The Midnight Myth Podcast

Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, The Wheel of Ka featuring Derek and Steve is back at it again, discussing Stephen King’s epic Dark Tower book series. This month, our Ka-Tet talks about the first half of Book V: Wolves of the Calla. What does Calla Bryn Sturgis represents? What is happening with this black magic orb called “Back 13?” Who is Pere Callahan? Once a generation, the Wolves com...

Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine. This episode originally aired in April 2017. It’s bigger on the inside… What is? The TARDIS! By that, we mean Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Ya know, the blue box that the Doctor travels in? If you haven’t figured it out yet, this episode introduces Derek & Laurel’s analysis of Doctor Who. We zoom in on Series 2 ,Episode 5 (of the David Tennant...

In the second part of a mini-series on stories concerned with popular music, this episode takes on the award-winning Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous (2000). The rock and roll odyssey about a teenage rock journalist touring with Stillwater, a mid-level band struggling with its own success in the harsh face of stardom, engages with questions about gender, hedonism, and virtue. We’ll dig into the hi...

Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This early episode originally aired in April of 2017. So don’t you hate it when you just want to eat some pie with your grandma and a giant wolf jerk eats you? Yeah, it’s the worst. Join us as we talk about anthropomorphic animals from ancient fables to fairy tales to modernity. We talk about the boy who cried “WOOOOOOOLF,” Red Riding Hood and Disney’s Zo...

Do you believe in it? A fire which never dies, burning forever? In this week’s episode, we discuss the Oscar-winning 1984 film Amadeus, directed by Milos Forman and adapted from the stage play by Sir Peter Shaffer. The highly fictionalized account of the entwined lives of Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reframes an ancient conflict, makes myths of its subjects, and sparks a flame of in...

It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in April 2017. I am a computer circuit that thinks, therefore, I am? Listen to Derek and Laurel discuss the long science fiction tradition of artificial intelligence, and the history of the fictional robot. Baked into these narratives is the question of human consciousness. Intuitively, we all know we are conscious, right? But how...

Another world. Another time. In the age of wonder… Join us this week for a discussion of the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal. Hot on the heels of Netflix’s release of a prequel series (Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), we’ll explore the richly textured world of the original film, the creatures that inhabit Thra, and the mysteries of the crystal itself. We’ll share some background on the anci...

Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We’re republishing our back catalog to make our older episodes widely available. This episode originally aired in 2017. Derek and Laurel are back at it again, inspired by the FX series “The People vs OJ Simpson.” They contextualize justice as a story, one that evolves through time and cultural relativity. Beginning in Ancient Greece, where mythology and j...

Nearly a decade after Stephen King concluded the Dark Tower, he went back to Roland and his Ka-Tet and wrote The Wind Through the Keyhole. Chronologically, the book takes place in between Dark Tower books 4 and 5, where Roland finds himself and his band of travelers taking shelter amid the dangerous freezing storm called the Starkblast. Stephen King plays with meta narrative as the story of The Wi...

CW: sexual violence, war, genocide Spoilers for season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu As season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale comes to a close, we’re left with burning questions about the nature of humanity and the repetition of history. Are human beings selfish and inclined only to protect their own power? Or are they capable of remarkable acts of selflessness? What separates those who oppress other...

It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine—our back catalog is headed to podcast platforms near you. This episode, which originally aired in March of 2017, is the second half to our first discussion of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe. Where in the previous episode we focused on world-building through the various races of Middle Earth, here we explore the mythological precedent for magic rings an...

It's the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We're publishing our back catalog week by week to make older episodes available to all listeners. Episode 9A debuted in March of 2017. And given unto Derek and Laurel was a podcast of power, forged in the concrete of South Philadelphia, and in it, they poured their nerdiness, love of mythology and story telling! Listen this week as we scratch the surface of JRR...

It's the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We're publishing our older episodes to make them available to all listeners. Episode 8 originally aired in March of 2017. Ever wonder if your choices are your own or if you are caught in the web of destiny? Listen to Derek and Laurel break down stories that deal with prophecy, fate, and free will and the evolution of narrative relationships to fate. We look at...

Follow us down the rabbit hole as we wrap up a three-part miniseries on classic Disney animated features. This week, we’ll turn our gaze away from fairy tales and toward something curiouser… Alice in Wonderland. We’ll discuss the literary impact of Lewis Carroll’s beloved children’s masterpiece, the surprising logic behind the nonsense, and a philosophical outlook on Alice’s absurd adventures. Wha...

Have you ever wondered if this world is real? Have you ever wondered if the life you are living is the good life or just the life you have been told to live? Listen to Derek and Laurel discuss storytelling that questions and deconstructs the narratives of 1990s American peace and prosperity. We talk about three amazing movies, Fight Club, American Beauty and The Matrix. Remember, all things have q...

Mirror mirror on the wall, what’s the greatest podcast of all? After last week’s stimulating discussion of myth and fairy tale through the lens of Sleeping Beauty, we’re talking about the original Disney classic Snow White. We’ll deconstruct the iconic imagery of the poisoned apple and glass coffin, work through the uncomfortable implications of evil stepmothers, and spend some time with everyone’...

Fellow travelers on the path of the Beam, the Wheel of Ka is back discussing the second half of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower book four, Wizard and Glass. Young Roland practices his secret love with Susan Delgado while playing Castles with the Big Coffin Hunters. In this episode we discuss the motivations and strategies of the main characters in the hopes it will illuminate what makes Mejis County...

Once upon a time… You know the story. King and Queen have a baby girl, evil fairy shows up to the celebration and curses the girl, girl is raised in the woods by good fairies, girl meets prince, girl falls into enchanted sleep, prince slays a dragon, true love’s kiss saves the day, happily ever after. But behind Disney’s 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty lies a dark and disturbing fairy tale tradition,...

It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This is Episode 6: Rebel Rebel, which originally aired in March of 2017. Derek and Laurel discuss rebellion, resistance, and revolution in stories. From the Hunger Games to Star Wars in the realms of sci-fi and fantasy and dramatizations of historical events like Les Miserables and Hamilton. So hop in the time machine with us and enjoy Episode 6: Rebel Rebel. S...

You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Yes, friends, the time has come—we’ve endeavored to analyze Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor of the MCU, but there’s a (very) large gaping hole in our exploration of the core Avengers: The Incredible Hulk. In this case study of the dual-natured hero, we’ll uncover his relationship to the Greco-Roman myths and cults of Hercules, as well as his inspiration i...

In Episode 5: The Joke, which aired originally in 2017, Derek & Laurel explore one of the most iconic villains of all time: the Joker. With an eye to one of the Joker's most enduring comic book iterations: Alan Moore's 1988 one-shot graphic novel The Killing Joke, we'll decipher his underlying philosophy (and point out some of his most problematic issues). CW: sexual assault Support us at www....

The Boomerangerang is back, babies! Inspired by our discussions from the past few weeks—and our love of the Netflix show Stranger Things—we’re mixing up the format of our signature pop culture debate. It’s Team Stranger Things versus Team 80s Movies in an all-out battle for supremacy (in some completely random scenarios drawn from a hat). Who will win and who will be mindflayed? It’s anybody’s gam...

It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine. We’re publishing our back catalog week by week to make it available on your favorite podcast listening platforms. This is Episode 4: Rock Bottom, in which we discuss what happens when the hero of a story loses all hope. How do heroes overcome the depths of despair, loss, and suffering to be triumphant over their adversaries? In other words, when a hero hits roc...

In the magical world of Fantasia, a storm is gathering. A great big Nothing is threatening to swallow up the land of the hopes and dreams of mankind into total oblivion. Only a great warrior—and an intrepid reader—can come together to give the Childlike Empress a new name, thus saving Fantasia from its impending doom. This week on the Midnight Myth, we’re diving headfirst into the pages of 1984’s...

It’s the Midnight Myth Time Machine! We’re publishing our back catalog week by week, and this is Episode 3: Detected. It originally aired in February of 2017 and explored our fascination with detective stories. With a special emphasis on the best-loved detective in fiction—Sherlock Holmes—we’ll interpret the clues and uncover the truth about why detective stories continue to be told. Join the inve...