Clone Wars S2 • Senatorial Drama: Eps 4 & 15
November 6, 2025
We examine two Padmé-focused episodes that explore The Clone Wars beyond the battlefield, looking at Padmé going undercover and a political whodunit.
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.
We examine two Padmé-focused episodes that explore The Clone Wars beyond the battlefield, looking at Padmé going undercover and a political whodunit.
Is your own phone addiction harming your baby, and what do you do when your kid’s friend is watching violent movies at age four while another family treats screens like the devil? Voice actor and dad Will Collier joins Matthew and Mandy to navigate the guilt-ridden, judgment-heavy world of screen time—from the Wild Kratts vs. TikTok debate to the awkward reality of parenting in a community where everyone’s rules are wildly different.
In DS9’s “Far Beyond the Stars,” Sisko’s vision of being a 1950s Black sci-fi writer becomes a powerful lens on racism in publishing. Matthew and Riki explore what happens when imagination fails diversity.
Thor and Loki finally team up against Malekith, but not before Loki’s tricks and a black hole grenade reshape the fight. We break down betrayal, sacrifice, and singularities in one of The Dark World’s most pivotal five-minute stretches.
What if the perfect name you chose ends up on half the kids in your child’s kindergarten class—and should you even tell people your top picks before the baby arrives? Matthew navigates competing Jewish and Southern family naming traditions while Pete and Mandy share hard-won wisdom about popularity trends, the social power certain names carry, and why those adorable baby sneakers are destined to become airborne projectiles.
Robert Redford’s death prompts us to explore how The Natural serves as American mythology, examining what baseball reveals about heroism, economics, and the nature of sports fandom.
We dive into one of The Clone Wars’ most thought-provoking episodes, examining Rex’s encounter with Cut Lawquane—a clone who abandoned the war to build a family.
From door-to-door faith to forced debate, we explore how Heretic’s genuine religious discussion becomes manipulation, and why both dogmatic belief and militant atheism fail us.
Thor and Loki’s escape plan hits turbulence as bad blocking, plot armor, and cartoon physics sink the spectacle. But the brotherly banter still shines—even as the countdown to the end of the movie begins.
From a 47-year-old first-time parent-to-be to parents of adult children, three hosts at wildly different stages discover that parenting looks nothing like the movies promised. They tackle the uncomfortable truth about parental control, the gap between media myths and messy reality, and why raising kids might require a village after all.