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Recorded March 13th and 20th. First contact, ship detection and landing, Zod’s ultimatum, The War of the Worlds, and The Wizard of Oz.
Answers, insights, and commentary on:
- I. First Contact
- As an intended approach
- Guidelines for what counts
- Prior in-story contacts
- Detecting Kal’s vessel and landing
- Military response and suppression
- Ultimatum questions
- “Are we alone in the universe?”
- Winston Churchill
- II. War of the Worlds – The Book
- H.G. Wells and Jules Verne
- Man versus the mechanized future
- Superman terraforming Earth
- Superman’s arc enabling The League
- Man as animal
- Panic and fragility
- Human heroes overcoming instinct
- III. War of the Worlds – The Broadcast
- 1938 Orson Welles broadcast
- Halloween public panic
- Press exaggerated story
- Fake news, virality, and creative control
- Real public panics
- Humbling humanity
- Myopia and normalizing the extraordinary
- IV. First Impressions
- Lois Lane and handshakes
- Pete picking up the tab
- Definitions, Apologetics, and “Yucatan”
- Selling Superman
- Judgment, taste, and capacity
- Clark is more able than we see
- Superman is more human than we know
- V. Wizard of Oz
- Similarities to Superman and BvS
- Hero’s Journey and circular story
- Flexible and open to interpretation
- Explicit Oz references
- As an allegory for populism
- VI. Application
- Academic scholarship
- Fandom good for empathy
- Superheroes inspire altruism
- Science fiction, escapism, and reality
To learn more:
The War of the Worlds 1938 broadcast | Orson Welles
American Experience: War of the Worlds | PBS
War of the Worlds | RadioLab
Big Picture Science | SETI Institute
Churchill Ordered UFO Cover-Up | BBC
Churchill Essay on Aliens | NY Times
Should Humans Try To Contact Alien Civilizations? | Motherboard
Don’t Panic | WNYC
How the Panic Broadcast Really Went Down | Michigan Radio
American Icons: Wizard of Oz | Studio 360
The Wizard of Oz | TED Ed
Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy | Louis C.K.
God, The Universe and Everything Else (1988) | BBC
Does Smiling Make You Happier? | HowStuffWorks
Power Poses Work – Amy Cuddy | TED
Power Poses Are False (replication crisis) | Fortune
Are Fandoms Good or Unhealthy? | SciShow Psych
How Harry Potter Turns You Into A Wizard | SciShow Psych
Always take social science studies with a grain of salt.
End-notes (recorded on March 23rd):
Superman: War of the Worlds (2000, Elseworlds) | Lark
Planet of Oz | SuperFriends
Warner Bros. v. AVELA | 8th Circuit
H.G. Wells meets Orson Welles (1940) | KTSA
Superman Meets Orson Welles (1950) | Superman #62
Somewhere Over The Rainbow A Wonderful World | Kamakawiwoʻole
Go The Distance Defying Gravity | Kick Full
Justice League Universe Podcast:
Interview with Clay Enos – Appreciating intention and interpretation
Batman v. Superman Anniversary Special – Value fans get from BvS
Web: ManOfSteelAnswers.com
Twitter: @mosanswers
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Proud member of the Superman Podcast Network!
Unite.
