The Midnight Myth Podcast

We’ve survived Year One at Hogwarts, but Year Two brings bigger monsters, darker secrets, and lots more mystery. Join us as we continue our journey through the eight Harry Potter films and flush ourselves down to the Chamber of Secrets. It’s our first introduction to notions of blood purity within the Wizarding World, and it solidifies the eerie magical connection between our hero, Harry, and his nemesis Lord Voldemort. We’ll discuss the mythological foundations of the basilisk and ancestral weaponry, and we’ll meditate on epistemology in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets is deeply concerned with how knowledge is imparted, who controls a narrative, and how those narratives can drive ideology, leading to the rise of oppressive regimes.

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We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.

Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate

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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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Take the first steps with us into a world of magic. Over the next eight weeks, we’ll be going one-by-one through all eight films in the Harry Potter series, following the Boy Who Lived through his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry and his battle against the forces of evil. This week, we discuss Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001). Okay, maybe this isn’t the strongest movie in the series, but dang if it isn’t chock-full of history, mythology, and philosophy! We’ll learn a little bit about the legends surrounding the Philosopher’s Stone and alchemical tradition, the real Nicolas Flamel, and what those elements mean for the story at large. Plus, we’ll unpack one stop on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey—the Crossing of the First Threshold—which manifests in myriad ways in Sorcerer’s Stone.

Yer a wizard, Harry.

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We will be donating our Patreon earnings for the next two months to the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures.

Donate here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/donate

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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!

28 days. 6 hours. 42 minutes. 12 seconds. That is when the world will end… according to Frank, the giant bunny rabbit. Closing out a run of spooky Halloween-themed episodes is the 2001 indie classic Donnie Darko. Is this film a muddled mess or an of-the-moment masterpiece? What can we make of the three seemingly conflicting threads that run through the movie—the science fiction, the vaguely religious, and the meditation on upper middle class suburban alienation? Do these thematic strings clash horribly, or are they inextricably intertwined? How do we make sense of an increasingly mad world through the eyes of Donnie? We meditate on the film’s carefully selected symbols and philosophical underpinnings to answer these questions and more.

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Black Lives Matter. Click here to support protestors via the Philly Bail Fund, or here to directly support the family of Walter Wallace Jr.

Hey US listeners—VOTE! Go to iwillvote.com to make your voting plan in this critical election.

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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!

It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. MADNESS takes its toll… But listen closely to this week’s podcast—a bonkers analysis of the Queen of Midnight Movies, the ultimate cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show! We discuss the legacy of both the stage production and cinematic adaptation, how it spawned a true cult of devoted followers and a universal tradition of audience participation—going back through theatre history to understand why Rocky Horror provokes such an audience response. Plus, we’ll explore what it means to give yourself over to absolute pleasure, discussing the philosophy of Hedonism and the psychology of pleasure-seeking. Come with us to a different planet, and we’ll do the Time Warp again!

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Hey US listeners—VOTE! Go to iwillvote.com to make your voting plan in this critical election.

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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!

Warning: Major spoilers for Hereditary (2018) in this podcast! Don’t let us ruin this movie for you!

The second installment of our spooky Halloween episode series swerves into tragic horror with Ari Aster’s 2018 directorial debut, Hereditary. An exquisite genre piece that unfolds into unexpected and deeply unsettling revelations, Hereditary may share even more in common with Greek tragedy than with its modern horror cousins like The Exorcist, The Shining, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby. We’ll discuss the influence of plays by Sophocles and Aeschylus on the film’s form and structure, the significance of miniatures, and the correlation between blood ties and the supernatural. Plus, come with us through a historical overview of the transition between ancient pagan religions and monotheism—and how the long-lasting implications of that transition have laid the groundwork for much of modern horror cinema.

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Hey US listeners—VOTE! Go to iwillvote.com to make your voting plan in this critical election.

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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!

Yo-ho, a pirate’s life for me! Join us upon the high seas this week as we discuss perhaps the best film adaptation of a theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Why do pirates hold such a sway over our romantic imagination? Is the image of pirates we think of in any way close to the historical reality? We’ll discuss the relatively short period of time known as the “Golden Age of Piracy” and how handful of sources have created an indelible archetype. But this isn’t just a pirate story—it’s also a ghost story. Why do those two different types of narratives live side-by-side so easily? What stories or superstition and the supernatural were shared among old mariners? We’ll look to legendary ghost ships—most notably the Flying Dutchman—to trace the connections between pirates and ghosts.

Further reading:

The Pirate World by Angus Konstam

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Black Lives Matter. Consider supporting protestors in Louisville via the Louisville Community Bail Fund.

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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!

Who could have imagined the impact that a simple story of domestic struggles and joys would have on the world? After more than seven film adaptations, numerous televisions adaptations, and countless versions for the stage, a new generation got its Little Women in 2019 with Greta Gerwig’s bold interpretation of the March Sisters’ story. In this episode, we’ll discuss the legacy of Little Women and how this latest film version honors the life of author Louise May Alcott while infusing the story with a contemporary urgency. Issues of gender expression, feminism, and economic independence run through the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they come of age during the American Civil War. The film also asks a question: does writing confer importance or reflect it? We examine this question from the lens of fiction storytelling, but also from the lens of history to discover Little Women’s place in both spheres.

Further reading/listening:

Why Don’t More Boys Read Little Women? By Anne Boyd Rioux for Literary Hub

The Director’s Cut: Little Women with Greta Gerwig and Rian Johnson

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Black Lives Matter. Consider supporting protestors in Louisville via the Louisville Community Bail Fund.

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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!

If you could change your fate, would you? Step back with us into the misty Scottish Highlands through Pixar’s 2012 fairy tale Brave. Pixar’s first woman-led feature may look like a traditional fairy tale at first, but through clever meditations on destiny, free will, and community, it rings with truths that are incredibly modern. How do we restore women’s voices in patriarchal systems? How do we balance our desire to create our own destiny with our responsibilities to family and community? In this episode, we’ll explore how Brave embraces and evolves fairy tale traditions, incorporates new takes on medieval history and world folklore, and infuses Merida and Elinor’s feminist journey with magic and grace.

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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!

Spartans! What is your profession? As we continue exploring historical fiction, this week’s episode is a deep dive into Zack Snyder’s 2006 adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300. Based on the historical Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartan soldiers laid down their lives against a massive force of the Persian army, 300 is in some ways a surprisingly accurate—and often problematic—presentation of the distant past. We’ll discuss what really (probably, maybe) happened at the Hot Gates according to the original historian himself, Herodotus, the powerful discourse it created around Western and Eastern Civilization, and how the modern adaptations of this event take those divides to a new level. We’ll never know everything there is to know about the Spartans, but thanks to the histories we have, and the myths they created, we certainly know who they believed they were.

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Donate to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund to help protestors in Kenosha. Or donate directly to the family of Jacob Blake.

If you’re not part of a high-risk population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.

After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, educate yourself about colorectal cancer, and get screened if you’re at risk.

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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!

All things, even the Beams, serve the Tower. Did you think this podcast would be any different? Derek and Steve have started the Wheel of Ka over, in a way. This bonus episode has your Ka-Tet returned, this time reading the wonderful Stephen King novel, Salem’s Lot. After Derek and Steve completed The Dark Tower read through, we recognized that our journey through King’s writings has only begun. While both of your hosts love The Dark Tower, there is and will be, so much more to King’s story world still worth uncovering.

How does Salem’s Lot relate to the Dark Tower? What themes of evil, its nature, its causes, its consequences, is King playing with in the book? What happens when America’s small town, with its veneer of friendly civility gets punctured by a dark house on hill and the strange nocturnal residents?

All this and more in this episode of Wheel of Ka.

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Donate to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund to help protestors in Kenosha. Or donate directly to the family of Jacob Blake.

If you’re not part of a high-risk population and want to do your part to help ensure a free and fair US election, consider applying to become a poll worker. Learn more at www.powerthepolls.org.

After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, educate yourself about colorectal cancer, and get screened if you’re at risk.

—

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!