Fascist Tinted Glasses: The Man in the High Castle
A study of the contemporary politics of using Nazis in fiction, alternate history in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle.
Topic: Philosophy
Signature Showcase: Gene Roddenberry
A study of the usage of the future as a form of revolutionary utopian optimism through Star Trek.
The Night’s Watch, Warders and the Citadel
Military academy influence on parts of A Song of Ice and Fire and Wheel of Time.
Vignettes of Fascism in Fiction
The road behind us and alternate history, the nature and usage of Nazis in fiction.
Signature Showcase: Neil Gaiman
A study of the degree of moral relativism in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.
Beyond the Stone Table: Aslan Before & After Martyrdom
In today’s An Algebra of Archons, we explore how C.S. Lewis’ world of Narnia is both inspired by and interwoven with Christianity, and how its symbolism merges with scientific doctrine, philosophical and ethical questions of morality—and unpack, what that all means in the context of its narrative.
The Anglicization of Middle-earth
A study of anglophile and ethnocentric narratives, given perceptions of racism in Arda, the setting of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, as seen in Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Simarillion.
Collective Unconscious and The Fourth Wall
We return to our examinations on “The New Weird” while pondering the very basis of narrative. Do we tell stories? Or do they tell themselves through us? That’s the challenge known as “The Borgesian Conundrum”, a potent tool in a genre with prophecy, visions and congress with alien powers in its collective toolbox. Made all…
An Algebra of Archons—Series Conspectus
Join philosophy student and avid gamer Ben Steiz in his examination of the various ethics, world views and metaphysics encoded across much of pop culture. This will include both a broad survey and robust analysis of the numerous speculative fiction works and franchises.