(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")
 
We're joined by Dr. Shelly Clevenger, professor of criminology and victim studies, and chair of the Department of Victim Studies at Sam Houston State University, to discuss BITCH PLANET, the feminist dystopian comic book by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro, published by Image Comics. Dr. Clevenger, who is also a gender scholar, discusses crime and criminal justice through the lens of gender and gender identity and answers the question of what all of it has to do with the idea of "collapse." Among the topics covered include Roe vs. Wade, the Texas ban of abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial, a shocking historical government program to arrest and imprison women suspected of having STDs without due process, and many other issues affecting women - especially working class women, women of color, queer women, and trans women - in an age of increasing dystopia.  
  
***NO SPOILERS for Bitch Planet***  
  
LINKS
Dr. Shelly Clevenger faculty page
https://www.shsu.edu/~icc_www/_inc/dir.php?mode=view&item=467
 
Department of Victim Studies page at Sam Houston State University
http://catalog.shsu.edu/graduate-and-professional/college-departments/criminal-justice/victim-studies/
 
Dr. Shelly Clevenger on Twitter
https://twitter.com/drclevenger
 
Gendering Criminology by Shelly Clevenger and Jordana N. Navarro
https://amzn.to/3Qpi3y8
 
Bitch Planet, Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro
https://amzn.to/3QoXlyr
 
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(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")
In this episode, I interview Jim Carey, host of ‘The Left is Dead,’ a podcast about news, politics, and culture from a leftist lens. We discuss one of Jim’s favorite works of fiction, the novel LES MISERABLES by Victor Hugo, and its relevance to the societal and political turmoil we see today.
 
Jim talks about how the U.S. has basically become an entire nation of Javerts—moral absolutists obsessed with control and punishment—and how a lack of class consciousness,  revolutionary zeal, and a broad coalition with the working class prevents our ability to find real solutions to the biggest problems of our day. He also talks about the moral and political lessons that can be taken away from LES MISERABLES, particularly from the characters of Valjean, Fantine, Marius, and the young revolutionaries whose uprising becomes a failure we can learn from.
 
We also compare the novel and its socio-political objectives with adaptations of it in pop culture such as the Broadway musical and various film and TV adaptations. I spend a fair amount of time praising the PBS miniseries version and ragging on the Broadway musical for failing to cultivate a more meaningful level of class consciousness among its viewers. 
 
The Left is Dead
https://leftisdead.com/   
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLeftIsDead
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLeftisDead1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leftisdead/
Outro music by Benny Martin Piano
https://bennymartin.com.au/licensed under a Creative Commons License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bennymartinpianist
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ-yPr5SzsB0WHeKcwVONyQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bennymartinmusic/
 

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")
 
Chopin's Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1 in A major ("Polanaise Militaire") performed by Pistos, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.5 Canada License

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")In this episode I interviewed four amazingly talented songwriters from the U.S., Germany, and Brazil who have written music on the subject of collapse, and who discuss what they feel are the important roles and value of music, and of art in general, amid the current societal turmoil and the many risks of collapse.    
LINKS
 
My “Collapse Challenge” on FAWM
(February Album Writing Month)
https://fawm.org/forums/topic/12288/
 
You can find all of the “Collapse Challenge” songs here:
https://fawm.org/songs/tags/collapsechallenge/
 
Beto (@elesimo on FAWM)
https://fawm.org/fawmers/elesimo/
https://thefishermenandthepriestess.com/
 
“How Does it Feel?”
https://fawm.org/songs/126378/
 
Deirdre (@wylddandelyon on FAWM)
https://fawm.org/fawmers/wylddandelyon/
https://www.patreon.com/Wyld_Dandelyon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/62265129
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5199620.Deirdre_M_Murphy
 
“Steel Skeletons of the Past”
https://fawm.org/songs/127560/
Mike (@mikeskliar on FAWM)
https://fawm.org/fawmers/mikeskliar/
https://mikeskliar.bandcamp.com/
 
“Interesting Times”
https://fawm.org/songs/125354/
 
Robert (@ampersandman on FAWM)
https://fawm.org/fawmers/ampersandman/
https://soundcloud.com/ampersandman
https://ampersandman-de.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jaariberlin
 
“The Lie”
https://fawm.org/songs/128187/
 
 
Opening quote courtesy of:
 
Sunfire Carl B (@sunfire on FAWM)
https://fawm.org/fawmers/sunfire/
 
“The Collapse”
https://fawm.org/songs/129537/
Outro courtesy of:
 
The Jelly Factory (@cts on FAWM)  
https://fawm.org/fawmers/cts/
 
“Star Ark”
(co-written w/ the Pop Mythologist) 
https://fawm.org/songs/130000/
 

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")In this episode, I talk to Dr. Sørina Higgins, a professor of English literature at Signum University. We discuss how speculative fiction can teach us to take care of our planet, both ecologically and societally.Authors and works discussed include: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, Octavia Butler's Kindred, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and superhero fiction. (**NO SPOILERS** for any works.)Real world topics discussed include: climate change, racial and economic justice, terraforming, space colonization, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and small scale activism.Dr. Higgins also tells us about TexMoot 2022, a speculative fiction conference that is currently seeking submissions for papers and round table discussion prompts from the general public (not just academics). Check the link below!    LINKS:
TexMoot 2022: Call for Submissionshttp://texmoot.org/call-for-papers  
  
TexMoot 2022 general infohttps://signumuniversity.org/event/texmoot-2022/  
  Register for TexMoot 2022:https://registration.signumuniversity.org/events/texmoot-2022/  
  Signum Universityhttps://signumuniversity.org/  SorinaHiggins.comhttps://sorinahiggins.wordpress.com/  Daily Choiceshttps://sorinahiggins.wordpress.com/daily-choices/
  Sørina Higgins' author pagehttps://amzn.to/3rEDrEY      Sørina Higgins on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/SorinaHiggins
  
Signum University on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/SignumU
  
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(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")**No spoilers** for any of the works discussed in this episode.
LINKS:
Breaking Down: Collapse "Episode 70 - Pop Culture & Collapse"https://collapsepod.buzzsprout.com/1403161/9909499
 
"Climate science meets a stubborn obstacle: Students"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/04/us/education-climate-change-science-class-students.html
 
"Before and after 'The Day After Tomorrow': A U.S. study of climate change risk perception."https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/before-and-after-the-day-after-tomorrow/
 
"Cli-fi (climate fiction) on the big screen changes minds about real climate change"https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/world/climate-change-movies-eprise/index.html
 
"Michael Crichton on science and storytelling"https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2019/02/13/michael-crichton-on-science-and-storytelling/
 
"Sci-fi and Jurassic Park have driven research, scientists say"https://theconversation.com/sci-fi-and-jurassic-park-have-driven-research-scientists-say-42864
 
"Many paleontologists today are part of the 'Jurassic Park' generation"https://www.npr.org/2018/07/10/627782777/many-paleontologists-today-are-part-of-the-jurassic-park-generation
"The death of Bill Paxton reminds us that 'Twister' changed meteorology"https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2017/02/26/the-death-of-bill-paxton-reminds-us-that-twister-changed-meteorology/?sh=8d2d28e6b7e0
 
"25-Year Anniversary of Twister and Its Far-Reaching Impacts"https://okcfox.com/weather/fox-25-weather-wise/25-year-anniversary-of-twister-its-far-reaching-impacts#:~:text=Meteorology%20majors%20increased%20by%2010,and%20her%20team%20chase%20tornadoes
 
"How 'Twister' made metereology cool in Oklahoma and beyond"https://www.oklahoman.com/article/5499438/how-twister-made-meteorology-cool-in-oklahoma-and-beyond
 
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(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")Since the very day of its release, Don’t Look Up has been spurring intense discussion and debate about its symbolic depiction of climate change as an existential threat, and the struggle of climate activists to get governments and people to mobilize and take action against it. In this episode, I explain why it is so difficult for people to understand the urgency of the threat, and what we must do to rectify this before it’s too late.
 
LINKS:
 
Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change, by George Marshall
https://amzn.to/3GaZqbJ
 
“At the End of the World, It’s Hyperobjects All the Way Down.”
https://www.wired.com/story/timothy-morton-hyperobjects-all-the-way-down/
 
Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, by Timothy Morton
https://amzn.to/3teUyPf
 
Being Ecological, by Timothy Morton
https://amzn.to/3r1p38w
 
Please support this podcast to help make it sustainable: • Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/popmythology
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(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")We interview Dr. Althea Rizzo, Geological Hazards Program Coordinator, of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM), about WITHOUT WARNING! WILDFIRE, a comic book produced in partnership between OEM and Dark Horse Comics with the objective to help kids and teens get informed about, and prepared for, wildfires (and other hazards). 
WITHOUT WARNING! WILDFIRE is available for free at Dark Horse Digital, the website for the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, and on iOS and Android apps. It’s also available on Kindle, Comixology, Google Play and Apple Books. 
 
The first two comics in the series, Without Warning! Earthquake  and Without Warning! Tsunami are available online from the same sources as well. 
 
Support this podcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/popmythology
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/popmythology