Fate, Hope, and Love in Baldur's Gate 3 (October 30, 2024) 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.
Misplaced Messiahs and Missed Opportunities in Villeneuve's Dune 2 (November 7, 2024) 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.”
Game of Thrones: Medieval Roots and Secular Fruits (November 21, 2024) 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.
Redeeming Monsters: A Faith-Filled Exploration of the Gothic (December 5, 2024) 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.
Spirit of Health or Goblin Damned: Shakespeare, the Supernatural, and Repentance (December 19, 2024) 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.
The Legend of Zelda and the Incarnation of Wisdom (January 2, 2025) 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 in to 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.
