The movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe set records with their popularity. But are they any good?

My feelings about the movies have always been lukewarm. They’re fun, competently made, and consistent. But none of them have wowed me, and while I’ve enjoyed every Marvel movie I’ve seen, I haven’t felt a desire to watch any of them a second time.

My friend Lee Herridge disagrees and offered to come on the show to explain to me how I’ve gone wrong in evaluating the MCU. We talked about the quality of the films, the scope of the project Marvel undertook, how these movies compare to others in the genre, and were the MCU should go from here.

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I didn’t much like the Last Jedi. And I rather love the Rise of Skywalker. Which puts me at odds with a lot of Star Wars fans, including my guest today.

Paul Crider is an editor at Liberal Currents, with interests in political philosophy and social justice, as well as Star Wars. He lives with his family in Silicon Valley and daylights as a semiconductor engineer.

On today’s episode, we discuss all things a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, including our assessments of the new films, Disney’s stumbles with the franchise, and the evolving politics of Star Wars.

And, as always, if you enjoy this show, please take a moment to rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

You can make a strong case that Batman is the most famous western fictional character of all time. He's also pretty clearly the coolest.

On today's episode, I'm joined by Cory Massimino. He's the Students for Liberty Academics Coordinator and a fellow at the Center for a Stateless Society. But what matters most for our purposes here is that he's thought a lot about Batman, and has a ton of interesting things to say about him.

If you enjoyed our conversation, or any of the conversations I've had on this podcast, and want to hear more from me, take a moment to sign up for my very infrequent newsletter, where I talk about what I'm working on, reading, and thinking about. You can find it at http://aaronrosspowell.com/newsletter

Social distancing is an odd time for tabletop games. On the one hand, these are by nature social, in-person activities, the players sitting around the table pushing cardboard and dice. On the other, a great many of us suddenly have a lot of time on our hands to play them. So we're making do, with Zoom and Tabletop Simulator, but it's not the same.

On today's episode, I talk with my friend PJ Hambrick, who I met through our shared love for tabletop games, about why these things are so great.

If you enjoyed our conversation, or any of the conversations I've had on this podcast, and want to hear more from me, take a moment to sign up for my very infrequent newsletter, where I talk about what I'm working on, reading, and thinking about. You can find it at http://aaronrosspowell.com/newsletter

I grew up listening to my dad play to audiobooks on road trips, and I've always loved what a good narrator can do with a good text. But the process--how you actually go about bringing a story to life in audio form--has been mostly unknown to me. And I'm sure to a lot of us. All I know is it must be more complicated than "Read it out loud."

Which is why today it's my pleasure to talk with not just a good narrator, but a great one. Scott F. Feighner has narrated dozens of books, mostly in the horror genre. I know Scott because I had the honor of having him narrate one of my own, my short story collection, Animus.

Scott and I talk about what makes audiobooks so magical and how he does what he does, from picking material to inventing the voices of characters to putting it all together into the final book. 

And if you stick around to the end, you'll get to hear Scott narrate one of my own stories, a twisted little tale called "Snowed In."

Some of Scott's work:

Strangewood by Christopher Golden

https://www.audible.com/pd/Strangewood-Audiobook/B073ZJQJ8F

Whispered Echoes by Paul F Olson

https://www.audible.com/pd/Whispered-Echoes-Audiobook/B07QD24ZR9

Animus by Aaron Ross Powell

https://www.audible.com/pd/Animus-Audiobook/B00TUHXREA

Today Brian Wilson, host of Combat & Classics, and Paul Meany, host of Portraits of Liberty, join me to talk about the value and appeal of ancient philosophy and literature.

Combat & Classics

Portraits of Liberty