No time for a podcast this week but here’s some assorted materials, linked in a bit of a stream-of-consciousness, which could be applicable to analysis of Man of Steel and the DCCU.
- The Fermi Paradox and Drake Equation via Kurz Gesagt and PBS Space Time
- On Classical Heroes – The Power of Failure via Extra Credits
- Study Finds People Stop Listening to New Music at Age 33 via NewsBreaker
- “…why I didn’t understand the dark suit complaint… against Man of Steel.”
- The Death of Superman at Mid Ohio Con 1992 ft. Roger Stern
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Government Surveillance (Edward Snowden interview) via HBO
- Can the Man of Tomorrow Be the Journalist of Today?
- Image of Journalists in Popular Culture
- Journalistic Ethics At the Daily Planet
- The Severest Ethical Breaches of Superhero Journalists
- Exposed: the severe ethical breaches of superhero journalists
- Peter Parker and Clark Kent: Very Unethical Journalists
The Fermi Paradox — Where Are All The Aliens?
In MOSAIC Episode 15, I briefly touched on the Drake Equation and Fermi Paradox, and this video and the one below show why Man of Steel’s approach to extraterrestrial life is consistent with present theories.
Is It Irrational to Believe in Aliens? | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios
This video addresses the Drake Equation and the reconciliation and is a channel that you should subscribe to.
On Classical Heroes – The Power of Failure – Extra Credits
In MOSAIC Episode 12, there was a brief discussion about a taxonomy of heroism (classical, literary, and modern) and Extra Credits provides more insight into what makes heroism compelling.
Study Finds People Stop Listening to New Music At Age 33 | NewsBreaker
In MOSAIC Episode 22, I referred to this study which suggests tastes freeze in our mid-thirties. The video suggests this is because of parenting obligations (as well as listening to their kids’ music) and discovery of more esoteric music (either older music or what was popular when they were coming of age). It’s totally fair to like what you like, just recognize your tastes might be shaped more by your circumstances than intrinsic or absolute value. Comics, music, media, etc. change over time.
I finally realized why I didn’t initially understand the dark suit complaint levied against Man of Steel. An unusual perspective. | Reddit by zhengyingli
Speaking of taste in the context of circumstance, here’s an interesting post exploring some of the reception to the colors in Man of Steel which I touched on in MOSAIC Episode 18. User zhengyingli shares an experience of being familiar with the Fleischer cartoons and its dark palette and finding Man of Steel to be consistent with that childhood experience, then expresses the Reeve Superman’s colors as confronting by contrast. There are pictures in the post illustrating the point and it’s an interesting perspective to look at.
The Death of Superman Mid Ohio Con 1992 ft. Roger Stern
In MOSAIC Episode 21, I brought up Roger Stern’s “Superman: The Never-Ending Battle” and here he is talking about “The Death of Superman” in 1992. Just as there in a certain inevitability towards the tendency of older folks dismissing the tastes of the youth, the issues that people allege about the state of comics isn’t new! Time is a flat circle, heh. I don’t raise “history” to condemn it really, rather, if you’re going to decide to take issue with this aspect of comics so personally that it upsets you… be aware you may be committing to literally decades of being displeased. A certain degree of serenity here comes from recognizing comics have been like this… and will be like this… for quite some time.
- “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.” – Aldous Huxley
- “If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- “What experience and history teach is this – that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.” – G. W. F. Hegel
- “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana
- “History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time.” – Anonymous
Journalism Generally
Barring any bombshell DCCU news, MOSAIC Episode 23 should pick up with our Man of Steel commentary covering Lois Lane’s reporting. Especially when juxtaposed against the idea (yet to be placed in context) that New-52-but-post-New-52-branding-Divergence Lois Lane publicly reports on Superman’s secret identity. That means that journalism, ethics, the Pulitzer, and the like are on my mind. No synthesis yet, but just some of the raw material I’ve been reviewing.
- Image of Journalists in Popular Culture – Wonderful project of the Norman Lear Center that you can get lost in for hours
- The Image of Journalists in Popular Culture Interview with Joe Saltzman Part 2 Part 3
- Journalistic Ethics At the Daily Planet – one panel joke
- The Severest Ethical Breaches of Superhero Journalists
- Exposed: the severe ethical breaches of superhero journalists
- Peter Parker and Clark Kent: Very Unethical Journalists
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Government Surveillance (HBO)
This is the John Oliver’s interview with Edward Snowden. I haven’t gotten around to watching Citizenfour yet but this is a short look into some of the issues raised by leaking information.
Superman and Philosophy: What Would The Man of Steel Do?
Chapter 3: Can the Man of Tomorrow Be the Journalist of Today? by Jason Southworth and Ruth Tallman
An interesting piece on the upcoming “Truth” storyline that came up during a search….
Thanks for the reddit shout out!
Thanks for sharing your experience!