The Fear of God: A Horror Movie Podcast

On this special Sunday edition of The Fear of God, Nathan invites back to the show author, professor, and Christian ethicist Dr. David Gushee for discussion about his new book: DEFENDING DEMOCRACY FROM ITS CHRISTIAN ENEMIES.

While the work's title certainly pulls no punches about its themes, both its content and this conversation is incredibly thoughtful, tracking the history and development of democracy as a national framework and providing crucial context for why it is presently being challenged by certain strands of thought within the Christian faith. In moments both hopeful and sobering, this dialogue not only illuminates why this consideration is so vital for our moment in history, but points the way towards stronger reconciliation and communal cooperation between divergent political landscapes.

It's a hearty and thoughtful discussion. We're privileged to have hosted it and we hope you enjoy it.

Previous conversations with Dr Gushee and the Fear of God can be found below.

What Scares Us and What Saves Us Epilogue

Introducing Christian Ethics

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For the past couple of months (with a brief intermission through folk horror), we've been working our way through the film catalogue of M Night Shyamalan. The landmark successes, the mind-boggling disappointments, the polarizing visions, and -- of course -- all the twists got the Fear of God treatment in individual episodes. Now, we come to the grand finale, a hearty discussion breaking down the highs, the lows, and the memories we made along the way.

Presented for you is our definitive exploration of the unique director's two and a half decade career. Kick back, pour yourself a drink (hopefully not contaminated), and enjoy the journey as we conclude #Shyamalamarama and do the twist one more time.

We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed discussing it!

2:15 - Business Time (It's our Seventh Anniversary!!)

Patron Only Segment: Whatcha Watchin' / Readin' / Listenin' To?

11:19 - Shyamalamawrapup

13:46 - How Did Our Opinions of These Films Change?

21:56 - Ranking the Cameos (Shyameos) of Each Film

30:47 - Reed and his son Discuss M Night Shyamalan

49:19 - What Are Shyamalan's Strengths and Weaknesses?

1:08:37 - Our Favorite Shyamalan Scenes

1:22:08 - Nathan and his daughter Discuss M Night Shyamalan

1:48:12 - What's Next for Shyamalan? What Film Should He Remake?

1:57:00 - Ranking the Films of M Night Shyamalan

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If you like what we do at the Fear of God, we'd like you to consider becoming a Patron. You'll get extended episodes every week and special invitations to online events and hangouts. You'll also receive exclusive bonus episodes, like this one we're previewing today on WIDE AWAKE, the often forgotten first widely distributed film by director M Night Shyamalan, released a full year before his landmark film, The Sixth Sense.

For the whole episode, visit Patreon.com/TheFearofGodPodcast and thank you so much for listening!

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As part of our weeks-long journey through the films of M Night Shyamalan (#Shyamalamarama!) we've also been steadily charting our way through the Apple TV+ original series: SERVANT. We now reach the culmination of that journey, wherein we'll breakdown some specifics about the last four episodes of Season 4 and discuss our feelings about the show as a whole, including what worked well, the missed opportunities, and the themes. How did we feel about Shyamalan's foray into television? How does it hold up amidst the rest of his catalogue? And perhaps most importantly, was there a final twist?

Also featuring a Patron-only tribute segment for the late director William Friedkin, we hope you enjoy our concluding discussion about the television show, Servant!

3:10 - Business Time

Patron Only Segment: Tribute to William Friedkin

7:41 - SERVANT

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As referenced a few times in this week's episode, we recently had the privilege to sit down with Josh Larsen, author and podcaster at Think Christian and Filmspotting to discuss his newest release, FEAR NOT!: A CHRISTIAN APPRECIATION OF HORROR.

The book is an easily digestible and remarkably thorough journey through some of the landmarks of horror cinema, exploring the ways they can be engaged and appreciated from a faith perspective.

Josh was kind enough to share with us how the book came to be and how he approached its structure, as well as digging a bit deeper into one of its featured entries (The Sixth Sense) as part of our Shyamalamarama series.

We hope you'll check out Josh's book and we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

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We're nearly at the end of #Shyamalamarama, our journey through the catalogue of M. Night Shyamalan. This week's stop is where most people encountered him for the first time: the landmark thriller with the mega-twist, THE SIXTH SENSE.

We're joined by Quarterly Queen Jess Fischli to dive into all that's "So" and "Ain't" right about what remains his most successful and noteworthy film. Together, we take a look at all the frights, all the feels, and all the filmmaking staples that would come to define his material. We even spend some time reflecting on what the film makes us feel about death, ghosts, parenting, and growing older in a hearty and heartfelt discussion you won't want to miss.

Also featuring a Patron-only discussion of SERVANT, Season 4, Episodes 4-6, this is one we really hope you'll enjoy.

3:32 - Business Time

Patron Only Segment: SERVANT, Season 4, Episodes 4 - 6

6:39 - THE SIXTH SENSE Redux

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We come now to one of the most notorious entries in the catalog of M. Night Shyamalan: THE HAPPENING. During this excursion through his films (#Shyamalamarama), we've encountered many highs and lows, but few films (save for maybe his take on Last Airbender) are more derided than this ecological thriller about a mysterious neurotoxin which makes people violently kill themselves. But is The Happening truly as bad as its reputation claims? Or is it merely a slick, b-movie style film that has been misunderstood for years?

Find out where Reed and Nathan land as they discuss all the highs, the lows, and the ain't rights of The Happening. Also featuring a Patron-only segment about SERVANT, Season 4, episodes 1 through 3, this one is a lot of fun and we hope you enjoy it.

3:38 - Business Time

Patron Only Segment: SERVANT, Season 4, Episodes 1 - 3

6:39 - THE HAPPENING

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We continue our trek through the catalog of M Night Shyamalan (#Shayamalamarama) with a reviewing of one of his most enduring (and endearing) films: SIGNS. We're joined by Quarterly King Ian Olson for a hearty and heartfelt discussion about our experiences with this obviously very personal film for Shyamalan and the ways it has come to represent some of the best of the director's traits from a period when all involved were arguably at their creative peak.

Also featuring a round-up of SERVANT, Season 3 (including a Patron segment drilling down more fully on episodes 7 through 10), this is a fun conversation that we really hope you enjoy.

2:35 - Business Time

Patron Only Segment: SERVANT, Season 3, Episodes 7 - 10

8:21 - SERVANT, Season 3 general discussion

22:58 - SIGNS

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In some ways, this is the centerpiece of the entirety of #Shyamalamarama. Ever since 2019, when Shyamalan concluded his Eastrail 177 trilogy to polarizing responses from fans, we've known this conversation would come. How did Reed and Nathan navigate their opposing takes on the film? Did the re-watching of it change any minds about it? And most importantly, does the film do what it means to do in order to wrap up M Night's most ambitious story yet?

We're joined by foreign correspondent Vera Goudie to unpack all of that and more, including a Patron segment about SERVANT, Season 3, episodes 4-6, in a lively discussion that we hope you all enjoy.

3:27 - Business Time

Patron Only Segment: SERVANT, Season 3, Episodes 4 - 6

5:37 - GLASS

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Welcome back! We're doing the twist again on #Shyamalamarama where we're making our way through the catalog of M. Night Shyamalan! This week, we discuss two of his most highly regarded films: Unbreakable (for the first official time in FoG canon) and Split (redux from our episode on it in 2017). We're joined by Holding Court's Dave Courtney for a robust conversation about the place these films hold in the canon of Shyamalan, the surprising ways they ignited audiences with their unexpected connections, and the way they explore our best worst versions of ourselves.

Also featuring a Patron-only segment about SERVANT Season 3, episodes 1 through 3, this is a hearty discussion that we really hope you enjoy.

3:05 - Business Time

Patron Only Segment: SERVANT, Season 3, Episodes 1 - 3

4:56 - The Unbreakable and Split Connection

16:05 - UNBREAKABLE

43:19 - SPLIT

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