Non-ASOIAF Content: Talking Venture Bros with Elana at Graphic Policy Radio

Hey folks, first of all I owe you an update: I haven’t been working on the blog for a couple months now because I’ve been handed a new class for the Fall Semester, so I’ve been a bit frantically busy assembling readings, reading the readings, and writing lectures. I’ve put together a bit of a buffer so that I shouldn’t be scrambling from week to week, which should mean that I can start working on the blog again soon.

In the mean time, I managed to do another Venture Bros podcast with my friend and colleague Elana Levin. This episode, we’re covering the Season 1 finale, “Return to Spider-Skull Island!”

Enjoy!

Non-ASOIAF Content: People’s History of the Marvel Universe, Week 20: The (Mutant) Registration Act(s)

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In his sixteen-year tenure of the X-line, Chris Claremont put his own spin on the mutant metaphor any number of ways, but one of the longest-lasting and most influential has been the idea of a Mutant Registration Act. In the original Days of Future Past storyline, Claremont first mentions the Mutant Control Act passed by a “rabid anti-mutant candidate…elected president,” as a reaction to the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly.

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey folks! So with Davos VI done, I’m taking a bit of time off to go on vacation for a week or so. To keep you company in the mean-time before I get back to the grind with Jon VIII, we’ve got some good stuff on the Tumblrs.

ASOIAF:

• How long would ambassadors stay at King’s Landing?
• Were journeymen forced to wander or could they choose where they worked?
• Were guilds separate by country?
• Did guilds have legacy students?
• Did the English hate the Vikings because women preferred Vikings?
• Endgame of ASOIAF POVs?
• Current Stark succession line. Who wins?
• Westerosi agriculture and multi-year winters.
• Corlys Velaryon and the spice trade.
• Cousin marriages in Westeros.

Non-ASOIAF:

• Did the Romans harbor grudges against the Greeks?
• How did the Greeks see the Romans?
• Why did the Byzantines call themselves Roman?
• Why did Byzantines blind Venetians when they retook Constantinople?
• When did historians start using BC and AD?
• Othismos or pulse theory?
• What do union organizers do?
• How did Catholic nobles at war with the pope reconcile their faith with their politics?
• My most controversial historical opinion.
• The Two-Body Problem (Locked Tomb Series)
• Question re: my favorite historical document?
• What would the Church do if a Tudor nobleman defaulted on a loan?
• Thoughts on No Way Home.
• Fractional vs. full-reserve banking.
• Thoughts on the Highland Clearances.
• Thoughts on the People’s Republic of Walmart.
• Was the Watcher powerful in the comics?
• Thoughts on X Lives/X Deaths of Wolverine?
• Thoughts on Trial of Magneto?
• Why was the Caribbean attractive to colonizers in the 1500s?
• Does Gotham ever just execute the Joker?
• Wizards and the mutant metaphor.
• History of menus in Western Europe.

Patron Questions:

• Was Aegon the Conqueror’s greatest mistake the invasion of Dorne, not incorporating the Riverlands into the Crownlands desmene, not turning over the social order of the Iron Islands, or something else entirely?
  • By order of magnitude, the invasion of Dorne.
• Who do you think is the Blackfyre sympathizer among Rowan or Tarly? I’m inclined to think it will be both of them, and Tarly might quite literally stab Mace Tyrell in the back.
  • Probably Tarly.
• Do you think Daenerys will go straight into war with fAegon once he takes the Iron Throne, or do you think something else will finally push it over, like him mounting Viserion instead of Rhaegal?
  • I think it’s inevitable once he takes the Iron Throne and offers to take her as his second wife.
• What are your thoughts on the new Batman film?
  • I liked it, but I thought it was about the last “dark and gritty reboot” of Batman that I’m going to want to see for a while.
• What are your thoughts on the thematic overlaps and character parallels between Elden Ring and ASOIF? I find it really interesting how GRRM reused character archetypes in extremely exaggerated forms, like how Morgott is in essence Stannis turned up to 11. Or how the Dung Eater comes off like what would happen if Ramsay and Euron did a fusion dance.
  • I haven’t really played or watched much Elden Ring, tbh, so I don’t know how much GRRM’s influence really affected the game.

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Davos VI, ASOS

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“Do you mock me to my face? Must I learn a king’s duty from an onion smuggler?”

Synopsis: Davos engages in a pivotal act of smuggling, and then reads out a letter.

SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.

Non-ASOIAF Content: People’s History of the Marvel Universe, Week 19

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As discussed last time, starting in Captain America and the Falcon #120, various Marvel writers[1] made a good deal of use out of the Falcon’s secret identity as Sam Wilson, social worker – Stan Lee used it as a vehicle for stories about youth problems, organized crime, and urban unrest (albeit ones that ended with costumed superheroes getting into punch-ups with similarly-attired supervillains), while Steve Englehart and Alan Weiss used it as a pretext to have Captain America and the Falcon investigate abuse in America’s prisons and encounter the Queen of the Werewolves.[2]

Non-ASOIAF Content: Talking People’s History of the Marvel Universe with Elana at Graphic Policy Radio

As long-time readers know, I write an essay series over at Graphic Policy where I look at the intersection of history, politics, and pop culture in the Marvel Universe. Recently, I sat down with my friend Elana over at Graphic Policy Radio to talk about the series – past, present, and future – and it was a really fun conversation.

Take a listen!

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Jaime VII, ASOS

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“Riding down familiar streets with two hundred northmen, a chainless maester, an an ugly freak of a woman at his side, Jaime found he scarcely drew a second look. He did not know whether he ought to be amused or annoyed. “They do not know me.””

Synopsis: Jaime returns home to a happy Lannister family reunion.

SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey folks, now that we’re done with Sansa V and the Purple Wedding is now firmly in the rearview mirror, the next chapter to tackle is Jaime VII. That’s a ways off yet, but in the meantime we’ve got some good stuff on the tumblrs:

ASOIAF:

• Was a coronation considered a religious ceremony?
• What sort of disputes would lords paramount hear in court?
• How does the downfall of democracy change the original metaphors of ASOIAF?
• What would Stannis have done as king had Ned’s plan worked?
• Edmure at the Fords and Tywin’s escape to King’s Landing.
• Why were cups and plates used as trophies?
• Why does it benefit the Tyrells if Tyrion isn’t accused?
• Would Tywin have been satisfied with a marriage pact to Rhaegar’s son?
• Philosophy in the Citadel.
• Why did GRRM reveal the catspaw dagger when he did?
• How much contact do septons/septas and maesters have with their families?
• Is Varys aware of the Red Wedding 2.0?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Why doesn’t Beast have angst about his appearance?
• Views on Thaddeus Stevens.
• Too many villains in NWH?
• Thoughts on the Eternals.
• What does Westphalian sovereignty mean?
• Why does it pain me to say that the Wheel of Time TV show was good?
• Thoughts on the Belgariad.
• Why is the borough of Queens so diverse?
• Did the Romans have last names?
• Would a land tax work in the Middle Ages?
  • Part II
• Why was the Papacy so Italian?
• Is that why the Reformation happened?

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Sansa V, ASOS

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“Is it all lies, forever and ever, everyone and everything?”

Synopsis: Sansa leaves the frying pan for the fire.

SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.

Guest Appearance on History of Westeros Podcast

Last night, I appeared on the History of Westeros Podcast to discuss the Peake Rebellion, the death of Maekar and the Great Council of 233, and the death of Tywald Lannister and the Rains of Castamere.

Check it out!