In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Angel Eduardo about many of his recent essays on starmanning, race, and Superman. They are joined by cameos from Christopher Ferguson, Wilfred Reilly, and Stephen Clouse about these topics. The first part of the conversation focuses on Angel's concept of starmanning and his origins for coming up with the term. They discuss the differences between the strawman, steelman, and starman arguments. They talk about some of the criticisms of starmanning and how to use this concept in applied practice.
The second part of the conversation focuses on the current conversations surrounding Critical Race Theory (CRT). They talk about the problems of CRT and some of the ever-evolving miscommunication around CRT. They talk about the idea of whether a moral panic about CRT is warranted and what the endgame is with CRT. They spend some time discussing the impact CRT has in the education system and the differences between teaching and practice in schools. They also talk about the socioeconomic variables with CRT and the multivariate challenges within society.
The third part of the episode centers on the topic of Superman. They discuss whether Superman has to be white and the ideas of a Black Superman. They talk about the challenges of representation with established stories. They described the lessons from Greek philosophy for many of the themes in superhero stories. They explain why narrative is central for myths and superhero stories and the role religion plays in these stories. They consider whether Superman's ethics map onto the Aristotelian "good." They also consider the morality from the Batman story and the idea of wanting personal particulars to superimpose the universal themes within these stories. They also talk about whether it is possible to pull away from religious overtures in modern myths and many other topics.
Angel Eduardo is a writer, musician, photographer, and designer based in New York City. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from CUNY and is a staff writer at Idealist. Find the articles discussed in this episode at his website and on twitter: @strangeledweird
Christopher Ferguson is a clinical psychologist, professor, and writer. He teaches psychology at Stetson University and continues to conduct research on mass media violence. He is the author of two non-fiction books. His first book, Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong and his most recent book, How Madness Shaped History: An Eccentric Array of Maniacal Rulers, Raving Narcissists, and psychotic Visionaries are both available here. You can find many links to his various publications and articles at his website. Twitter: @cjferguson1111
Wilfred Reilly is a political scientist and Associate professor at Kentucky State University. He is the author of Hate Crime Hoax and Taboo both of which can be found here. Twitter: @wil_da_beast630
Stephen Clouse is a political science PhD candidate with his primary focus on ancient Greek philosophy, specifically Aristotelian philosophy, along with early American political thought. You can find his writing here and here. You can also follow him on Twitter: @sclouse2
#53 - Starmanning and Superman: A Dialogue with Angel Eduardo + Guests