Superhero Ethics

What does it mean to be a fan with a critical eye? How do we relate to the stories we loved as kids, as we come to see some of their problematic aspects? How do we balance our values with the desire to be entertained in an imperfect world? Logan Grendel returns to the podcast as we talk about these questions and more. Logan Grendel is a Dog guru, photographer, activist, urban gardener, magick prac...

Paul and I talk about tropes in our favorite movies and shows, using the Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit as our launch point. What makes a trope annoying or problematic, and where can they be helpful to a story, especially a superhero one? How does Queen’s Gambit both embrace and subvert tropes in ways that make it such an engaging story? And is Chess a superpower? Want to continue the discussion...

Season 2 of The Boys has wrapped up, and we’re diving in to some of the ethical questions it raised. When superheroes are the product, who holds the real power? How did this season hold up a mirror to questions in our own world? And what will AOC... I mean Congresswoman Neuman be an anti-hero, or the new big bad in season 3? Want to continue the discussion with us? Agree or disagree with what we t...

In part two of our history of comic book superheroes, we round out the golden age with a discussion of the Comics Code Association, which tried to rescue America’s youth from the “10 cent plague!” Jessica Plummer lives in New York and loves Superman very very much. You can listen to just how much on her Superman podcast, Flights and Tights ( http://flightsandtights.libsyn.com/) . She also writes a...

‘Do not market a black character as important and then push them aside.’ - John Boyega, GQ Magazine https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/john-boyega-interview-2020 In a recent interview, John Boyega, the actor who played Finn expressed his frustration and anger at how the character was treated in the Star Wars postquels. Jared Sylva and Matthew Westfox use that interview as a jumping off...

Rob & Matthew’s excellent time travel episode! After months of ranting about the logical and ethical problems with time travel, Matthew invited OG Time Lord Rob McKenzie to explain it all. We look at different theories of time travel, and which movies and tv shows make the most sense. We look at moral questions such as human agency vs. a predetermined time line, who gets to decide what the timelin...

Mercy. Honor. Heroes. Bullies. Teen love triangles. 80’s music. Karate. Paul and Matthew dive into the Karate Kid ‘verse with hit TV show Cobra Kai. What does it mean to be a bully, or a hero, and how do we lock ourselves, and others, into those boxes? What happens when the victim gains enough power to become a bully themselves? Is physical violence an ethical response to verbal bullying? You can...

You’ve killed the evil queen - but what happens to the kingdom? Does the evil gang/company/movement just go away when you kill their leader? And if your goal is to kill that leader- is it your responsibility to come up with a plan for what happens next? Paul joins Matthew to dive into these questions and more. We use Avatar: Legend of Korra, as a jumping off point, and look at how the questions ar...

We don’t know when the movie is coming out, but we’re talking Black Widow! My cousin (to be) Ellie joins me to dive into questions like why this character is so important, to the team and to us fans, her death and how it was handled, our thoughts on the upcoming movie. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ellie McCreary is a senior at Creighton University studying psychology and philosophy. She...

Comics History - The Golden Age, Part 1- WWII When talking about superheroes, and the choices they make or how they do what they do, a favorite topic is to wonder where they started, and how they've evolved from writer to writer, and from page to screen and back again. Today we kick off a special series in which Matthew will be joined by superhero history whiz Jess Plummer, as we trace the history...

How do you value human life, when yours cannot end? What responsibility comes with the great power of (near) immortality. And is anyone left who is NOT in love with action star Charlize Theron? Special guest Fox Kaye joins Matthew for a discussion of the ethical questions raised by The Old Guard, on Netflix. Cleveland creative Fox Kaye spends most of their days as a data integration specialist, fa...

What happens when the revolution ends, and its time to give up power? Is their value to fighting with honor? And what is a robot society like, when they are the only form of life? Paul and Matthew dive into these questions and more. Their conversation starts with Transformers, War for Cybertron, but no matter how much or little you know about Transformers, the discussion has lots to explore. Want...

Who should Tony Stark answer to for Ultron? What about Scarlet Witch, for the events in Nigeria? Who should the Avengers be accountable to, and were the Sokovia accords reasonable? Paul and I discuss issues of accountability across many of the Avenger movies and wrestle with the age old question- Team Tony, or Team Cap. Want to continue the discussion with us? Agree or disagree with what we talked...

Matthew is without an internet connection and so he asked to have this episode to the new show Pandavision dropped in the feed! It's about Amazon's The Boys. Check it out and go subscribe to Pandavision!

For our 100th episode we had FIVE guests, join us for a panel discussion of some of our favorite ethical questions. Who should a hero be accountable to? What makes a good villain? And, would it be ethical for someone with mind control to force everyone to wear masks until the pandemic ends? Our all star lineup included former co-hosts Paul Hoppe and Jacob Milicic, and frequent guests Jessica Plumm...

The Clone Wars TV show takes the well known stories of the fall of Anakin and the Jedi and gives them nuance, and moral complexity, and explores questions with relevance for our own world. What happens to peacekeepers when they become generals? What is the moral value of clones, and how were they treated? And what happens when people fight a war without asking why? Star Wars fans and former guests...

Ep: 98 - The RIghts of the Unpowered- Legend of Korra S1, and The Boys What happens to normal people, when others get powers? What rights do they have and are those rights respected? And when the people in power push the non powered around- what happens when the non powered push back? Paul and I talk about non powered people in powered worlds. We focus in particular on Avatar: Legend of Korra, sea...

While Ozark is a bit outside our normal topic and doesn’t have many heroes- it certainly has a lot of villains with different ethical perspectives, all of whom are convinced they’re the good one! Stranded Panda extraordinaire Ashley Coffin joins me as we talk about each of the characters and difficult choices they have to make. Whether your love the show, or have no idea what’s going on, there is...

What’s more fun than taking an ethical system from one world, and trying to find how our favorite characters from other worlds fit into it. In this episode we start with the ethical color pie from Magic the Gathering, in which we look at ethics not in terms of actions, but motivations and mind sets. We explain the system and then focus on other characters- even if you know nothing about MtG, if yo...

Why does James Bond keep getting women killed, and can you be a spy without it? Paul Hoppe is back to talk about the ethics of espionage, with a particular focus on the TV show, Burn Notice! Whether you’re a long time fan of Burn Notice, or never seen it, we dig into questions that apply across the genre, such as the ethics of getting others to do your dirty work for you, fighting for a client or...

Ep 94 - There is no Racism in Ba Sing Se The beloved Avatar:The Last Airbender is back on Netflix, and we’re talking about it, focusing on a story arc with incredible resonance with our own world; Ba Sing Se. What is it about denial, and closing your eyes to the problems of the world, that people find so appealing? How do you break through to someone who believes anything that contradicts what the...

Stan Lee was a great story teller, but he never hid his strong convictions, or his desire to use the stories he told to give people a new way to think about the issues of his time. Nor did the writers of Black Panther, Avatar the Last Airbender, Star Wars, or so many of the shows we love. Matt and Jeff are back, and we had a great episode on the ethics of Star Wars planned- but with all that has b...

Ep 92 - Was Uncle Ben Wrong? Great Power & Great Responsibility, with Matthew Carroll and Jeff Randle What did Ben Parker mean when he tells Peter the famous words about power and responsibility, and do we agree with him? Who decides who a hero is responsible to, and what for? Can believing in the responsibility that your power gives you lead you to become a villain? Matt and Jeff of the Marvel Ci...

NOTE: I realized that there were sound problems with the originally uploaded version. This version is improved- please listen to this version instead. Jess Plummer and Becky Allen join us to discuss She-Ra! What makes Catra such a compelling character? How does this show blur the lines between hero and villain, friend and dating, and different shares of morality? What makes this show such a powerf...

Heroes can be boring- let’s talk villains! Rik Hayashi joins us to talk about the villains who have a point, the ones we can sympathize with, or even sometimes agree with. What makes someone a villain? What are the lines between a villain and a hero who is willing to do anything for the cause? We talk Sinestro, Killmonger, and what happens when Ben Sisko goes for a walk in the Pale Moon Light. Rik...