Doxacast Remix

Amy Browning-Dill and host Cindy Collins Smith discuss the film adaptation of The Life of Chuck - a later-career work by Stephen King that offers a meditation on life, death, the cosmos, the wonder of being, and ghosts in the attic.

Father David Subu joins host Cindy Collins Smith to discuss their recent theatrical experience of Project Hail Mary - a hard science fiction film that blends humor, optimism, and self-sacrifice in the face of a potentially galaxy-ending phenomenon, and holds an unexpected and transformative friendship at the center of the film.

Our Babylon 5 panel was stunned in its previous episode to learn that Maggie had never seen the classic Star Trek: TNG episode “Darmok.” Now, along with “Maggie, her eyes uncovered,” part of our panel reconvenes to discuss Darmok… and Maggie’s response. Join us as we recount Captain Dathon’s faith and hope as he puts his life on the line to establish communication (and maybe communion?) between two races that communicate in mutually unintelligible ways. Frequently counted in TNG Top 10 lists, Darmok gives a masterclass in acting with an often opaque script.

Our panel - composed of Cindy Collins Smith, Maggie and Jos Johnson, Richard Strube, Sam Cook, and Amy Browning-Dill - returns as Babylon 5 hits its stride. With the Centauri Emperor’s visit, the beginning of the Great War, and the first true revelations of the Shadows, the series accelerates into its central arc - and rarely lets up. These episodes bring those threads together, deepening the characters and sharpening the show’s core themes of choice, consequences, and sacrifice. Here, the epic begins.

George R.R. Martin’s reputation does not often include serving up tales of honor, goodness, and chivalry, yet his personal favorite work is his series of Dunk & Egg novellas, following the adventures of an un-ironically good hedge knight and his young squire about a century before Game of Thrones starts. Amy Browning-Dill and Fr. David Subu join host Cindy Collins Smith to discuss the memorable characters, themes, and twists in season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - a fairly faithful rendering of Martin’s first Dunk & Egg novella. Was Ser Duncan’s master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, a drunk or a bit of a holy fool? Is Aerion Brightflame pure evil or an example of a man consumed by his passions? And why did the greatest knight in the Realm stand with an unproven hedge knight in mortal combat?

In this sequel to the “Android Dreams” episode, Derek Power returns as he and host Cindy Collins Smith tackle Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. While Derek finds echoes of the Incarnation in the miraculously-born child and its protectors, the conversation ultimately centers on the results of choice more than destiny.

For many months Fr. David Subu, Jos Johnson, Sam Cook, and Cindy Collins Smith traveled the Sword Coast together in a Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer campaign, confronting enemies who sought to enslave the world and turn them into Mindflayers. In this episode, they recount their adventures and discuss the choices for good, evil, and chaos that their characters made along the way and the ways they helped each other navigate the game.

In this episode, new guest Derek Power and host Cindy Collins Smith geek out over Blade Runner’s place in cinema and examine the Frankensteinian questions it raises about what it means to be human and what it means to be a facsimile. To what extent can the two become like the other and where is God in all of this? The episode title (“Android Dreams”) of course calls back to “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” - the Philip K. Dick novel that Ridley Scott adapted for this film. But more than that, it suggests that replicants might unpredictably have aspirations beyond those they were programmed to have.

In another solo reaction commentary, host Cindy Collins Smith takes on the finale to Stranger Things - including how its Mind Flayer plot parallels the Mind Flayer in Baldur’s Gate 3, how the government’s efforts to turn humans into Cold War weapons hearkens back to Frankenstein and Myst, how confronting fear can lead differently disposed characters to compassion or an embrace of evil, how El’s final act reinforces her friends’ choice to believe in the good… and how the song that helped tear down the Berlin Wall became the culminating song for the series.

Modern video gaming does not exist without the 90s classics Myst and Riven. In this episode, we dive into these video game classics and their associated novels with a panel consisting of host Cindy Collins Smith, Fr. Evan Cummings, and Maggie and Jos Johnson. The ensuing conversation covers the groundbreaking nature of Myst, its influence on other media like the TV show Lost, and the impact of its rich aesthetic and complex puzzles on the gaming industry as a whole. The panel also delves into the collaborative nature of these games, the intricate storytelling, and the philosophical and moral themes embedded in the Myst saga - drawing parallels with the biblical narratives and Shakespearean drama that came before it. Here is the Myst Trilogy of ebooks mentioned in the episode: https://www.amazon.com/Myst-Trilogy-Rand-Miller-ebook/dp/B0FH5PTQ7P Here is a playlist of the entire Myst Soundtrack (Robyn Miller, 1993): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVIBbYYzNw8&list=PLF0F0D1BF9F96BFC7

Amy Browning-Dill and host Cindy Collins Smith probe the history and implications of Frankenstein - from Mary Shelley’s book through the James Whale and Hammer Studios adaptations all the way to more recent adaptations by Kenneth Branagh and Guillermo del Toro. Shelley’s tale is often considered an example of man playing God - and of course it is - but it also opens the door to profound questions about the relationship between the human body and God, what it means to have a soul, the implications of immortality without God, as well as more everyday human concerns such as the need for good parenting and companionship.

Host Cindy Collins Smith goes solo in this brief reaction commentary on the first batch of new Stranger Things episodes. Fodder for discussion includes upside-down dice rolls, conspiracy theories (and real-world conspiracies), missing hot topics of the 80s, where these episodes sit in the series - and of course, how Stranger Things might resonate with Christians. And as for that 1983 Alt-CCM song that gets a shout out? You can give a listen to Daniel Amos’ "Mall (All Over the World)" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMdjns4VJcA.

The Babylon 5 Watch is back! Our panel - composed of Cindy Collins Smith, Maggie and Jos Johnson, Amy Browning-Dill, Richard Strube, and Sam Cook - picks up the conversation with the first eight episodes of season 2, ominously titled: "The Coming of Shadows.” Our panelists discuss the poignant backstory of Sinclair’s replacement with Sheridan, character trajectories, the increasing complexity of relationships, Babylon 5’s status as Space Opera or Science Fiction, the looming consequences of humans having Minbari souls, the control Psi Corps exerts over Telepaths, and the ominous foreshadowing of the Shadows. Oh, and let's not forget the green and purple.

Turn off the lights, light an atmospheric candle, and listen as Fr. David Subu and host Cindy Collins Smith talk and read through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s spooky tale of a young Puritan’s journey into the heathen forest near Salem at night. Known as one of the great stories of 19th century American Romanticism, Young Goodman Brown is also surprisingly rich in its treatment of sin, demonic temptation, and prelest.

Allison Franklin-Jordan again joins host Cindy Collins Smith - this time to discuss sin, choice, and change in two works that illustrate vividly how one person’s actions can change the world for good or ill. Iroh’s and Zuko’s repentance in Avatar: the Last Airbender transforms the Fire Nation from following an ideology of conquest to following a path of redemption and peace, while the abusive father’s repentance in My Hero Academia cannot undo the hatred that consumes and destroys his son. This episode delves into the cascading effects that our actions have on others… and our own need to live lives of repentance and see the Image of God in our fellows.

Tokusatsu enthusiast Sarah Esker joins Godzilla enthusiast Cindy Collins Smith for a stomp through Japanese media, its cross-pollination with the West, and the themes that are likely to resonate with Christians. Buckle up because this conversation takes us from giant monsters and aliens to Spaghetti Westerns, Star Wars, and even the Catholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.

What happens when you put together a couple of Doctor Who aficionados to cover more than 60 years of epic (and sometimes not-so-epic) television? Tune in to find out as Fr. Demetrios Kehagias joins host Cindy Collins Smith for a joyride through the ups and downs of Doctor Who and a discussion of how the Doctor’s near-immortality parallels and differs from the life of Christ.

2025 Doxacon speakers Jake Reed and Jon James join host Cindy Collins Smith to talk about one of literature’s most enduring tropes - the Wasteland. From crippling famines to post-apocalyptic fallout, the Wasteland has led pagans to offer sacrifice and moderns to despair. But it can also lead us to seek God. Covering ground from Oedipus Rex and Grail legends to A Canticle for Leibowitz and Fallout, this episode challenges us to let God transform the wastelands in our own lives.

What can a seemingly fluffy animated feature reveal to its audience about guilt, confession, restoration, uncovering shame, and -yeah- fighting demons? In this episode, Sr. Allison Regina Gliot and Sr. Orianne Pietra Rene Dyck join host Cindy Collins Smith for an exuberant conversation covering these topics and more in the breakout streaming hit K-Pop Demon Hunters.

2025 Doxacon speaker Richard Strube joins host Cindy Collins Smith to illumine the moral conundrums, thematic innovations, deft and heavy-handed storytelling, and memorable appearances in a handful of favorite (and not-so-favorite) episodes from Star Trek’s The Original Series and The Next Generation. Sprinkled with anecdotes and analysis, the conversation takes us from the heights of The City on the Edge of Forever and Darmok to the lows of The Omega Glory and many points between.

2025 Doxacon Lay Keynote speaker M.R. Leonard joins host Cindy Collins Smith to discuss his first contact novel Pilgrims and some “must see / must watch” science fiction. Along the way, the conversation turns to influences on the novel, what would happen if Catholic (or Orthodox) aliens visited Earth, why secular-oriented gamers fell in love with an overtly Christian novel, and how we can baptize the culture through reclaiming the science fiction space.

Our Babylon 5 panel takes on the final batch of season 1 episodes, as Babylon 5 transitions from a monster-of-the-week show into a cohesive multi-season narrative. Factions heat up; conspiracies and betrayals unfold; characters retreat to the garden to contemplate their choices. And just as one of our principals is pricked by conscience, he is met by a terrible temptation.

In a conversation ranging from City on the Edge of Forever and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Agent of Byzantium and The Man in the High Castle, Dn. Nicholas Dujmovic joins host Cindy Collins Smith to revisit his talk from the 2015 Doxacon and discuss more recent developments in the Alternative History subgenre - raising questions like “What can we learn from Alternative History?” and more importantly “What can we as Christians gain from it?” Slides for the original 2015 talk (Copy and paste link into your browser): https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fD6-lUq0kH5UGEZ7pGTHkQV9RuXmtBiS/edit?slide=id.p1#slide=id.p1

Doxacon’s 2025 Clergy Keynote Speaker joins host Cindy Collins Smith - and it’s Fr. Evan Cummings! Fr. Evan offers context for his upcoming talk on apocalypse in Magic: The Gathering before settling into a lengthier conversation on The Legend of Zelda’s Tears of the Kingdom (2023). Amid Hyrule’s restoration after the Great Calamity, a new apocalyptic event occurs - The Upheaval, when a mummified Ganondorf revives and unleashes new horrors on the devastated Kingdom. Tears of the Kingdom expands on the theme of sacrifice so prevalent in Breath of the Wild (2017), while also exploring themes of newness and hope, the duties of leadership, and the restorative power of sacred light.

Our Babylon 5 panel picks up the conversation from the first half, discussing humorous moments and product placement, repentance, forgiveness, and spiritual seeking. As we delve deeper into Mr. Morden’s question “What Do You Want?," we consider the motivations of this friendly yet sinister emissary and speculate on the identity of his associates.

Our Babylon 5 panel returns to tackle the middle batch of episodes from season 1 (Deathwalker to Eyes). Though this batch divides viewers, our panelists dive into the issues it raises about prejudice, mortality and immortality, medical ethics, the validity of belief, and the all-important question “What Do You Want?”

Paulist priest Fr. Evan Cummings returns as he and host Cindy Collins Smith delve into two of The Legend of Zelda’s most beloved entries: The Ocarina of Time (1998) and Breath of the Wild (2017). Though nearly two decades separate these masterpieces, both find hope amid a post-apocalyptic world, and in both our heroes sacrifice themselves - descending into types of death to save the Kingdom.

Rae Grabowski, Programming Co-Chair for Doxacon, joins host Cindy Collins Smith to discuss what makes Sam Vimes such an attractive character in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. While Pratchett satirizes and subverts the tropes of genres such as heroic fantasy, noir, and detective fiction, he also creates a protagonist whose growth in virtue over the course of eight novels transforms a corrupt City Watch into a force for good in his city and across the disc.

Maggie and Jos Johnson join host Cindy Collins Smith and our panel of re-watchers and 1st-watchers to tackle the first batch of episodes from Babylon 5 (Pilot through Episode 8). This tightly written sequence plants the seeds for themes on telepaths, alien cultures, xeno-archaeology, and religion that will become important as the series progresses. Watch along as we explore the twists, turns, and unexpected character development that typifies so much of Babylon 5.

Stitched together from separate sessions, this Frankenstein’s Monster of an episode brings back Richard Strube to continue the conversation with host Cindy Collins Smith as they tackle ways in which Lynch sees a world similar to the world Orthodoxy sees, culminating in The Return's magnificent mythological episode 8 ("Got a Light?"). Transcending the illusory world of Transcendental Meditation, Lynch interrogates a world of Moral Good and Moral Evil, situating himself firmly on the side of Moral Good.

Richard Strube joins host Cindy Collins Smith to pay a tangent-rich tribute to filmmaker David Lynch. Lynch is known for probing the darkness, but when we pull back the (red) curtain, we see that his work actually presents viewers with an enchanted world - one filled with angels and demons and protagonists genuinely seeking the light in a fallen world.

Fantasy novelist Dn. Nicholas Kotar joins Cindy Collins Smith to talk about the dangerous, playful, and mad figures of real life and fiction that challenge us and our leaders to “wake up” - even in oppressive societies. Having authored a Holy Fool himself, Dn. Nicholas offers insight into what the Holy Fool can bring to a story and why fiction may reach audiences that hagiography cannot. In addition to the Holy Fools of Russian literature and cinema, this episode briefly examines analogous characters from American television.

Long-time fan Sam Cook joins Warhammer 40K novice Cindy Collins Smith to discuss how the Imperium’s secular Crusade descends into a multi-faction religious war among giants. Why do humans - even augmented humans - still grasp for religious experience after angels and demons and supernatural phenomena have been explained away? Is the Emperor’s stated vision of a fully secular order possible?

Epic Scope. Shakespearean Tragedy. Depth of Character. Training in Virtue. Tune in as our “Gathering” of panelists offers an overview of one of television’s most consequential Space Operas: Babylon 5. Panelists Richard Strube, Sam Cook, and Amy Browning-Dill join host Cindy Collins Smith to deliver elevator pitches for the themes, legacy, and terrific acting that make Babylon 5 a must-see for science fiction fans and to discuss the ways in which the series serves as an example of the good “pagan” literature that St. Basil the Great instructs young Christian men to study with discernment. (Related Doxacon content: 2023 CLERGY KEYNOTE: The Sun's Reflection in Water: How St Basil's Address to Young Men Guides Us to Discern Good Fantasy by Dn. Nicholas Kotar)

Harry Potter fans Cindy Collins Smith and Allison Franklin-Jordan discuss reading the series with children and tackle some of the more provocative points from the original Doxacast episode “Harry Potter and the Harrowing of Hades.” Along the way, they cover favorite chapters and scenes, sin, self-sacrifice, abuse, redemption, and whether a certain Potions Master is really so irredeemable after all.

In this episode, Cindy Collins Smith and Paulist priest Fr. Evan Cummings talk about one of their favorite video game franchises - The Legend of Zelda, a series that typically lets players enter into an epic battle against evil. Cindy and Fr. Evan discuss the role of the player in linear and open world storytelling, subcreation, the attributes represented by our heroes (and their recurring foe), and places where the games intersect and depart from the “Echoes of the Incarnation” reflected in the 2024 Doxacon theme. This episode was recorded before the latest Zelda game dropped, which Cindy has since played. That adventure still awaits Fr. Evan.

From the tragedies to The Tempest, Shakespeare enthusiasts Cindy Collins Smith and Amy Browning-Dill examine Shakespeare’s use of the supernatural and how it often reveals the spiritual states of the Bard’s protagonists. Along the way, they discuss the religious controversies so present in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, humility and contrition, mindfulness of death, and repentance.

In this wide ranging conversation, Cindy Collins Smith and novelist Eleanor Bourg Nicholson delve into one of their favorite genres: the Gothic and its place in Eleanor’s latest novel Wake of Malice. Shoutouts to their favorite novels and movies abound, as do discussions of humor, eccentricity, unsanctioned and dangerous “pious” practices, spiritual warfare, and redemption in the Gothic.

In this episode, Cindy Collins Smith hands the mic over to author S.K. Ehra as they discuss historical antecedents to Game of Thrones, complex characters and intricate worldbuilding, immanence, transcendence, existential threats, accusations of nihilism, and who really is the hero. In many respects, the popularity of this saga can be attributed to Martin’s ability to blend a Medieval fantasy world with the yearnings and attitudes of what philosopher Charles Taylor terms a “Secular 3” culture.

In this thought-provoking discussion, Cindy Collins Smith talks with Doxacon co-founder Fr. David Subu about director Denis Villeneuve’s handling of Dune’s Messianic themes. Though the film does many things well, Dune 2’s religious critique lacks the seriousness of Herbert’s, changing the arcs and attitudes of several of the story’s central characters. Yet beyond the film, the Dune saga can inspire readers to adopt a life of “noble purpose.”

In this first episode of the reboot, host Cindy Collins Smith is joined by founding Doxacast host Daniel Silver to talk about the origins of the podcast and Baldur’s Gate 3 - 2023’s Game of the Year. Their conversation delves into free will and player choice in video role playing games, character redemption arcs, and the roles of fate, hope, and love as players battle or succumb to the dark forces that seek to enslave their characters.