PODCAST · tv
Superhero Ethics
by Superhero Ethics
Exploring ethical questions from Superhero movies and TV shows, sci-fi, and everything else geeks love
Episodes
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Wrap Up 2: Civil War
Who should answer when a hero’s save goes wrong, and to whom? In Lagos, Scarlet Witch pulls a bomb away from a crowd and it kills Wakandan students in a building nearby. Matthew Fox and co-host Paul Hoppe, a poker player and writer, stay inside that one scene from “Captain America: Civil War” and...
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Wrap Up 1: A New Lens
If you try to understand why someone did something terrible, are you excusing it? Matthew Fox and co-host Paul Hoppe, a poker player and writer, look back on what more than 400 episodes have taught them and build a working framework for heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and anti-villains.…
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Women’s Baseball
Paul Hoppe’s mom checked MLB.com every day and never once stumbled on a story about the Women’s Pro Baseball League. Matthew Fox and Paul, a poker player and writer who watched the WPBL’s first season with her, look back at what the league delivered on the field and why so few people knew it...
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Short Stacked and the MCU Battle of New York
Walking away from a bad table is easy advice when you have money to come back with. Matthew Fox and co-host Paul Hoppe, a professional poker player and writer, spend the hour on what it means to be short stacked or underrolled. They open by remembering Tim Curry, Dolly Parton, Peter Cullen, and...
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Profiling
Every time you size someone up by their demographics, whether at a poker table or a police stop, you’re profiling them, and it’s worth asking why. On Superhero Ethics, Matthew Fox and Paul Hoppe dig into the different flavors of profiling, from the ways poker players read opponents to the much...
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I Quit: Sometimes You Don’t Have to “Do This All Day”
On this episode, poker player and co-host Paul joins Matthew Fox to argue that quitting isn’t a moral failure, it’s a skill; one poker forces you to practice on every hand and superhero movies almost never reward. They test the idea against Steve Rogers hanging up the shield and Tony Stark’s…
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The Odyssey: Myth on Film
Would you cheer for a hero who tricks a Cyclops but never sleeps with a witch? Classics professor Adam Kemezis joins Matthew Fox to dig into how Christopher Nolan's Odyssey reshapes Homer's most cunning warrior for a modern audience, and what gets lost when three thousand years of moral…
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Dolly Parton and 9 to 5
Dolly Parton let the world underestimate her for fifty years, then spent that underestimation as leverage every single time. Days after her death, comedian and "Make Me a Nerd" host Mandy Kaplan joins host Matthew Fox to talk about what she meant to them, using the workplace revenge fantasy "9 to...
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Lanterns and the Ethics of Adaptation
“Lanterns” so far is more cop drama than cosmic weirdness, and comic book historian Jessica Plummer isn’t convinced the trade was worth it. She joins Matthew Fox to dig into the first two episodes of HBO Max’s new John Stewart and Hal Jordan series, working through what an adaptation owes its...
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Avatar Aang: Did We Need This?
Should a beloved story get a sequel twenty years later, and does anyone actually want it? Matthew Fox and Paul Hoppe take on Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, the new Avatar Studios movie picking up with a grown-up Team Avatar, and neither host walked away loving it. They dig into what makes a...
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Sunk Cost Fallacy
Thanos says he “had to” sacrifice Gamora. Vader tells Luke it’s too late to turn back. Professional poker player Paul Hoppe joins Matthew Fox to dig into the sunk cost fallacy, the bias that convinces us that because we’ve already paid a price, we have to keep paying it, and to test that idea...
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
What if the hero afraid of his own power is exactly what makes it easy to fear an entire population? Matthew Fox is joined by returning guests Will Freeland and Steve Stormoen of the “Hype Is My Superpower” podcast to dig into “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” Peter’s uneasy partnership with the...
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Evaluating Risk: Poker, Life, and Nick Fury's Nuke
What actually separates a poker player from a gambler? Professional poker player, coach, and writer Paul Hoppe steps in as Matthew Fox’s full co-host and the two spend this episode arguing over wagers, variance, and self-control at the table before turning it into a lens for superhero...
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Lattice and Writing
What happens once a society finds a way to turn a human body into an energy source, and decides that’s a good deal? Podcaster and TruStory FM co-founder Pete Wright joins Matthew and Paul to talk about “Lattice,” his debut science fiction novella, and the death penalty, corporate power, and…
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The Crystal Shard: D&D, as Game and as Story
What do you owe to a culture that built you — especially when that culture is evil? Writer and poker thinker Paul Hoppe (ZenMadman) returns to Matthew Fox on Superhero Ethics to dig into R.A. Salvatore’s “The Crystal Shard,” the first Icewind Dale novel and the book that launched the 40-book…
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EPISODE 400!
What happens to a friendship and a podcast over ten years and four hundred episodes? On this milestone episode, Matthew sits down with longtime guest Paul Christopher Hoppe, poker professional and author of ZenMadman’s Friday Night Is My Monday Morning Volume 1, to talk about what has changed…
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Supergirl
Did Supergirl earn her killing of the already defeated villain, or did the movie just tell us not to worry about it? Matthew Fox is joined by returning guest Jessica Plummer, comics journalist and Book Riot contributing editor, to dig into Supergirl 2026, from the internet’s reaction to star…
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Pride (2014): When Thatcher Made Allies of Queers and Miners
In 1984, a group of London lesbians and gay men decided to raise money for striking Welsh miners, because Thatcher was going after both communities. Author Becky Allen joins Matthew Fox to dig into "Pride," the 2014 film about that real coalition, asking what made it work, what the film gets…
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Spider-Noir: A Hero for the Wrong Reasons
"Ben's PTSD manifested as his alcoholism and his self-destruction as the Spider. ‘I'm just going to go out there and get punched in the face voluntarily, and maybe I'll do some good at the same time.’ "— Will FreelandBen Riley didn’t become the Spider to save anyone. He did it for the rush, and...
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Masters of the Universe: He-Man and Nostagia Bait
He-Man was always camp. The loincloth, the harness, the flexing, the pink tunic, Masters of the Universe was masculinity as WWE spectacle.. The 2026 film knew this, it just couldn’t decide what to do about it. Host Matthew Fox welcomes Pete Wright of The Next Reel Film Podcast on TruStory FM to…
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The Boys • Final Wrap Up
The Boys is over — but did it actually answer the questions it spent five seasons raising? Matthew is joined by returning guest Ocean Murff, podcast host and movie theory enthusiast, to dig into the finale and wrestle with what the show chose to resolve and what it quietly left on the table.They...
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Damn the Man! Empire Records After 30 Years
“Empire Records” bombed in 1995, got panned by critics, and spent the next thirty years becoming a cult classic — which tells you something about what reviews are actually measuring. Comics writer and Book Riot contributor Jessica Plummer joins Matthew Fox to revisit the film with real affection...
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Judges of the Card Rooms — TCGs & Poker
What does it mean to hold real authority in a card room? Matthew Fox has spent years as a judge for TCGs like Magic: The Gathering and Star Wars: Unlimited, and returning guest Paul Hoppe managed the graveyard shift at a casino poker room. Together they compare notes on what it actually looks…
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What Made Rob McKenzie Rebel Scum?
What made you the kind of person who questions things? Returning guest Rob McKenzie joins Matthew to trace the science fiction and fantasy that quietly shaped his ethics, and the conversation turns out to be about a lot more than books.They start with Isaac Asimov: the pacifism baked into...
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Maul: Truth-Teller, Manipulator, or Self-Deceiver? • Maul – Shadow Lord Discussion
This conversation first aired on Star Wars Generations and we're sharing it here because it raises exactly the kind of question this show was built for.Maul is the only one in the room telling the truth and nobody will believe him. At the halfway point of Maul: Shadow Lord, Matthew Fox is joined…
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Are Superheroes Cops? Cyclops, Green Lantern & ACAB
Is Cyclops from X-Men actually a cop, or is he just annoying? That question turns out to be the perfect entry point for a much bigger one: what does ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards) really mean when the people using violence to enforce order have optic blasts and power rings instead of badges?Matthew...
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Project Hail Mary • Ethics in a Crisis
When the survival of every person on Earth depends on one unwilling scientist, one who explicitly said no to sacrificing his own life for humanity, does anyone have the right to override that refusal? That’s the question at the heart of Project Hail Mary, and it’s what Matthew and returning guest...
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Baseball Is Back, Along with Hard Questions
Baseball’s antitrust exemption gives team owners something no other American sport enjoys: a government-enforced monopoly — and Matthew and returning guest Paul Hoppe use the start of a new season to ask what that power actually costs the rest of us.The conversation moves from stadium blackmail…
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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Its Future
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is doing something rare for a franchise show: it’s willing to put its own hero institution genuinely on trial — and Matthew sits down with Matt Carroll, co-host of the Star Trek Universe Podcast and founder of the Stranded Panda Podcast Network, to dig into all ten...
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What Made Us Rebel Scum? with Paul Hoppe
The Rebel Alliance symbol crossed with a Minnesota loon, is showing up at protests across Minnesota, and Matthew can’t stop thinking about what that means. Who made us rebels in the first place? Was it Star Wars, or were we always heading here and Star Wars just gave us the language? That…
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Superhero Daddy Issues
Superheroes can bench-press buildings, but they almost never have a healthy relationship with their parents. For this episode of Superhero Ethics Matthew is joined by Pete Wright and Mandy Kaplan to dig into why legacy pressure, attachment injury, and the need for a parent’s approval are the real...
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The Manga Bible with Author Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy has spent over forty years as one of the West's leading voices on manga and anime — and her new book The Manga Bible is her most ambitious attempt yet to bring that tradition to readers who've never cracked a volume. She joins Matthew to talk about what manga actually is, where it...
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The Ethics of Award Season
What does "best" actually mean when the Oscars put it on a ballot — and who gets to decide? Matthew sits down with Andy Nelson, co-founder of the TruStory FM family of podcasts, to pull apart the machinery of awards season: how guild voting shapes nominations, why campaigns matter as much as...
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Dracula
Dracula has been rewritten as a brooding romantic lead so many times that it's easy to forget he's a rapist. Matthew sits down with AK and Marlena Chesner to ask the hard question: does giving a monster a tragic backstory change what he is, or does it just make us more comfortable rooting for...
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What Would You Pay for Safety? with Author Michael C. Bland
The man who helped design the surveillance state is perfectly fine with it—until his daughter calls covered in blood with a dead boyfriend on the floor. The Price of Safety, Michael C. Bland’s award-winning sci-fi novel, is set in 2047, where cameras are everywhere, your optics can be hacked, and...
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Black Superheroes & Black History Month
Black Comic Books with JPenumbra This Black History Month, we sit down with JPenumbra—TikTok creator, podcast host, and comic journalist—to talk about the state of Black representation in comics and superhero adaptations. From the realities of comic book pre-orders to why Captain America: Brave…
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What Would Superheroes Do About ICE?
With ICE operations underway in Minneapolis and across the U.S., this episode asks a timely question: what would our favorite superheroes do? Matthew and Jessica Plummer explore how characters like Superman, Captain America, the Punisher, and the X-Men might respond to immigration enforcement,...
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Wonder Man
Marvel's Wonder Man series takes a risk by telling a small, personal story in a universe obsessed with saving the world. We dive into this character study about a struggling actor, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, with superpowers he has to keep secret—and why it might be one of Marvel's best...
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Wonder Man • Comics Primer & Episode 1
Marvel’s latest Disney+ series Wonder Man features one of their most obscure characters—a struggling actor named Simon Williams who becomes Wonder Man. Matthew hosts Will and Steve from the Hype Is My Superpower podcast to explore episode one and dive into the comic book history of this B-list...
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The Copenhagen Test & The Ethics of Espionage
What do you do when following orders means sacrificing innocent lives? In this episode, we examine the new Peacock series The Copenhagen Test starring Simu Liu, exploring the ethical dilemmas facing modern intelligence operatives. Through a spy thriller that uses biometric surveillance technology...
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Frankenstein: Exploring Ethical Questions Across Mediums
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein continues to captivate audiences centuries after its publication, but not all adaptations emphasize the same ethical questions. Matthew and returning guest AK dive into both the original novel and Guillermo del Toro’s recent film adaptation—not to catalog their...
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Marvel’s Drift, DC’s Reset: 2025 Review + 2026 Preview
Jessica Plummer returns for a year-end superhero ethics check-in—recorded late 2025 and released as 2026 gets underway—to unpack what worked, what didn’t, and what Marvel and DC’s biggest swings revealed about power, responsibility, and heroism.We talk Marvel’s post-Endgame sprawl: scattered...
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Theodicy & Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder opens with one of philosophy's oldest questions: if gods exist and have the power to prevent suffering, why don't they? But does the film actually engage with this theodicy question, or does it abandon the premise for jokes and spectacle? We compare the movie's treatment of...
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery • Theology, Patriarchy, and the Church's Sins
What happens when a murder mystery becomes a theological reckoning? In Wake Up Dead Man, Rian Johnson delivers a Knives Out film that confronts Christian nationalism, toxic masculinity in the church, and the possibility of authentic faith beyond institutional corruption. Rev. Rachel Kessler, aka...
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Rob Reiner and the Rom-Com
How did Rob Reiner redefine rom-coms and the role of romance in action adventure movies? In light of the recent tragic death of Michele and Rob Reiner, Mandy Kaplan joins Matthew to talk about his legacy and then examine two defining films from the director: When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and The...
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Gen V and Heroic Identity
What happens when super-powered people exist primarily as commercial products? Gen V, the college-set spinoff of The Boys, explores a world where superhero status is less about heroism and more about corporate branding, entertainment value, and ruthless competition. At Godolkin University, young...
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Vengeance: Ethics, Justice, and Superhero Narratives
With the holidays coming up, things are a bit hectic, so we're making this formerly members-only discussion on vengeance in superhero stories available to everyone! Matthew and Riki dive deep into one of the most compelling ethical questions in superhero media: the role of vengeance as a…
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Murderbot, or When AI Just Wants to Watch Soap Operas
What happens when an AI doesn't want freedom—it just wants to binge soap operas? In this episode, we explore Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries through both the books and Apple TV series, examining one of science fiction's most compelling questions: can synthetic intelligence want something other…
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KPop Demon Hunters: Authenticity and the Philosophy of Shame
Can a demon-hunting K-pop girl group teach us about overcoming shame? KPop Demon Hunters delivers stunning fight choreography and original music while exploring how shame conceals itself, reproduces through hiding, and can only be conquered through radical self-acceptance. Matthew and returning...
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Heroes Redeeming Villains
Superhero narratives constantly wrestle with redemption—but what does it really mean when a villain joins the heroes? This episode digs into the complex ethics of villain redemption arcs and the roles heroes play in them, examining what separates genuine transformation from simple...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Superhero Ethics have?
Superhero Ethics currently has 417 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Superhero Ethics about?
Exploring ethical questions from Superhero movies and TV shows, sci-fi, and everything else geeks love
How often does Superhero Ethics release new episodes?
Superhero Ethics publishes regularly with 417 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Superhero Ethics?
You can listen to Superhero Ethics on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Superhero Ethics?
Superhero Ethics is created and hosted by Superhero Ethics.
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