Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day has become a lightning rod for Christian viewers, with some calling the aliens "demons" and others claiming the film subverts Christianity. Amy Browning-Dill and host Cindy Collins Smith take a different approach. Grounding their discussion in film history, literary typology, and St. Basil's advice to receive what is virtuous and true in pagan literature, Amy and Cindy explore the film's themes of faith, truth, secrecy, and human connection through an Orthodox Christian lens.

Our panel of Twin Peaks first-watchers joins host Cindy Collins Smith to react to the resolution of the Laura Palmer murder mystery—with its themes of innocence, the passions, demonic possession and resistance, and the unwavering search for truth.

Ever wonder what it sounds like when three Orthodox Christian fans of speculative fiction meet Twin Peaks for the first time? Maggie and Jos Johnson, along with Christina Zrake, recently started a Twin Peaks Watch… and then proposed we talk about it on the podcast. In this episode, Cindy hosts the trio to get their first impressions of the first season of Twin Peaks—its twisting and layered relationships, the competing suspects in the Laura Palmer murder mystery, its spiritual implications, and more.

Our Babylon 5 panel unpacks the final six episodes of season 2 — episodes addressing the destruction of species, war crimes and genocide, the relationship between identity (“Who are you?”) and sacrifice, and the unveiling of both Psi Corps and the Night Watch as arms of Earth Gov’s encroaching surveillance state. In these stories, Londo’s choices finally catch up with him, Sheridan and Delenn are pushed closer together, and Kosh is compelled to reveal something of himself. You can find Cindy’s Introduction to "The Curse Upon Mitre Square” here: https://www.casebook.org/dissertations/rip-cursemitre.html. This essay (mentioned in the episode) briefly traces the development of the Jack the Ripper mythos and its cultural meaning, but also contains a few crime-scene details that are not for the faint of heart.

Fr. David Subu joins host Cindy Collins Smith for an exploration of Ryan Coogler’s multi-layered film and its depiction of the wages of sin. Sinners is unabashedly a vampire movie - not sexy vampires, not reluctant vampires, not vegetarian or sparkly vampires. Vampires. Monstrous beings who entice their victims with promises of unity, family, freedom, and endless music, only to leave them enslaved to their passions and incapable of authentic communion. And they are not the only monstrosity in the film. The folk song closing this episode plays a significant role in Coogler’s film. This live performance was captured on a lo-fi Sony cassette recorder during Fourth of July weekend in 1994 and features John Breen (of The Lads) on vocals and 12-string guitar, with Cindy on accordion. The band is Gael Force Winds. The venue is the old Santa Monica pub 14 Below.