Immediately after recording the first episode of 2026, I went into the editing, because honestly, it's one of my favorite year starter episodes to date. This episode was born out of the fact that my guest, Snarky Faith's Stuart Delony, has a book coming out, and it's subject is a satirical look at the theological idea of the Rapture that has taken ahold in some sects of Evangelical Christianity. It only made sense for us to discuss three cinematic depictions of the Rapture. Join us as we talk about faith, religious escapism, and 1972's "A Thief in the Night", 2000's "Left Behind", and 2013's "Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End". We do have some audio issues at times but it's worth listening for the discussion we have. I hope you enjoy!

Check out Stuart's book, The Tribulation Survival Guide: How to Stay Alive When Everything Else is Dead, when it comes out on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. You can order it here.

We've looked at resistance to fascism. The police state. Faith peddlers. And journalists holding power accountable. The first few episodes in this series have looked at serious topics when dealing with encroaching authoritarianism. For the fifth and final episode of the series for 2025, it's time to have a little bit of fun. While cinematic propaganda has been around for pretty much the entirety of the medium's existence, when it comes to American propaganda, there was something about the politics of the 1980s that found its way into a lot of action cinema. Joining me is Phil Fasso, and here we discuss "Rambo: First Blood - Part II" and "Rambo III", "Invasion U.S.A." and "The Sum of All Fears". I hope you enjoy!

When it comes to authoritarian regimes- or those aspiring to be- a free and independent press can be its worst enemy. Fake news, Lugenpresse. "Liberal bias." Those are just some of the ways they can be discredited by leaders with a fetish for dictatorships. In this episode in our "Fascism in Cinema" episode, listen as myself and the Editor in Chief at In Their Own League, Joan Amenn, discuss what a free press means, and why it matters now more than ever. We bring up more films than these, but our discussion focuses on Alan J. Pakula's "All the President's Men", George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck", and Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight". I hope you enjoy!

In part due to the unplanned hiatus during May and June, horror podcast episodes are not on the menu this year. But this episode is close, because H.G. Wells's is one of the most terrifying stories in the annals of science fiction. Much like we did a couple of years ago regarding Dracula, Phil Fasso and I look at Wells's classic through the perspective of some of its most famous iterations. We begin with Orson Welles's infamous radio play version, then go to Byron Haskins's 1953 film, Steven Spielberg's 2005 adaptation, and finally, this year's hideous adaptation. I hope you enjoy!

As you've probably noticed in the past few years, one of the things I've wanted to do is have some discussions on films from my formative years discovering films, and getting deeper into films, that mean a lot to me. This is one that was bound to be a tough one to get a guest for, but as you hear, this conversation ended up being a fascinating, all-encompassing one about every aspect of this film's discussion over the years. We are discussing Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning "Braveheart", which remains meaningful to me, in spite of its maker- and the film's- reputation. Joining me is Carlo from The Movie Loot podcast. I hope you enjoy!

In the latest episode of the Sonic Cinema Podcast, we continue a conversation that began this year at the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival. It's not often that we return to a filmmaker so quickly after meeting them, but the connection I had with filmmaker Kiera Faber was a meaningful one for both of us. I hope you enjoy this continuing meeting of minds with the filmmaker of the short film, "The Garden Sees Fire".

You can hear our discussion at the Atlanta Film Festival here.

Because of the lack of the film festival element, it feels as though my annual DragonCon podcast gets shorter and shorter each year. But, it is tradition, and it's also a nice reprieve from the heavier episodes of the year. I hope you enjoy this year's episode!

One of the most exciting things about the idea of discussing Fascism in Cinema is how fluidly the ideas of authoritarianism have been adapted, and sometimes skewered, by filmmakers over the years. In the third episode of this series, we are looking at films that look at matters of faith, and how corrupted they can be by mankind. Since we are discussing religion, it would be wrong to have any other guest but return guest Stuart Delony from Snarky Faith. Listen as we discuss the state of religion in both the US, and the world, through the lens of Carl Theodor Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc", Monty Python's "Life of Brian", and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood". I hope you enjoy!

You can read my blog outlining my thoughts after the 2024 election here.

Stuart wrote about a lot of the ideas we discuss about "There Will Be Blood" on his blog here.

Fascism in Cinema Series

Episode 162 - Resistance to Fascism in Cinema

Episode 166 - Fascism in Cinema: Copaganda