Lessons from Doctor Who’s “Orphan 55” – Climate Change and Beyond

As I write this, it’s the eve of the 2020 presidential election.  I’m anxious.  I’m concerned.  But most of all, I’m hopeful.  I say that with absolute sincerity.  I’m hopeful that tomorrow will yield a change of course after the last four years that have felt like fifteen.  I’m hopeful.  It’s a welcome feeling in an age when, for so many reasons, hope feels like a far rarer commodity than it did even just a few years ago.  However, I wasn’t planning on writing tonight.  I probably shouldn’t be, as I’m sure I’ll be up late watching election returns tomorrow.  But I was rewatching “Orphan 55” tonight and it felt remarkably relevant.  Seeing the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Graham (Bradley Walsh) navigate this hostile planet, a post began to grow.  So what the heck?  I guess I’ll sleep Wednesday…hopefully soundly.

When America Elects a SUPER VILLAIN…

On 15 June 2016, Marvel released the first issue of Christopher Hastings and Langdon Foss’ bitingly brilliant political satire comic Vote Loki.  I wrote a post as soon as I finished the first issue raving about it.  This week the fourth and final issue of the miniseries was released and with each month its cultural commentary has only grown more accurate.  Vote Loki reflects the current American political process and our growing body of vocal, apathetic, and (proudly) uninformed voters with more truthfulness than any of us should be comfortable with.  Hastings and Foss have created a comic book that we, as the American people, need…even if it makes us uncomfortable.  This book’s a cultural MUST READ.