Sunk Cost Fallacy
August 11, 2026
Professional poker player Paul Hoppe joins Matthew Fox to put poker, Thanos, and Vader on the table and ask why we can’t stop throwing good money after bad.
Matthew Fox has been passionate about deep conversations about genre media since childhood, when watching the original Star Trek series with their mother often led to discussions about the ethical questions it raised.
Beyond podcasting, Matthew helps run a small nonprofit dedicated to breaking down barriers to computer science education for youth and also provides consulting services for nonprofits and small businesses.
Over time, their podcasting interests have expanded, launching a Star Wars-focused podcast in 2019 and frequently appearing as a guest or co-host on PandaVision and other shows. While ethical questions are not always the primary focus of their work, Matthew has a knack for finding them in nearly everything they watch.
They are the host and founder of both Star Wars Generations and Superhero Ethics, and co-host of Once and Future Parent on TruStory FM.
Professional poker player Paul Hoppe joins Matthew Fox to put poker, Thanos, and Vader on the table and ask why we can’t stop throwing good money after bad.
Matthew and Erin kick off their Ninth Jedi watch-through debating a lightsaber that won’t turn red, a tyrant’s defiant last words, and whether the Jedi are really gone this time.
Will Freeland and Steve Stormoen of Hype Is My Superpower join Matthew to work out whether Spider-Man and the Punisher actually disagree, and what Bruce Banner has to do with the X-Men.
Matthew and Erin break down both Ninth Jedi shorts scene by scene and ask whether a lightsaber that changes color like a mood ring can carry a whole new series.
Paul Hoppe, professional poker player and now full co-host, joins Matthew to work out how poker relates to gambling, and what Nick Fury’s decision to not nuke NY says about risk.
Cap finally gets to throw a good old-fashioned punch, Falcon flies the fight of his life, and in five minutes on the deck of the Insight, Natasha’s data dump quietly ends SHIELD as we know it. Plus: a deep dive into a lost Disney glider-suit movie and a real argument over whether Alexander Pierce believes his own villainy.
Podcaster and TruStory FM co-founder Pete Wright joins Matthew and Paul to talk about Lattice, his debut novella, and what it costs to refuse power you actually have.
Matthew and Erin revisit Ahsoka’s Clone Wars trial arc, where a Temple bombing frame-up costs her the Jedi Order’s trust and forces her to prove her own innocence alone.
Writer and poker thinker Paul Hoppe joins Matthew to explore Drizzt Do’Urden, D&D ethics, and what “power reveals” about a villain who was never really corrupted.
HYDRA reboots Bucky like a frozen laptop, Fury loses the room, and Steve goes museum-shopping for his old wardrobe. The crew cracks open the third act of The Winter Soldier — minutes 91 through 95 — pausing to ask the one question the movie sprints right past: with the whole world about to catch fire, why does nobody just call Tony? (Or, for that matter, the big green guy.)