In this episode, Mr. Wes Schantz and I discuss Hayao Miyazaki's final film, "The Wind Rises." Specifically we consider (a) the place of the artist as hero in culture, (b) the line between beauty and tragedy in limited and bounded existence, and (c) ask: what are the final lessons Hayao Miyazaki leaves us with?

In this episode, Ms. Sarah Miller, Mr. Wes Schantz, and I talk about (a) seeds and parallels hidden within the text, (b) adolescence and the foibles of sophomore year, and (c) the themes of perception, altered perception, and misperception in this text and the series as a whole.

In this episode, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I discuss: (a) the symbolism of maps, (b) marriage, and (c) the nature of the postmodern ideology and recent scientific research its proponents purportedly find objectionable.

In this episode, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I discuss: (a) the symbolism of maps, (b) marriage, and (c) the nature of the postmodern ideology and recent scientific research its proponents purportedly find objectionable.

In this episode, Mr. Babcock and I talk about the season finale of Westworld, "The Passenger." In it we consider, (a) Cain vs. Abel as modes of consciousness, (b) what the birth of consciousness is, and (c) what the ultimate goal (telos) of life for a conscious being is. And then we wrap up and get ready for more.

In this episode, Ms. Sarah Miller, Mr. Wes Schantz and I talked about (1) Tolkien's idea of "eucatastrophe" and how this relates to Harry Potter, (2) the mythopoetic/cosmopoetic implications of high fantasy vs. Epic literature, and (3) what the appropriate relation between story and character is. And House-Elves!

In this discussion with Mr. Oscar Ortiz on the life and deeds of Cyrus II in Book I of Herodotus' "Histories." We consider (1) the psychology of Cyrus as half Medes and half Persian, (2) the difference between builders and liberators as kings, and (3) the necessity of paying attention and using one's intellect as a leader.

In this episode of Side Quests, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I talk about 'Nausicaa Of the Valley of the Wind." We consider (1) the Hermetic nature of Lord Yuba, (2) the significance of a feminine hero, and (3) what the appropriate connection between man and nature (and man and his own nature) is.

In this episode, Ms. Sarah Miller, Mr. Wesley Schantz, and I discuss the final two chapters of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." We get into (1) the difference between good and evil and truth and lies; (2) immortality vs. Self-sacrifice, and (3) Luciferian and Divine Symbolism shared between Dumbledore and Voldemort.

In this conversation, we discuss (a) the meaning of the ever-enlarging Norbert the Dragon, (b) the meaning of centaurs and their epic predecessors, and (c) how good and evil play differing games with differing rules in the same space.