Due to some scheduling adjustments and coinciding with some proximal current events, we bring to you a very different episode this week. Each week, we explore what scares us in order to find what saves us. This week, we're digging a little deeper on the last part of that motto.

Whether you are burnt out, stressed, worried, anxious, fearful, saddened, burdened, confused, lonely, or all of the above and more, we hope to offer you just a few words of encouragement and hope this week.

Reed is joined by friends of the show Andrew Nelson, Vera Goudie, and Dave Courtney for an open-hearted conversation about what we turn to when we're seeking hope or strength. From the simple practice of finding something to do with our hands to the creative meditations of a story or song, we're offering up a few things that we hope will make you feel just a little bit better and a little bit less alone.

We'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming, but for this week we want you to take a moment to breathe and we hope this episode helps you feel just a little bit better. Thank you for listening.

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We have finally arrived at the primary reason we chose to march through the Alien franchise this spooky season (AHHHHH). As we've made our way through #halloweylanyutani, we've had the 2024 release of the latest installment in our minds. So now, after all the facehugging, chestbursting, and j-j-j-j-jaw-dropping conversations, we have finally arrived at ALIEN: ROMULUS.

We sit down with two old friends, Blake Collier and Andy Whitfield, while all nestled together in a cabin in the California mountains to discuss why this film seems to have successfully reinvigorated the franchise 7 years after Alien: Covenant, what works and doesn't about this return to form, and the compelling way this particular entry explores our relationship with our technological and artificial companions.

It's an earnest and thoughtful conversation and we really hope you enjoy it!

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This week we feature our second Redux episode in the Alien Franchise run for Spooky Season (AHHHHH) #Halloweylanyutani. Redux episodes feature films we've covered on the show before but with fresh takes, new voices, and lots of renewed perspectives. This time around we're joined by friends of the show Vera Goudie and Matt Ruff to unpack the often frustrating specifics of ALIEN: COVENANT. Following the more polarizing response to Prometheus, Alien: Covenant feels like a deliberate correction -- perhaps an overcorrection -- away from the more thematic, existential questions the franchise was posing to get back to more xenomorphic carnage. The result is a film that abounds in wasted potential, though not without its moments.

Also featuring a Patron only segment with our final Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode for this year, this is a hearty, lively, and thoughtful discussion we really hope you enjoy!

Patron Only Segment: The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror XV

5:48 - ALIEN: COVENANT

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We continue our Spooky Season (AHHHH) run through the iconic Alien franchise (#Halloweylanyutani) with the film that saw the return of Ridley Scott to the film series that he had originally launched. PROMETHEUS initially played things a bit light on whether or not it actually was an Alien film, choosing instead to go for philosophical and existential ideas exploring our origins and our purposes within the framework of alien worlds.

We invite friends of the show Jess Fischli, Andrew Nelson, and Steve Beckley for a wonderful and hearty conversation full of thoughtful questions, poignant observations, and an absurd amount of laughter. Also featuring a Patron only segment covering The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XIV, this is an extremely fun conversation that we really hope you enjoy!

Patron Only Segment: The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror XIV

9:52 - PROMETHEUS

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We have a fun October Surprise for you this morning. We invited now-frequent guest and friend of the show Dr. David Gushee to discuss with us his newly released book, THE MORAL TEACHINGS OF JESUS: Radical Instruction in the Will of God.

The book focuses on 40 unique moral teachings of Jesus from throughout the gospels and can be read as intermittent devotions, as a scholarly text, as a community of dialogue with friends and peers, or as a means to challenge yourself with the astonishing relevance, power, and gravity of the teachings of Jesus for our current world.

We dive into how the book came to be and why such a text is so important, perhaps now more than ever, and then we open up a listener mail bag to explore thoughtful questions about politics, theology, church community, and faithfully walking in the way Jesus taught us.

This is a conversation we are very grateful to have had, and we hope you enjoy it!

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We continue our Spooky Season (AHHHHH) run through the Alien franchise with unquestionably the silliest and most absurd entry in the franchise: ALIEN: RESURRECTION. After Ellen Ripley is cloned centuries following her death, she is forced to unite with a renegade group of space pirates to destroy the newest iteration of the Xenomorph species, including facehuggers, Xenomorphs, a queen, and a new monstrous hybrid creation unlike anything she'd ever seen. We're joined by friends of the show Drew Pasanen and Jackson Harper to laugh, critique, defend, and generally dissect all of the "very 90s" nooks and crannies of this gonzo installment.

Also featuring a Patron-only segment about THE SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XIII, this is a lively and fun conversation that we really hope you enjoy!

Patron Only Segment: The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror XIII

5:15 - ALIEN: RESURRECTION

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We continue our Spooky Season franchise run of the Alien films (#Halloweylandyutani) with an examination of the notoriously troubled production and polarizing finished product that was David Fincher's directorial debut: ALIEN3. We're joined this week by friends of the show and fellow podcasters Lindsey Dunn and Blake Collier (hosts of the shows 1ofmystories and Fly By Films respectively). Together we try to make sense of what this film was trying to be and how well (or not) it succeeded.

Also featuring a Patron-only segment where Reed and Nathan dive into The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XII, this is a really fun discussion and we hope you enjoy it!

Patron Only Segment: The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror XII

5:55 - ALIEN3

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We have another special interview episode for you this week featuring writer/director Michael Felker talking with us about his new film THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT. The film is released to theaters and VOD as of October 4th, and we had the chance to sit down with Michael to discuss its lush production, its innovative and thought-provoking premise, and its often profound emotional qualities.

The film centers on two estranged siblings who, following a robbery, evade the authorities by hiding in a unique house which permits them to be displaced in time. While there, sudden unexpected challenges push their familial bond to its devastating limit. We had a wonderful discussion with Michael about his film's production, its themes, and -- remarkably -- the Legend of Zelda.

It's a fun discussion and an excellent film. We hope you'll check out the film and our chat and we hope you enjoy them both!

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