Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse

The Pop Mythologist and his guest, author and psychology professor Alex Langley, revisit RoboCop (1987) as a political, mythical, and psychological parable about how capitalism privatizes everything, offers false solutions to the very problems it creates, dehumanizes human beings, and lays the groundwork for fascism. Drawing connections to the current actions and tactics of ICE, and the ongoing AI takeover, they also explore why protecting and reclaiming our humanity is a form of resistance in these times.

✅ No Spoilers for: All other works mentioned

The film NOMADLAND portrayed Americans turning to vehicle living as a way to survive increasing economic instability. In this episode, my guests Lauren and Noah share their real-life story of transitioning away from traditional housing, converting an old bus into their home, and traveling across an America that's under strain from multiple systemic pressures. They speak candidly about the many challenges, logistical hurdles, and unexpected moments of beauty and joy they've encountered along the way.

We also explore the deeper themes of collapse awareness, community resilience, and how their lived experience overlaps with, or diverges from, what NOMADLAD depicts.

⚠️ Spoilers: Nomadland (only from the 40:45 to 55:15 timemark, no spoilers at any other time even if the movie gets mentioned)

✅ No Spoilers: All other fictional works mentioned (Station Eleven, Dimension 20, Dropout TV, Marvel movies) 

Books mentioned by Lauren or Noah:

Resources mentioned by Lauren:

Resources mentioned by the Pop Mythologist:

Outro music: "It’s the end of the world… shhh don’t tell the kids" by Shy and the Fight  — licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

SFX makeup artist & creative influencer Aleena Averly joins me to discuss two films that portray dystopian futures against a backdrop of ecological collapse, Blade Runner 2049 and Elysium. We talk about how technology, AI, surveillance, inequality, and class oppression—but also pockets of heroism and sacrifice—are portrayed in both films, how the real world is racing alarmingly fast towards both futures, and why the fight to stay human in an increasingly inhuman world matters more than ever.

Topics include:

  • Class divides and structural oppression

  • Immigrant scapegoating as a way to maintain class oppression

  • "Are you a replicant?"

  • AI, AI companions, and the illusion of "realness"

  • The erosion of empathy, humanity, and authenticy

  • Echoes of Philip K. Dick’s ideas

  • Outward rebellion vs. inner awakening

  • Staying real and human in an increasingly unreal and inhuman world

⚠️ Spoilers: Blade Runner 2049, Elysium

✅ No Spoilers: All other works mentioned

Find Aleena Averly:

Opening quote: From a 1979 interview w/ Philip K. Dick, edited for brevity and clarity, accessed via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/PhilipK.DickRAWInterview

Horror has always mirrored our real-world fears—and important socio-political issues. In this Halloween double feature, host The Pop Mythologist and special guest Sapient, from the blackened death metal band Abomnium, explore NIGHTBREED (1990) and A QUIET PLACE (2018) as dystopian allegories of fascism, oppression, survival, and strategic resistance. From Clive Barker's underground outcasts of Midian to John Krasinski’s silent survivors, the two films reveal how horror can expose the machinery of fascism—and the courage and ingenuity it takes to survive and resist it.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning⚠️

*Spoilers for: Nightbreed (1990), A Quiet Place (2018)

Broken

Photon cascade

Links:

10/27 EDIT: Congratulations to Sapient / Abomnium for winning Metallica's #GetTheLoadOut cover song contest this week! https://www.instagram.com/p/DQSI3BBj4Sh/

In this episode of Strange Days, Here We Come, we dive into SHIN GODZILLA and GODZILLA MINUS ONE to explore their themes of collapse by way of bureaucracy, inaction, war, and failed leadership—comparing the films' depictions of effective and ineffective governance and the power of direct civilian action amid crisis (e.g., natural disasters, climate change, pandemics, war, and nuclear devastation).  

⚠️Spoilers: Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla Minus One (2023)

✅ No Spoilers: Godzilla (1954), Don't Look Up (2021), Black Panther (2018), Lost (2004-2010), All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), Enemy at the Gates (2001), Jacob’s Ladder (1990), Joker (2019) 

We discuss Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days (1995) to explore its chillingly relevant themes of police brutality, surveillance, and AI-created fake memories. Drawing parallels to our real world — from the L.A. riots to Midjourney — we ask why this dystopian sci‑fi noir feels more relevant and unsettling than ever and how its ideas connect to today’s anxieties about over-policing, propaganda, and the way AI technology may soon reshape both our private memories and public histories. 

(This podcast was formerly titled THIS IS THE END: POP CULTURE & COLLAPSE.)

Well, it's been... a while. In this, the first new episode in over two years, I share a bit of the personal story behind why this podcast has been dormant for so long and how it relates to what I call "personal collapse." But just as with societal collapse, personal collapses don't necessarily have to be a permanent end state. 

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")

LIST OF FILMS (and spoiler time stamps)

-----------------------------------

WALL-E

5:08 - 5:53 (possible minor spoiler)

8:44 - 9:07 spoiler

13:23 - 13:36 spoiler

15:13 - 15:36 spoiler

17:42 - 18:32 spoiler

DON’T LOOK UP

22:50 - 23:05

26:55 - 27:02 (possible minor spoiler)

29:44 - 29:54 (possible minor spoiler)

30:34 - 31:10 spoiler

32:37 - 36:23 (possible minor spoilers)

37:09 - 38:47 spoiler

40:07 - 41:13 spoiler

44:14 - 45:03 spoiler

46:12 - 48:02 spoiler

53:50 - 54:10 spoiler

1:02:45 - 1:03:00 (possible minor spoiler)

THE ROAD

56:43 - 56:53 spoiler

59:25  - 1:03:03 spoiler

MENACE II SOCIETY

No Spoilers

THE GRAPES OF WRATH

No Spoilers

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")

PopMythology.com film critic and novelist Jess Kroll joins me to have a conversation about 10 different movies that depict collapse in some way. In this episode, Part 1, we discuss the first five. 

Scroll all the way down below to see the titles of the films discussed and during which timestamped moments that spoilers or semi-spoilers of these films are mentioned.

LIST OF FILMS (and spoiler demarcations)

-----------------------------------

THREADS (16:57 -28:02)

CONTAGION (28:02 - 44:13)  

CHILDREN OF MEN (44:13 - 1:01:05)

IDIOCRACY (1:01:05 - 1:16:12)

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")

In this episode, I interview political commentator, former congressional candidate, and now regenerative farmer Haven Scott McVarish, author of LAST CHANCE TO SAVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. Haven talks about his favorite novel, STARK by Ben Elton, a dystopian comedy thriller about how corporations and the wealthy cause a global ecological collapse. Haven also discusses the novel's themes in relation to his own book about the current, ongoing collapse of U.S. democracy. We talk about how to save our imperiled democracy as well as what ordinary people can start doing now to prepare for collapse via local community building and restorative agriculture.  

LINKS: