BEING an inquiry into the meaning of worldbuilding and the semiotic functions of those fictional maps familiar to us through the likes of The Lord of the Rings (and its many cousins), TTRPGs and video games like Skyrim and NORCO. What do fantasy maps actually do, and what do they mean? Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jeddcole  Twitter: @inside_textpod  Soundtrack: https://jeddcole.bandcamp.com/  Racism in fantasy fiction: “Tolkien and Race”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race “Race: the Original Sin of the Fantasy Genre”: https://www.publicmedievalist.com/race-fant ..read more

BEING an account of the passing of the Star Wars Expanded Universe into Legends; how canon becomes an abyss at the hands of its undead Author; what happens when said Author is also a corporation; and why canon--and capitalism--must end. Become a CO-THINKER on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jeddcole Soundtrack: https://jeddcole.bandcamp.com/album/the-specter-of-endings MAIN SOURCES: The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns A New Page, starwars.com, April 25, 2014 (https://www.starwars.com/news/the-legendary-star-wars-expanded-universe-turns-a-new-page) Gerry Canavan, "Hokey Religio ..read more

If you like the podcast, leave me a tip! https://ko-fi.com/insidethetext. # “Time is now currency. It is not passed but spent.” How did we get daylight saving time? How does the answer open up questions about the meaning--and the politics--of our hours, minutes and days? How does the COVID-19 pandemic change our relationship to time? And most importantly, what does any of this have to do with castrated Italian singers? Find out in this episode. Find all my sources and references here: https://insidethetext.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/sources_not-passed-but-spent.pdf  Listen to the soundt ..read more

Today’s special episode is in two parts. In the second, I am joined by my friend, literary scholar and co-host of the Horror Vanguard podcast, Jon TheLitCritGuy. (He also makes YouTube videos!) It is SUCH a great interview! But first, a story to begin exploring the question I’m pondering right now: What does Halloween signify in this time? A time of pandemic. Of nihilism. Of violent state repression. Of darkness and anxiety. Of ghosts of the things we’d rather not think about. Inside the Text presents, “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe. MUSIC CREDITS: The Swamp, Loyalty Freak ..read more

In the last couple episodes, we’ve established some of the the ways fiction functions morally as well as how various thinkers have argued it OUGHT to function. But we were left wondering about what the upshot of fiction’s moral functioning is. Why does fiction work on the moral level?  In this final episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: several notes reflecting on Black Lives Matter protests, Star Wars, evangelicalism, “these unprecedented times,” and the workings of ideology. Find a full transcript at insidethetext.wordpress.com REFERENCES & CLIPS: Star Wars: Epis ..read more

We established last episode that fiction does seem to have a moral function, along with most other discourses. But what should that moral function be? In this second episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: the opinions of, like, a bunch of white dudes and an actually good one by Susan Sontag. References: - John Gardner, Moral Fiction (1978) - Aristotle, Poetics - Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007) - Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2008) - Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poesy (1595) - Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 4 (1750) - Matthew Arnold, Culture an ..read more

We talk about fiction in moral terms all the time, from saying certain movies are inappropriate for kids, to claiming that video games aren't political. But when you think about it, how does fiction function morally if it's just made up? To answer that question, we have to ask a couple others: What is fiction? And what is moral? In this first episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: Harry Potter, evangelical Christianity, literary theory, and fake news, and other sundry characters. For more about history as fictive, watch this video by PBS Idea Channel: https://www.youtube.com ..read more

Inside the Text is a podcast about meaning, because if reading is really rewriting, it's up to us to rewrite the world for the better. In this first episode, some musings on how meaning works and what this podcast wants to do. Also Jacques Derrida. Also an eggplant emoji.  Find out more about the podcast at insidethetext.wordpress.com ..read more

BEING an inquiry into the meaning of worldbuilding and the semiotic functions of those fictional maps familiar to us through the likes of The Lord of the Rings (and its many cousins), TTRPGs and video games like Skyrim and NORCO. What do fantasy maps actually do, and what do they mean? Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jeddcole  Twitter: @inside_textpod  Soundtrack: https://jeddcole.bandcamp.com/  Racism in fantasy fiction: “Tolkien and Race”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race “Race: the Original Sin of the Fantasy Genre”: https://www.publicmedievalist.com/race-fant ..read more

We established last episode that fiction does seem to have a moral function, along with most other discourses. But what should that moral function be? In this second episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: the opinions of, like, a bunch of white dudes and an actually good one by Susan Sontag. References: - John Gardner, Moral Fiction (1978) - Aristotle, Poetics - Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007) - Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2008) - Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poesy (1595) - Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 4 (1750) - Matthew Arnold, Culture an ..read more