The Protagonist Podcast

Description Returning guest Branden Ushio joins Joe to discuss Starfleet Academy, one of the many streaming Star Trek tv shows that can be found on Paramount+. We’re discussing “The Life of the Stars,” which tells the story of some Starfleet … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss the famous “silent issue” of G.I. Joe. Focusing on a story about Snake Eyes and Scarlett, Larry Hama scripted and drew a scomic book with no text where the story is … Continue reading →

Description Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack joins Joe and Producer Andrew for our special 600th episode. To celebrate 600 weekly episodes of the podcast, all three of us answer The Dinner Guest Question: if we could host a dinner party … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kestra Darowski joins Producer Andrew and Joe to discuss Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan’s superhero film from 2000. We discuss the marketing around the film, the way the film engages the superhero genre, and the strengths of the storytelling. … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Chris “Mav” Maverick joins Joe to discuss teaching comics. What texts do we use, what topics do we cover, and how do students react? Support Patreon

Description First-time guest Stephen Fishbach joins us to discuss his debut novel Escape! The novel tells the story of a washed up reality television star and a disgraced reality tv producer who are each trying to find fresh opportunities on … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Jon Bell joins Joe to discuss the sitcom Arrested Development. We’re discussing the whole main cast, because it’s impossible to choose a favorite character to focus on.  Support Patreon Show Notes Arrested Development – Wikipedia

Description Producer Andrew joins Joe to discuss the 8-issue mini-series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Written by Tom King with art by Bilquis Evely, this series sends Supergirl on an intergalactic adventure accompanying a young girl who wants revenge against the … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong joins Joe to discuss the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This classic 1969 film starred Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy, Robert Redford as the Sundace Kid, and Katharine Ross as Etta Place. It … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Jon Bell joins Joe to discuss transmedia storytelling in Star Wars, using 1996’s Shadows of the Empire story as a jumping off point. Transmedia storytelling involves a coordinated effort to tell a cohesive story across multiple types … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Virginia McAlister joins Joe to discuss the Emma M. Lion from the series The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. We’re discussing the first two novels of this series, that sees Emma M. Lion … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Andrew Deman joins Joe to discuss MaoMao from the anime series The Apothecary Diaries. Based on a popular light novel series, The Apothecary Diaries tells the story of a girl who works in the emperor’s palace and … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong joins Joe to discuss the graphic novel Feeding Ghosts. This Pulitzer and Eisner awarding work by Tessa Hulls examines the trauma of that she, her mother, and her mother have experienced due to mental health … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Ryan Haupt joins Joe to discuss the film M. This is director Fritz Lang’s first sound film, and is a clear demonstration of how sound is going to forever alter the film medium. This haunting noir film … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Chris “Mav” Maverick joins Joe to discuss the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch. We’re discussing the episodes “The Not So Ugly Duckling” and “Getting Davy Jones.” But we also discuss the Brady Bunch’s place in pop culture … Continue reading →

Description Producer Andrew joins Joe to discuss Andy Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary. This novel tells the story of the human Ryland Grace and the alien Rocky in an unexpected sci-fi buddy comedy adventure with the stakes of all life … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kjerste Christensen joins Joe for an open-ended discussion about genre. Why do genres labels exist, what purposes do they serve, whom do they benefit? We cover a lot of ground on this broad topic, and fortunately Kjerste … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss Pippin “Pip” Dale from the comic book Welcome to the Maynard. This mini-series by writer James Robinson, artist J. Bone colorist, and letterer Jim Campbell tells the story of a new … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest George Tsakiridis joins Joe to discuss James Bond from the film Skyfall. Because we’re talking about an extremely successful multimedia franchise, we spend a lot of time discussing trivia. Then we tackle our favorite James Bond film, … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kestra Darowski joins Producer Andrew and Joe to discuss E.B. White’s classic children’s novel Charlotte’s Web. We chose to cover this novel because Kestra and Andrew’s kids were reading Charlotte’s Web for school, and we had no … Continue reading →

Description First-time guest Alasdair Green joins Joe to discuss Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec. Parks and Rec aired 125 episodes between 2009-2015 and Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson was an iconic character from the series.  Support Patreon Show Notes Parks … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Nik English joins Joe to discuss one of the classic Fantastic Four stories by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, “This Man…This Monster!” It tells the story of an unnamed antagonist who takes the place of the Thing … Continue reading →

Description It’s GroundPod Day! Every year, Nicole Freim, Chris “Mav” Maverick, Andrew Darowski, and Joe Darowski get together to discuss Groundhog Day. This year, we are joined by special guest Chris Bingham to once again analyze the classic film.

Description Returning guest Kestra Darowski joins Producer Andrew and Joe to discuss the iconic 1937 film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After talking about lots of trivia and then the evil Queen for a good while, they do get … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss a short story about Harry Houdini being captured in Egypt and having a (potentially supernatural) adventure. Though credited to Houdini at the time of publication in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, … Continue reading →