When HBO series Watchmen premiered in October 2019, the show—a dramatically different take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s original comic book/graphic novel—was noted for its direct confrontation of racism in America. Systemic racism, police brutality, collective trauma, and vigilante justice are all central themes to the TV remix. In light of ong…

Chris Lebron, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, returns to talk about the HBO TV series based on the 1980s comic. Want more This Week in Dystopia? Don't forget to subscribe, follow This Week in Dystopia on Twitter, and like the show on Facebook.By Sarah Grucza

We kick off season three of This Week in Dystopia with a discussion of The Joker. From the DC Comics’ character to Heath Ledger and then Joaquin Phoenix portrayal of the super villain, host Chris Robichaud and guest Lauren Spohn discuss the charter we love to hate. Is the Joker the product of society? An inevitable part of Gotham? Can you have Batm…

When Beyoncé gives you Lemonade, make a reader (and a podcast episode). We close out season 2 of This Week in Dystopia with a discussion of Beyonce's audio-visual experience and album. Host Chris Robichaud is joined by The Lemonade Reader co-authors Kinitra Brooks, Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair in Literary Studies in the Department of Englis…

Despite the persistent threat of video game domination, board games are still here and gaining popularity. And people aren't just dusting off their boxes of Monopoly and Life. New games are pushing the boundaries of how fun, engagement, and empathy intersect. Host Chris Robichaud talks to Co-Founders of Magpie Games Mark Truman and Marissa Kelly ab…

The devil may be in the details, but Satan also has a home in Salem Massachusetts, the headquarters of the Satanic Temple. The Temple, both self-described and now labeled by the IRS as a religious organization, is growing in popularity. The recent premiere of Hail Satan? at the Sundance Film Festival propelled the religious organization even more i…

Winter is here. Sunday, April 14th, 17.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the battle for the Iron Throne continue when the final season of Game of Thrones premiered. Ilya Somin, Professor of Law at George Mason University, joins host Chris Robichaud to talk about how the power struggle at the heart of this extremely popular show relates to governa…

Baseball has long been called America's pastime, but some feel the pastime is just that, past. Do conversations happening in and around the NFL and NBA better reflect America today? Or is the game of baseball just too long for the 21st-century sports fan? This week, we sit down with Liz Bloom, current Harvard MBA/MPP and former Pittsburgh Pirates b…

🚨 SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't already seen Us, listen at the peril of your movie-going experience. Better yet, go see the film and come right back to this episode! Jordan Peele may fear his doppelgänger, but he isn't afraid of melding horror with social commentary. This week, Kinitra Brooks, Hutchins Fellow at Harvard University and co-editor of …

The theatre has influenced political thought since at least the days of the Athenian Democracy. Today, the tradition of theatre as a medium to spark political debate is alive and well. Now, contemporary artists are more than ever contemplating how the theatre can not only convey their thoughts but truly reflect and engage the lived experiences of t…

From the moment your alarm goes off until your head hits the pillow at night, fitness is in your face. During the day, most of us will either go to the gym, think about working out, get a reminder from our fitness tracker, walk by a fitness studio, or feel bad for not getting any exercise at all. Fitness is not only a large part of our day, but it'…

🚨 SPOILER ALERT: Host Chris Robichaud has already seen this movie (twice!) and the episode contains spoilers. If you haven't already seen Captain Marvel, listen at the peril of your movie-going experience. Julian Chambliss, English Professor at Michigan State University and comic book aficionado, joins host Chris Robichaud to discuss Captain Marvel…

In episode 20, we asked, can you keep politics out of football? The answer was a resounding no. Not only are politics a part of contemporary sports culture, but politics is woven throughout sports and entertainment history. Host Chris Robichaud sits down with Justin Tinsley, a writer at ESPN's Undefeated, to talk about social activism in sports and…

This week, host Chris Robichaud sits down with author, scholar, and executive producer Tananarive Due to talk about the complicated relationship Black filmmakers and Black audiences have with horror. Mentioned in the show Horror Noire Get Out The Sunken Place My Soul to Keep (African Immortals series) This episode was FULL on mentions, find them al…

The Grammys have been criticized for lacking diversity and not giving hip-hop artists their due. This year, Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino, took home both song and record of the year awards. This is America, Glover's chart-topping song best known for its music video, has something to say about the state of the U.S. from gun violence …

Are comic books just for kids? Is there more to pop culture then pure entertainment? I think you know our answer. Tune in to hear host Chris Robichaud discuss why This Week in Dystopia is focusing on pop culture and politics this season and how we'll prove that comic books aren't just for kids. Mentioned in the show Bill Maher's comments on comic b…

In advance of Super Bowl LIII, tune in to hear host Christopher Robichaud in conversation with Mark Leibovich, Chief National correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, author of Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times, and Leah Wright Rigueur, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Want more This Week in Dystopia? Don't f…

On Tuesday, March 20th, the Institute of Politics hosted a conversation with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School titled, “#NEVERAGAIN: How Parkland Students are Changing the Conversation on Guns.” This week, we listen in to the discussion to reflect on both the power of young advocates in our democracy and the deep impact of gun viol…

Gun rights have dominated headlines the past two weeks. This isn’t the first time that debate around gun control has erupted following a mass shooting, but momentum and teenage advocacy have some people believing that this time the conversation won’t fade. With strong advocates arguing both sides of the issue, it can be difficult to deeply reflect …

New ways of governing, policy, protests, and more have been introduced across the globe for centuries to try and curb inequality. So, what actually worked? According to Walter Scheidel, author of "The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century," history reports that violence and catastrophe …

Do we need to say more than Black Panther? Okay, maybe. Black Panther, the latest film in the Marvel universe, has been met with such excitement it’s hard to imagine a world (or at least social media) without Wakanda. Released on February 16th, the film has since shattered records. Black Panther is the second-fastest movie to reach $400 million, it…

Idiocracy, an over a decade-old movie, is set in a world where corporations have taken over, the population’s IQ has declined dramatically, and the president is a reality TV star. Now a cult-classic, people on both side of the aisle are starting to wonder did this 2006 comedy predict the future? Before you go any further, we recommend you watch the…

Political parties and campaigns are a critical part of American democracy. Our parties are complicated, multi-faceted, and at times, downright confounding. To better understand some of the promise and perils of political parties and campaigns, This Week in Dystopia is joined by someone who knows the Democratic party and process of campaigning intim…

What rights do immigrants have? Did President Obama open the door for President Trump’s travel ban by instituting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)? Immigration is a contentious issue, hotly debated on both sides of the aisle. Amidst arguments, in a post-truth era, it’s hard to know what to believe about policy, laws, and immigrants' ri…

Do dystopian societies require a bad good guy? Why do we love superheroes who morals are all shades of grey? Comic fans, this one is for you. Host Chris Robichaud dives into the world of superhero dystopias, focusing on Batman and Watchmen, bringing culture and politics together to help us understand what the bad good guys we love can teach us. In …

Misogyny is hard to spell but much easier to find in modern politics and society. How do you define misogyny? What’s the difference between misogyny and sexism? What role does misogyny play in modern politics? These are the questions that Kate Manne, assistant professor of philosophy at Cornell, addresses in conversation with host Chris Robichaud. …

Heralded by cries of “repeal and replace” from a party with a legislative majority, it was clear that going into 2017 the Affordable Care Act’s days were numbered. In the final month of the year, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and with it repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. In 2018, what’s going to happen to insurance …

Happy Holidays from This Week in Dystopia! ’Tis the season for gifts, holiday cheer, and divisive arguments about the role of religion in America. Host Chris Robichaud invites Lauren Kerby, Ph.D., to join him for a discussion about religious conservatives, Christmas, and coffee cups. Want more This Week in Dystopia? Don't forget to subscribe, follo…

It’s been over a year since the 2016 election. Campaigning has concluded, ballots have been cast, and the results are in. Despite this finality, the year’s events and subsequent questions still linger in the minds of many. One of these people is Donna Brazile, Harvard Shorenstein fellow & former Democratic National Committee (DNC) interim chair. In…

Recent events have engendered a multitude of questions about the white nationalist movement. What draws people to the movement? Have social networks provided an opportunity to increase membership? Can we change people’s minds with civil discourse? Is civil discourse possible? Host Chris Robichaud welcomes R. Derek Black, a former white nationalist …

Join host Christopher Robichaud in his office as he sits down with Claire Wardle and Hossein Derakhshan to discuss 2017’s Word of the Year, fake news; why that term should be banned from our vocabulary, and what we should use in it’s stead. Claire Wardle and Hossein Derakhshan's new report, "Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framewo…

Former Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) sat down with host Christopher Robichaud to discuss the choices and constraints he faced during the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Stupak, a lifelong pro-life advocate, discusses how he had to reconcile his advocacy for comprehensive healthcare reform with his opposition to abortion. Stupak’s story is one …

Happy Halloween from This Week in Dystopia. In a spooky episode host Christopher Robichaud illustrates what zombie apocalypse stories have to teach us about democracy. How are zombies useful in understanding democracies and how we handle crises? What does Night of the Living Dead have to do with race relations? Tune in to find out. This episode fea…

Nicole Hemmer, Assistant Professor in Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, joins host Christopher Robichaud for a discussion about the recent events in Charlottesville, White Nationalism, and alt-right media. You can learn more from Hemmer on her podcast, "Past Present," or in her recent book, "Messengers of the Right…

Host Christopher Robichaud sits down with Julia Minson, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, to discuss her research into listening, cognitive dissonance, and disagreement. Together, they answer the questions: Is productive disagreement possible? How can we encourage civil disagreement? More information about this episode…

In the second episode of This Week in Democracy host Chris Robichaud tunes into a conversation about whether or not democracies around the world, including our own, are in peril. Harvard Kennedy School experts Marshall Ganz, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Meghan O’Sullivan, and Dani Rodrik are featured. The full JFK Jr. Forum conversation featured in this…

In the first episode of This Week in Dystopia host Christopher Robichaud introduces the series and answers the question, why is this series called This Week in Dystopia? Sources for this segment include NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook and Network (film). For more show notes, future episodes and information, visit This Week in Dystopia on Medium. M…