Doxacast Remix

In this episode, new guest Derek Power and host Cindy Collins Smith geek out over Blade Runner’s place in cinema and examine the Frankensteinian questions it raises about what it means to be human and what it means to be a facsimile. To what extent can the two become like the other and where is God in all of this? The episode title (“Android Dreams”) of course calls back to “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” - the Philip K. Dick novel that Ridley Scott adapted for this film. But more than that, it suggests that replicants might unpredictably have aspirations beyond those they were programmed to have.

In another solo reaction commentary, host Cindy Collins Smith takes on the finale to Stranger Things - including how its Mind Flayer plot parallels the Mind Flayer in Baldur’s Gate 3, how the government’s efforts to turn humans into Cold War weapons hearkens back to Frankenstein and Myst, how confronting fear can lead differently disposed characters to compassion or an embrace of evil, how El’s final act reinforces her friends’ choice to believe in the good… and how the song that helped tear down the Berlin Wall became the culminating song for the series.

Modern video gaming does not exist without the 90s classics Myst and Riven. In this episode, we dive into these video game classics and their associated novels with a panel consisting of host Cindy Collins Smith, Fr. Evan Cummings, and Maggie and Jos Johnson. The ensuing conversation covers the groundbreaking nature of Myst, its influence on other media like the TV show Lost, and the impact of its rich aesthetic and complex puzzles on the gaming industry as a whole. The panel also delves into the collaborative nature of these games, the intricate storytelling, and the philosophical and moral themes embedded in the Myst saga - drawing parallels with the biblical narratives and Shakespearean drama that came before it. Here is the Myst Trilogy of ebooks mentioned in the episode: https://www.amazon.com/Myst-Trilogy-Rand-Miller-ebook/dp/B0FH5PTQ7P Here is a playlist of the entire Myst Soundtrack (Robyn Miller, 1993): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVIBbYYzNw8&list=PLF0F0D1BF9F96BFC7

Amy Browning-Dill and host Cindy Collins Smith probe the history and implications of Frankenstein - from Mary Shelley’s book through the James Whale and Hammer Studios adaptations all the way to more recent adaptations by Kenneth Branagh and Guillermo del Toro. Shelley’s tale is often considered an example of man playing God - and of course it is - but it also opens the door to profound questions about the relationship between the human body and God, what it means to have a soul, the implications of immortality without God, as well as more everyday human concerns such as the need for good parenting and companionship.

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.