This week, we talk a little bit about the universality of human trauma and one dysfunctional galactic superhero family’s efforts to prove healing from it is possible. Featuring a newly-discovered iconic trio of children’s stories, poor delivery of the same Community reference four times, and a reflection on North Stars, join us in this episode as we draw parallels between the two least tonally similar properties Marvel has to offer -- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Daredevil Season 3 -- and hopefully make a good case for why they’re both brilliant stories in their own right.

We reiterate that neither of us are experts on the clinical or diagnostic side of trauma recovery and mental health, and our thoughts in this episode go hand in hand with the importance of professional support and therapy. We’d also like to apologize for any redundancy or incoherence that may be found therein; in a lovely twist of dramatic irony, this past month has been kind of rough for both of us -- evidenced by the delay between episodes -- and so the recording and editing of this episode has been more difficult than usual. We hope that you can be compassionate and bare with us as we move forward to the next episode.

As usual, we’d love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or opinions you have either in the comments of the YouTube post or on any of the platforms I promote this podcast on. Enjoy!

REFERENCES:

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

In Discussion Refs:

General Refs on Rates of Trauma, Collected Adversity --

https://cpa.ca/sections/traumaticstress/simplefacts/#:~:text=3

https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Trauma-infographic.pdf?daf=375ateTbd56

https://www.acesaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Chapter-1-An-Introduction-to-Trauma-and-Health.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenerational_trauma#:~:text=Transgenerational%20trauma%2C%20or%20intergenerational%20trauma,subsequent%20generations%20in%20that%20group.&text=When%20this%20collective%20trauma%20affects,it%20is%20called%20transgenerational%20trauma.

Toni Morrison Interview -- https://youtu.be/5xvJYrSsXPA

Dostoyevsky’s “The House of the Dead” on Project Gutenberg -- https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37536/37536-h/37536-h.htm

Welcome to another much to think about episode, where we share some ideas and opinions and conclude with a big ole much to think about! For this week’s topic, we review the quintessential role of character archetypes in the history of storytelling, distinguish between archetype and stereotype, and then delve into 3 of our favourite ones. Join us as Phil and Brother miss the opportunity to make a bad “are you not entertained?” joke, get emotional about Black Panther, and have a heart to heart about Kung Fu Panda in an attempt to pick apart how and why archetypes of positive leadership in stories are important to our ability to take ownership of both seeking, and being, good leaders.

This is a very fun and special episode! If, whether in the intro or the bulk of the ep, we missed talking about any of your favourite characters that you think fit into the archetypes we bring up, we welcome you to let us know in the comments, or feel free to hit me up on here!

Until next week, guys :)

REFERENCES:

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

In Discussion Refs:

Basic Intro to Archetypes vs Stereotypes in Fiction -- https://literarydevices.net/archetype/

“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley -- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus

“The Secret of Divine Civilization” on Project Gutenberg -- https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19237/19237-pdf.pdf

In this week’s episode, we take a minute to reflect on ways and whys to balance individual autonomy and collective good in a more relaxed conversation about the somewhat contentious film Avengers: Infinity War. How are we defining “good”? Who gets to choose what “good” is? Is there a difference between a person choosing to sacrifice their self, versus a group or institution choosing to sacrifice that person on the group's behalf? And what, exactly, are we sacrificing along the way? Tune in to catch: an accidental spiral on the writing choices made in Civil War, a valiant attempt to understand Thanos’s questionably neo-Malthusian motivations, lots of enthusiasm about romance, and, in a thrilling twist, a very special guest appearance.

We don’t mean at all to put down anyone who likes the movie Avengers: Endgame and we hope that none of the frustrations expressed about that movie were hurtful or upsetting to anyone who enjoys it! You do you, etc. etc. Hopefully we explain ourselves well enough that it’s understandable why we have the frustrations we do.

As always, feel free to share any thoughts, questions, or concerns in the comments section of the YouTube upload, or send me a message on the platforms I promote this on :)

REFERENCES:

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

In-Discussion References:

Collectivism -- https://www.google.com/search?q=collectivism&oq=collectivism+&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j0l2j46i20i263j69i60j69i61l2.2903j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Individualism -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individualism

Thomas Malthus and Malthusianism -- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Malthus

Ursual Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” -- http://sites.asiasociety.org/asia21summit/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/3.-Le-Guin-Ursula-The-Ones-Who-Walk-Away-From-Omelas.pdf

In an increasingly complex and globalized sociopolitical landscape, attempting to take part in meaningful social action can be difficult. It often, at least for us, feels as though we are being pulled in one hundred different directions ... none of which have a clear vision for a better future. So what’s a girl -- or the nicest man on earth and his grumpy cyborg buddy -- to do? Join us in this 2-hour Falcon and the Winter Soldier special as we learn what it means to “reify” a symbol (anything from a flag, to a person, to a single, innocuous word); unpack the important relationship between ideology, axiology, and ontology; and explore the transformative, healing power of community-building.

We realize that Phil talks about Complex Adaptive Systems in the episode without defining them; please forgive her, as she is neck deep in systems organization graduate studies right now, gets over-excited, and forgets that other people are not. For your benefit, we’ve linked a great introductory video explaining the topic below. We also realize that we totally forgot to talk about Sharon ... in our defence, so did the MCU, for like, five movies.

As always, we would love love love to hear any thoughts, comments or opinions you may have! Stay safe everyone. <3

REFERENCES:

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

In-Discussion References:

What is reification? -- https://www.blydenian.net/reification/

A brief introductory overview of complex adaptive systems -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwvsK-6640&ab_channel=CabreraResearchLab

Daniel Schmactenberger, “Phase-Shifting Humanity” -- https://youtu.be/_BofVO-4yNc

James Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” -- http://www2.csudh.edu/ccauthen/570f15/baldwin.pdf

“Who the Hell is Binky?”, so that you might die of laughter as we have -- https://jabberwockyface.tumblr.com/post/143134917915/because-i-was-talking-about-the-winter-soldier-to

Spider-Man: criminal (quoth J. Jonah Jameson), or universal hero? What makes our favourite web-slinging New Yorker such a good role model for personal good? How can there exist in the world a film as unquestionably perfect as Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse? And was it REALLY necessary for Chris Pine Spider-Man to die after only 5 minutes of screentime? We answer these, and other truly earth-shattering questions, on this week’s special Spidey Episode. Join us as Phil busts out her gold-standard Tobey Maguire impersonation and we unpack how and to what end each individual person has the unique capacity, and CHOICE, to contribute something good to the world -- great or small.

REFERENCES

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

In-Discussion References:

Spiderverse “spark in you” scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urb13v4XmSU

Homecoming “come on, Spider-Man” scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y8HBCOgazw

Join us as we ponder the difference between the light and dark sides of the Force, recite some Lebanese poetry, explore the difference between true detachment and emotionless apathy, discuss some of our favourite character journeys, and -- most importantly -- engage in the evergreen sport of calling Anakin Skywalker the galaxy’s biggest clown. All of that and more in this -- a very special Jedi Episode!

A few logistical notes:

Love you guys, and see you in two weeks!

REFERENCES

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

In-Discussion Refs:

George Lucas on The Force: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nFMBBrliyQ&t=121s

Hellmeier and Weldmann (2019) “Pulling the Strings? The Strategic Use of Pro-Government Mobilization in Authoritarian Regimes”. Retrieved from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0010414019843559

Basic Discussion of Fear and Rise of Authoritarianism in Pre-WW2 Germany: https://www.d11.org/cms/lib/CO02201641/Centricity/Domain/3295/The%20Emergence%20of%20the%20authoritarian%20state%20in%20Germany%201919-1934.pdf

“The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58585

“Black Elk Speaks” (Originally Published in 1932): http://public.gettysburg.edu/~franpe02/files/%5BJohn_G._Neihardt%5D_Black_Elk_Speaks__The_Complete_(z-lib.org).pdf

On this week’s episode, we follow Diana’s heartfelt movie arc and try to untangle exactly what the basis is for her bold statement, “I believe in love”. We explore the surprisingly metaphysical idea of humanity’s interconnectedness, discuss the dreamy swoop of Steve Trevor’s hair, and ask: why, exactly, should we love others and the world? And, indeed, what does loving others really look like?

As always, please don’t hesitate to comment with any question, ideas, or curiosities. Feel free to like, subscribe and share with your friends, as we continue asking these complex, important, and hopefully fruitful questions. :) <3

REFERENCES:

Framework for These Discussions

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

In-Discussion References

David Bohm, “Thought As A System” Published Posthumously 1992 -- https://books.google.ca/books/about/Thought_as_a_System.html?id=Nj77486SOyMC&redir_esc=y

Quantum Entanglement (Basic Explanation) -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement#:~:text=Quantum%20entanglement%20is%20a%20physical,are%20separated%20by%20a%20large

C.S. Lewis, “The Four Loves” on Project Gutenberg -- https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/lewiscs-fourloves/lewiscs-fourloves-00-h.html

Dr. Iain McGilchrist on Love -- https://shows.acast.com/fear-itself-with-cressida-bonas/episodes/s2-ep10-love-itself-special-with-dr-iain-mcgilchrist

On this week’s episode, we take a look at elements of stoic and idealist philosophy, discuss the difference between fairness and justice, explore Batman’s position on human nature, and ask the perennial question: DO we live in a society?

REFERENCES

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

In-Discussion References:

The Trolley Problem (Of Good Place Fame) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfIdNV22LQM

Basic Explanation of Stoicism -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism#:~:text=Stoicism%20is%20a%20school%20of,views%20on%20the%20natural%20world.

Basic Explanation of Idealism -- https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/idealism/

Percy’s Letter to Ron -- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, CH. 14, “Percy and Padfoot”, pg. 266-268

What is Eucatastrophe? Who does Phil want to be when she grows up? What does Spring have to do with Frodo and the Gang? And is the classic arrival of the Eagles just a convenient plot hole, or does it carry a greater significance also reflected in our daily lives? These questions and more will be explored on this first and very special episode!  

Feel free to comment with any thoughts, questions, or suggestions below; we are always eager to learn and improve.

REFERENCES

Framework for these Discussions:

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

"The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" -- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Tolkien on Myth -- https://jenniferjsnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11790039-jrr-tolkien-beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics.pdf

Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" -- https://www.docsonline.tv/the-meaning-of-life/

In-Discussion Refs:

Plato's Allegory of the Cave -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA&t=5s