Ben Adams, Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather continue to overthink Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. They turn their attention to extra-narrative concerns, focusing on the consequential initial shots in Star Wars films, problems of interstellar distance and communication, Rogue One‘s commentary on our own world, and how well fans are actually served by fan service.

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Episode 443: I Knew That Galaxy when it was Long Ago and Far Away originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

The rogue squadron of Ben Adams, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather assemble to overthink Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We wonder who exactly the one rogue of the title is, learn about the instability of both the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial Bureaucracy, and wonder what has changed and what has stayed the same in the Force, in family drama, and in the ethical character of the Star Wars universe.

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Episode 442: Success Has Many Darth Vaders; Failure is an Orphan originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Ben Adams, Peter Fenzel, John Perich, and Matthew Wrather gather to overthink thought experiments in consciousness, the moral dimension of killing philosophical zombies, what makes murder bad, and whether consciousness is an algorithm, a mystical journey…or a fire.

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Episode 441: James Marsden is Suffering for All of Our Sins originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather discuss heroism, story structure, culture, and gender in the latest animated film from the Walt Disney Company, Moana.

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Episode 440: The Moana-Myth originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Peter Fenzel, Amanda Jordá Avisati, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather join to discuss Arrival, focusing on the problems of causality, narrative stakes, message, language, and thought the film raises. In addition, we suggest further “bad” titles to carry the torch of Bad Santa 2.

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Episode 439: Arrival Both Goes Big and Goes Home originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather gather to overthink Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, and a whole host of CGI creatures meant to remind us that the magic lives within us all.

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Episode 438: The Flapper is a Goblin and She’s Singin’ Jazz originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

On the Overthinking It Podcast, Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather lose track of the metaphor, with many many different tenors and vehicles. Especially the vehicles Xander Cage drives off a bridge.

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Episode 437: Don’t Pretend You Were Never Playing with Power originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather reveal their favorite invisible weapons, discuss the controversial presence of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, and dig into Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, wondering about its structure, its humor, and its ultimate meaning.

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Episode 436: You’re Hacking The Universe… With Your Mind Code! originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Ben Adams, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather gather to Overthink Halloween, and to answer the question, “Why do we (still!) dress up as things?”

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“Weekend Box Office: ‘Inferno’ Loses to ‘Madea’ in Stunning Halloween Upset”

Episode 435: Team Sexy, Team Scary, Team Offensive originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather discuss the potential fruits of the AT&T acquisition of Time Warner, and get into the multiple meanings of the Western genre, talking about Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles, Westworld, and the remake of The Magnificent Seven.

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Episode 434: Six Tim Gunns originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]