The Protagonist Podcast

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Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack and returning guest Todd Petersen join Joe for their 8th annual Halloween Special. They’ve been given unexpected pairings of story elements (like “Time Travel and Demon” or “Cryptid and Film Noir”) and they each pitch a brief story based on that premise. Then, Producer Andrew picks a winner for the round and at the end we see who has won the most rounds.

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Joe is joined by Producer Andrew to talk about about Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? This is the first of MANY series to feature Scooby Doo and friends. We talk about this franchise’s history in pop culture, aspects of the characters, and discuss two classic episodes from the series: “A Night of Fright is No Delight” and “Jeepers, It’s the Creeper.”

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Joe is joined by returning guest John Darowski to discuss the 1979 novel Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. The story, about a cat and dog who are convinced a new pet bunny is actually a vampire that drinks the juice out of vegetables, is charmingly absurd. We talk about the surprising reach of the Bunnicula brand, discuss trivia about the book’s origin, and John explains why this story has important personal meaning for him.

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First-time guest Ryan Haupt joins Joe and Producer Andrew to discuss Jurassic Park, the classic Steven Spielberg adaptation about man’s hubris. And dinosaurs. Really awesome dinosaurs. We discuss alternate universe versions of the film with different casts, what works well (everything), and Ryan Haupt helps us dig into the science of the story.

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Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to talk about Beasts of Burden, a comic book series created by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. It tells the story of a group of dogs (and a couple cats) that protect the town of Burden Hill from paranormal threats. And there are an awful lot of supernatural goings-on at Burden Hill.

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Returning guest Norman Mitchell joins Joe to talk about One Piece: Film Z, the twelfth film from the (very) long-running anime adaptation of the manga series. We discuss the history of the anime, the characterization of Luffy and his antagonist in this film, and the wonderful absurdity of the Straw Hat Pirates.

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Producer Andrew and Kestra Darowski join Joe to talk about storytelling at theme parks. We sometimes do special episodes where we discuss a unique style of storytelling, and the immersive experiences at theme parks certainly counts as a distinct type of story. Andrew and Kestra know far more about this world than Joe, so they guide him through this discussion and answer his questions along the way.

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Producer Andrew joins Joe to discuss Washington Irving’s class short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” We discuss the prominence of the Headless Horseman in folklore, where the whole flaming pumpkin part of the story came from, and also touch on some enduring false myths that Irving introduced into the American educational system.

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Returning guest Anna Peppard joins Joe to discuss Michael and Fiona from the tv series Burn Notice. The tv series about a spy who is cut off from his former agency and resources was a staple series on the USA Network during their Blue Sky era of programming. 

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Returning guest Anna Peppard joins Joe to discuss Jennifer Walters and her superheroic alter-ego She-Hulk. She-Hulk was co-created by Stan Lee and John Buscema in 1980 and has had several solo series in the subsequent four decades. Featuring writing by Charles Soule and art by Javier Pulido and Ron Wemberly, this 2014 series centers Jennifer Walters role as a lawyer while still highlighting her superhero adventures. 

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