What is real? Am I real? Are you? Is this podcast real? Is my experience dictated by my perspective, by the materials i interact with, or by some higher essence? When questions like these start to mess with our heads, we filter them through the lens of the quintessence indie mind f*ck, Being John Malkovich. Derek and Laurel take look at Plato’s timeless allegory of the cave, the theory of the forms, and themes of universe justice (and also puppets).
Episode 32: Vice and Virtue
What is a stoic character? Grim, emotionally immovable, and cold in the face of great human pain? Listen this week as Derek and Laurel delve into the archetypal stoic character and unpack Stoic philosophy along the way. The current stoic character construct bares some superficial resemblance to the philosophy started in Ancient Athens in 350 BCE, but do the tropes really do justice to the philosophical doctrine? By examining characters from the Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Gladiator, and more, we will try to discover the truth beneath the unshakeable facades.
Episode 31: Itself
It has come. With It released, Derek and Laurel peek under the belly of all the ghouls, goblins, and ghosts going bump in the night. This week on the Midnight Myth, the subject is horror; where horror stories come from and why they scare us. In particular, the podcast focuses on the scary clown and how Stephen King turns the childhood favorite into a monster that keeps you up at night. With a few “boomerangs” to keep you on your toes, this week gets to the bottom of horror and how it stands the test of time as part of the perfect story.
Read moreEpisode 30: Frankenstein
q Game of Thrones Season 7 Spoilers:
What happens when you create a monster? Not literally, but in a story, a Frankenstein…Listen as Derek and Laurel do there next Game of Thrones character case study, as they examine Arya Stark, and how the writers of the show failed to address the spirit of vengeance they created in one of the shows most beloved characters.
Episode 29: Going Native
Our histories and our stories are intertwined, and often visual media, such as film, becomes the conduit by which we contextualize our past. This week, we examine the film Gangs of New York from director (legend) Martin Scorsese and how it brings nativists philosophy to the forefront fighting for control over the grimy slums of 1860s New York City, right as the Civil War ravages the south. Part of a multi-parter exploring this particular moment in our nation’s past from a multitude of perspectives— and learning to understand the real-world implications of historical fiction.
Episode 28: Here Be Dragons
We never thought we’d nearly cry over the death of a fire breathing, scale covered, flying monster that can burn and eat people alive. Somehow, that happened. What am I talking about? Dragons— the darling of the fantasy world, and the monster that so many great heroes have had to over come. Yet, somehow in the Game of Thrones they have become characters that the audience empathizes with. How did this happen? This week, listen as we talk about he history of Dragons and how Game of Thrones turned them from evil beasts to emphatic heroes.
Episode 27: All Roads Lead to Rome
From the winding streets of Rome to the cobbled alleys of Philadelphia, our histories are always just beneath our feet as we follow the well-worn tread of those generations that came before us. This week, Derek & Laurel explore the most powerful historical narratives of Western culture and their inextricable ties. In the end, all roads truly do lead to Rome and two monolithic figures: Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar, whose archetypes continue to resonate throughout Western storytelling. Untangling some of the powerful mysteries of the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church, we also turn our eyes to what we can learn about ourselves in the stories we’ve always told.
Episode 26: The Greatest Story Never Told
When at the brink, we often look for a unifying philosophy that sums up the experience of our confusion and pain, while pointing us towards a better moral life— a life that bring conscience, direction, and purpose. We at the Midnight Myth may have found those words:
“Life’s a piece of shit when ya look at it.”
Join us as we jump into the obscure and silly world of Monty Python and The Life of Brian. Nothing is scared as we peel apart what makes this movie so damn smart, funny, loony, and insightful.
We haven’t done comedy before, so don’t laugh at us (nudge nudge, wink wink)!
