagg starts his machinations to undo the peaceful realm of Delain.
The name Flagg should be familiar to fans of Stephen King, as it pops up again and again. Almost as if the nemesis of all that is good rides some sort of wheel—like the Wheel of Ka. That’s right, Derek and Steve are back at again, discussing Stephen King’s fantasy epic The Eyes of the Dragon. As young Thomas peers through the eyes of his father’s greatest trophy, the slain dragon, we peer through King’s eyes and ponder where this narrative sits along our path of the beam, the path to the Dark Tower. Say thank ya.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What do you do when someone enters your home, mistaking you for someone with the same name, and defiles your rug—the one that really tied the room together? Do you take the path of anger? Get mixed up in an intricate and complex investigation? Or embrace a new philosophy that allows you to move on? This week, we’re discussing the 1998 Coen Brothers’ classic The Big Lebowski: a film that openly discusses the philosophy of nihilism, deals in a heady mix of Eastern and Western philosophy, and does so through the language of American cinematic genres like the Western and film noir.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
And now for something completely different! This week, we’re returning to our favorite experiment—testing our patented scientific, objective, and unimpeachable process for identifying the Perfect Movie. Last year, we proposed a rubric for perfection on film, and we’re running more amazing movies through it to test our theories. From Apocalypse Now and Pulp Fiction to Pirates of the Caribbean and The Muppet Christmas Carol, will your favorites make it through? Tune in to hear what gets the Midnight Myth stamp of approval!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Content Warning: violence, war, PTSD, animal harm, child harm
This is the end. My only friend, the end. Join us on a voyage up the Nung River, through increasingly surreal episodes of war on our quest to find the elusive Colonel Kurtz. In Francis Ford Coppola’s epic vision of the Vietnam War Apocalypse Now (1979), history blends with myth, violence blends with the absurd, and the human mind makes friends of horror and moral terror. We discuss the complex history that escalated into the deeply controversial war in Vietnam and the counterculture it inspired. We search for the motivation behind adapting Joseph Conrad’s critique of colonialism, Heart of Darkness in this specific setting. And we explore the mythopoetic and psychoanalytic readings of Apocalypse Now—a story about a real war, yes, but also a universal story of rite, ritual, and epic horror.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
An old widower can’t sleep, a small city in New England is dealing with the political controversies and passions over the debate around abortion, and the wheel of Ka turns again and again. That’s right, Derek and Steve are back! The last Wheel of Ka episode ended in Derry. While Derek and Steve didn’t know at the time, Insomnia would take us back to this strange small city. Is it cursed? Is it on the path of a broken Beam? All this and more is discussed in this Dark Tower adjacent novel by the word-slinger Stephen King. We learn about the nature of Ka, and who is/is not pulling the strings of us short timers.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to my home.
Four+ years ago when we started the Midnight Myth, we published an episode reflecting on iconic villains in popular culture—one of which was the prototypical vampire, Count Dracula. Now, after oceans of time, we return to the Prince himself with a deep dive into Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We’ll discuss how Dracula came to represent vampire literature, the tradition of folklore and poetry that anticipated him, and—of course—his namesake, Vlad III Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. Plus how superstition, science, and cinema factor into the legacy of Dracula, and how all vampires are really just Lord Byron.
Bat!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
One more dawn… One more day… ONE DAY MORE! In this episode, we continue an exploration of the blockbuster works of French author Victor Hugo and their most popular adaptations. This week, the most famous French novel finds immortality in the musical Les Miserables. We discuss the 2012 Tom Hooper film adaptation from the lens of French history and Enlightenment philosophy. Why do the French come back to rebellion time and again? How do we create a just government? How do we transcend suffering? All of these questions are central to Les Mis, the story of ordinary people rising out of miserable circumstances and changing the world through acts of love.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Morning in Paris, the city awakes to the bells of Notre Dame! Join us among the clouds, in the bell tower of one of the world’s great cathedrals, where lives the mysterious bellringer. This is the story of a man and a monster—but which is which? We’re discussing the 1996 Disney adaptation of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame! One of the darkest entries in Disney’s animated canon, it explores themes of racism, infanticide, sexual obsession, deformity, and religion. We explore the development of Gothic architecture and the role of the cathedral in the story, the impressive legacy of Hugo’s novel, and the disturbing truth about anti-Romani prejudice and oppression that continues to this day.
—
Help improve education outcomes for Romani children around the world by considering a donation to the Roma Education Fund.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This week’s Midnight Myth feels a little archaic, why? Because we are heading into Archaic Greece discussing the 2004 movie Troy and its conversation with Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad. Who were the Archaic Greeks and why did they love this poem? How did The Iliad shape and transform Western Civilization and why was it transformed into the major Hollywood blockbuster Troy?
From the movie’s deconstruction of masculinity, to its critiques on a warrior class, the sun god Himself could’t be happier with this discussion!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This week on the Midnight Myth, we’re pulling every evil string of WandaVision! Walk with us through every era of sitcom glory and their synthesis with the wildly popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ll explore how WandaVision interrogates grief, trauma, and psychoanalysis through the medium of classic television. Plus, a brief detour into Tibetan Buddhism and a meditation on the famous Ship of Theseus thought experiment. Marvel’s magical new series left quite the impression on us, and we’re excited to see how it impacts the universe going forward.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Do not try to bend the spoon…first realize the truth…there is no spoon…then you will see it is not the spoon that bends, but merely yourself.
Derek and Laurel are back discussing the 1999 Sci-fi masterpiece smash hit, The Matrix. How does the movie hold up and what new themes can be learned as we dissect Neo tumbling down the rabbit hole and landing in the desert of the real? If it's the question that drives us, what questions should we be asking of this movie? What is real anyhow?
We dissect the symbols and allegories within this wonderful movie and relate them back to Plato’s Republic, the Old Testament.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow Travelers On the Path of The Beam, before you jump into the next Wheel of Ka, a quick warning; the second half of It gets dark, really dark. Steve and I have a no holds barred discussion. Please keep this trigger warning in mind, we talk about sexual assault, violence towards children, and infant loss.
Derek and Steve are back at it again, this time discussing the second half of Stephen King’s horror masterpiece, It. As the past and present collide, the Losers must confront the evil force known as It in mysterious town of Derry Maine. What does It say about themes such as free will, the nature of evil and if childhood innocence even exists?
As always, we relate every point back to the Dark Tower, say thank ya.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Watch out for Hurricane Arthur! This week, we’re finally taking on the action-packed spectacle that is James Wan’s take on Aquaman (2018). It’s not just a bonkers comic book movie filled with laser sharks, krakens, and crab people—it’s also chock-full of references to classical mythology, the Roman Empire, and the Arthurian Legend. In other words, a true Midnight Myth. DIVE IN with us as we discuss how Aquaman unites these histories and mythologies into one kingdom.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome back to the Midnight Myth for a discussion of the 2019 film adaptation of the Stephen King’s novel, Doctor Sleep, the sequel to the The Shining. What has Danny Torrence been up to since escaping the perils of the Overlook Hotel? Listen to our discussion of Danny, Abra, and the True Knot as they embrace the cycles of fate while escaping the cycles of abuse. Also, what’s up with cat? Can cats really sense when someone will die? Lastly, will discuss the steam as a breath-like representation of the human soul and spirit.
Shine on dear Midnight Myth listeners, shine on!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow Traveler’s on the Path of the Beam, Derek and Steve are back at it again with another Wheel of Ka bonus episode. This week, Derek and Steve talk about the mega-hit best selling novel Stephen King’s It. This is the first of a two parter on the book, where only the first half of the book discussed. From the nature of Derry’s most fear and hated clown, to how King expertly constructs the characters, this is a no holds barred discussion. And of course, everything is related back to the Dark Tower.
Listen to the voices in the drains, grab yourself a balloon and an “I Love Derry” baseball cap, because we all float down here.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re back with a more casual conversation as we prepare a more traditional episode in the coming weeks. Today, we’re rounding up what we watched, what we loved, what we were “meh” on in 2020. Special focus on Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, Queen’s Gambit, and The Mandalorian Season 2. We’ll keep chatting as long as the baby keeps napping!
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Oh my gosh, we recorded an episode! The conclusion of our series on the Harry Potter films is here, and we’re revisiting all your favorite places: Hogwarts Castle, Gringotts Bank, Hogsmeade, and Platform 9 3/4. We’ll discuss the history and development of castles—from military fortresses to royal residences and projections of wealth—plus how that fits in to the transition of Hogwarts from school to battleground. We’ll question the bittersweet end to a mysterious character in Severus Snape, and debate whether his sacrifices redeem his darker nature. Finally, we’ll reflect on the series as a whole, its most potent themes, and our most inexhaustible source of magic.
Thanks for bearing with us as we figure out the future of the podcast with a new baby in the family. We love you, and Happy New Year!!
—
We donated our Patreon earnings for November & December to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Grab your Deluminator because things are about to get a lot darker before the dawn. In Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows pt 1 (2010), we break the usual format—a year at Hogwarts, a final battle with the villain—for an unlikely road movie with all kinds of 2020 corollaries. As Harry and friends hunt down Horcruxes, battle with heretofore unspoken tensions within their relationships, and face doubts in each other and themselves, we’ll explore how the series so far has interrogated the mythological format. This installment—characters on a quest, nearly possessed by an evil object—may have the most in common with traditional fantasy like The Lord of the Rings, but it continually reminds us that its relationship to myth, folklore, and legend is extremely different to that of Tolkien’s world and much other fantasy. We’ll talk about more parallels to the Arthurian Legend, the significance of new (and old) magical artifacts, and more.
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for November & December to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s Year Six at Hogwarts, and while things may look somewhat back to normal at the School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, the Wizarding World is in chaos and turmoil. Join us as we take a dive into the Pensieve with Harry & Dumbledore, exploring the implications of the prophecy and the early life of Tom Riddle. We’ll discuss the concept of the Horcrux and its antecedents in Russian fairy tales and folklore from around the world. Then we’ll dig even deeper into ancient ideas that define “the soul,” and explore how the soul has evolved throughout the development of philosophy—and throughout the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince is at once the lightest and darkest installment of the series, riddled with the themes of shame, consequence, and choice. Above all, it reminds us of the courage we have to muster for the great battle to come. Take my arm.
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re sliding down the back half of the Harry Potter series with Year Five at Hogwarts: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. Things get considerably darker for Harry and his wizard pals with the introduction of a sinister new villain in Dolores Umbridge and the interference of the Ministry of Magic at Hogwarts School. In this episode, we discuss how free societies can descend into Fascism, and how we see that process mirrored through Umbridge’s changes at Hogwarts. But rarely does this happen without some backlash—we’ll compare youth activism and resistance movements like the White Rose in 20th century Germany to the emergence of Dumbledore’s Army, and how young people often move the dial on larger social movements.
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Year Four at Hogwarts brings us a tournament of epic proportions, another intricate mystery, and the return of the most powerful dark wizard of all time. In our discussion of Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, we examine how this installment, right at the halfway point of the series, marks a pivotal turning point in Harry’s journey. It’s the moment when Harry—and the series—really leaves childhood behind. We explore coming-of-age through ritual, sport, sacrifice, and symbolic death, comparing the Third Task in the Triwizard Tournament to Theseus’s mythological journey into the Cretan Labyrinth. Everything’s going to change, isn’t it?
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s Year Three at Hogwarts, and things are taking a dark turn. Alfonso Cuaron takes over the director’s chair for Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, infusing the series with new life and cinematic splendor in what many consider the strongest installment of the film franchise. We’re treated to a deep exploration of animal magic, from the culturally ubiquitous werewolf to the British folklore-infused Black Dog and the more abstract Patronus charm. Our first Divination class introduces us to the ancient history of prophecy, and sees our Enlightenment-educated Hermione Granger take on centuries-old assumptions. Join us for a lively discussion of dogs, Dementors, Time Turners, and the Roman Empire. Lumos maxima!
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’ve survived Year One at Hogwarts, but Year Two brings bigger monsters, darker secrets, and lots more mystery. Join us as we continue our journey through the eight Harry Potter films and flush ourselves down to the Chamber of Secrets. It’s our first introduction to notions of blood purity within the Wizarding World, and it solidifies the eerie magical connection between our hero, Harry, and his nemesis Lord Voldemort. We’ll discuss the mythological foundations of the basilisk and ancestral weaponry, and we’ll meditate on epistemology in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets is deeply concerned with how knowledge is imparted, who controls a narrative, and how those narratives can drive ideology, leading to the rise of oppressive regimes.
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Take the first steps with us into a world of magic. Over the next eight weeks, we’ll be going one-by-one through all eight films in the Harry Potter series, following the Boy Who Lived through his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry and his battle against the forces of evil. This week, we discuss Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001). Okay, maybe this isn’t the strongest movie in the series, but dang if it isn’t chock-full of history, mythology, and philosophy! We’ll learn a little bit about the legends surrounding the Philosopher’s Stone and alchemical tradition, the real Nicolas Flamel, and what those elements mean for the story at large. Plus, we’ll unpack one stop on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey—the Crossing of the First Threshold—which manifests in myriad ways in Sorcerer’s Stone.
Yer a wizard, Harry.
—
We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.
Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
28 days. 6 hours. 42 minutes. 12 seconds. That is when the world will end… according to Frank, the giant bunny rabbit. Closing out a run of spooky Halloween-themed episodes is the 2001 indie classic Donnie Darko. Is this film a muddled mess or an of-the-moment masterpiece? What can we make of the three seemingly conflicting threads that run through the movie—the science fiction, the vaguely religious, and the meditation on upper middle class suburban alienation? Do these thematic strings clash horribly, or are they inextricably intertwined? How do we make sense of an increasingly mad world through the eyes of Donnie? We meditate on the film’s carefully selected symbols and philosophical underpinnings to answer these questions and more.
—
Black Lives Matter. Click here to support protestors via the Philly Bail Fund, or here to directly support the family of Walter Wallace Jr.
Hey US listeners—VOTE! Go to iwillvote.com to make your voting plan in this critical election.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. MADNESS takes its toll… But listen closely to this week’s podcast—a bonkers analysis of the Queen of Midnight Movies, the ultimate cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show! We discuss the legacy of both the stage production and cinematic adaptation, how it spawned a true cult of devoted followers and a universal tradition of audience participation—going back through theatre history to understand why Rocky Horror provokes such an audience response. Plus, we’ll explore what it means to give yourself over to absolute pleasure, discussing the philosophy of Hedonism and the psychology of pleasure-seeking. Come with us to a different planet, and we’ll do the Time Warp again!
—
Hey US listeners—VOTE! Go to iwillvote.com to make your voting plan in this critical election.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Warning: Major spoilers for Hereditary (2018) in this podcast! Don’t let us ruin this movie for you!
The second installment of our spooky Halloween episode series swerves into tragic horror with Ari Aster’s 2018 directorial debut, Hereditary. An exquisite genre piece that unfolds into unexpected and deeply unsettling revelations, Hereditary may share even more in common with Greek tragedy than with its modern horror cousins like The Exorcist, The Shining, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby. We’ll discuss the influence of plays by Sophocles and Aeschylus on the film’s form and structure, the significance of miniatures, and the correlation between blood ties and the supernatural. Plus, come with us through a historical overview of the transition between ancient pagan religions and monotheism—and how the long-lasting implications of that transition have laid the groundwork for much of modern horror cinema.
—
Hey US listeners—VOTE! Go to iwillvote.com to make your voting plan in this critical election.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Yo-ho, a pirate’s life for me! Join us upon the high seas this week as we discuss perhaps the best film adaptation of a theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Why do pirates hold such a sway over our romantic imagination? Is the image of pirates we think of in any way close to the historical reality? We’ll discuss the relatively short period of time known as the “Golden Age of Piracy” and how handful of sources have created an indelible archetype. But this isn’t just a pirate story—it’s also a ghost story. Why do those two different types of narratives live side-by-side so easily? What stories or superstition and the supernatural were shared among old mariners? We’ll look to legendary ghost ships—most notably the Flying Dutchman—to trace the connections between pirates and ghosts.
Further reading:
The Pirate Worldby Angus Konstam
—
Black Lives Matter. Consider supporting protestors in Louisville via the Louisville Community Bail Fund.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Who could have imagined the impact that a simple story of domestic struggles and joys would have on the world? After more than seven film adaptations, numerous televisions adaptations, and countless versions for the stage, a new generation got its Little Women in 2019 with Greta Gerwig’s bold interpretation of the March Sisters’ story. In this episode, we’ll discuss the legacy of Little Women and how this latest film version honors the life of author Louise May Alcott while infusing the story with a contemporary urgency. Issues of gender expression, feminism, and economic independence run through the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they come of age during the American Civil War. The film also asks a question: does writing confer importance or reflect it? We examine this question from the lens of fiction storytelling, but also from the lens of history to discover Little Women’s place in both spheres.
Further reading/listening:
Why Don’t More Boys Read Little Women? By Anne Boyd Rioux for Literary Hub
The Director’s Cut: Little Women with Greta Gerwig and Rian Johnson
—
Black Lives Matter. Consider supporting protestors in Louisville via the Louisville Community Bail Fund.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
If you could change your fate, would you? Step back with us into the misty Scottish Highlands through Pixar’s 2012 fairy tale Brave. Pixar’s first woman-led feature may look like a traditional fairy tale at first, but through clever meditations on destiny, free will, and community, it rings with truths that are incredibly modern. How do we restore women’s voices in patriarchal systems? How do we balance our desire to create our own destiny with our responsibilities to family and community? In this episode, we’ll explore how Brave embraces and evolves fairy tale traditions, incorporates new takes on medieval history and world folklore, and infuses Merida and Elinor’s feminist journey with magic and grace.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Spartans! What is your profession? As we continue exploring historical fiction, this week’s episode is a deep dive into Zack Snyder’s 2006 adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300. Based on the historical Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartan soldiers laid down their lives against a massive force of the Persian army, 300 is in some ways a surprisingly accurate—and often problematic—presentation of the distant past. We’ll discuss what really (probably, maybe) happened at the Hot Gates according to the original historian himself, Herodotus, the powerful discourse it created around Western and Eastern Civilization, and how the modern adaptations of this event take those divides to a new level. We’ll never know everything there is to know about the Spartans, but thanks to the histories we have, and the myths they created, we certainly know who they believed they were.
—
Donate to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund to help protestors in Kenosha. Or donate directly to the family of Jacob Blake.
If you’re not part of a high-risk population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.
After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, educate yourself about colorectal cancer, and get screened if you’re at risk.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
All things, even the Beams, serve the Tower. Did you think this podcast would be any different? Derek and Steve have started the Wheel of Ka over, in a way. This bonus episode has your Ka-Tet returned, this time reading the wonderful Stephen King novel, Salem’s Lot. After Derek and Steve completed The Dark Tower read through, we recognized that our journey through King’s writings has only begun. While both of your hosts love The Dark Tower, there is and will be, so much more to King’s story world still worth uncovering.
How does Salem’s Lot relate to the Dark Tower? What themes of evil, its nature, its causes, its consequences, is King playing with in the book? What happens when America’s small town, with its veneer of friendly civility gets punctured by a dark house on hill and the strange nocturnal residents?
All this and more in this episode of Wheel of Ka.
—
Donate to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund to help protestors in Kenosha. Or donate directly to the family of Jacob Blake.
If you’re not part of a high-risk population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.
After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, educate yourself about colorectal cancer, and get screened if you’re at risk.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story… The question of “who tells your story” echoes throughout the Broadway sensation Hamilton: An American Musical, a blockbuster portrayal of a forgotten figure in American history. This week on the Midnight Myth, we dive deep into Lin-Manuel Miranda’s powerful piece of theatrical Americana in a surprise second investigation into the roles and responsibilities of historical fiction. We’ll go back to the big daddy of historical dramas, William Shakespeare, to learn how history plays have shaped national sentiment and historical perception. Then we’ll discuss the historical imperatives Hamilton confronts us with. What does the play ask us to do? What relationship to history does it cultivate? Does it handle American history with the delicacy it deserves—where does it triumph and where does it fall short? Hamilton is deeply important to us as art lovers and content creators, so we hope to do it justice in our conversation—or that you’ll view us with indulgence.
—
Donate to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund to help protestors in Kenosha. Or donate directly to the family of Jacob Blake.
If you’re not part of a high-risk population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.
After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, educate yourself about colorectal cancer, and get screened if you’re at risk.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
They may take our lives, but they can never take… our podcast! This week on the Midnight Myth, come with us to a distant land and a distant past, when a cruel pagan ruled England, and a kilt-wearing, face-painted band of untrained rebels beat back those tyrannical invaders. A time when princesses traveled to enemy territory to negotiate with war leaders, only to fall in love with a larger-than-life national hero… Wait a second. That doesn’t sound right. Yes, friends, we’re tackling the 1995 megahit of historical fiction, Braveheart. Spoiler alert: it’s not history. But if it’s not history, what value does it bring? We’ll explore some of the political realities of England and Scotland in the Middle Ages, the epic “source” material of the Mel Gibson flick, and the reflections Braveheart inspires regarding historiography.
—
If you’re not part of a high-risk population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What threatening shadows lie within the deep? For millennia, mankind has wrestled with the mysteries and perils of our oceans. With 80% of the world’s oceans still uncharted, it’s easy to understand why we tell stories about monsters lurking beneath the surface. Today, we’re discussing the ultimate modern realization of those fears—Stephen Spielberg’s 1975 classic Jaws. We’ll look back to the ancient world and the mythological sea monsters we once believed plagued our waters. How far have we really come from the people who imagined the Kraken, sea serpents, and six-headed man-eaters? Plus, we’ll cover the Great White in the room—why Jaws comparisons have surfaced in conversations about the coronavirus, public health, and policy debate.
—
If you’re not part of a high-rick population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
After five weeks of discussing iconic science fiction films and television—2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Rick & Morty Season 4—we’re back with a no-holds-barred discussion of the connecting themes and striking variation within the genre. Starting with a (very) brief history of sci-fi, from its ancient roots to its flourishing in the 19th and 20th Centuries, we try to arrive at a satisfying definition of the science fiction genre that celebrates its rich and diverse output. We’ll discuss how sci-fi properties frequently serve as apt social or political commentary, the changing landscape of literary voices within the genre, and the contentious distinction between sci-fi as pulp and sci-fi as “serious literature.”
—
Find out if your state offers free COVID-19 tests and get tested through Project Baseline. Thank you for wearing a mask and protecting the health and safety of your community.
__
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
After an eventful couple of weeks, we’re back in the studio with the conclusion of our mini episode series on science fiction film and television. This week, we’re getting schwifty with insights from Season 4 of Adult Swim’s Rick & Morty. Through the particular lens of Season Four, Episode Six: Never-Ricking Morty (you know, the one with the Story Train), we’ll explore what it means to be postmodern sci-fi. We’ll discuss Dan Harmon’s signature “Story Circle”—an adaptation of Joseph Campbell’s comparative mythology research—and the layers of in-universe and out-of-universe commentary this episode achieves. Like, it’s so meta. Plus, what happens when stories become the basis of entire belief systems—from Jesus Christ to the Flying Spaghetti Monster to Rick Sanchez himself…
—
Find out if your state offers free COVID-19 tests and get tested through Project Baseline. Thank you for wearing a mask and protecting the health and safety of your community.
__
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re back. In the fourth installment of our science fiction mini-series, we’re taking on another iconic sequel (and finally succumbing to the lure of James Cameron) by covering 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The sci-fi-action-blockbuster that spawned some of cinema’s most quotable moments also deals in massive questions of human responsibility, technology, destiny, and compassion. We’ll discuss Sarah Connor as an analog of Cassandra, the cursed prophetess of Troy, and the film’s parallels to a widespread mytheme. Plus, what is SkyNet? What is the technological singularity? Is the future set, or are we bound toward the same destruction via many paths? Come with us if you want to live… and learn!
—
Find out if your state offers free COVID-19 tests and get tested through Project Baseline. Thank you for wearing a mask and protecting the health and safety of your community.
__
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
“Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? It is very cold in space.” That’s right, friends, for the first time in our three years of podcasting, we are heading where no man has gone before and taking on the beloved Star Trek franchise with a deep dive into 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Considered the best of the Star Trek films, The Wrath of Khan is simply dripping with literary references, from the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible to Milton’s Paradise Lost and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. How do all these dizzyingly complex texts inform the philosophy at the heart of the story? How does this science fiction film conform to age-old revenge stories while also functioning as a naval war story in space? How do reason and passion—two powerful thematic forces in the Star Trek universe—find harmony in the characters of James T. Kirk, Spock, and the inimitable Khan? Beam up with us for the answers to all these questions and more… Part 3 of a short series on sci-fi in movies and television.
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
As we continue careening through the vacuum of space in our mini-series on sci-fi classics, we’re picked up by the commercial ship the Nostromo. A strange creature lurks on board… This week, we’re discussing Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror/science fiction mashup ALIEN. We’ll explore the ancient themes that resonate from Greek mythology into this modern masterpiece, and we’ll discuss how the persistent mind-body problem suffuses this intensely visceral film. A movie that masterfully tackles questions of gender and sexuality, survival and heroism, humanity and monstrosity. Don’t forget—if we break quarantine, we could all die.
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Open the pod bay doors and join us beyond the infinite as we dive deep into Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this first part of a mini-series on sci-fi in movies and television, we’re starting with what many consider the greatest science fiction film ever made (and we don’t disagree). We’ll explore some of the myriad readings of this ambiguous and powerful piece of visual storytelling, discuss themes of evolution and progress, and offer some insights into the unique collaboration of Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. We’ll decode some of the visual and auditory symbols, bringing analysis from the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. How does Kubrick fashion a sci-fi masterpiece that works its magic on the unconscious, stirs our “mythological yearnings,” and infuses Romance and poetry into the cold vacuum of space? All this and more on this week’s odyssey.
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Just when you thought the Wheel of Ka was over, and after 7 books of re-reads and discussion about Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, Derek and Steve return with the coda. We sat and reflected on the time, and gunslinger-esque dedication it took to complete our side project, and realized we had just one more episode of the Path of the Beam. In an interview style bonus, Derek asks Steve several questions about the books, what connects them, their strengths, their weaknesses, and debate like two old stars in a constellation over Midworld, locked in dialogue, trapped in gravity, and forever repeating.
We hope you enjoy this bonus, and remember, all things, even the Beams serve the Tower, why would this podcast be any different?
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. Skip with us down the Yellow Brick Road in this long-overdue discussion of the 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz. As the concluding subject of our five-part series on nostalgic films, we’ll explore the template Wizard sets out for the other films in our series—Back to the Future, Hook, Beetlejuice, and E.T. Why is The Wizard of Oz so baked into the collective unconscious? Does it earn a place among Classical mythology and folklore? Can it be read as a feminist text, or does it perpetuate the tragic messaging that girls and women should eschew ambition and adventure? All these questions, plus Dorothy as the existential hero and the influence of Shakespearean drama. Let’s go over the rainbow!
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In a very special Midnight Myth Bonus, we sat down with Joshua Gillingham, author of The Gatewatch, an epic troll-hunting adventure inspired by the Norse Myths and the Icelandic Sagas. For an hour+, we nerd out about all things Norse: from common misconceptions about the Era of Viking to Loki’s most outrageous antics to the evolution of trolls and dwarves throughout time. We also get the opportunity to discuss how profoundly the Norse myths and Icelandic Sagas influenced the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, and therefore, much of contemporary fantasy literature.
The Gatewatch by Joshua Gillingham is available now. Grab your copy (or e-book) from Crowsnest Books or order from your local bookstore.
Want to learn more about Norse Mythology, the Vikings, and Scandinavian Folklore? Start here!
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
The Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings by Dr. Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods & Heroes
John Bauer, painter of Scandanavian Folklore.
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent.
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Looking to get educated about systemic racism, police violence, and white privilege? Find book, film, and podcast recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Trayvon Martin
Tamir Rice
Michael Brown
Eric Garner
Sandra Bland
Freddie Gray
Alton Sterling
Philando Castile
Botham Jean
Atatiana Jefferson
Ahmaud Arbery
Doug Lewis
Breonna Taylor
George Floyd
Tony McDade
David McAtee
This list is missing so many names, so many victims of police violence and hate crimes. The Midnight Myth stands with the victims and protestors of racial injustice and state-sanctioned violence. We invite our listeners, friends, and fellow podcasters to join in solidarity, and to take actionable steps toward ending systemic racism and police brutality.
These are some steps and resources we’ve found helpful:
Open your wallet if you are able. Consider supporting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reclaim the Block, your local Black Lives Matter Chapter or Bail Fund. Or directly support the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Tony McDade. Seek out and support Black-owned businesses in your area.
Sign petitions. Hold your mayors and representatives accountable. Start by demanding to defund the police. Find out if your city has adopted 8 Can’t Wait: eight proposed reforms to use of force policy proven to reduce police killings by 72%. These measures can achieve immediate harm reduction as we work toward the ultimate goal of fully defunding police and funding community safety.
Get educated. Read, watch, listen. For podcasts, start with 1619 from the New York Times Magazine, or The End of Policing. Read White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. bell hooks. Angela Davis. Find more recommendations at bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES. Order from Black-owned bookstores.
You’ll find links to our recommendations and more in today’s show notes. Don’t lose momentum. Keep fighting for a more just and equitable world for our Black communities.
Thank you Cult 45: The Movie Podcast for inviting podcasters to participate in this Podcast Blackout. Black Lives Matter.
And until next time, be kind.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
There’s a bald spot in the forest—and something has landed there. Follow the trail of Reese’s Pieces to join us as we discuss one of the most beloved films of the 1980s: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. We’ll look to Greek mythology to understand the psychic connection between Elliot and “the goblin,” and we’ll compare Spielberg’s masterpiece to his other reworking of Peter Pan, Hook. Plus a discussion of the major themes of E.T.: empathy and homesickness, and how these themes are expressed without the interference of a clear antagonist.
—
The Midnight Myth stands with Black Lives Matter and those protesting social injustice across our country. Please join us in supporting those who will not stay silent, and consider donating to these organizations dedicated to fighting the good fight:
Minneapolis Freedom Fund
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Your local charity bail fund - find a list of Bail Bonds for major US cities here
Remember to VOTE. Make your voice heard.
—
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
So you’re recently deceased. Now what? Grab your handbooks and head into the strange and unusual world of sandworms and case workers, interior designers and, of course… Betelgeuse. Er, Beetlejuice? Third time’s the charm. This week on the Midnight Myth, we’re holing up in our idyllic Connecticut home with Adam and Barbara Maitland, and we’re discussing Tim Burton’s raucous 1988 comedy BEETLEJUICE! We’ll discuss the influence of the Gothic—from the historic Germanic tribes to the architecture to the literary genre—on Burton’s signature style. Plus we’ll visit Duat, the Egyptian Netherworld, and discuss how Ancient Egypt’s concept of the Afterlife mirrors much of what we see in Beetlejuice. Shake, shake, shake Senora!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of Beam, Derek and Stave are back at it again, this time discussing the epic conclusion of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Book VII: The Dark Tower. What did this multi-verse spinning, psych power wielding, todash chime ringing narrative mean? What happens to Roland when he reaches the Tower, and confronts shape changing monsters, laughter eating vampires, and the end of the Ka-Tet we have come to love? Come with us through the advice of Stuttering Bill on Tower Road to the final stages of an adventure that took Stephen King 35 years of his life to write. The only promise we make is that it won’t bore you, as we cover as much as we can of this wonderfully strange, horrifically dark, cyclone of book.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The five-week nostalgia gauntlet continues on the Midnight Myth with the 1991 Spielberg classic HOOK. This clever reimagining of the story of Peter Pan begins with one fundamental question: What if Peter Pan—the boy who wouldn’t grow up—grew up? This week, we follow the second star to the right (straight on till morning) and revisit Neverland as adults, feeling a lot like Peter Banning as we do. In the process, we uncover the lost memories of childhood, interrogate our nostalgic responses, and ask ourselves what the real difference is between a pirate and a Lost Boy. Are childhood and adulthood really separate countries that can’t be united? Do we lose some sense of magic and innocence as we age? What treasures can we find when we integrate our past selves with our current selves? Through the lens of psychoanalysis, history, and mythology, we put all these questions to Hook.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re going back… to the future! In the first episode of a 5-week series exploring movies that brought us joy as kids, we’re covering the beloved 1990 sci-fi classic Back to the Future. We’ll explore the mythic and literary archetypes that feed into the iconic character of Doc Brown, we’ll dive deep into the complex and fascinating world of physics and time travel, and we’ll discover how the history of science and science fiction come together in this hysterical movie. What would you do if you were transported to the 1950s? How would you look at your modern world once you got back? All this and more on this week’s Midnight Myth.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What is the answer to the ultimate question—of life, the universe, and everything? If you dig Douglas Adams, it’s 42. But what IS the ultimate question—and is that question really worth asking? This week, we’re taking on the beloved Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the one-of-a-kind sci-fi satire that brought us pan-galactic gargle-blasters, Babelfish, Vogon poetry, and everything in between. With insights from the 2005 film and the Douglas Adams novel, we’ll explore the philosophy that underlies the story—particularly as it resonates with the Absurdist philosophy of Albert Camus. We’ll also discuss the literary influence of Franz Kafka, the eerie prescience of Adams’ zany galaxy, and the ultimate questions that we constantly seek answers to. Just remember… Don’t panic (and bring a towel!)
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Put on your mask, close your eyes, and surrender to your darkest dreams. That’s right, we’re covering the longest running Broadway musical in history, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 mega-hit The Phantom of the Opera. We’’ll analyze the angel of music himself, the love triangle at the show’s core, and symbolism in the opera house through the lens of aesthetic philosophy and mythology—From Edmund Burke’s description of beauty and the sublime to Neoplatonism and the evolution of art-making. Is Phantom a great romance or a piece of gothic horror? All this and more on the Midnight Myth.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Let’s shake it up, shall we? Every week, the first words you hear on the Midnight Myth are “what is the perfect story?” We thought we’d try our hand at really answering that question. This week, we’re laying out our metrics for the perfect movie—a set of criteria we developed while trying to kill time in quarantine. We’ll go through our methodology, share listener suggestions, and run a few possibly perfect movies (Jurassic Park, Dr. Strangelove, Ghostbusters, anyone?) through the gauntlet. It’s science.
We hope you have as much fun listening to this as we had making it. Stay safe (and try to stay sane!)
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We come, at last, to the end of all things. In the final episode of our Lord of the Rings series, we cover the back half of Tolkien’s The Return of the King. From the eucatastrophic destruction of the One Ring in the fires of Mt. Doom to the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s departure for the Undying Lands, we do our best to leave no seeing stone unturned. We revisit some of the themes that have connected us throughout the series—humanity & heroism, cultivation & stewardship, styles of leadership, bravery & conformity. We discuss some of the literary and historical antecedents to the end of Tolkien’s story—such as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle and god-emperors of Rome and elsewhere. Finally, we devote special time and thought to the role of Samwise Gamgee, and argue for his unique brand of heroism. Thank you for joining us for this series on one of the great fantasy worlds of all time.
PLUS results of our Lord of the Rings giveaway are announced!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In the penultimate episode of our Lord of the Rings podcast series, we’re discussing the first half of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King (aka Book 5: The War of the Ring). It’s a fast-paced, combat-heavy book that sees the forces of Rohan and Gondor combine and Aragorn prepare to assume the kingship. We discuss the massive character growth of Pippin and Merry, two unassuming hobbits who rise to become heroes of war and politic. We revisit themes of stewardship and monarchy in the portraits of leaders like Denethor, Theoden, Aragorn, and Gandalf. We compare Eowyn to Brunhild of Norse mythology, and follow those mythological threads to new conclusions. We meditate on the weaponization of information, and how even the strongest, most beloved leaders can be led astray. Escape into Middle Earth with us.
We’re doing a Lord of the Rings GIVEAWAY! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to Sandford Gloucestershire! This week on the podcast, we’re covering a movie that’s been on our to-do list as long as we’ve been recording: HOT FUZZ. The insane cosy mystery/buddy cop flick/madcap action spectacular/slasher horror film by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg is a masterpiece of genre pastiche and comedy that brings up some unexpected philosophical questions. What is the greater good? What is the right way to serve a community? What do you do when the swan’s escaped?
In this episode, we’ll explore just a few of the threads that come together to make Hot Fuzz a complex, rewatchable masterpiece. We’ll discuss the tradition of the bromance in literature and history, and we’ll head deep into the complexities of morality and how the “greater good” can be distorted in a vacuum.
We’re doing a Lord of the Rings GIVEAWAY! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Surprise, it’s a bonus Boomerangerang!! While we usually reserve these bonus episodes for our Patreon supporters, today we’re releasing some fun audio content out to the general public—we could all use a little distraction right now. In our signature pop culture debate, we pit Looney Tunes characters against each other in a scenarios historical, mythological, and philosophical. Play along and enjoy.
We’re doing a Lord of the Rings GIVEAWAY! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Is there a monster out in the darkness? How do we know what we know? In this week’s episode, we discuss HBO’s new Stephen King adaptation, The Outsider. Spoilers abound!
We’ll talk about the epistemological conflict between Ralph Anderson and Holly Gibney, and how their tension compounds the mystery. We’ll discuss universal folklore and mythology around children, monsters, and psychic energy. This unconventional crime drama is filled with surprises, so be sure to tune in to the show before hearing our take on the history, mythology, and philosophy within!
We’re doing a Lord of the Rings GIVEAWAY! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
TARDIS time! We’re hopping in the big blue box with our favorite time-traveling superhero and her fam. A new season of Doctor Who has just wrapped on the BBC, and we have tons to say about it. In this episode, we’ll analyze one episode in particular of Series 12, and that’s Episode 8: The Haunting of Villa Diodati. The Doctor and her companions visit Lake Geneva in 1816 to witness one of the most famous gatherings in literary history—that dark and stormy night when Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Doctor William John Polidori, Claire Clairmont, and Lord Byron were shut indoors and decided to tell ghost stories. It’s the eve that Mary Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein, and that also helped birth the literary vampire genre. Did we mention there was a Cyberman present?
We’ll discuss the historical context of the Year Without a Summer, the psychology of horror, and the larger-than-life personalities of Lord Byron and the Shelley’s. Is the Doctor a Byronic hero? Why are the Romantics so obsessed with the titan Prometheus of Greek mythology? And how do time travel and sci-fi mix with the horror genre? All that and more in this week’s discussion.
We’re doing a Lord of the Rings GIVEAWAY! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In Part Two of our discussion of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, we rejoin the Ringbearers Frodo & Sam on their journey East to Mordor. Through dangerous and barren terrain, our heroes struggle to survive and pursue the near-impossible task of destroying the One Ring. It’s in this part of the series that we finally come face to face with Gollum, arguably the most wretched character in all of literature. We’ll discuss the mythological counterparts of the Waste Land, Gollum as a dark double of Frodo, and the major departures between the book and Peter Jackson’s film in terms of Frodo’s leadership style. We’ll also delve deep into the confrontation with Faramir and the host of Gondor—how is honor preserved and freedom negotiated between characters with opposing yet complementary goals? Through to the depths of Shelob’s lair, The Two Towers asks fundamental questions about the nature of morality, heroism, and legacy. Can evil conquer forever? Let’s discuss.
We’re doing a Lord of the Rings GIVEAWAY! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
My fellow travelers on the path of beam, the long wait, the long walk through the desert wastes, into the minds of the three to be drawn, through the city of Lud, into the pasts of Mejis, we have all traveled. It is here. Book 7 of Stephen King’s the Dark Tower: The Dark Tower. The final tale will be told and we shall share it together before we all meet again, at the clearing at the end of the path.
Derek and Steve discuss each character’s journey through the first two installments of Book 7, which starts with the Ka-Tet scattered across where’s and when’s. We follow Roland’s band as they unite one last time, for one last battle before the Ka-Tet shatters forever.
This is the first of two before we reach the conclusion of King’s epic, say true? Say thank ya!
Have you checked out our main podcast, The Midnight Myth? Right now we’re deep into a reread of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and we’re doing a giveaway! Follow us on Twitter and check out our pinned tweet to enter for your chance to win two LotR Funko POPs and a set of LotR Trivial Pursuit.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? This week, we return to you with the next installment of our multi-part discussion of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, this week covering the first part of The Two Towers, The Treason of Isengard. We follow Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas in their pursuit of the orcs who absconded with Merry and Pippin. We mourn the death of the complicated man Boromir. We meet new cultures—like the Ents and the Rohirrim—and find common ground on an uncertain road. Join us again in Middle Earth for discussions rich with history, mythology, medieval literature, and more.
GIVEAWAY As part of our Lord of the Rings series, we’ll be giving away a LotR gift basket to one lucky listener, including a Trivial Pursuit set, two Funko Pop vinyl figurines, and some Midnight Myth Merch (a $75 value). Follow us on Twitter @themidnightmyth and stay tuned to this series for details on how to enter!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome. Everything is fine. NBC’s acclaimed philosophical comedy The Good Place came to an end recently, and we’re here to discuss the emotional series finale and the lasting legacy of the show. Having finally reached the real Good Place, Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason (along with architect Michael and not-a-girl/not-a-robot Janet) have overseen the creation of an entirely new afterlife system. In the finale, “Whenever You’re Ready,” the show grapples head-on with the most difficult questions of existence. What happens after we die? What does it mean to live a good and happy life? Can people really improve, and how? In this installment of the Midnight Myth, we’ll also grapple with these questions of morality, spirituality, and Maximum Derek.
We’ll look for insight in Buddhism, Virgil’s The Aeneid, Aristotelian virtue ethics, and other tentpoles of moral philosophy. Will we find the forking answer to lasting peace? Maybe. But until then, take it sleazy.
Spoilers for Seasons 1-4 of The Good Place!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Part two of a two-parter on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
Hearken now to the conclusion of our conversation on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Last week, we discussed the start of Frodo’s journey, the strange characters who lurk in old forests, and the shifting boundaries and morals of Middle-Earth. This week, we’ll drill down on some key moments in Fellowship, particularly the Council of Elrond at Rivendell and the meeting with Galadriel in Lothlorien. We’ll explore Frodo Baggins’ character growth through his choices, and discuss Tolkien’s depiction of mankind through Boromir. How did Tolkien’s scholarship in medieval literature influence his writing? How does the War of the Ring apply to the modern international experience? All this and more as we continue our journey through the Third Age of Middle-Earth.
Stay tuned for future episodes on The Two Towers & The Return of the King, as well as details on an upcoming Lord of the Rings Giveaway!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Part one of a two-parter on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
One ring to rule them all… The Midnight Myth Podcast returns once more to the land of Middle Earth as we embark on a quest to explore J.R.R. Tolkien’s massively influential book series The Lord of the Rings. In this ongoing series, we’ll reread The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, discussing each book as a work of art and history. In this first installment, we discuss key moments in The Fellowship of the Ring, from the auspicious meeting with Tom Bombadil in the Old Forest to the crossing of the threshold into Lothlorien. We’ll talk about language and literacy in Middle Earth, the means by which history is communicated, and the significance of cultural difference in a world that’s breaking down. We’ll share some insights from the Peter Jackson film adaptations, but hew closest to Tolkien’s original text.
Keep listening to our Lord of the Rings episodes for more information about our upcoming LORD OF THE RINGS GIVEAWAY!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
An ancient evil lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic New England villages of Castle Rock and ‘Salem’s Lot. In this episode of the Midnight Myth, we’ll discuss Season 2 of Hulu’s Castle Rock, the anthology series set in the universe of Stephen King’s writing. This season mashes up characters and locations from Misery, Salem’s Lot, Stand By Me, and more to create a complex portrait of communities in transition. We explore parallels to the Book of Genesis in the Bible—especially the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—and explore the rise of Puritanism in 16th-18th century England and the American colonies. Sometimes, you just have to worship a demonic angel for food.
This is an exciting discussion that ties in with our ongoing podcast project, The Wheel of Ka, a quest to understand Stephen King’s fantasy series, The Dark Tower. Say thank ya!
PSA: Beware men in cloaks bearing baskets of fruit. They only want one thing.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
You’re probably wondering why we’ve gathered you all here today. Assume your alias, join us for champagne in the billiard room, and all will be revealed… This week, we’re discussing the outrageous 1985 black comedy Clue—the best movie based on a board game. This wacky film is equal parts sex farce and murder mystery, with a cast so star-studded it lights up any cable TV lineup. Through the jokes and conventions of Clue, we’ll explore the history of the Whodunit genre—especially the works of Agatha Christie—and its oft-overlooked ties to politics and social commentary. The characters in Clue may say Communism is just a red herring, but we’ll also reveal the significance of McCarthyism, the Red Scare, and blacklisting in the movie.
Most importantly, we’ll reveal who did it, and where, and with what.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Hello Fellow Travelers on the Path of the Beam, Derek and Steve are back at the next installment of the Wheel of Ka, talking the last half of Song of Susannah. Ever wonder if that sweet smelling dark looking BBQ place on the city block next to you is actually sheltering inter-dimensional monsters who are feasting on human flesh? Welcome to the Dixie Pig of episodes as your Ka-Tet breaks down the characters, scenarios and situations of Roland, Eddie, Jake and of course Susannah, can I get a God-Bomb?
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Once upon a time in… the Midnight Myth Podcast studio, Derek and Laurel took on their first study of Quentin Tarantino with his 2009 masterpiece Inglourious Basterds. This alternate history of World War 2 paints a bloody picture of power and revenge in Nazi-occupied France. We follow two independent assassination plots on Hitler and the German high command, which converge, of all places, in a cinema. In this episode, Derek & Laurel interpret Inglourious Basterds as, by turns, a fairy tale, a Western, and a classical or Elizabethan revenge drama. We’ll discuss why Seneca the Younger was Ancient Rome’s version of Quentin Tarantino. We'll learn why QT likened Shosanna to Joan of Arc. We’ll dig into the ethical quandaries presented by this movie’s very existence. We’ll really put the music into “Enzo Gorlomi.” And we’ll barely scratch the surface.
Recommended further reading.listening:
A fantastic collection of essays on Inglourious Basterds can be previewed here.
Read Sheldon Roth’s essay, My Son Killed Adolf Hitler, here.
A pretty good list of the cinematic and intertextual references in Inglourious Basterds.The untold stories of women in film get a closeup in this story from *Film School Rejects.
My Favorite Murder* did a great episode on Hannie Schaft and the Oversteegen Sisters, teenage assassins who took on the Nazis (AKA real-life Shosanna/Basterds).
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, some wars were fought, a Jedi rose, and grand destinies were revealed. But what was happening just outside of that orbit? How did the many races and species of the galaxy fare when all was said and done? Disney Plus’s new Star Wars show The Mandalorian asks these questions, and gives us a few answers. We follow a lone bounty hunter from an ancient culture through worlds familiar and new on his unexpected quest. In this episode of the Midnight Myth, we explore the influence of the Western film genre—in particular the Spaghetti Western—on The Mandalorian, and discuss the similarities and differences of the mysterious Mandalorian culture to that of Ancient Sparta. This is the way.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? That’s right, friends, we are talking GHOSTBUSTERS! The original blockbusting comedy is full of supernatural insights, historical tie-in’s, and made-up mythology. We’ll discuss the foundations of Spiritualism in America in the 19th Century, from seances to parapsychology. We’ll visit the Ancient Near East to find out who they were really worshipping in 6,000 BCE. Who are Gozer, Zuul, and Vinz Clortho? What is Slimer made of? What happens when you cross the streams? All this and more feed into the climactic battle between the forces of this world and the next in Battlefield New York. I ain’t afraid of no ghost.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Use code ‘HOLLY’ at checkout for free shipping!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’ve made it to the end of a decade—and what a decade it was! Continuing our tradition, this episode is a Midnight Myth Year-in-Review. We’ll look back at our conversations through the year and identify the common themes, motifs, and memories. Three major franchises came to a kind of close this year, so watch out for *SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Game of Thrones Season 8, and Avengers: Endgame.***
In our continued search for universal themes in storytelling, this year-end conversation helps us to gain some clarity and understand ourselves better through the stories we choose to tell.
From us here at the Midnight Myth, we wish you a healthy, happy new year!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Use code ‘HOLLY’ at checkout for free shipping!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just North of Whoville… did NOT. Welcome, friends, to another Midnight Myth Christmas Special! This is our favorite time of year, in part due to the Winter holidays’ rich historical and folkloric tradition. Each year, we turn our eye to a beloved classic holiday story to identify its connections to universal themes. This year, we’re unpacking Dr. Seuss’s ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ We’ll discuss the inspiration for the story, its roots in earlier Christmas classics like A Christmas Carol and A Visit from Saint Nicholas (’Twas the Night Before Christmas), and how the history of Christmas permeates its meaning. We’ll get in the time machine and explore Christmas in the Roman Empire, then learn more about real-world Grinches, the Puritans. We’ll even carve the roast beast.
Whatever you celebrate this Solstice Season, we wish you a warm, safe, and happy occasion, and a blessed new year.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Use code ‘HOLLY’ at checkout for free shipping!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome back, fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, and thank you for your patience as Derek and Steve prepared the next episode of the Wheel of Ka, say true? Say thank ya! This week is our first episode on Song of Susannah, and our 10th episode in the series. As we cross the milestone together, like a band of ancient cowboys crossing a magically opened door to another where and when, we sing the commala in unison! Our heroes are scattered in time and space, with Roland and Eddie battling familiar, but younger foes, Eddie and Jake are stranded in the future, watching out for the falling God-bombs, and Susannah fights the mysterious Mia for control over her own body. We are one step closer to the Tower, and will the final Beam fall?
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Use code ‘HOLLY’ at checkout for free shipping!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Is C-3PO a god? Did Obi Wan tell the truth from a certain point of view? Can the worst of the worst, like Darth Vader, really be redeemed? In the final installment of our podcast series on the Star Wars Original Trilogy, we’re hopping on our speeder bikes for a joy ride through the Forest Moon of Endor. We’ll compare the teachings of the Jedi to the contradictory nature of real-world knighthood, discuss the basis of Ewok society, and track the formation and formalization of ritual in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Use code ‘HOLLY’ at checkout for free shipping!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… In the second installment of our series on Star Wars and mythology, we’re unpacking the most powerful symbols in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Considered by most to be the best of the Star Wars movies, Empire has no shortage of philosophy and mythic symbolism to mine. We’ll explore the sacred space of darkness and light that Yoda inhabits on Dagobah, and compare his understanding of the Force—which draws deeply on Buddhist philosophy—to what we learned about it in Episode IV. We’ll meditate on the revelation of Luke Skywalker’s parentage—arguably one of the most important moments in cinema history—and its significance to the hero’s journey.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and listen to this episode for details on how to enter our joint Star Wars Funko Pop giveaway! Here is the video you’re looking for.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen… Come with us to the fairy tale kingdom of Arendelle, the setting of Disney’s 2013 megabit: Frozen. Hot (or cold) on the heels of the release of Frozen’s long-awaited sequel, we’ll unpack the meaning of Anna and Elsa’s journey into the depths of winter. You’ll hear the story Frozen is inspired by—Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Snow Queen’—and an analysis of the changes Disney made to the source. We’ll talk trolls and magic in Norse myth and Scandinavian folklore. Together, we’ll try to understand Frozen’s place in the canon of Disney’s creative output—and in the fairy tale continuum.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and listen to Episode 128: Maclunkey for details on how to enter our joint Star Wars Funko Pop giveaway! Here is the video you’re looking for.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! Take one last trip down memory lane with us for this episode from June of 2017.
“Ours is the fury.” These are the words of House Baratheon. Lords of the Stormlands, and House that brought about King Robert’s rebellion. Yes my friends, Derek and Laurel travel to the fantastic realm of Westeros, as they perform the first of many Game of Thrones character studies. The focus of the first study is Stannis Baratheon, younger brother of Robert, and his journey from second fiddle to claimant of the Iron Throne, perpetrator of filicide, and ultimately the one who brings ruin to his house. We learn that Stannis is not a unique figure, drawing upon his Greek mythological character archetype, and historical parallels. Perhaps the more fitting words for House Baratheon, “Go on, do your duty.”
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and listen to Episode 128: Maclunkey for details on how to enter our joint Star Wars Funko Pop giveaway! Here is the video you’re looking for.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In just over a month’s time, we’ll gather, along with millions across the globe, to partake in an ancient ritual: the viewing of Star Wars. The Rise of Skywalker, the conclusion to the epic Skywalker Saga, is just around the corner, so we’re going back to the source. In this discussion of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, we’ll work to decode the symbolic language in this myth for our time. Drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell, Sigmund Freud, C.G. Jung, and others, we’ll attempt to understand the true power and legacy of this beloved story.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and listen to THIS EPISODE for details on how to enter our joint *Star Wars Funko Pop giveaway!*** Here is the video you’re looking for.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in 2017.
Ya know, there are rules to this. All of this. You can’t just go around doing what you want, saying what you want, podcasting what you want. Rules. Well, listen as Derek and Laurel debate the battle tactics of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Then, a discussion of how magical systems in storytelling relate to the world of American politics.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and stay tuned for details on our upcoming Star Wars giveaway collaboration!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Turn back, listeners. Turn back. Unless you’re truly prepared for the epic team-up of Midnight Myth X Verbal Diorama! We’re thrilled to welcome Em on the podcast to discuss Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. We’ll try not to take anything for granted as we explore the technique, the enduring relevance, and the very David Bowie of it all. We’ll discuss Sarah, the fairy tale heroine who finds her own voice, Jareth, the Goblin King who sexually confused a generation, Sir Didymus of the Bog of Eternal Stench, the whereabouts of the Hoggle puppet, and so much more.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and stay tuned for details on our upcoming Star Wars giveaway collaboration!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This episode originally aired in 2017.
This episode discusses the 90s class Jurassic Park. We are re-imagining the blockbuster classic as an intellectual treatise on the role humanity has on biological systems, as we grapple with manmade climate change. Derek & Laurel trace the evolution of the age-old conflict between man and nature, exploring Jurassic Park’s modern man vs. nature narrative (and its parallels to Mary Shelley’s classic story, Frankenstein). The debate is palpable, and reminds us of the many false actors in today’s turbulent climate change discourse. But don’t let it bum you out, cause there will always be sloths on the internet. At least, I hope.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and stay tuned for details on our upcoming Star Wars giveaway collaboration!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Remember, remember the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot. This week on the Midnight Myth, we’re exploring the 2005 film V for Vendetta—and what a treasure trove of theme, history, literature, and philosophy it is! We’ll unpack connections between the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and similar historical attempts at rebuilding society through destruction of the status quo. We’ll explain why V quotes so much Shakespeare, and why he makes Evey sit through The Count of Monte Cristo. We’ll discuss the implications of the troubling torture sequence and celebrate the film’s emotional impact.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and stay tuned for details on our upcoming Star Wars giveaway collaboration!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Wheel of Ka returns with its final discussion on Stephen King’s the Dark Tower Book V: Wolves of the Calla. Your reliable hosts again discuss all the themes of this epic book from the lens of what the Dark Tower means and how this installment fits into the broader series. The second half of Book V sees the Ka-Tet working with the good folken to prepare Calla Bryn Sturgis for battle with the the deadly Wolves. From the Dogan, to trips to NYC to save the Rose, a mysterious plant deeply linked to the survival of the Tower, to learning that Walter, Flagg and Martin are all the same mysterious magical nemesis of Roland, Derek and Steve deliver the next stop on the quest, say thank ya, big-big.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and stay tuned for details on our upcoming Star Wars giveaway collaboration!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Happy Halloween 2019! Come get snowbound with us on our 3rd annual Halloween Special. This year, we’re exploring one of the spookiest, scariest, and greatest horror films of all time, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Bringing insight from the source novel by Stephen King (who famously hated the screen adaptation so much he produced his own adaptation for television), we’ll wander the halls of the Overlook Hotel, peer into Room 237 and into the crumbling sanity of Jack Torrance. Also: history of Gilded Age resorts in America, philosophy of evil, and the short story that forms the basis for much of what makes The Shining so terrifying—Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death.
Subscribe to our friends at the Pop Venture Family on YouTube, and stay tuned for details on our upcoming Star Wars giveaway collaboration!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in May 2017.
If you’re easing back into the world of “Twin Peaks” like we are, you’re ripe for a discussion of David Lynch’s 2001 masterpiece, “Mulholland Drive.” You might not realize just how much the two have in common. Spoilers abound as we take a trip down a lost highway, exploring some of Lynch’s major artistic themes and motifs as he develops as a filmmaker. Using Lynch as our blueprint, we make a case for the universal artist as an evolving thing, a person who wrestles with themes over time, allowing those themes to mature. Like our buddy Shakespeare.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Who watches the Watchmen? We did! This week on the Midnight Myth, we’re jumping down the massive rabbit hole that is Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation of the iconic graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. We analyze some of the film’s most fascinating and disturbed characters from a psychological and philosophical perspective, trying to learn what makes the Watchmen tick. It’s a landscape of real and imagined gods, human and institutional monsters. In the context of alternate history, we discuss the consequences of the counterfactual—what happened to the American Dream? It came true.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode was originally published in 2017.
Man, it sure feels good when movies and tv remind me of my youth. What’s that called again? Nostalgia. Listen as Derek and Laurel deconstruct nostalgia as a story mechanic. To uncover how it can be utilized effectively, Derek and Laurel focus on the Netflix original series, Stranger Things and look at episode 5, The Flea and the Acrobat. We also explore the weaponization of nostalgia, which can be a manipulative tool in storytelling and in politics. Watch out for Midnight Myth boomerangs, because this episode will having you flying past the moon with lovable creatures in your bike basket before you know it!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck.
On this, the illustrious day of the anniversary of Derek & Laurel’s marriage, we’re going back to the story universe that brought us together in the first place: the BBC’s Doctor Who. In a new episode format, we’ll turn our unblinking eye to the occurrences of a particular Doctor Who monster: the Weeping Angels. First appearing in the episode Blink and in several subsequent episodes and stories, the Weeping Angels terrify in a way unique among the series’ villains. Taking the form of a comforting image, they can move lightning fast, but only when they’re not being observed. We’ll dive into the iconography and theology of angels (angelology, in fact), and the quantum physics behind the Angels’ ability in this fun new installment.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Learn more about our upcoming Star Wars Funko Pop Giveaway by subscribing to our partners, the Pop Venture Family on YouTube!
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in May of 2017.
Our first foray into Arthurian and Grail Legend comes to you by way of Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. We talk about the famed cup of Christ and its role in stories through the millennia as a driving force and a rarely achieved plot device.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? As the pop culture conversation surrounds Todd Phillips' Joker, we're going back to the iconic portrayal by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman. We'll discuss the film's philosophy of justice, Batman's enduring legacy, and the movie's parallels to Victor Hugo's gothic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Learn more about our upcoming Star Wars Funko Pop Giveaway(!) and subscribe to our partners the Pop Venture Family on YouTube.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in May 2017.
Do you know what’s better than watching the Incredible Hulk smash aliens and robots? Listening to Derek and Laurel talk about it! Seriously, we talk about the emergence of the comic book movie genre, in all of its glory, splendor, wonder, and pitfalls. We discuss the point where art meets commercialism, and how the influence of big capitalist money alters the direction of art. To achieve this, we take a time machine and travel back to the Middle Ages, The Renaissance, and Victorian England. We attempt to understand modern artistic decisions through the prism of Medieval Patronage, and how this applies to our (well at least’s Derek’s) favorite movie (film if you went to film school) genre, the comic book— as well as Hollywood at large, the nonprofit arts sector, and politics today. Buckle up.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Let us ride… to… CAMELOT! That’s right, listeners, we’re heading back to the Middle Ages and the time of King Arthur, his knights of the Round Table, the golden age of chivalry and virtue… on second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place. This week, we investigate the best, most accurate cinematic adaptation of the Arthurian Legend, Monty Python & the Holy Grail. From the origins of the legend to the history of the rivalry between England and France, we’ll explore the ways in which comedy can enlighten our understanding of the stories we hold most sacred. It’s only a flesh wound.
Learn more about our upcoming Star Wars Funko Pop Giveaway(!) and subscribe to our partners the Pop Venture Family on YouTube.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, The Wheel of Ka featuring Derek and Steve is back at it again, discussing Stephen King’s epic Dark Tower book series. This month, our Ka-Tet talks about the first half of Book V: Wolves of the Calla. What does Calla Bryn Sturgis represents? What is happening with this black magic orb called “Back 13?” Who is Pere Callahan? Once a generation, the Wolves come on top of grey horses in green hoods and cloaks, stealing one of every twin born in the Calla. The twins return “runt” with their minds hollowed and their bodies growing to unnatural size. Who, if not our heroes, can stand to save the poor children and lead the good and true Calla folk from their peril? Let’s all go a little todash, and find space between our world and Roland’s as his Ka-Tet makes a stand on their dangerous quest for the Tower.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine. This episode originally aired in April 2017.
It’s bigger on the inside… What is? The TARDIS! By that, we mean Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Ya know, the blue box that the Doctor travels in? If you haven’t figured it out yet, this episode introduces Derek & Laurel’s analysis of Doctor Who. We zoom in on Series 2 ,Episode 5 (of the David Tennant era) “The Girl In The Fireplace”— one of the hidden gems in a legacy of amazing TV sci-fi. This episode traces time’s arrow, thermodynamics and the mythology of Greek demi-gods. Listen as we live, learn, and love with the Doctor and Madame De Pompadour.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In the second part of a mini-series on stories concerned with popular music, this episode takes on the award-winning Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous (2000). The rock and roll odyssey about a teenage rock journalist touring with Stillwater, a mid-level band struggling with its own success in the harsh face of stardom, engages with questions about gender, hedonism, and virtue. We’ll dig into the history of rock and roll, the development of “cool,” and the concept of the muse—from Greek mythology to modernity.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This early episode originally aired in April of 2017.
So don’t you hate it when you just want to eat some pie with your grandma and a giant wolf jerk eats you? Yeah, it’s the worst. Join us as we talk about anthropomorphic animals from ancient fables to fairy tales to modernity. We talk about the boy who cried “WOOOOOOOLF,” Red Riding Hood and Disney’s Zootopia, and ask ourselves why these stories endure—and what they can teach us along the way.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Do you believe in it? A fire which never dies, burning forever? In this week’s episode, we discuss the Oscar-winning 1984 film Amadeus, directed by Milos Forman and adapted from the stage play by Sir Peter Shaffer. The highly fictionalized account of the entwined lives of Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reframes an ancient conflict, makes myths of its subjects, and sparks a flame of inspiration through music. We’ll explore the historical context of Austria-Hungary in the 18th century, the development of Classical music, the legends surrounding Mozart’s life and career, and how the legacy of Ancient Greek theatre works its way into this modern myth.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in April 2017.
I am a computer circuit that thinks, therefore, I am? Listen to Derek and Laurel discuss the long science fiction tradition of artificial intelligence, and the history of the fictional robot. Baked into these narratives is the question of human consciousness. Intuitively, we all know we are conscious, right? But how do we define it, and can we create it in our technology? All these questions and more will be (kinda) answered in this week’s podcast, “Don’t Disconnect Me Brah!” Stories explored will include 2001: A Space Odyssey, R.U.R., Asimov’s I, Robot, and others…
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Another world. Another time. In the age of wonder… Join us this week for a discussion of the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal. Hot on the heels of Netflix’s release of a prequel series (Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), we’ll explore the richly textured world of the original film, the creatures that inhabit Thra, and the mysteries of the crystal itself. We’ll share some background on the ancient art of puppetry, and how he unification of puppet and puppeteer communicates the philosophy of the film. We’ll uncover the subconscious mythological allusions of major characters, discuss the power dynamics of skeksis and mystics, and share our love of Jim Henson’s singular achievement.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We’re republishing our back catalog to make our older episodes widely available. This episode originally aired in 2017.
Derek and Laurel are back at it again, inspired by the FX series “The People vs OJ Simpson.” They contextualize justice as a story, one that evolves through time and cultural relativity. Beginning in Ancient Greece, where mythology and justice merged as one, Derek and Laurel follow the thread to Marvel Studio’s Captain America: Civil War.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Nearly a decade after Stephen King concluded the Dark Tower, he went back to Roland and his Ka-Tet and wrote The Wind Through the Keyhole. Chronologically, the book takes place in between Dark Tower books 4 and 5, where Roland finds himself and his band of travelers taking shelter amid the dangerous freezing storm called the Starkblast. Stephen King plays with meta narrative as the story of The Wind Through the Keyhole is Roland telling a story about young Roland telling a story. From shape shifting murderers to tigers in a cage, Derek and Steve break down this interesting narrative as they travel closer and closer to the nexus of the universe, the Dark Tower, say thank ya.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
CW: sexual violence, war, genocide
Spoilers for season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu
As season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale comes to a close, we’re left with burning questions about the nature of humanity and the repetition of history. Are human beings selfish and inclined only to protect their own power? Or are they capable of remarkable acts of selflessness? What separates those who oppress others from those who rise and fight oppression? We look to the examples of recent history—specifically to the kindertransports (organized evacuations of predominantly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied areas of Europe) before and during the Second World War—to find models in our world for the kind of magnanimous, mundane, and ruthless work humans have done in service of others. We dissect season 3’s numerous parallels to the Biblical story of Exodus and the implications of those parallels. Lastly, we examine the arcs of our closest character, questioning the show’s take on redemption for even the most monstrous among us.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine—our back catalog is headed to podcast platforms near you. This episode, which originally aired in March of 2017, is the second half to our first discussion of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe. Where in the previous episode we focused on world-building through the various races of Middle Earth, here we explore the mythological precedent for magic rings and rings of power.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It's the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We're publishing our back catalog week by week to make older episodes available to all listeners. Episode 9A debuted in March of 2017.
And given unto Derek and Laurel was a podcast of power, forged in the concrete of South Philadelphia, and in it, they poured their nerdiness, love of mythology and story telling! Listen this week as we scratch the surface of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, as we examine the structure, history, and lore behind the modern world’s most famous fantasy series. We take time to look at where Wizards are from, and why Dwarfs are the conservatives of Middle Earth. We talk about how the Elves came to being, and the cyclical nature of good vs evil. We also take a look at the villains of Middle Earth and the corruptive influence of Sauron’s lidless burning eye.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It's the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We're publishing our older episodes to make them available to all listeners. Episode 8 originally aired in March of 2017.
Ever wonder if your choices are your own or if you are caught in the web of destiny? Listen to Derek and Laurel break down stories that deal with prophecy, fate, and free will and the evolution of narrative relationships to fate. We look at Oedipus in the ancient world, Macbeth in the Renaissance, and the Boy Who Lived in the modern day—all grappling with their own choices and the cruel hand of fate. Enjoy this episode, and don’t forget to play along with the game at the end!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Follow us down the rabbit hole as we wrap up a three-part miniseries on classic Disney animated features. This week, we’ll turn our gaze away from fairy tales and toward something curiouser… Alice in Wonderland. We’ll discuss the literary impact of Lewis Carroll’s beloved children’s masterpiece, the surprising logic behind the nonsense, and a philosophical outlook on Alice’s absurd adventures. What are Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum? What does the Cheshire Cat really want? And why oh why is a raven like a writing desk? Then we’ll investigate some of the key differences between the source material and Disney’s adaptation and what those differences can teach us about the historical context from which each version was born. A dash of Homer’s Odyssey and a pinch of psychedelia, and we might as well join the mad tea party.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Have you ever wondered if this world is real? Have you ever wondered if the life you are living is the good life or just the life you have been told to live? Listen to Derek and Laurel discuss storytelling that questions and deconstructs the narratives of 1990s American peace and prosperity. We talk about three amazing movies, Fight Club, American Beauty and The Matrix. Remember, all things have questions, and all questions help us understand this fundamental truth: there is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Mirror mirror on the wall, what’s the greatest podcast of all? After last week’s stimulating discussion of myth and fairy tale through the lens of Sleeping Beauty, we’re talking about the original Disney classic Snow White. We’ll deconstruct the iconic imagery of the poisoned apple and glass coffin, work through the uncomfortable implications of evil stepmothers, and spend some time with everyone’s favorite diminutive spirits, the seven dwarfs.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, the Wheel of Ka is back discussing the second half of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower book four, Wizard and Glass. Young Roland practices his secret love with Susan Delgado while playing Castles with the Big Coffin Hunters. In this episode we discuss the motivations and strategies of the main characters in the hopes it will illuminate what makes Mejis County of Mid-World so appealing. We talk everything, from the Wizard of Oz, the series first vampire, and the deadly seductive hum of the thinny in this episode. Grab your pink crystal and jump in to see where Ka, like a storm, will take you.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Once upon a time… You know the story. King and Queen have a baby girl, evil fairy shows up to the celebration and curses the girl, girl is raised in the woods by good fairies, girl meets prince, girl falls into enchanted sleep, prince slays a dragon, true love’s kiss saves the day, happily ever after. But behind Disney’s 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty lies a dark and disturbing fairy tale tradition, one in which gender and sexual politics and questions of fate are as tangled as the thorny briars surrounding the castle. This week, Derek and Laurel explore the legacy of our most beloved fairy tales and their Disney adaptations. We’ll uncover corollaries to classical mythology, psychoanalytical interpretations, gender stereotypes and more in Sleeping Beauty.
CW: brief discussion of sexual assault
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This is Episode 6: Rebel Rebel, which originally aired in March of 2017. Derek and Laurel discuss rebellion, resistance, and revolution in stories. From the Hunger Games to Star Wars in the realms of sci-fi and fantasy and dramatizations of historical events like Les Miserables and Hamilton. So hop in the time machine with us and enjoy Episode 6: Rebel Rebel.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Yes, friends, the time has come—we’ve endeavored to analyze Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor of the MCU, but there’s a (very) large gaping hole in our exploration of the core Avengers: The Incredible Hulk. In this case study of the dual-natured hero, we’ll uncover his relationship to the Greco-Roman myths and cults of Hercules, as well as his inspiration in 19th century literature like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. From there, we’ll learn more about the psychology of anger and the journey we all face to confront our emotions and the Hulk inside all of us.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In Episode 5: The Joke, which aired originally in 2017, Derek & Laurel explore one of the most iconic villains of all time: the Joker. With an eye to one of the Joker's most enduring comic book iterations: Alan Moore's 1988 one-shot graphic novel The Killing Joke, we'll decipher his underlying philosophy (and point out some of his most problematic issues). CW: sexual assault
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Boomerangerang is back, babies! Inspired by our discussions from the past few weeks—and our love of the Netflix show Stranger Things—we’re mixing up the format of our signature pop culture debate. It’s Team Stranger Things versus Team 80s Movies in an all-out battle for supremacy (in some completely random scenarios drawn from a hat). Who will win and who will be mindflayed? It’s anybody’s game as we throw Eleven, Hopper, Joyce and more in with characters from Back to the Future, the Neverending Story, E.T. and so many of your favorite films.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine. We’re publishing our back catalog week by week to make it available on your favorite podcast listening platforms. This is Episode 4: Rock Bottom, in which we discuss what happens when the hero of a story loses all hope. How do heroes overcome the depths of despair, loss, and suffering to be triumphant over their adversaries? In other words, when a hero hits rock bottom, how do they build themselves back up? Special hat tip to the movie Gladiator.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In the magical world of Fantasia, a storm is gathering. A great big Nothing is threatening to swallow up the land of the hopes and dreams of mankind into total oblivion. Only a great warrior—and an intrepid reader—can come together to give the Childlike Empress a new name, thus saving Fantasia from its impending doom. This week on the Midnight Myth, we’re diving headfirst into the pages of 1984’s The Neverending Story (based on the novel by Michael Ende). It’s the film that first introduced us as young people to certain mythological traditions and difficult philosophical concepts. Climb aboard your Luck Dragon for an in-depth discussion of the iconography (from AURYN to the sphinx) and philosophy (from existentialism to esoterica) of the Neverending Story.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We’re publishing our back catalog week by week, and this is Episode 3: Detected. It originally aired in February of 2017 and explored our fascination with detective stories. With a special emphasis on the best-loved detective in fiction—Sherlock Holmes—we’ll interpret the clues and uncover the truth about why detective stories continue to be told. Join the investigation by hopping in the time machine with us.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Save 15% on march through 7/6 with the code ‘SOLSTICE’
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Wheel of Ka is back! On the next installment of our podcast reread of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, Derek & Steve discuss the first half of Book Four: Wizard & Glass. King finally lets the readers into the murky history of Gliead’s last Gunslinger, Roland, and we learn of his youth and the love that would come to define the romantic nature of his heart, Susan Delgado. Derek and Steve unpack the themes, from Roland and Susan’s parallel to Paris and Helen from the Greek myth of the Trojan war, to the the traumatic and unfair predicament of Susan’s forced and sordid arrangement with Mayor Thorin. Let us not forget the three coffin hunters and their conspiracy to undo the Affiliation, or the mysterious witch, Rhea, and her pink glowing piece of glass. Grip your sandalwood revolvers and do not forget the face of your father in this next installment of the Wheel of Ka.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Save 15% on march through 7/6 with the code ‘SOLSTICE’
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re just days from the premiere of Stranger Things 3 on Netflix, so we’re going back through the first two seasons to demystify the many monsters of the Upside Down. Drawing on the mythological inspiration for the Demogorgon, the role of Dungeons & Dragons in shaping the imagination, and the long history of monsters in the movies, this episode seeks to understand why we create monstrous beasts to contend with. Most importantly, we’ll explore how Stranger Things gives us a model of monster that realizes the intangible depths of childhood trauma—and gives us a model for how to fight back. Brief cameos from Godzilla, Frankenstein, King Kong, and more as we read listener responses to our “favorite classic monster” Twitter poll!
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Save 15% on march through 7/6 with the code ‘SOLSTICE’
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine y’all! We’re publishing our back catalog week by week to make it available on all platforms. This is Episode 2: Hey Princess, which aired in February of 2017. We discuss our hero, Princess Leia/General Organa from the Star Wars franchise and her legacy for the princess archetype in Hollywood. With an exploration of Central European fairy tales and Disney’s iconic princesses, we try to learn how to better craft women characters.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Save 15% on march through 7/6 with the code ‘SOLSTICE’
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s a most triumphant part two to our discussion of the wise fools Bill S. Preston, esq. and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan! This week, we’ll get into the wacky and ambitious sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. As we track the heroes’ journey through the afterlife—heaven, hell, a new-age seance, and everywhere in between, we’ll explore its roots in Greek mythology and classic world cinema. We’ll break down the film’s relationship to the story of Sisyphus, cross-cultural personifications of death, psychoanalytical touchstones, and the medieval imagery of the Danse Macabre—because sooner or later, you’re gonna dance with the reaper.
God gave rock and roll to you.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Save 15% on march through 7/6 with the code ‘SOLSTICE’
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
IT'S THE MIDNIGHT MYTH TIME MACHINE! We’re republishing our back catalog, which has heretofore been unavailable on most platforms. We’re starting with Episode 1: Villainy, in which Derek & Laurel deliver side-by-side case studies of two iconic villains. First, an exploration of Dracula and the Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of the classic vampire tale that upends traditional villain narratives. Next, a study of Voldemort, the larger-than-life antagonist of the Harry Potter saga and magical demagogue. Plus, the basics of melodrama, and Laurel predicts Cersei Lannister's successful strategy against the White Walkers. Stay tuned each week for our older episodes in addition to our regular weekly content.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes! Save 15% on march through 7/6 with the code ‘SOLSTICE’
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The year is 2688. The place is San Dimas, California.The air is clean, the water is clean, and even the dirt… is clean! Buckle up, friends, because we’re going back (and forward) in time for this episode, exploring the cult classic and career launch for the one and only Keanu Reeves: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. For an unassuming slacker buddy comedy, Excellent Adventure delves into its own special moral philosophy, pays tribute to its sci-fi forefathers (H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and even Mark Twain), and asks a fundamental question: can art and music really change the world? Join us as we discuss progress toward Utopia, the themes and legacy of time travel science fiction, and the philosophical depth of your favorite metalheads. Most importantly, we’ll understand what it means to be excellent to each other (and party on, dudes!)
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Some physicists believe the universe was created in the Big Bang approximately 13.8 billion years ago. These theories are, unfortunately, incorrect. The universe was, in fact, created by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett, and I’m afraid it’s turtles all the way down. Welcome to the Midnight Myth Podcast’s exploration of the mythological sources and philosophies of Good Omens (a new limited series on Amazon Prime and a novel from 1990). The end times are here, and we’ve lost the Antichrist. But is it a mistake, or just part of the ineffable plan? From the Angel of the Eastern Gate and the serpent in the Garden of Eden to the philosophies of the Enlightenment and the persistent “problem of evil” within theology—this episode breaks down the big questions of existence. To the world! clink
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
With Game of Thrones in the rearview mirror, it’s time for another character study. Our listeners voted (back in early April) for a Bran Stark episode, and little did we know that he would become such a key player in the final episodes. We’ll draw on ancient Celtic and Norse mythological traditions to discover the antecedents of the character, discuss the archetypes he conforms to (and subverts), and analyze George R.R. Martin and the showrunners’ intent in crafting the final fate of Bran.
Learn more about Bran the Blessed and the Welsh Mabinogion, Odin the all-father, and the Fisher King in our sources here.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Wheel of Ka, our monthly Dark Tower podcast, is back! Join Derek and Steve for a no-holds-barred discussion of the second half of Book III: The Waste Lands. Picking up where we left off and traveling into Lud, we’ll explore the changing landscape of Stephen King’s fantasy epic, the character growth of our beloved ka-tet, and the strange new evils and dangers they encounter along the Path of the Beam. Long days, pleasant nights.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
He comes from the land of the ice and snow, with the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow… You know where we’re going with this. The third in a series of character studies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’re rounding out the core Avenger trio with everyone’s favorite god of hammers (um, we mean Thunder), THE MIGHTY THOR. From his roots in the Norse mythological tradition and rise to prominence in the era of Viking to the influence of 20th century psychology, this episode breaks apart how Marvel’s literal god character became the most down-to-earth, human Avenger. Pick up your hammer and join us in a character celebration worthy of Asgard, Midgard, and all the nine realms.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
And now our watch is ended. Join us at the end of the road as we analyze and explore the final episode of the cultural juggernaut that is Game of Thrones. We bring in historical parallels to fallen empires and civil wars, references to pagan mythology and German Expressionism, and everything in between. Was it the ending we’d all hoped for? Was it an ending we can live with? What did it all mean? All these questions and more as we bid a thankful goodbye to the beloved series.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Can storytelling change the world? How does our media shape our understanding and perceptions of other cultures? As we await the release of the live-action remake of the beloved animated film Aladdin, these questions have bubbled to the surface. In this exploration of the best-known retelling of Aladdin and his Enchanted Lamp, we’ll learn about the jinn of Islamic theology, the tangled publication history of the One Thousand and One Nights, and the stories that came together to inspire a children’s classic. You ain’t never had a podcast like us.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Game of Thrones Season 8 spoilers, y’all. Here with our quick take on Episode 5: The Bells, we’re interested in the historical context of the BIG THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK—both in our literal history and the history of Westeros. We’ll investigate conquerors like Julius Caesar and A Song of Ice & Fire characters like Jon Connington. Plus our standout scenes, MVPs, and light predictions for the finale. Ring the bells.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Love is a many splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love! Come with us to the Underworld of turn-of-the-century Paris—a nightclub, a dancehall and a bordello… the Moulin Rouge. Revisiting the 2001 modern classic by Baz Luhrmann, we’ll explore the tenets of Aristotelian tragedy, the Greek myth of Orpheus & Eurydice, and the historical period known as La Belle Epoque. The tragic love story of Christian & Satine, soundtracked with contemporary popular music, speaks to a universal catharsis and stands as one of the most dazzling cinematic experiences of the early 21st century. Won’t you join us in the Moulin Rouge tonight?
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Last of the Starks get ready for the last war this week, and we stare down the barrel of the final episodes of Game of Thrones. So many questions! Will Jon and Dany turn on each other? Who will sit on the Iron Throne? Why didn’t Jon pet the very good boy Ghost? In another bonus recap/quick analysis of the show’s final season, we share standout scenes, MVPs, a few out-there predictions, and some literary connections. Also, there was a coffee cup.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Who will campaign door to door for America? Why, the Star-Spangled Man with a plan. Our Captain America character study is here, the second in a new series of character-based podcasts from the MCU. Hot on the heels of Avengers: Endgame, Derek and Laurel analyze the long, emotional arc of a 90-year old superhero. We track his character evolution from scrappy young man to propaganda symbol to fugitive to savior in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Through comparisons to the Greek hero Perseus and the folk motif of the ‘man out of time’ as in Rip Van Winkle and the Japanese fairy tale of Urashima Taro, we get at the heart of his emotional conflict, and explore his relationship to American history and international politics. We’re with you till the end of the line.
Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth
Check out our new merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!
Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
On another special bonus episode of the Midnight Myth, Derek and Laurel tackle Game of Thrones, season 8 episode 3: The Long Night. The night is dark and full of spoilers! Who was the episode MVP? How did we handle the casualties? Where do we go from here? All that, plus an analysis of the battle tactics at Winterfell and some of the most impactful character relationships.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’re in the Endgame now. Hot on the heels of the release of Avengers: Endgame, a defining moment for the MCU, and the culmination of 22 films spanning over a decade, we’re here with a deep dive into some of the most potent themes at play. A heavily spoiler-filled discussion kicks off with our first impressions, then turns to the history of the American Civil War, 20th century psychology, and Greek mythology. There were over 14 million ways this movie could have unfolded, 14 million possible conclusions to this fight. So why is this the ONE? Assemble as we grapple with the sorrow and the triumphs of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the communal experience of storytelling.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The podcasting ka-tet is back at it again, set your watch and warrant on it. This time, Derek and Steve are tackling the third book of Stephen King’s the Dark Tower: The Waste Lands. The scope of this book meant that your pod-slingers took a look at the events of the first half of the third book— Book One: Jake, Fear In a Handful of Dust. Tune your satellite dishes, rotating atop your heads, to awesome, as Derek and Steve look at Jake, Susanna, Eddie, and Roland. The influence of the Medieval romantic epic of King Arthur, Watership Down, and good old fashion horror bubble to the surface in the fantasy western. This is an installment of the Wheel of Ka you won’t want to miss, say true!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Game of Thrones is back with its final season, and we’re here with a recap and roundup of Season 8, episode 2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Find out who our MVPs are, major themes, standout scenes, and a few fan theories and predictions going forward. Who will survive the Battle of Winterfell? Whose life will be cut tragically short in classic George RR Martin style? When will the dragons fight tete a tete? All men must die when the Night King comes knocking.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
“I am Iron Man,” declares genius billionaire, playboy, philanthropist at the end of the blockbuster movie of the same name. Our subject this week is Avenger who started it all, kicking off the MCU with a bang. With an eye to the movies and the highly-anticipated premiere of Avengers: Endgame this week, we’ll look for the mythological, historical, and philosophical roots of the man in the mechanized suit. With inspiration from Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War and Homer’s Iliad, the mythology of automata like the Golem and Talos, we’ll also ask the difficult questions surrounding modern and mechanized warfare.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Game of Thrones season 8 is upon us! Winter has come at last and we couldn’t hold our tongues. Join us for a bonus recap and analysis of season eight, episode one: Winterfell. Derek and Laurel will share their first impressions, favorite scenes, and character MVPs. There may be a prediction or fan theory or two along the way. Who will sit on the Iron Throne? Will there be an Iron Throne? Which of our favorite characters will survive, and who will go up in dragon fire? It all starts now. (Spoilers, of course.)
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In the landmark 100th episode of the Midnight Myth, we’re going back to our roots in comparative literature and mythology. Derek and Laurel revisit the Arthurian legend, Middle-earth, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for an in-depth analysis of one of storytelling’s most enduring archetypes. How does each character adhere to or evolve the archetype? What is the role of the magician-mentor in any hero’s journey? Most importantly, who would win in a fight?
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What do Charles Dickens, Albert Einstein, and Miles Morales have in common? In a follow-up to our overview of Spider-Man, Derek and Laurel (or perhaps their alternate universe counterparts) offer a deep-dive into the Spider-Verse. We’re exploring the major themes that resonate through the first big-screen appearance of a new Spider-man, Miles. Dust off your physics textbooks and join for a discussion on theories of the multiverse and Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (woo!). Crack open your copy of Great Expectations from 10th-grade English to track the foundations of serialization and the modern comic book. And most importantly, no matter what universe you hail from, remember to lend a hand to those you love.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
When the troubling chaos of life presents you with unprecedented power from a random radioactive spider bite, what do you do? In a sweeping study of one of the most popular superheroes ever (and his iconic alter ego, Peter Parker), Derek and Laurel draw on mythological and Shakespearean sources to understand the enduring appeal of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. At the core of this conversation is an unconventional coming-of-age narrative, a character who resonates with baby boomers and millennials alike, and a powerful meditation on the mantra: With great power, comes great responsibility.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Boomerangerang! A scorching pop culture debate tradition from the Midnight Myth. This time around, the theme is “Pitch the Script.” Derek & Laurel draw names of beloved film directors from a hat and fight to the death for their chosen iconoclast to direct… some pretty out-there movie concepts. Who would you rather see direct Rambo vs Bambi? Martin Scorsese or Peter Jackson? Who’s your pick for a post-apocalyptic fantasy—Sofia Coppola or Quentin Tarantino? With unabashed conviction and passionate yarn-spinning, come along with us into the bizarre world of the Boomerangerang.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Wheel of Ka returns with Derek and Steve’s discussion on Book II of Stephen King’s the Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three. What can be learned from Roland’s trip up the beach, dodging lobstrosities and crossing a doorway into another dimension only to help a heroin addict cross NYC customs with large sums of cocaine? Derek and Steve breakdown the obstacles in the path of our unlikely three heroes and how each obstacle reflects the dual nature within their souls. Can their souls be mended so that each of the three can form a questing group worthy of gaining the nexus of reality known as the Tower? And what of Mort, the Pusher, and death? Listen to this month’s episode, and say true.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In a new format of Game of Thrones analysis, this episode dives in to a relationship study of two characters from the HBO series: Ser Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth. Both raised to uphold a code of chivalry, with varying degrees of success, this pair constitutes a unique form of doubling within A Song of Ice and Fire. They represent two sides of an age-old argument—and they need one another to reach the next level in their development. With allusions to similar relationships in Dickens and Arthurian literature, Derek and Laurel dig in to the philosophies these two Westerosi knights embody. Oathkeeper or Oathbreaker, enjoy this deep dive into two fascinating characters.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This podcast is dark and full of spoilers for seasons 1-7 of Game of Thrones! In a new in-depth character study from the universe of A Song of Ice and Fire, Derek and Laurel explore the Red Woman: Melisandre. She made an explosive appearance in season two of the HBO series as the mouthpiece of a mysterious religion, and she whispered in the ears of kings, wielding her strange influence from one land to the next. By turns upholding and deconstructing the ancient archetype of the sorceress, Melisandre’s very nature is enigmatic, making the quest of understanding her a never-ending task. So we look to women of history, mythology, and folklore to grasp her inner workings, and to the faith to which she so keenly clings to imagine her deepest motivations.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What is the secret of the Grail? Who does it serve? In this long-awaited podcast, Derek and Laurel explore the legends surrounding King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Tracking the legend from its inception in the early middle ages to the definitive Hollywood adaptation, John Boorman’s dreamy Excalibur, we’ll seek the answers to the most important questions in Arthuriana. What does it mean to be king? What does it mean to be a people? What is the true quest, the true frontier? From Lancelot and Guinevere to Percival, Gawain, Morgan le Fay, and of course Merlin, this podcast leaves no sword in its stone.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed…” A simple sentence used to kick start Stephen King’s series The Dark Tower. In this bonus episode of the Midnight Myth, Derek and new guest co-host Steve do a deep dive into book one, The Gunslinger. From the slow muties, to weigh stations, and old time saloons on the edge of apocalypse playing “Hey Jude”, you don’t want to miss this palaver. Go on— and download, listen, share and review— as there are other worlds than these.
The Wheel of Ka is a new podcast mini-series from the Midnight Myth. Monthly installments feature book-by-book analysis of Stephen King’s epic fantasy series, The Dark Tower. Read along and join us for discussion.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The epic conclusion of our two-part podcast series on the legendary outlaw Robin Hood has arrived, and we’re picking up where we left off—with 1991’s Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. Kevin Costner’s very American take on the beloved hero is only one of the many compelling aspects of the film, which embodies the progressive spirit that’s infused the legend for nearly a millennia. Derek and Laurel discuss the movie’s historical context within the Crusades, its charms and missteps as pertains to its view of non-Western characters, and the dramatic techniques folded into the age-old story. Plenty of swashbuckling and praise for the immortal Alan Rickman’s dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham is to be expected as well.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We have all heard the stories, seen the movies, read the children’s books, about Medieval England’s daring outlaw, who steals from the rich to give to the poor. Join us for part one of a two episode series, as we discuss the folk origins of Robin Hood. From the beer guzzling Friar Tuck to the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham, Derek and Laurel explore the long history of this enigmatic folk hero. How did a few ballads and festivals of Medieval England become one of the most prolific heroes of all time? Head to Sherwood Forest, put on your green hoods, and notch an arrow as you don’t want to miss this stunning deep dive into this bonafide legend.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us! To celebrate the spirit of the day of love, The Midnight Myth goes back to the middle ages and the Renaissance. That’s right, it’s a Shakespeare episode. We’re dishing up historical context and analysis for one of the most important pieces of literature ever written: Romeo & Juliet. An early work in the bard’s long line of tragedies, comedies, and histories, Romeo & Juliet can be viewed as the work that invented our modern understanding of love. And the poet himself may be the man who invented modern man. All this and more in a very special Midnight Myth episode for lovers, fools, poets, and madmen.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Winter is HERE, and we need a good laugh to get us through the long night. This week, on a special episode of the Midnight Myth, we’re hanging out in Westeros, pitting your favorite characters from Game ofThrones against each other in some surprising scenarios. Who will lead a better campaign for PTA president? Who will succeed at ASOIAF Jeopardy? These crazy questions and more as we get to the heart of characters like Khal Drogo, Hot Pie, and Olenna Tyrell. It’s a Polar Vortex Boomerangerang.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Winter has finally come in the Northern United States, so what better time to revisit HBO’s Game of Thrones with a study of one of the most complex characters hailing from the North. This week, we’re talking about Ser Jorah Mormont, disgraced son of the Old Bear, advisor to the Dragon Queen, and a fascinating model for knightly codes of honor. We’ll go back to the history of chivalry, its imprint on literature through Arthurian Romance, and where this medieval system intersects with Jorah. We’ll also discuss the role of romantic love in the world of Westeros, and unpack the complicated questions of Jorah’s past romances, his desire for Daenerys, and the ultimate impact of his love.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The door may have closed on Sterling Cooper and the glamorous look into 1960s America that came with AMC’s Mad Men, but the world we inhabit today remains heavily influenced by the images and events of that turbulent time. Advertising and media continue to shape our cultural viewpoints. Presidential politics and every day life still exist in the shadow of civil rights, the assassinations of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr… Join Derek & Laurel this week as we unpack a landmark television series that cast its major characters in the role of witness to the monumental events of American history. We’ll explore various theories of history, from Carlyle to Nietzsche, and determine where our histories and myths of the 60s collide.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Holy motherforking shirtballs! The Midnight Myth is finally taking on NBC’s The Good Place, one character at a time. This week, the question is: what does it mean to be an Eleanor? Following the central protagonist through the two and a half seasons of the Good Place (and through countless metaphysical realms), we’ll discover some surprising truths about morality, change, responsibility, and of course—horniness.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
New Year, New Doctor! Derek and Laurel are here to explore some of the most consistent themes and arcs of season 11 of the BBC’s Doctor Who (and to celebrate the joyous spirit that is Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor!) Spoilers abound for the latest season, but we’ll focus most closely on two episodes: Demons of the Punjab and It Takes You Away to understand the poignant and powerful motifs of new show runner Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who debut. Enlightenment religious theory, postwar colonial Indian history, and sonic screwdrivers await.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
As year two of the Midnight Myth Podcast comes to a close, we look back on the stories that shook us, made us laugh, cry, and cheer this year: Black Panther, Infinity War, Handmaid’s Tale, Game of Thrones, and so much more… Our first year-in-review looks back at every story we loved, looks at the patterns and universal themes in the stories that connect us, and how they shape our identities in an ever-changing world. Lastly, we look forward to 2019— what we’ll try to do, personally and on the podcast, in this journey called humanity.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s the Eve of Christmas, and the Midnight Myth is here to bring you joy and cheer. With a Holiday Edition of our classic Boomerangerang, we’re swapping your favorite Christmas-y characters with non-holiday franchises to see who’d fare well in the “real world.” Who’d make a better Don Draper: Frosty the Snowman or George Bailey? All that and more. Watch our Twitter to vote for the winners, and of course, happy new year.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year to all. It’s another Midnight Myth Christmas Special, and this time we’re breaking down one of the most beloved Christmas stories of all time: Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. Derek and Laurel revisit flashbacks of the life of George Bailey, the caretaker of Bedford Falls, using his story to understand the greater themes of the season, and of American exceptionalism. From Enlightenment economics to creative nursing and A Christmas Carol, this episode truly celebrates the little things.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Winter has most certainly come, and it’s time to revisit Westeros on our mission to understand and analyze the major players in the Game of Thrones. This week, we’re looking at the eldest Stark daughter Sansa, who, against all predictions, has shown one of the most transformative and triumphant character arcs on the series. From a naive child to a Lannister hostage to the queen in the North, Sansa’s journey has been fraught with trauma, abuse, and tragedy—yet she’s proven herself a survivor (and deeply empowered one). Listen for our thoughts on what makes Sansa tick—and why we think she has as good a shot as anyone at claiming the Iron Throne.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This week Derek and Laurel are back at it discussing the 1981 classic action adventure move, Indian Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. While the movie retains its iconic classic feel, listen as your hosts discuss the real world implications of archaeology and ethics. As Indy always says, “It belongs in a museum” we ask, does it? What is the nature of an artifact and who really owns them? Tune in and let us know what you think as there are no easy answers.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We lost some legends in the past few weeks, and in the wake of the monumental loss of Stan Lee, Derek & Laurel now tip their hats to the legacy of Marvel and in particular, the X-Men. Created in 1963 with the intent of promoting diversity and anti-bigotry, the X-Men comics, cartoon series, and films now stand as a rallying cry for the disenfranchised. This episode focuses on 2011’s X-Men: First Class, examining the complex relationships between characters that exist in marginalized groups, and the deeply relatable reasoning behind the birth of great villains like Mystique and Magneto in the series. With love, compassion, and harmony, we look to the example of Charles Xavier to navigate troubled times and give thanks for our communities and chosen families. Happy Thanksgiving from the Midnight Myth.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Few movies have quite the nuanced take on life and death as those made for young audiences—and few with the deftness that Pixar’s Coco has. After returning from a honeymoon in Mexico, Derek & Laurel explore the traditions of Dia de los Muertos as they relate to Miguel Rivera’s journey in the 2017 film, all tied together through the power of love and music. Themes of memory, personal and universal relationships, and storytelling as culture round out this week’s Midnight Myth. Keep your tissues handy—it’s Pixar—and all topics from the Crusades to spirit animals are on the table.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Laurel are married! As they celebrate their nuptials, your hosts are back bringing the experience of getting married to their search for the perfect story. This week, they discuss the 1987 classic fairy tale/action adventure/true love story/satire/comedy/so many genres it’s inconceivable, The Princess Bride. Listen as Derek and Laurel struggle to stop endlessly quoting this timeless piece of cinema, as they pay homage to one of the greatest works of art ever put to film—that no one knew what to do with in its time. Derek and Laurel, both left handed, breakdown this narrative, looking to find what made it successful, why it still resonates, and why it is as close to the perfect story a film can be.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s a bonus Halloween episode, spooky scary! Derek and Laurel are back at gaming up magical characters in silly scenarios. In this Halloween flavored episode, Derek and Laurel sit around the cauldron stirring up magic potions while they battle for which witch would fare better in differing far away lands. Who will win this Boomerangerang? Be sure to visit our twitter and vote, and have a happy Halloween.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Autumn is upon us, and as we wrap our sweaters around our shoulders, sip on warm cider, and spend our weekends apple- and pumpkin- picking, the chill in the air reminds us of the rich mythological and historical tradition that makes the Halloween season so spookily sweet. So for this year’s Halloween special, sit back with a candied apple and join us on a journey to ancient myth as we untangle a long and complicated history—that of the witch. We’ll question the contemporary renaissance witches enjoy and follow the breadcrumbs to her origins in Greek, Roman, and Ancient Near East mythology. We’ll trace the line from Lilith of the Talmud to the Salem witch trials, from Medusa to the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. All that and more on this week’s Midnight Myth.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s another Boomerangerang—because we felt the world needed some levity, some laughs, and a dash of cosmic nihilism. If nothing matters, we might as well fight to the death over the casts of Rick & Morty and Bojack Horseman, debating nonsense with your favorite cartoon existentialists. Listen and vote along on Twitter (@themidnightmyth) to determine which adult animated franchise takes the cake.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Content Warning: This weeks episode deals with themes of sexual assault.
On this weeks podcast Derek and Laurel dive into season 5 of Netflix’s original hit cartoon series, BoJack Horsemen. As we watch BoJack’s perpetual self-destructive cycle, we are left to ask if there is a reason to be moral in a post-Enlightenment world where rationality gives life little reason to behave. From Philosophy to Hollywoo cover ups of sexual assault, no topic is off the table. We must ask, Hollywoo stars and celebrities, what do they know, do they know things? Are they condemned to be free? Let’s find out in this weeks Midnight Myth.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This week on the Midnight Myth Podcast, we look to the film Dead Poets Society, the lessons it hopes to teach, and the new significance it has taken on in the years since the death of its star, Robin Williams. We examine the themes that his character John Keating recognizes and hopes to impart to his students: carpe diem! Gather ye rosebuds while ye may! Sound thy barbaric yawp. We recognize that our perspective has shifted when we watch this film. We are, in a way, looking down from standing atop our desks, watching for the signs, trying to understand why a great talent, great artist, and great man would take his own life. We follow that question into the characters of DPS, who must ask themselves the same. We wonder what’s most important—the art or the artist? The legacy or the life?
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s another edition of your favorite pop culture storytelling debate—the Boomerangerang! This time, we’re inspired by last week’s conversation about Dr. Watson and the sidekick, so we’re pitting the great sidekicks and henchmen of stories against each other in a one of a kind debate. We’ll each pull a sidekick or henchman from a hat, then argue who’d be the best right hand confidant of a particular hero. Tons of nerdy arguments, deep insights about Spongebob Squarepants, and weird surprises await.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We spend a lot of time here at the Midnight Myth discussing heroes, villains, epic adventures, and feats of derring-do. But it’s easy to lose sight of those characters just outside the realm of glory, just to the right of the protagonist, propping them up in times of need. This week, we’re talking about the sidekick—through the eyes of one of the greatest sidekicks in all of storytelling, Dr. John Watson. As he accompanies the great detective Sherlock Holmes and chronicles their adventures, Watson may seem like a lesser man, but time and again proves himself essential to Holmes’ success. We’re taking a close look at the pilot episode of the BBC series Sherlock, ‘A Study in Pink,’ to break down what makes Watson both so ordinary and so exceptional.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
CW: Language, Sexual assault. As we wait with bated breath for the final season(s?) of HBO’s Game of Thrones—another delay, ugh—the Midnight Myth is here to quench your thirst with another deep dive GoT character study. This week, we’re exploring one of the series’ most charismatic and manipulative monsters, Cersei Lannister. We’ll compare the ruthless queen of the seven kingdoms to the philosophy laid out by medieval author Niccolo Machiavelli, and introduce modern psychology’s dark triad. We’ll dig into feminist studies and examine how Cersei intersects with the monstrous feminine, and the long line of literary ladies who came before her, with ambition as her tragic flaw.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Some artists leave their mark on everything they make. This week on the Midnight Myth Podcast, we’re surveying the work of Christopher Nolan, with a particular focus on four of his most popular and important films: his Hollywood breakout Memento, the second installment of his Batman trilogy The Dark Knight, the mind-bending Inception, and his sci-fi epic Interstellar. As one of the few contemporary directors to garner both critical acclaim and box office mega-success, Nolan appears to have captured something universal in the way he tells stories. With a close look at these films and the global context surrounding them, Derek & Laurel unpack the themes Nolan tends to revisit, the choices of his contemporaries in post-War on Terror Hollywood, and the cinematic and historical influences on his filmmaking. As an overview of Nolan’s body of work relatively early in his career, we hope this episode will open the door for even deeper dives into his art to come.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Hot on the heels of the Boy Who Lived’s birthday, Derek & Laurel are revisiting the Harry Potter series for a discussion of the mentor role in storytelling. The Obi-Wan’s, Gandalfs, and Mr. Miyagi’s of the world inspire our heroes, give them strength, and hold them to a standard of morality and courage. To unpack Harry’s many mentor relationships, we’ll focus in particular on the one that develops between Harry and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Remus Lupin in the third installment of the franchise, Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. What makes Remus a great mentor? To answer this question, we’ll consult Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, and more.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Great rivalries throughout the ages: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, Black Swan and White Swan, Black Panther and Killmonger, Batman and the Joker… but few rivalries have the intensity, longevity, or singularity as the one between Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane. Two girls in all the world, chosen to defeat the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness, when two slayers come head to head, it’s a clash of destinies. Fresh off the announcement of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, Derek and Laurel unpack one of television’s most fraught relationships. Friends, enemies, or frenemies, Buffy and Faith give us the perfect literary foils, supernatural doppelgängers, and philosophical opposites. We’ll dig into Ancient Greek Cynicism, Kantian ethics, 19th century literature and more as we unravel the ties that bind the two slayers together.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Laurel are back at competitive story-themed debates in a very special Boomerangerang— as they engage in all things Buffy. Your hosts pit Sunnydale High's superhero, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her Scooby gang and monsters from the Hellmouth in odd and unexpected scenarios, and they’ll try to figure out which character would fare better. This no-holds-barred debate has something for every Buffy fan as we try to work out our feelings about the upcoming REBOOT. Keep an eye on our Twitter this week to share your thoughts on who will win!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Season two of the Handmaids Tale concluded last week with an epic finale that saw our heroine, June, make a controversial decision. Expanding on the first-person limited world of Margaret Atwood’s novel, the Hulu series, and this season in particular, brought us into the minds and hearts of characters in every strata of Gileadian society. In this podcast, Derek and Laurel examine the effect that has on us as viewers, and how the vastness of the Handmaid’s Tale works to break down the boundaries imposed on women, and everyone in a fascist regime. Why does June make the choice she makes? We’ll answer that question and more as we seek to understand how a character—or a society—can change.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The Pixar train continues to roll here at the Midnight Myth, where this week, we’re picking apart the science and magic of Inside Out. Watching the coming-of-age of a young girl through the eyes and oculus of her tiny, anthropomorphized neurotransmitters, we’re got pressing questions about what the movie says about us, our emotions, and our role in the universe. We’ll compare Inside Out to classic forms and conventions of storytelling while diving into the complex and fascinating world of emotional theory.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
There is a power in all of us, waiting to be tapped into, and it is unlocked through the magic of human emotion. This week’s episode is dedicated to celebrating one of the Hollywood’s greatest studios: Pixar. In a part game, part analysis, and part fresh take into The Incredibles 2, Derek and Laurel cherish and toast the animation studio which brings man, woman, and child together for a nice song and good cry.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
The arrival of Pixar’s long-awaited sequel to ‘The Incredibles’ has us itching to revisit the beloved family of superheroes. Turning a critical eye to the story of the Parr family and their secret identities, we’ll explore each character’s journey toward becoming fully actualized beings—with or without superpowers. For a kids’ movie, ‘The Incredibles’ digs into surprisingly mature subject matter, like suburban dissatisfaction, political ideologies, and gender roles. We’ll do our best to leave no stone unturned in this analysis. No capes!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Yes, the world may actually be going straight to hell. But what can we learn from the onslaught of inhuman behavior to the weakest of us happening at the American-Mexican border? To understand what makes immigrants enemies and how to combat the dehumanization of refugees, Derek and Laurel turn to the 2006 masterpiece of film, Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuarón. While the movie may have had lackluster box-office sales, the artistic impact of a filmic world bent on militarizing its borders while on the brink of the apocalypse can tell us much about our own dilemmas. Content warning: this episode gets heavy—we discuss the realities and atrocities taking place at the border. Join us for a no-holds-barred discussion about real life imitating art, and the cost of giving up one’s humanity to save it.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We live in strange times, in which the truth and fantasy are sometimes blurred, sometimes synonymous. Here on the Midnight Myth, we often look to our stories are guides to cope with our troubled social, political, or moral questions. Today, we explore the theme of corruption through the iconic and epic fantasy series the Lord of the Rings. They say power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This holds true for the characters that populate Middle Earth, who struggle against evil magic jewelry, the ever-flowing tide of darkness, and seemingly innocuous--but insidious--language
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Eleven years after the iconic, genius, frustrating, scintillating, upsetting finale—the cut-to-black heard round the world, we’re jumping headfirst into the underworld of New Jersey crime, and into the den of the Sopranos. HBO’s critically acclaimed series captured viewers instantly by asking a simple question: what if a mob boss went to therapy? But instead of turning it into a punchline, the show used that springboard to open up questions about humanity, mental illness, family, and the American Dream. Now Derek and Laurel pull apart the characters, the influences, and the ultimate successes and failures of the series that brought epic, romantic stories back down to earth. Brief lessons on Italian Opera, the theatrical form Commedia dell’Arte, and the most famous thought experiment in quantum mechanics.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s good to be back in the studio with a new Boomerangerang—an all-game, all-debate, all-awesome back and forth starring your favorite Star Wars heroes, villains, and unexpected side characters. Join us as we explore the merits of Jar Jar Binks as a web developer, Admiral Holdo as an international diplomat, or Darth Vader as a travel agent. Pick a side, make an argument, and enjoy.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We are moving to a new studio! Because of this, we're taking a week off. Fear not. We'll be back in two weeks with a brand new episode. In the meantime, follow us on social media for bonus content.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Once upon a time, way down below the ocean, there lived a little mermaid who longed to be part of a different world. This week, Derek and Laurel deconstruct one of the most beloved stories of all time, from its ancient mythic inspiration to its 19th Century origins—all the way to the classic Disney animated movie. We’ll break apart tragic themes and what it means to give a happy ending to a heartbreaking fairy tale, and explore the social hierarchies and family dynamics that make The Little Mermaid a perfect allegory for some of our worst fears. And, most importantly, everything comes back… to Plato.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
How did we get here? Where are we going? The future may seem an abstract concept, a faraway thing, but every action we take, every word we set down in the present determines the outcomes and intricacies of our world to come. This week, we pull apart some of the religious references in Hulu’s hit series The Handmaid’s Tale to further understand the message the story is really telling. We’ll discuss Offred’s journey so far, what we’ve learned about Gileadian social structure, and the sacred texts upon which this new country is based. Under his eye.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Have you every questioned the nature your reality, or podcast? Per chance you should…Listen this week as The Midnight Myth applies its thoughtful analysis the HBO hit series Westworld. Central to West World is the idea of the west, a frontier, a lawless land ripe for civilized folk to come and claim— if they are tough enough to keep it. Amid the moral questions of artificial intelligence and a world created where humans can cater to every lustful wish and violent desire, is a narrative of America. This week Derek and Laurel seek to understand the narrative, from Ancient Rome, to Enlightenment Politics, and everything in between and hereafter.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Warning: This episode completely spoils Marvel's the Infinity War!
In 2008, Tony Stark said the age old proverb that the best weapon is one you never have to fire, was wrong. He preferred the weapon you only have to fire once. That weapon is here, and it has 6 stones. The infinity gauntlet as arrived, and is being wielded by a purple skinned Titan— Thanos. Listen as Derek and Laurel do their heavy spoiler filled discussion on 10 years of build up in Marvel’s Infinity War.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Who would make the better souffle—Nick Fury or Tony Stark? The Boomerangerang is back to get you pumped for Marvel’s latest blockbuster, Avengers: Infinity War! Join Derek & Laurel for a silly yet stimulating battle royale between your favorite Marvel heroes and villains (in some wacky and unexpected scenarios). Let us know who you think wins the debates!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Last week, we talked about the Force awakening in Rey, our hero. This week, Derek & Laurel explore the continuation of Rey’s character journey through the Last Jedi. As a mentor-less orphan wandering the galaxy in search of guidance, Rey’s coming-of-age is unique in the Star Wars universe. Where the heroes who came before her were aided by the likes of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rey must find her way more or less alone—with the fate of the galaxy quite literally hanging in the balance. Join us for part two of a deconstruction of Rey, a new kind of Star Wars hero.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What makes a Star Wars hero? In a world concerned with fan theories and mysterious backstories, how do we assess the value of who our hero is here and now. Join us for the first of a two-part mini-series on Rey, the central hero of the new Star Wars saga. This first part tracks her journey through the Force Awakens, compares her to the heroes we recognize, and tries to understand what makes Rey truly unique for a new generation of Star Wars fans. When an ordinary scavenger goes head to head with the strongest Dark Side Force user we’ve ever seen—and makes it out the other side stronger—we know we’re dealing with something new.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Last week we began a conversation about what makes a good king. To continue probing the possible answers, we had to go back to one of our favorite monarchs in storytelling, The Lion King. In this episode, Derek and Laurel explore the connections (and departures) of the Lion King and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the historical roots of the political systems laid out in the animated classic, and the ultimate philosophical messages it leaves us with. It may seem easy and ideal to say “no worries” for the rest of your days, but of course, we know there is no problem-free philosophy. Be prepared for a sensational podcast.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What makes a great king? The archetype of the king is an age-old convention in storytelling, and we can find answers to that question in Arthurian legend, Shakespeare, Disney, and Tolkien. But let’s look to the Marvel Cinematic Universe once more to try and understand how that question informs its latest installment “Black Panther.” Join Derek & Laurel on this journey from Oakland to Wakanda as we demystify the makings of great monarchs—and how the answer to that question has changed in the modern world.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Laurel breakdown there picks for this years Oscars.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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?
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Here’s looking at you, podcast. Listen as Derek and Laurel examine the politics, tragedy and love, of cinema’s greatest love story, Casablanca. Inspired by Valentine’s day, and the notion that society’s greatest virtue is love, Casablanca asks if the problems of little people amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Maybe as Rick says, they don’t. Or Maybe its the only thing that does matter. Maybe beauty will save us. Maybe we are doomed. One thing that is certain, this is a podcast you don’t want to miss!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
As Philadelphia-based podcasters, we’re understandably pretty high on the Eagles’ Super Bowl Victory. But the game that brings a country together one Sunday each year is more than a game when viewed through the lens of sporting history and the idea of cultural identity. This week, Derek and Laurel look to one of the great sport stories, which also has roots in scrappy Philadelphia: Rocky. As a character, as a symbol of America, as a perseverant fighter, Rocky Balboa has inspired a generation of sports fans and cinema junkies alike. Join us as we explore the underlying moral philosophy and artistic heritage of America’s favorite underdog.
*CORRECTION: Derek is acutely aware that dentology is not a word. Painfully aware. However, when Derek recorded the above episode, he fucked up and misspoke deontology (a word whose roots go back to Ancient Greece), which is the moral system he was referring to. Feel free to tweet at him #dentologyshame for the rest of his life.*
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Have you ever walked into the edge of the woods and wondered if the shadows moved? Was it a fairy, a faun? Ever considered the possibility that a magical realm lived just outside the grasp of humanity? On this, the 50th episode of the Midnight Myth, Derek and Laurel go back to the fairytales and myths that have shaped human existence as they discuss Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 masterpiece, Pan’s Labyrinth. Del Toro expertly intertwines the politics of 1944 Spain with magical realism, delighting our senses while challenging the conventions of traditional fairytale paradigms. The underworld, princesses and monsters get reinvented as they are juxtaposed to the reality of fascism and the oppression of dictatorship.
Thank you to all of Midnight Myth listeners, without you, we would have never made it to 50 episodes!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin— which house are you in? Whether it’s a fun game, a personality-defining decision, or an actual educational system, “sorting” is a bigger part of our lives than we might think. This week, Derek & Laurel return to the Harry Potter series to explore the Hogwarts houses as they relate to storytelling archetypes, and the historical examples of similar traditions. Perhaps the most important question, however, is this: does the beloved Sorting Hat simply reinforce dangerous tribalism? Or does it, in fact, deliver a scathing critique?
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
This week’s episode takes a look inside HBO’s stellar series “Big Little Lies,” the archetypes it relies on, and the stereotypes it deconstructs. From Freud’s triangle of trauma to Hippocratic Humorism, there’s a lot going on beneath the idyllic surface in the wealthy beach town of Monterey. Join Derek and Laurel on a journey beneath the waves as we look at what went so so right (and what went so so wrong.)
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Few themes of storytelling and mythology are as widespread or as powerful as the resurrection myth. From the ancient to the modern world, the idea of resurrection, reincarnation, and escape from mortality lies at the heart of religions, belief systems, and popular BBC television shows. Revisiting one of our favorites, Doctor Who, we learn to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new during the Doctor’s process of “regeneration.” Derek & Laurel take a look back this week over Peter Capaldi’s legacy as the legendary Timelord, and seek to understand the timelessness of the character through the lens of Egyptian mythology and contemporary psychology. Some spoilers for Series 9 and the latest Doctor Who Christmas Special.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We’ve gathered our thoughts, and now we ask you to gather round as we dig through the complex thematic, structural, and philosophical merits of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. From the psychological to the humorous, the latest installment of the beloved space opera is a treasure trove of reference and richness. Derek and Laurel examine TLJ’s place within the SW saga at large, explore the inner lives of characters old and new, and invite you to join the conversation. Whether you loved or hated the movie, we hope to inspire reflection on the universal themes and motifs held within. No porgs were harmed in the making of this podcast.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Happy New Year from the Midnight Myth! As the clocks strike midnight, Derek and Laurel are back at podcasting, inspired by the sights, sounds, smells, and flavor of Louisiana. The topic today is the impact of Southern Gothic literature on TV and film as your two favorite podcast hosts reflect on their trip to the great American South. With each new year, there is promise, there is pain, there is something lurking at night, hunting humanity, in a neverending search for blood. That’s right, we are talking American Southern Vampires to ring in a new year. So sit back, relax, and watch your neck!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
As Laurel and Derek settle in for a long winters nap, we bring you our last episode of 2017 discussing the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas. In this episode, we ask what makes a good Christmas story, as we delve into Charles Dickens perennial holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol.” Just like the holiday itself, Dickens’ story strikes a chord with its roots deep in history, myth, and the human condition. We hope everyone had a great year, and thank you all for coming on this adventure with us. Pod bless us, everyone.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Click to listen on Apple Podcasts
The force is strong with this podcast. It took 42 previous episodes, and we are finally ready to jump into the galaxy far far away. The topic this week is Darth Vader and the role of fatherhood as villainy in storytelling. As we all gear up for The Last Jedi, it is time to look at Vader, and his legacy in the Star Wars universe and in villain construction.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
In a special holiday episode, Derek and Laurel pay homage to 2017’s best superhero flick, Wonder Woman. Viewing Diana Prince’s origin story through the lens of thankfulness, your hosts draw comparisons to great origin myths throughout history, from the Garden of Eden to the marriage of Persephone, and make the kind of discoveries you can only find by reexamining one’s favorite stories with an active eye and imagination.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
How far have we come, and how far will we go? In the latest Midnight Myth, Derek and Laurel take a voyage through the history of the Disney Princess, tracing the way to Moana. We explore the myths that make up her environment, the exciting new portrayal of powerful women on the big screen, and some of the academic discourse and critique of the world of the movie. In Moana, we see an exhilarating step forward, but now that we’re past that reef, there’s much more to learn about finding our way.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Three brothers come to a ridge over a river, using magic they create a bridge and anger Death. Death tricks them into gifts that will destroy them, and thus the Deathly Hallows are born. This week, Derek and Laurel look at the story of the Deathly Hallows built inside the final installment of the Harry Potter universe. Derek and Laurel examine the construction of folklore and how adding it into a narrative grounds the story, then look at Harry Potter through the lens of religious re-contextualization.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Did you honestly think we were done talking about Rick and Morty? We haven’t even scratched the surface of the multiverse of Midnight Myth Rick and Morty talk. Listen this week as we deconstruct the story structure of Rick and Morty, trying to understand why the antihero works and doesn’t work in modern serialized commercial shows. We go from Ancient Greece to the Sopranos to Rick and Morty, all to ascertain what makes the antihero one of post-modernity's most commercially viable archetypes.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It’s a spooky scary Halloween episode with Derek & Laurel! With ample history, mischief, and delight, we revisit one of our favorite holiday movies, Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas. By combining the two most popular holidays in America, Nightmare reminds us of the spirit behind them both. Its a story of life and death, faith and love, adventure and fear, and of course… trick and treat.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
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.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Everything is Batman. Listen as Derek and Laurel peel under the bat mobile hood of 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?
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
On this week’s episode, we step into the strange dystopian world of the Hunger Games Trilogy. By tracking the evolution of the films themselves and their thematic intentions, Derek & Laurel draw real-world conclusions about the horror of war, the collective amnesia of humanity, and why revolutions fail. Spoilers within for the Hunger Games films, Rogue One, and V for Vendetta!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What is real? Am I real? Are you? Is this podcast real? Is my experience dictated by my perspective, by the materials i interact with, or by some higher essence? When questions like these start to mess with our heads, we filter them through the lens of the quintessence indie mind f*ck, Being John Malkovich. Derek and Laurel take look at Plato’s timeless allegory of the cave, the theory of the forms, and themes of universe justice (and also puppets).
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
What is a stoic character? Grim, emotionally immovable, and cold in the face of great human pain? Listen this week as Derek and Laurel delve into the archetypal stoic character and unpack Stoic philosophy along the way. The current stoic character construct bares some superficial resemblance to the philosophy started in Ancient Athens in 350 BCE, but do the tropes really do justice to the philosophical doctrine? By examining characters from the Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Gladiator, and more, we will try to discover the truth beneath the unshakeable facades.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
It has come. With It released, Derek and Laurel peek under the belly of all the ghouls, goblins, and ghosts going bump in the night. This week on the Midnight Myth, the subject is horror; where horror stories come from and why they scare us. In particular, the podcast focuses on the scary clown and how Stephen King turns the childhood favorite into a monster that keeps you up at night. With a few “boomerangs” to keep you on your toes, this week gets to the bottom of horror and how it stands the test of time as part of the perfect story.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Game of Thrones Season 7 Spoilers: What happens when you create a monster? Not literally, but in a story, a Frankenstein…Listen as Derek and Laurel's next Game of Thrones character case study, as they examine Arya Stark, and how the writers of the show failed to address the spirit of vengeance they created in one of the shows most beloved characters.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Our histories and our stories are intertwined, and often visual media, such as film, becomes the conduit by which we contextualize our past. This week, we examine the film Gangs of New York from director (legend) Martin Scorsese and how it brings nativists philosophy to the forefront fighting for control over the grimy slums of 1860s New York City, right as the Civil War ravages the south. Part of a multi-parter exploring this particular moment in our nation’s past from a multitude of perspectives— and learning to understand the real-world implications of historical fiction.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
We never thought we’d nearly cry over the death of a fire breathing, scale covered, flying monster that can burn and eat people alive. Somehow, that happened. What am I talking about? Dragons— the darling of the fantasy world, and the monster that so many great heroes have had to over come. Yet, somehow in the Game of Thrones they have become characters that the audience empathizes with. How did this happen? This week, listen as we talk about he history of Dragons and how Game of Thrones turned them from evil beasts to emphatic heroes.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
From the winding streets of Rome to the cobbled alleys of Philadelphia, our histories are always just beneath our feet as we follow the well-worn tread of those generations that came before us. This week, Derek & Laurel explore the most powerful historical narratives of Western culture and their inextricable ties. In the end, all roads truly do lead to Rome and two monolithic figures: Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar, whose archetypes continue to resonate throughout Western storytelling. Untangling some of the powerful mysteries of the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church, we also turn our eyes to what we can learn about ourselves in the stories we’ve always told.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
When at the brink, we often look for a unifying philosophy that sums up the experience of our confusion and pain, while pointing us towards a better moral life— a life that bring conscience, direction, and purpose. We at the Midnight Myth may have found those words:
“Life’s a piece of shit when ya look at it.”
Join us as we jump into the obscure and silly world of Monty Python and The Life of Brian. Nothing is scared as we peel apart what makes this movie so damn smart, funny, loony, and insightful.
We haven’t done comedy before, so don’t laugh at us (nudge nudge, wink wink)!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Laurel have returned from traveling the great wide world and bring you another episode about a favorite character who travels the great wide universe. In our second Doctor Who case study, we focus not only on the Doctor himself, but an unexpected friend, the painter Vincent Van Gogh. In Season 5, Episode 10 of the beloved BBC series, we explore questions of madness, alienation, loneliness, and ecstatic joy. Most importantly, we ask, what does it take to be a truly great artist?
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Derek and Laurel are back from Europe. We've missed you guys and we want to jump in with a full game episode. It is a battle of wits, words, creativity, and nerdiness. Who will emerge victorious, what is the format, how does this battle even work? Listen my friends, and all will be revealed.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Game of Thrones opens a concerning door.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
So when the shit hits the fan, and the world collapses around you, what do you do? You form a totalitarian regime bent on exploiting the weak to propagate the powerful. Listen this week as Derek and Laurel tackle the modern dystopia. In particular, they examine Margaret Atwood’s landmark novel-turned-blockbuster-hit from Hulu, The Handmaid’s Tale. It’ll be another exciting ride in the search for the perfect story!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
If you were standing at the edge of the earth, ready to take the plunge into the underworld, would you? So many heroes take that plunge, into the depths of hell only to return, unencumbered but not unscathed. Listen to Derek and Laurel understand the idea of traveling to the underworld as a story device, its mythic origins, and pop culture manifestations. We go from Persephone to Wonder Woman in another quest to understand the perfect story.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
Ever been in a tight spot? A real tight spot? Oh man, a tight spot? Well get your dapper dan hair pomade to slick back your style, and gear up for an epic edition of the Midnight Myth. Listen as Derek and Laurel examine the universal story of the Odyssey, written by the immortal Homer and re-contextualized by the masters of film, The Coen Brothers. That’s right folks, we’re mass communicating out analysis of O’ Brother Where Art Thou? and it’s epic greek origins. Watch out for the sirens, for their enticing song may turn you into a toad, as we journey through a great movie inspired a true midnight myth.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support