Superhero Ethics

This episode was recorded for Pandavision, but we're having trouble uploading so I'm posting it here as well.

Season 2 of The Witcher just went up, and we're helping you get ready for it! Ashley Coffin, Paul Hoppe, and Matthew Fox talk complete our primer on Season 1.

Paul and Matthew jump into ethical questions from the 2nd half of the live action CowBoy BeBop!

We're talking about Season 2, episode 1-2. SO many character reveals!

What happens when a pastor and a pastor's kid talk about the ethics of church leadership, using faith to justify terrible things, and vampires? Matthew and Matt Carroll get into all the ethical questions raised by Netflix's Midnight Mass

Let's talk Cowboy BeBop, episodes 1-5. Are Spike and Jet heroes. anti-heroes, or something else? What's going on in this post earth society? Paul and I jump into these questions and more.

Would you disturb an ant-hill to build a garden or something else you needed? What if humanity was the ant-hill? Is it better to force people to do good things, or let them do terrible ones? Eternals raised some great questions, and Pete Wright of The Next Reel joins me to explore them.

Could the Jedi have been saved? Was their downfall inherent in their structure, their rules, their repression? Did Anakin just need a good HR officer to take his complaints to?

Rob and Jonah join me to talk about the fall of the Jedi, and how we might have rebuilt the order.

Let's talk multiverses! Paul Hoppe and I dive into the questions raised by telling stories in a multiverse.

Note- this episode may be a bit controversial, as both of us are not as gung-ho as many others about the way the multiverse is playing out in the MCU. This episode is NOT an attempt to argue with people who are loving the multiverse, or to shame them or to in any way question that. If you're super excited to see how the multiverse plays out- that is awesome, and if you're not interested in folks talking about why they're not as gung ho, no worries, we'll have another episode coming along soon.

We decided to make this episode for two reasons.

1) We’ve heard from a number of people who also aren’t as excited about the multiverse as many others are, and wanted to hear folks talk about a different perspective.

2) Various folks who are super excited about this asked good faith questions about why one or both of us are not on board, and so I/we wanted to take some time to address those questions.

If that sounds interesting, check it out! If not, no worries and we’ll be back next week with a more traditional ethics episode!

Is there such a thing as benevolent colonialism as Duke Leto tries? How does Dune explore the idea of a messiah, and the way those effect and are effected by Paul, the Bene Gesserit and the Fremen? My friend and former colleague from my days as a pastor, Chris McArdle, joins me to dive into these topics and more.

Chris McArdle is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ who serves the First Congregational Church of Anoka, Minnesota. He is a self-described lifelong geek whose parents introduced him to Star Wars at age 3 and numerous other scifi worlds thereafter. He has long been interested in genre literature that relies on religious imagery and themes, but not as long as he has pursued the earthly joy of a well-made mac & cheese.

Ashley and I continue our discussion of True Blood, covering S1 Eps 5-8 on this 2nd episode of Superhero Ethics After Dark! 18+ only please..

This week I am on my honeymoon, so this will be the only Superhero Ethics episode. But most of the time, After Dark will be a bonus episode, not a replacement for the normal weekly episode.

Superhero Ethics After Dark is a new series where Ashley and I will discuss shows that deal frankly with topics like sexuality or other themes the podcast gods will get at mad at us if we don't make it 18+. , We will continue to bring the same ethical focus and format, while diving into all the different issues the show brings up, including the way sexuality is used in the show, along with a healthy dose of thirst.