The Protagonist Podcast

Description Last month, we were saddened to learn of the passing of Kevin Conroy, an actor best-known for his voicework playing Bruce Wayne/Batman. Returning guest Chris “Mav” Maverick joins Joe and Producer Andrew to talk about what made Conroy’s performance … Continue reading →

Description Long-time listeners know the rules. Producer Andrew sends Todd Mack and Joe a list of Christmas movie titles, and they each have to invent a plot based on the title alone. Andrew picks his favorite made-up plot after each … Continue reading →

Description Joe and Producer Andrew are talking about Hawkeye, one of Marvel’s Disney+ mini-series. This series sees the return of Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton, Florence Pugh as Yelena, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin, and the introduction of Hailee Steinfeld … Continue reading →

Description Producer Andrew joins Joe to discuss A Muppet Family Christmas, a special that is the Avengers: Infinity War of the Jim Henson’s muppet creations. Bringing together the Muppets, Sesame Street characters, and the Fraggles into one hour of Christmas … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong joins Joe and Producer Andrew to talk about the stories we love and have returned to at different points in our lives. We also talk about media that we associate with certain times of the … Continue reading →

Description Patron Tim asked us to discuss Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, and this series is a delight. Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to talk about three episodes: “Hans, My Hedgehog,” “A Story Short,” and “The Soldier and Death.” John … Continue reading →

Description Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack is back! Todd joins Joe to discuss Pushing Daisies, a magical tv series about a man who can bring the dead back to life. We’re discussing the pilot episode, titled “Pie-lette,” which is a … Continue reading →

Description Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack and returning guest Todd Petersen join Joe for their 8th annual Halloween Special. They’ve been given unexpected pairings of story elements (like “Time Travel and Demon” or “Cryptid and Film Noir”) and they each … Continue reading →

Description Joe is joined by Producer Andrew to talk about about Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? This is the first of MANY series to feature Scooby Doo and friends. We talk about this franchise’s … Continue reading →

Description Joe is joined by returning guest John Darowski to discuss the 1979 novel Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. The story, about a cat and dog who are convinced a new pet bunny is actually a vampire that drinks the … Continue reading →

Description First-time guest Ryan Haupt joins Joe and Producer Andrew to discuss Jurassic Park, the classic Steven Spielberg adaptation about man’s hubris. And dinosaurs. Really awesome dinosaurs. We discuss alternate universe versions of the film with different casts, what works … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to talk about Beasts of Burden, a comic book series created by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. It tells the story of a group of dogs (and a couple cats) that protect the … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Norman Mitchell joins Joe to talk about One Piece: Film Z, the twelfth film from the (very) long-running anime adaptation of the manga series. We discuss the history of the anime, the characterization of Luffy and his … Continue reading →

Description Producer Andrew and Kestra Darowski join Joe to talk about storytelling at theme parks. We sometimes do special episodes where we discuss a unique style of storytelling, and the immersive experiences at theme parks certainly counts as a distinct … Continue reading →

Description Producer Andrew joins Joe to discuss Washington Irving’s class short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” We discuss the prominence of the Headless Horseman in folklore, where the whole flaming pumpkin part of the story came from, and also … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Anna Peppard joins Joe to discuss Michael and Fiona from the tv series Burn Notice. The tv series about a spy who is cut off from his former agency and resources was a staple series on the … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Anna Peppard joins Joe to discuss Jennifer Walters and her superheroic alter-ego She-Hulk. She-Hulk was co-created by Stan Lee and John Buscema in 1980 and has had several solo series in the subsequent four decades. Featuring writing … Continue reading →

Description Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack returns for our 400th episode. Joe and Todd are talking about a Kenny Ortega directed cult classic, Newsies. Despite being a terrible flop when it was first released, Newsies found an audience on home … Continue reading →

Description In this week’s special episode, returning guest Branden Ushio joins Joe for a new game. Branden used an artificial intelligence text generator to create several random names for potential stories. Branden and Joe have each written summaries based on … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kjerste Christensen joins Joe to talk about two episodes from Batman: The Animated Series: “Zatanna” and “Beware the Gray Ghost.” Batman: The Animated Series is an iconic interpretation of the classic character, and—it must be said—it absolutely holds … Continue reading →

Description Joe is joined by first-time guest Brice Peterson to discuss Christopher Marlowe’s classic play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. It has been well-established that on The Protagonist Podcast we love a good Faustus story, so … Continue reading →

Description First-time guest Ravynn Stringfield joins Joe to discuss the Marvel comic book character Riri Williams who goes by the superhero name Ironheart. Ironheart is a fairly new character—having been co-created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato in 2016—but … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Jon Bell joins Joe to discuss the trippy time-travel film Primer. This very low-budget film seems straightforward at the beginning, but throws multiple curveballs at the audience as the plot progresses. This is an example of a … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Branden Ushio joins Joe for a game about tv shows that were canceled too soon. We each draft a team of tv shows that we feel should have had a longer life, and then Producer Andrew gets … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to talk about the Netflix action-adventure-steampunk-fantasy animated series that is based on the League of Legends video game. We know, there is not a great track record for “based on video game” tv … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Jon Bell joins Joe to discuss a short story by Glen Cook titled “Sunrise.” Set on a world with a slow orbital rotation, the story explores what happens as a city is about to cross onto the … Continue reading →

Description Joe and Producer Andrew are talking about one of the greatest films about fathers and sons that has ever been made: A Goofy Movie. We talk about the unique production history for the film, why the story works so … Continue reading →

Description In recent months two legendary comic book artists, Neal Adams and George Perez, have passed away. Returning guest Christopher “Mav” Maverick joins Joe and Producer Andrew to discuss the legacy of Perez and Adams, and then also talk about … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kjerste Christense joins Joe to talk about what becomes popular in terms of books, television, and movies. Inspired in part by Matthew Claxton’s newsletter issue “Unsettling Futures – Brandon Sanderson, fane, and the failure of the long … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kjerste Christensen joins Joe to discuss the tv show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Lois Lane was played by Teri Hatcher and Clark Kent/Superman was played by Dean Cain. We discuss the show’s historical … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss two classic characters from an iconic series of stories by P.G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the platonic ideal of an English butler, and his interactions with the lovable but hapless Wooster have … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Virginia McAlister joins Joe to talk about the film The Devil Wears Prada. We talk about Meryl Streep’s amazing performance (obviously), the moral and ethical questions raised by the film, and also the boyfriend. Support Patreon Show … Continue reading →

Description Producer Andrew and Joe have a discussion about Cozy Reality Television and why it’s so appealing. We talk about season-long shows like The Great British Baking Show (Bake-Off), The Great Pottery Throw Down, or Making It, and also episodic … Continue reading →

Description Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack is back to discuss the first volume in the graphic novel series Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi. Volume 1: The Stonekeeper, tells the story of Emily Hayes and her brother Navin as they enter a … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong joins Joe to discuss Richard Poole from Death in Paradise. This BBC series sees a British detective assigned to a Caribbean island where he solves a murder each episode. We’re discussing the pilot episode, “Arriving … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong and first-time guest Sarah Brinton join Joe to discuss The Blue Castle, a 1926 novel by L.M. Montgomery. Most famous for her Anne of Green Gables novels, The Blue Castle is a Montgomery story about … Continue reading →

Description First-time guest James Goldberg joins Joe to discuss the Bollywood film Veer-Zaara. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Veer and Preity Zinta as Zaara. It tells the story of star-crossed lovers, one who is Indian and who is … Continue reading →

Description First time guest Andrew Deman joins Joe to discuss Forge and Storm from Uncanny X-Men #186. Andrew is the project lead of The Claremont Run, a project exploring Chris Claremont’s sixteen year run on Uncanny X-Men, its impact on … Continue reading →

Description Protagonist Podcast co-founder Todd Mack joins Joe to play a game of Elevator Pitches. Producer Andrew draws elements from hats, and then Todd and Joe must a quick pitch for a story based on those elements.

Description Returning guest John Darowski joins Joe to discuss Menolly from Dragonsong. Dragonsong is a science-fantasy novel by Anne McCaffrey. It is part of a very large series of novels set on the world of Pern, where a acidic fungus … Continue reading →

Description First time guest Jacob Olson joins Joe to discuss Vasyl Petrovych Globorodko from Servant of the People. This Ukrainian television series starred Volodomyr Zelenskyy as a high school teacher who, rather unintentionally, gets elected president of Ukraine. In real … Continue reading →

Description Joe and Producer Andrew are discussing a class novel by Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea. After discussing Hemingway’s surprising life (and multiple brushes with death), we talk about his most famous work and its modernist themes. … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong joins Joe to discuss the film Kitchen Stories. Kitchen Stories is a 2003 Norwegian film. The director, Bent Hamer, came across Cold War era research that was performed tracking the movement of Swedish housewives in … Continue reading →

Description Author Douglas Wolk joins Joe to discuss his book All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told. Wolk read more than 27,000 Marvel comics and in his book he attempts to make sense … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Virginia McAlister joins Joe to talk about Beth Harmon from The Queen’s Gambit. Anya-Taylor Joy’s performance as a chess prodigy won immediate (well-deserved) praise, and provides plenty of areas of discussion in this episode. Support Patreon Show … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Christopher “Mav” Maverick joins Joe to play a game of Comic Book Casting. We’re taking well-known works, and assigning comic book characters to play the various roles, sort of like a Muppets-style adaptation of a classic work. … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Rachel Armstrong joins Joe to discuss Shannon Hale’s 2005 novel The Princess Academy. The novel tells the story of a group of girls from a small mountain town who are all recruited to attend a royal academy with … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Kestra Darowski joins Joe and Producer Andrew to discuss Knives Out, the 2019 murder mystery film from writer and director Rian Johnson. Starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc and Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera, the film … Continue reading →

Description Producer Andrew joins Joe to discuss the Sledgehammer 44 comic book mini-series that are set in the Hellboy universe. These were written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, with art by Jason Later and Lawrence Campbell. Support Patreon Show … Continue reading →

Description Returning guest Ben Phillips joins Joe to discuss Troy and Abed from the sitcom Community. We discuss the iconic friendship as we dissect the episodes “Epidemiology” and “Geothermal Escapism.” Support Patreon Show Notes Community – IMDB Community – Wikipedia … Continue reading →