Watching Movies with your Kids
November 19, 2025
Matthew’s just days away from becoming a parent, while Mandy and Pete navigate the complex world of sharing beloved films and shows with their teens.
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.
Matthew’s just days away from becoming a parent, while Mandy and Pete navigate the complex world of sharing beloved films and shows with their teens.
Can heroes truly redeem villains, or just make temporary allies? From Spider-Man’s compassionate approach to the X-Men’s complex reconciliations, we explore what separates genuine reformation from convenient alliance-switching.
The pants are back on, the science makes no sense, and Greenwich becomes ground zero for the MCU’s time-obsessed showdown. Pete and Matthew dive deep into the Prime Meridian, Malekith’s hotel-grade spaceship, and the art of surviving Thor: The Dark World one pixel at a time.
What happens when your carefully crafted birth plan collides with medical reality—and your family’s overwhelming enthusiasm? Matthew, Mandy, and Pete explore the gap between Hollywood labor scenes and the real days-long delivery process, while navigating performative partner pressure, the “circles of care” model, and managing well-meaning relatives who’ve lost their minds with excitement.
Voice actor JP Karliak explores how superhero stories help process social change, drawing from his role as non-binary Morph in X-Men ’97 and his work getting nerds civically engaged through NerdsVote.
Loki dies, Jane gets bars, and Pete and Matthew try to find meaning in the Marvel multiverse’s weirdest tonal mash-up. This week, we talk redemption, portals, and whether The Dark World just gave up or never quite started trying.
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.