51 – First Contact

coverblackRecorded March 13th and 20th. First contact, ship detection and landing, Zod’s ultimatum, The War of the Worlds, and The Wizard of Oz.

Answers, insights, and commentary on:

  • I. First Contact
  • As an intended approach
  • Guidelines for what counts
  • Prior in-story contacts
  • Detecting Kal’s vessel and landing
  • Military response and suppression
  • Ultimatum questions
  • “Are we alone in the universe?”
  • Winston Churchill
  • II. War of the Worlds – The Book
  • H.G. Wells and Jules Verne
  • Man versus the mechanized future
  • Superman terraforming Earth
  • Superman’s arc enabling The League
  • Man as animal
  • Panic and fragility
  • Human heroes overcoming instinct
  • III. War of the Worlds – The Broadcast
  • 1938 Orson Welles broadcast
  • Halloween public panic
  • Press exaggerated story
  • Fake news, virality, and creative control
  • Real public panics
  • Humbling humanity
  • Myopia and normalizing the extraordinary
  • IV. First Impressions
  • Lois Lane and handshakes
  • Pete picking up the tab
  • Definitions, Apologetics, and “Yucatan”
  • Selling Superman
  • Judgment, taste, and capacity
  • Clark is more able than we see
  • Superman is more human than we know
  • V. Wizard of Oz
  • Similarities to Superman and BvS
  • Hero’s Journey and circular story
  • Flexible and open to interpretation
  • Explicit Oz references
  • As an allegory for populism
  • VI. Application
  • Academic scholarship
  • Fandom good for empathy
  • Superheroes inspire altruism
  • Science fiction, escapism, and reality

To learn more:
The War of the Worlds 1938 broadcast | Orson Welles
American Experience: War of the Worlds | PBS
War of the Worlds | RadioLab
Big Picture Science | SETI Institute
Churchill Ordered UFO Cover-Up | BBC
Churchill Essay on Aliens | NY Times
Should Humans Try To Contact Alien Civilizations? | Motherboard
Don’t Panic | WNYC
How the Panic Broadcast Really Went Down | Michigan Radio
American Icons: Wizard of Oz | Studio 360
The Wizard of Oz | TED Ed
Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy | Louis C.K.
God, The Universe and Everything Else (1988) | BBC
Does Smiling Make You Happier? | HowStuffWorks
Power Poses Work – Amy Cuddy | TED
Power Poses Are False (replication crisis) | Fortune
Are Fandoms Good or Unhealthy? | SciShow Psych
How Harry Potter Turns You Into A Wizard | SciShow Psych
Always take social science studies with a grain of salt.

End-notes (recorded on March 23rd):
Superman: War of the Worlds (2000, Elseworlds) | Lark
Planet of Oz | SuperFriends
Warner Bros. v. AVELA | 8th Circuit
H.G. Wells meets Orson Welles (1940) | KTSA
Superman Meets Orson Welles (1950) | Superman #62
Somewhere Over The Rainbow A Wonderful World | Kamakawiwoʻole
Go The Distance Defying Gravity | Kick Full

Justice League Universe Podcast:
Interview with Clay Enos – Appreciating intention and interpretation
Batman v. Superman Anniversary Special – Value fans get from BvS

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