In the beginning…

Join us for a podcast 7,000 years in the making, as we take on Marvel’s Eternals (2021)… for the second time in a few weeks - Check out our review of Eternals alongside the incomparable Geek Salad here. It’s a film teeming with history, mythology, and philosophy - the energy cocktail that powers our podcast. We discuss the mythological counterparts for the characters and artifacts in Chloe Zhao’s film, debate some of the movies most cogent themes, and argue for its place within the MCU. We also explore the interesting space Eternals occupies at the intersection of Charles Darwin, Walt Whitman, and Rene Descartes.

Be sure to participate in our Q&A - ask on any of our social platforms or via the web contact form at midnightmyth.com to be entered in a Norse myth/Marvel giveaway bundle for our 200th episode!

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

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Coming in spring of 2022, Sleep & Sorcery is a folklore and fantasy-inspired sleep series from the co-creator of The Midnight Myth Podcast. Step across the threshold into a world of myth and magic, where you can safely drift off into a deep and comfortable sleep. Sleep & Sorcery is one part bedtime story, one part guided meditation, and one part dreamy adventure.

My name is Laurel, and I’ll be your guide on infinite fantastical journeys. On each episode of Sleep & Sorcery, I’ll whisk you away to a far-off time and place. Visit a cozy cottage in the mythical village of Slumbershire, where you’ll share a cup of tea with old friends, reminiscing on your past adventures to misty mountains and elven halls. Travel through the mysterious forests of Bohemia, encountering fairy tale creatures and exploring gothic churches. Go back in time to the court of King Arthur and embark on a meditative quest for lost relics. Soar in a spaceship among the stars, taking in the awesome sights of cosmic phenomena. Each sleep story is carefully crafted to evoke feelings of comfort, safety, and relaxation – paired with breath work or a soothing body scan to send you naturally into sleep.

Sleep & Sorcery. See you in your wildest dreams.

Music: A Glimpse of Avalon by Flouw, from EpidemicSound.com

Special Thanks to Derek Jones

Drawers! Floors! Doors! Let’s go!

Come with us to Casa Madrigal, the magical casita that sits in the heart of a wondrous Colombian community. After spending weeks with “Surface Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” buzzing in our heads, we’re discussing Disney’s 2021 animated smash Encanto, and the myriad ways it evolves the studio’s offerings. Drawing inspiration from the beautiful landscape, culture, and music of Colombia, the literary magic of Marquez, and the tragic history of the country, Encanto weaves a vision that’s truly moving. We discuss how the Madrigal family suffers from intergenerational trauma, and the intense work they must undertake to heal their collective wounds. We also dive into the history of Colombia to try and place Encanto in time, giving the story additional emotional context. Lastly, we acknowledge some of the many mythological parallels in the story. The stars don’t shine, they burn.

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:

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Whether you wear blue robes or red, serve the White Cloaks or the Aes Sedai, or follow the way of the leaf, you’re welcome at our fire for this week’s discussion of Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time, based on the books by Robert Jordan. We explore religious, mythological, and philosophical traditions that subscribe to a cyclical cosmology (a “wheel of time”) and contemplate the implications on the story world. We also delve into the three oaths of the Aes Sedai, and the limitations of deontological moral systems in corruptible institutions. Unexpected cameos by Isaac Asimov and Cleopatra, as well.

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:

anch.co/midnight

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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

Derek and Laurel are back, and on the eve of 2021 ending and 2022 beginning they look back on the last year and ask about how living life as new parents in a pandemic challenged, changed, and evolved their relationship to contemporary story telling. As The Midnight Myth gets close to two years since having attending a movie in a theater, what themes connect the experience of interacting with media in a pandemic environment? What narratives drew us in and how did we grow as individuals, a family and a podcast?

We discuss supporting local theater, the evolution of the MCU as it jumps into streaming television, and how the prospective of the pandemic permeates into our view of narratives… from Don’t Look Up, too Hawkeye, Ted Lasso, Midnight Mass, Morning Show, Mythic Quest, Loki, and so much more!

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

Interested in starting your own podcast? Try using Anchor by clicking on this link to get started:

anch.co/midnight

Twitter

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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! For lo, I bring you tidings of a great podcast. We’re thrilled to be back in the studio with a 2021 Christmas Spectacular. This year, we’ll use the 1965 classic A Charlie Brown Christmas to explore the sweeping history of Christmas traditions like the Christmas tree, pageants, and ritual media consumption. From ancient pagan festivals to medieval mystery plays, from Washington Irving to postwar capitalism, A Charlie Brown Christmas prompts the kind of philosophical inquiry you might not expect from a 25-minute cartoon. Whatever and however you celebrate, and with whom, we wish you a happy holiday season and a joyous new year.

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

I must not fear. Fear is mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings you a new Midnight Myth episode! We haven’t stopped thinking about Denis Villeneuve’s spectacular vision of Frank Herbert’s Dune for the past few weeks. Join us on Arrakis to debrief some of the historical and religious inspiration for the Dune-iverse, meditations on the purpose of mythology (is it a helpful framework for understanding our world, or a tool of the powerful to manipulate the masses?), and reflections on the bleakness of the story’s outlook. We’ll visit the Sassanid Persian Empire and a 1980s conference on nuclear semiotics along the way.

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

Twitter

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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

Surprise, and happy Hallo-Wednesday! We made it into the studio for a very special edition of our Perfect Movie Gauntlet. As we continue to test our criteria for the Perfect Movie (evaluating on the basis of dimensions like Timelessness, Technical Achievement, etc…), we’ve made a few tweaks to determine the Perfect Spooky Movie! Listen to find out if your fall faves—like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas—can pass the ultimate test.

Send us your contenders, or tell us why we’re wrong! We’ll head back to the lab to continue refining our formula…

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

The Midnight Myth returns out of a sense of duty to our listeners, inner virtue, and faith in the podcasting empire. This week, we are discussing Derek’s all-time favorite movie, and a springboard for in-depth discussions of historical fiction—Ridley Scott’s 2000 smash-hit Gladiator. We take a journey through Greco-Roman conceptions of the afterlife, interrogate the historical liberties taken by the film, and question the impact of the Roman Empire on the modern world. Learn about the connections between Maximus and the early Roman dictator Cincinnatus (who also heavily influences an important American historical figure), the Stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, the damnation of Commodus’s memory, and so much more…

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

We’re back, fellow travelers, and we’re just racing along the path of the Beam! We have begun the massive undertaking that it Stephen King’s The Stand - and this episode will cover just the first 230 pages of the epic tome. These 230 pages contain multitudes (if you know, you know!) How do empires fall? What lies ahead after the world moves on? And how does the first act of The Stand relate to The Dark Tower? Join us for a stimulating discussion… and for the love of god, get vaccinated.

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Support us at www.patreon.com/midnightmyth

Check out our merch store for Midnight Myth, Boomerangerang, and Wheel of Ka tees and totes!

Learn more, view sources and inspiration, and sign up for e-mail updates at www.midnightmyth.com

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!