The Protagonist Podcast

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Returning guest Nicole Freim joins Joe to discuss the classic comic book mini-series Kingdom Come. This non-canon story is set in a dystopian future that sees some of the classic DC superheroes come out of retirement to confront a reckless new generation of anti-heroes.

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First-time guest Neil Cohn joins Joe to discuss an academic perspective on comic books. Cohn recently published Speaking in Pictures, and we discuss his work and analysis of the comic book form.

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Visual Language Lab – Neil Cohn website

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Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss a film in the Detective Conan anime series, which is about a high school detective who was turned into a first grader but who still fights crime. That’s the general premise, and this particular film is also odd. This is one of the stranger texts we’ve ever discussed on the podcast.

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Returning guest Allsion Epstein joins Joe to discuss Daphne de Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca. Told from the point of view of an unnamed protagonist, the story follows a young woman falling in love with an older widower and the gothic adventure she finds herself in. 

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Returning guest Branden Ushio joins Joe to discuss Starfleet Academy, one of the many streaming Star Trek tv shows that can be found on Paramount+. We’re discussing “The Life of the Stars,” which tells the story of some Starfleet cadets discovering emotional empathy and personal insights from ancient earth texts. 

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Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss the famous “silent issue” of G.I. Joe. Focusing on a story about Snake Eyes and Scarlett, Larry Hama scripted and drew a scomic book with no text where the story is still very easy to follow. Hama’s run on G.I. Joe created most of the characters and mythology the franchise is known for, and this is one of the most iconic single-issues issues in comic book history.

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Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack joins Joe and Producer Andrew for our special 600th episode. To celebrate 600 weekly episodes of the podcast, all three of us answer The Dinner Guest Question: if we could host a dinner party with a handful of fictional characters, who would we want to hang out with for one evening?

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Returning guest Kestra Darowski joins Producer Andrew and Joe to discuss Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan’s superhero film from 2000. We discuss the marketing around the film, the way the film engages the superhero genre, and the strengths of the storytelling.

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Returning guest Chris “Mav” Maverick joins Joe to discuss teaching comics. What texts do we use, what topics do we cover, and how do students react?

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First-time guest Stephen Fishbach joins us to discuss his debut novel Escape! The novel tells the story of a washed up reality television star and a disgraced reality tv producer who are each trying to find fresh opportunities on a remote island where a new reality tv show is filming. Fischbach is a veteran of two seasons of Survivor, and draws on his familiarity with the reality tv industry to write this fictional tale.

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