The Protagonist Podcast

“Maybe it was Utah.”

Description

All-Star guest Todd Petersen joins Joe to discuss one of the early Coen Brothers films, Raising Arizona. This off-beat comedy sees an ex-con named Hi (Nicolas Cage) and an ex-cop named Ed (Holly Hunter) who want to have children but can’t, so they kidnap one child from a set of quintuplets.

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Show Notes

Raising Arizona – Wikipedia

Coen Brothers – Wikipedia

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Description

“I’m like a hunter of peace.”

Returning all-star guest Norman Mitchell joins Joe to discuss Vash and Wolfwood from the anime series Trigun. The anime is based on the popular manga series created by Yasuhiro Nightow. Topics of discussion include character motivations, religion and violence, and moments when there can be simultaneous right answers that conflict with each other.

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Dueling Genre Discord

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Show Notes

Trigun – Wikipedia

Yasuhiro Nightow – Wikipedia

Description

Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack is back to discuss two short stories. “Circular Ruins” is by Jorge Luis Borges and tells the story of a wizard conjuring a being from his dreams. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is by Ambrose Bierce and tells the story of a man about to be hanged during the Civil War. The two stories are wildly different, but do share affinities in terms of twist endings and raising questions about what is real.

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Show Notes

Jorge Luis Borges – Wikipedia

Ambrose Bierce – Wikipedia

Description

All-Star guest Kjerste Christensen joins Joe to talk about aspirational media. We have a free-flowing conversation about the topic, and touch on issues of cultural literacy, what media is good for us to consume, and what media we still need to make time to watch or read.

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Description

Joe and Producer Andrew are talking about Ben from the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. This classic film is often cited as the first zombie film, and we talk about its place in pop culture history, its soul-crushing finale, and the low-budget production that created one of the most enduring franchises in entertainment. We also talk about Ben, played by Duane Jones, and the character’s significance in pop culture from the 1960s.

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Show Notes

Night of the Living Dead – Wikipedia

George A. Romero – Wikipedia

Description

First time guest Gene Luen Yang joins Joe to discuss the graphic novel Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru. This comic book story is an updated tale inspired by a classic storyline from the Adventures of Superman radio show from the 1940s. It tells the story of Superman helping a Chinese American family who are being threatened by a hate-group, the Klan of the Fiery Kross. Gene Luen Yang is a writer and artist, was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in 2016, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2016, and has won multiple awards for his comic books and graphic novels.

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Show Notes

Superman – Wikipedia

Gene Luen Yang – Personal website

Gurihiru – Wikipedia

Gene Luen Yang – Wikipedia

Superman Smashes the Klan – Amazon

Description

First-time guest Rachel Armstrong is joining us to discuss the Korean drama Crash Landing on You. This tv series tells the story of Yoon Seri, a South Korean woman who has a paragliding accident and lands in North Korea, where Captain Ri Jeong-hyeok finds her. What follows is a fish-out-of-water tale as Seri and Jeong-hyeok try to keep her hidden and return her to South Korea. Listeners, I’m just going to recommend you fire up Netflix right now and binge this entire series.

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Show Notes

Crash Landing on You – Wikipedia

Crash Landing on You – IMDB

Description

Joe is joined by returning guest Tianna Homer to discuss the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s Starlight Archive series. The Way of Kings tells the stories of a slave named Kaladin, a desperate ward named Shallan, and a troubled high prince named Dalinar. In this high fantasy, all of them have mystical destines but none of them know what those destinies are or how to prepare to fulfill them. Sanderson’s world-building, character development, and intricate plotting have made him one of the most popular fantasy authors today.

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Show Notes

Brandon Sanderson – author website

The Way of Kings – Amazon link

Description

There are a LOT of pop culture franchises, but how well do you actually know them? Returning guest Chris “Mav” Maverick joins Joe in a trivia contest. Can you name all the subtitles of Transformers films? How many franchises can you name that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has appeared in more than once? In this episode, Producer Andrew ask these types of questions and Joe and Mav struggle to find the right answers.

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Description

Returning guest Virginia McAlister joins Joe to discuss Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) and Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) in the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle. We talk about Nora Ephron’s career, the film’s unique spin on romantic comedies, and the performances from the stars and supporting cast.

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Show Notes

Sleepless in Seattle – Wikipedia

Nora Ephron – Wikipedia

Sleepless in Seattle – IMDB