Host Cindy Collins Smith goes solo in this brief reaction commentary on the first batch of new Stranger Things episodes. Fodder for discussion includes upside-down dice rolls, conspiracy theories (and real-world conspiracies), missing hot topics of the 80s, where these episodes sit in the series - and of course, how Stranger Things might resonate with Christians. And as for that 1983 Alt-CCM song that gets a shout out? You can give a listen to Daniel Amos’ "Mall (All Over the World)" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMdjns4VJcA.

The Babylon 5 Watch is back! Our panel - composed of Cindy Collins Smith, Maggie and Jos Johnson, Amy Browning-Dill, Richard Strube, and Sam Cook - picks up the conversation with the first eight episodes of season 2, ominously titled: "The Coming of Shadows.” Our panelists discuss the poignant backstory of Sinclair’s replacement with Sheridan, character trajectories, the increasing complexity of relationships, Babylon 5’s status as Space Opera or Science Fiction, the looming consequences of humans having Minbari souls, the control Psi Corps exerts over Telepaths, and the ominous foreshadowing of the Shadows. Oh, and let's not forget the green and purple.

Turn off the lights, light an atmospheric candle, and listen as Fr. David Subu and host Cindy Collins Smith talk and read through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s spooky tale of a young Puritan’s journey into the heathen forest near Salem at night. Known as one of the great stories of 19th century American Romanticism, Young Goodman Brown is also surprisingly rich in its treatment of sin, demonic temptation, and prelest.

Allison Franklin-Jordan again joins host Cindy Collins Smith - this time to discuss sin, choice, and change in two works that illustrate vividly how one person’s actions can change the world for good or ill. Iroh’s and Zuko’s repentance in Avatar: the Last Airbender transforms the Fire Nation from following an ideology of conquest to following a path of redemption and peace, while the abusive father’s repentance in My Hero Academia cannot undo the hatred that consumes and destroys his son. This episode delves into the cascading effects that our actions have on others… and our own need to live lives of repentance and see the Image of God in our fellows.

Tokusatsu enthusiast Sarah Esker joins Godzilla enthusiast Cindy Collins Smith for a stomp through Japanese media, its cross-pollination with the West, and the themes that are likely to resonate with Christians. Buckle up because this conversation takes us from giant monsters and aliens to Spaghetti Westerns, Star Wars, and even the Catholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.

What happens when you put together a couple of Doctor Who aficionados to cover more than 60 years of epic (and sometimes not-so-epic) television? Tune in to find out as Fr. Demetrios Kehagias joins host Cindy Collins Smith for a joyride through the ups and downs of Doctor Who and a discussion of how the Doctor’s near-immortality parallels and differs from the life of Christ.

2025 Doxacon speakers Jake Reed and Jon James join host Cindy Collins Smith to talk about one of literature’s most enduring tropes - the Wasteland. From crippling famines to post-apocalyptic fallout, the Wasteland has led pagans to offer sacrifice and moderns to despair. But it can also lead us to seek God. Covering ground from Oedipus Rex and Grail legends to A Canticle for Leibowitz and Fallout, this episode challenges us to let God transform the wastelands in our own lives.

What can a seemingly fluffy animated feature reveal to its audience about guilt, confession, restoration, uncovering shame, and -yeah- fighting demons? In this episode, Sr. Allison Regina Gliot and Sr. Orianne Pietra Rene Dyck join host Cindy Collins Smith for an exuberant conversation covering these topics and more in the breakout streaming hit K-Pop Demon Hunters.

2025 Doxacon speaker Richard Strube joins host Cindy Collins Smith to illumine the moral conundrums, thematic innovations, deft and heavy-handed storytelling, and memorable appearances in a handful of favorite (and not-so-favorite) episodes from Star Trek’s The Original Series and The Next Generation. Sprinkled with anecdotes and analysis, the conversation takes us from the heights of The City on the Edge of Forever and Darmok to the lows of The Omega Glory and many points between.

2025 Doxacon Lay Keynote speaker M.R. Leonard joins host Cindy Collins Smith to discuss his first contact novel Pilgrims and some “must see / must watch” science fiction. Along the way, the conversation turns to influences on the novel, what would happen if Catholic (or Orthodox) aliens visited Earth, why secular-oriented gamers fell in love with an overtly Christian novel, and how we can baptize the culture through reclaiming the science fiction space.