The Christian Humanist Podcast, Episode #91: Dystopias

General Introduction
– Being-towards-the-end-of-semester
– Emmanuels far and near
– Thanks, Theology Nerd Throwdown!
– Chess update

What is a Dystopia?
– Topos
– Utopias and dystopias
– The great temptation
– Distinctions

Premodern Dystopias
– No, not really
– Pre-dystopian Thebes
– Gods and ideologies
– The role of technology
– The Persia of Xerxes

Historical Contingency
– Incredulity toward metanarratives
– Hegel and Marx
– Human feeling vs. ideology
– Why the Enlightenment is necessary

Notable Examples
– The mutability of 1984
– Cybernetic dystopias
– Putting yourself in The Hunger Games
– Tolkien’s dystopic Shire

Outdated Tropes
– The dystopian catchphrase
– Matching outfits
– Run-down cities
– We bash The Matrix
– Utopias

Fueled by Dystopias
– Turning your brain off
– Here we are now; entertain us
– We bash Margaret Atwood and Ayn Rand

The Use of Dystopia
– A mixed reaction
– Altered consciousness
– Self-condemnation
– The grimness of ultimacy