106 THE HIGHLIGHTER (on reading and erasing the Bible)

It’s the end of the semester, which means it’s time for a chance hallway encounter that leads to a strange memory and then to reflections on the theological meaning of the proliferation of the codex (i.e., our modern physical book form).

Matchbox Twenty, “Downfall” (2002): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aQWA_fAu8M

Walmart, “Bible Highlighters and Pens”: https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/bible-highlighters-and-pens

The orchestral piece Brian mentioned that brought a jaded chapel audience roaring to its feet at the end: Wojciech Kilar, “Orawa” (with Kristjan Järvi): https://youtu.be/h_Cluwghn_8

The Stephen Prothero book Leah mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/American-Bible-Divide-Define-Nation/dp/0062123432 

The Timothy Beal book Brian read from: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Bible-Timothy-Beal/dp/0547737343 

TikToker justnaysha on highlighting in your Bible: https://www.tiktok.com/@justnaysha/video/7130356206597705002

105 THE PAPERCLIPALYPSE (pre-existent AI spirituality and doom scenarios)

The paperclipsalypse has arrived, as AI comes to destroy or save the world. Was AI there all along and we just now “discovered” its weird and eternal life?

The “paperclip maximizer” thought experiment: https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/ai 

Eliezar Yudkowsky in TIME magazine, “Shut it Down”: https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough/ 

Scott Aaronson, Shtetl-Optimized: https://scottaaronson.blog/

Drake + The Weeknd AI hit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Kafnm0eKQ

AI Beer commercial: https://www.tiktok.com/@realwholesomechannel/video/7227965471683775771 

What if the AI was already there? https://twitter.com/drmichaellevin/status/1637449677028093953?s=20 

Jacques Vallée on UFOs: https://www.wired.com/story/jacques-vallee-still-doesnt-know-what-ufos-are/

AI (2001 movie) scene: “The Flesh Fair”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMbAmqD_tn0

057 THE QISAPPOINTMENT (failed QAnon prophecies, prediction disappointment) [January 2021]

Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. To solemnly mark the end of this reporting dynasty, we rebroadcast one of our TOP 10 most popular Weird Religion episodes of all time: The 2020 election and inauguration came and went, leaving the predictions of the QAnon prophets…hanging in the air. What happens to a religious movement when its key prophecies fail to come true in real time? Are adherents disappointed? Is/was Q a “religion”? And did the biblical prophet Ezekiel make a false prediction—and then try to correct it?

UPDATED NOTES

Think this story is old news? A February 2022 PRRI poll shows that nearly 20% (!!??) of all Americans still believe in the core QAnon message: https://www.prri.org/research/the-persistence-of-qanon-in-the-post-trump-era-an-analysis-of-who-believes-the-conspiracies/

Tucker out at Fox: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/24/1171641969/fox-news-fires-tucker-carlson-in-stunning-move-a-week-after-787-million-settleme

Chris Bader, “When Prophecy Passes Unnoticed”: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1387588?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Dr. Christopher Bader: https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/christopher-bader

Cat Transcendence - limitless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmeH6Rnj2E

“The QAnon ‘Storm’ Never Struck”: https://www.npr.org/sections/inauguration-day-live-updates/2021/01/20/958907699/the-qanon-storm-never-struck-some-supporters-are-wavering-others-steadfast

Clips of Q adherents from: CNN reporting from 2018 at a Trump rally (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dGVXmuLmEM )

Clips from “Satanic Panic” reporting from: CBC/Radio-Canada (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plEImKEIRm8)

104 THE CALLMEMAYBE (Third Eagle of the Apocalypse rises with Carly Rae Jepson analysis)

Leah and Brian try the no-dunking challenge to talk about some weirdly religious videos by William Tapley, AKA “The Third Eagle of the Apocalypse.” First up: The Eagle uncovers Satanic messages in Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” Then, other things are REVEALED.

William Tapley, AKA “The Third Eagle of the Apocalypse” in YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thirdeaglebooks 

Some background on the obscure William Tapley: http://www.jnordstrom.ca/blog-ideas-and-updates/bill-tapley-third-eagle-of-the-apocalypse-and-co-prophet-of-the-end-times

William Tapley’s description of himself on his own website: https://www.thirdeaglemedia.com/about-me

CORRECTION: Apparently William Tapley is not against the current pope, sort of: https://www.thirdeaglemedia.com/pope-watch

The Third Eagle Takes on “Call Me Maybe”: https://twitter.com/LloydLegalist/status/1646633539645980673?s=20

The Third Eagle’s “It’s Prophesied” re: Obama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLT66yJBYbA&t=44s

The Third Eagle’s “Doom & Gloom”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5PLf-2FYIM

Belief in modern day prophets (statistics): https://religioninpublic.blog/2023/04/10/how-many-americans-believe-in-modern-day-prophets-what-does-that-entail/ 

Megan Goodwin’s Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions: https://www.amazon.com/Abusing-Religion-Literary-Persecution-Religions/dp/1978807783

032 THE CREATOR (Elizabeth Holmes gender smackdown) [August 2019]

A rebroadcast of one of the top five most popular Weird Religion episodes of all time: on the embattled former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and her attempt to create—or rather, fake having created—a futuristic blood-testing system. We end up having a gender smackdown conversation about women-on-women violence in the workplace, discussing ancient female fertility figurines and matriarchal societies, and musing on whether Holmes intentionally tried to dress like a religious leader. Longtime listeners can remember our older format and theme music; newer listeners can go back in time and hear how we were doing it in the summer of 2019 (this was S3 of the show).

UPDATED NOTES:

Holmes seems to be losing her appeals, and, barring future developments, is set to report to prison for 11 years on April 27, 2023: https://apnews.com/article/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-fraud-prison-sentence-754b44bc47eb200f032b75f45969cb07

Holmes has had two children during her trial, and since we first recorded this episode; many have criticized her for this, suspecting that she is using the babies to try to avoid jailtime: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-03-01/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-cites-baby-reason-avoid-prison

103 THE INDIANA (...Jones, that is!!)

You’re flipping through the channels. On your old cable TV. You see Raiders of the Lost Ark or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade playing on a random channel. It’s in the middle of the movie. Do you select and watch? You do and you know it. Here we invoke a major debate over Dr. Elsa Schneider’s motives in the climactic grail-choosing scene, and daydream about the contents of a new book on Indiana Jones and philosophy. Join us.

Choosing the grail scene:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0TalLrtZ24 

Dr. Elsa Schneider: https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Elsa_Schneider 

Marion Ravenwood: https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Marion_Ravenwood

Contested objects at the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection 

New book on Indiana Jones and philosophy: https://www.amazon.com/Indiana-Jones-Philosophy-Archaeology-Adventure/dp/1119740150 

Indiana Jones theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTpp8PQSog 

Nietzsche on “God is dead…”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead 

102 THE CONSULTANT (does Jesus look at you with compassion...or anger!)

When you put religion on TV, you have to get religion consultants. Why even bother being accurate? Does Jesus look at someone to be healed with compassion—or anger? We end with a conversation about the term “minoritized” (vs. “minority”).

Review of Brian’s appearance on a Travel Channel show debunking a Phoenician inscription: https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/review-of-america-unearthed-s04e05-phoenicians-in-america

“Horror Shows Like Mayfair Witches Hire Occult Consultant”: https://religionnews.com/2023/03/07/horror-shows-like-mayfair-witches-hire-occult-consultants-to-cast-their-spells/ 

Supernatural S2E18: https://www.netflix.com/watch/70223069 

The Chosen: “Jesus Heals at the Pool” (clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMj1ggINLe4 

Jesus’s anger problem in Mark 1:41 (for the opposite argument re: what Brian said): http://bit.ly/3TxyKJE

lectio difficilior: https://www.livius.org/articles/theory/lectio-difficilior-potior/

Jesus the Exorcist: https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Exorcist-Contribution-Study-Historical/dp/1610970608 

“Sister Alice” and Aimee Semple McPherson on HBO’s Perry Mason: https://slate.com/culture/2020/06/perry-mason-sister-alice-aimee-semple-mcpherson.html

On the language of “minoritized” vs. “minority”: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26894228

101 THE DECAPITATED (the Wind tells me I'm a ghost; Tucker says Trump is “demonic”)

This is possibly the weirdest religious moment of the year so far: Buried within a legal brief about an election fraud scandal are the contents of an email someone sent to Sidney Powell, one of Trump’s lawyers, in 2020. The email makes claims about how someone might receive information about a stolen election. Those claims are surprising.

The Dominion Voting Systems vs. Fox News defamation suit: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/22/1150647042/dominion-voting-systems-1-6-billion-defamation-suit-against-fox-news-goes-to-tri

Who is Sidney Powell?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Powell

What evidence is now coming out about where Sidney Powell got some of her information: 
https://www.businessinsider.com/sidney-powell-voter-fraud-claims-headless-time-travel-dominion-fox-2023-2
and
https://www.salon.com/2023/02/17/trumpworld-conspiracy-theory-stemmed-from-email-by-internally-decapitated-ghost-filing/ 

Documents for Dominion Case vs. Fox News (see pp. 37-38 on the email about time travel):
https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/redacted-documents-in-dominion-fox-news-case/dca5e3880422426f/full.pdf 

056 THE BUFFALO (Jake Angeli, QAnon, apocalypse, epiphany, and the iconography of insurrection):
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/056-the-buffalo-jake-angeli-qanon-apocalypse-epiphany/id1428037534?i=1000504839007

Sidney Powell’s website appearance request form: 
https://www.sidneypowell.com/speaker-invite-form

100 THE NATIONALISTS (Deuteronomy ch. 32, Moses sings, and Republicans want a Christian nation)

Moses sings a song that takes us…deep into the problem of Christian nationalism. Come for the most secretly controversial passage in the Bible; stay for Leah trying to be a therapist for Brian on the problem of hating Christian nationalism but fearing that we need it for social cohesion. And a scholarly theory on the evolution from polytheism to monotheism in ancient Israel.

Deuteronomy ch. 32: sons of Israel, or sons of GODS?! https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2032&version=NIV 

The new survey, showing 50% of Republicans like Christian Nationalism: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1156642544/more-than-half-of-republicans-support-christian-nationalism-according-to-a-new-s 

The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover (book): https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691175119/the-gospel-of-j-edgar-hoover 

Kristen Kobes du Mez: https://kristindumez.com/ 

A past episode, 018 THE WAR: Professor James Byrd on war and social cohesion: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/018-the-war-ken-burns-vietnam-documentary-professor/id1428037534?i=1000425540100 

Psalm 82, many gods? https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+82&version=NIV

Mark Smith, Princeton Seminary, on the Origins of Biblical Monotheism: https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Biblical-Monotheism-Polytheistic-Background/dp/0195167686

099 THE DOMINION (a new Christian dating site, and the Gospel Coalition sex article scandal)

Here witness the thematic collision between a now-deleted Gospel Coalition article about sex and a new Christian dating site for men and women who want to be in what they think are biblically-traditional relationships.

The Gospel Coalition’s apology for the article / book excerpt, “Sex Won’t Save You–But it Points to the One Who Will”: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/sex-wont-save-you/ 

NT Professor Michael Bird’s response to the “Sex Won’t Save You” article, with many links etc.: https://michaelfbird.substack.com/p/tgc-sex-and-christ 

NT Professor Esau McCaulley on “Sex Won’t Save You”: https://twitter.com/esaumccaulley/status/1631380537892806669?s=20 

On New Christian Dating Apps: https://religionnews.com/2022/09/27/new-dating-apps-and-in-person-mixers-target-religious-and-political-niches/

Dominion Dating member requirements: https://dominiondating.com/member-requirements/ 

Read the opening three chapters of Genesis, ye heathens: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201-3&version=NIV

Trad Wives on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tradwife?lang=en

098 THE BREAKFAST (Brian scores an exclusive and mysterious invitation)

Despite not being known fundamentalist or evangelical influencer royalty, Brian scored an invitation to the 2023 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. We discuss the sights, sounds, beliefs, dress code, costs, content, scandal, and music of the event. Was Brian inducted into The Family? We reveal. (He was.)

Axios article on the new Prayer Breakfast format: https://www.axios.com/2023/01/29/national-prayer-breakfast-congress-leadership

Slate on the National Prayer Breakfast schism: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/02/national-prayer-breakfast-family-fellowship-gathering.html

Netflix documentary: The Family: https://www.netflix.com/title/80063867

Kenyan Civil War avoided through staged hug, facilitated by “The Family”? https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/kenya/b136-after-kenyas-leaders-reconcile-tough-path-ahead

Leaked emails on the Family’s continued involvement in the Prayer Breakfast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRrAtS4sjYY

Donald Trump’s “non-traditional” prayerful address to the Prayer Breakfast in 2020: https://youtu.be/XuE2Tgg0qFE

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy’s live video address to the Prayer Breakfast: https://www.president.gov.ua/en/videos/mayemo-zrobiti-vse-shob-nastupnogo-roku-mi-zmogli-pomolitisy-4129

Cathy McMorris Rodgers: ***CORRECTION: She initially said she would not certify the election, then changed her mind after the January 6th riot and did vote to certify (she did not think the Capitol Riot was “great,” apparently; but she didn’t think Trump was to blame, at all; see the following): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_McMorris_Rodgers#Donald_Trump; https://www.krem.com/article/news/investigations/mcmorris-rodgers-says-trump-didnt-give-rioters-direction-to-storm-the-capitol/293-6052edac-09fc-433f-8694-c4390a265e15; https://www.khq.com/news/mcmorris-rodgers-asks-protesters-to-stop-attacks-on-capitol-police/article_3b5f0246-5058-11eb-9496-4b48f26ee63c.html

097 THE REVIVAL (examining debate about the "revival" at Asbury University)

In February of 2023 students at Asbury University—a Christian college in Kentucky—started a revival, which has gone on for weeks (the “public” phase of the revival ended around Feb. 19th). Professional revival seekers flocked in to participate. We explain what a “revival” is and talk about how observers are thinking about the pros and cons of spiritual revival on this particular college campus. Fox News also used one of Leah’s tweets on the topic (!), so we discuss that as well.

Basic info on the revival: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/asbury-university-revival-college-kentucky-going-viral-tiktok-rcna70686

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Asbury_revival 

Leah’s Twitter thread, picked up by Fox News: https://twitter.com/drleahpayne/status/1624507669238419456?s=20 

Scenes from the Asbury revival: https://youtube.com/shorts/NNhuxCFjZ00?feature=share 

Demon at Asbury shrieks out: https://youtube.com/shorts/FQ4qDYfZsdA?feature=share 

Faith leaders push back (?): https://relevantmagazine.com/faith/church/church-faith-leaders-push-back-on-asbury-revival-criticism/

Medieval dancing craze for hundreds of years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania

096 THE SUPERBOWL (wealthy people selling Jesus to Americans during a football game)

Our yearly and epic national bombardment of violence, religion, fantasy, and therapeutic themes: Living again with Scientology, the fall of man and the curse reversed by avocados, the Black National Anthem, erasing your mistakes on the new Google phone, and Rihanna. And UFOs again—don’t blame us, it keeps happening.

Live again…with Scientology: https://www.scientology.tv/you-can-live-again/?utm_content=LiveAgain&utm_source=redirect

Adam and Eve and the avocado reverses the curse: https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/02/12/garden-of-eden-avocados-from-mexico-super-bowl-ad-commercial-anna-faris 

He Gets Us, part 49: https://hegetsus.com/en/featured-videos 

Google Pixel 7 and erasing your mistakes: https://www.justjared.com/2023/02/12/google-pixel-7-phone-super-bowl-commercial-2023-amy-schumer-erases-exes-plus-more-celeb-cameos/ 

Lift Every Voice and Sing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/02/12/super-bowl-sheryl-lee-ralph-abbott-elementary/ 

Lauren Boebert on how there is only one national anthem: https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1624827803609841666?s=20&t=Wvg37P6aNwsDtxglKYhG9w

Rihanna halftime show: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a42843643/watch-rihanna-super-bowl-2023-half-time-show/ 

Biden administration studying UFOs again: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2023/feb/13/us-shoots-down-flying-objects-ufo-biden-china-balloon-latest-news

095 THE NEPHILIM (who are they, and why did they create the Federal Reserve?)

Who are “the Nephilim,” you ask, and why did they create the Federal Reserve? We are so glad you asked and we’re going to tell you—by way of reviewing a most ambiguous Bible story and tracing some of the surprising ways this story is being received today.

Genesis 6:1–4 (NRSVue): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6%3A1-4&version=NRSVUE

Numbers 13:31–33: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+13%3A31-33&version=NRSVUE

1 Enoch (see esp. ch. 15): https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.HTM

Book: The Roots of the Federal Reserve: Tracing the Nephilim from Noah to the US Dollar: https://www.amazon.com/Roots-Federal-Reserve-Tracing-Nephilim/dp/1942790198

Beautiful Jekyll Island, Georgia, where Nephilim may infect the soil today: https://www.southernliving.com/travel/georgia/jekyll-island

Popular book on Amazon in the category “Christian Mystical Spirituality”: Judgment of the Nephilim: https://www.amazon.com/Judgment-Nephilim-Ryan-Pitterson/dp/0999208306

Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”: https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/

Gary Wayne, The Genesis 6 Conspiracy: How Secret Societies and the Descendants of Giants Plan to Enslave Humankind: https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Conspiracy-Societies-Descendants-Humankind/dp/1632692902

094 THE GIANT (conspiracies about long-dead giants on YouTube)

We take a dive into a strange corner of YouTube, featuring videos purporting to show hitherto unknown or under-appreciated evidence that giant humans lived in the past and their bones have been hidden or covered up by the Smithsonian.

Pew Research on YouTube: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/

Heidi Campbell, researcher on digital religion: https://digitalreligion.tamu.edu/users/heidi-campbell

“Giant of Japan military parade”: https://youtu.be/-uigLE6EI1g

Big Man Japan (2007): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997147/

“20 Shocking Discoveries of Giants You Won’t Believe Exist”: https://youtu.be/Mf3_PWprFS8

“Giants Emerging Everywhere – They Can’t Hide This”: https://youtu.be/sVmOnwng6gs

History Channel’s Search for Lost Giants: https://youtu.be/JzlSWzg-FkY

Karen Douglas, on defining conspiracies: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721417718261

1 Enoch online (see ch. 15): https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.HTM

Van Prooijen, et al., “The entertainment value of conspiracy theories”: https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjop.12522

Birds Aren’t Real: https://birdsarentreal.com/

Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz%E2%80%93Zodiac_Killer_meme

093 THE MIDTERMS (on voting as a religious act and who loves Israel most)

Does voting count as a religious act—especially if you go behind a curtain to do it? We discuss the role that Israel plays in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, and the authoritative, beguiling voice of the possibly-once-Buddhist-now-evangelical-ish Arizona candidate Kari Lake.

Civil Religion: http://www.robertbellah.com/articles_5.htm 

Oregon Mail Voting: https://www.multco.us/elections/brief-history-vote-mail-oregon 

054 THE HEX (Anti-Trump Witches vs. Paula White and angels from Africa): https://open.spotify.com/episode/4FbVST1Cj30XBxE0Sq3lNJ; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/054-the-curse-witches-hex-trump-paul-white-cain/id1428037534?i=1000498344437

Brazil election as holy war: https://religionnews.com/2022/10/28/presidential-standoff-becomes-a-holy-war-in-brazil/

The role of religion in the PA gubernatorial election: https://religionnews.com/2022/10/28/in-pa-governors-race-faith-surfaces-in-contrasting-ways/

Doug & Rebbie Mastriano: https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh/status/1586520983036481536  

Charismatics & the Shofar: https://politicaltheology.com/the-trump-shall-sound-politics-pentecostals-and-the-shofar-at-the-capitol-riots/ 

Kari Lake was a Buddhist? https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/obama-backing-arizona-news-anchor-became-trumps-pick-governor-rcna38985

Kari Lake disputes that she was ever a Buddhist: https://youtu.be/mmA2mXbkzrs

092 THE SKULLS (creepy but maybe comforting neolithic plastered skulls from Jericho)

Veering wildly between reflections on death and bodies in the contemporary world, jokes about professional wrestling, ambulances passing by, rumination on how ancient people thought about burial and the afterlife, and with a major and free idea for others for a publication (hint: where do people who attend megachurches get buried?)—this is what you need for Halloween. Or any time. We’re back for the 8th season and 4th year of new podcast episodes from Weird Religion.

The skulls we’re talking about have their own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastered_human_skulls

Some more on the skulls: https://www.ashmolean.org/jericho-skull

Archaeologist Dr. Karina Croucher: https://www.bradford.ac.uk/staff/kcroucher; https://twitter.com/karinaktc

Paul Bearer (WWF/WWE): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bearer

Brian’s paper on the buried infant at Ashkelon: https://bit.ly/3DnEiil

PROGRAMMING NOTE (summer break)

Happy summer to everyone! We’ll be back in the fall of 2022 regularly, and possibly with a one-off here or there before then. Stay cool weirdos.

https://www.weirdreligion.com/
https://www.instagram.com/weirdreligionpodcast/
https://twitter.com/weirdreligion
https://facebook.com/weirdreligion

If you’d be so kind as to leave us a review on Apple podcasts, we’d love that. Thank you!

091 THE MARDEVIL (reviving a soap opera’s weirdly religious moment)

In late 2021, the soap opera Days of Our Lives revived its most iconic and beloved and controversial storyline: the possession of Marlena, aka the Mardevil. We review, with memories of childhood summers, wild Days plotlines, a debate in the comment section, and a sociological theory of possession.

Highlights from the 1994–1995 Mardevil plot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOhSYgDMLmw 

John Black casts the devil out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sToK0mCv3DU&t=1556s 

Days bringing back the possession story, with a vibrant user comments section:  https://ew.com/tv/days-of-our-lives-binging-back-possession-storyline/ 

The Devil comes back for Marlena after 25 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F11iqh7_eDc&list=PLNmiY2SJ3AKOFk7ULhfHITURjKNIFsHL5 

The second exorcism of Marlena (2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q9N3m6nSTQ; https://youtu.be/bnIEjymVdUM 

An update on the recent Mardevil plot revival: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/days-of-our-lives-weekly-recap-mardevil-coming-get-his-due.html/ 

Further updates on the current Mardevil plot revival: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/days-of-our-lives-sneak-peek-mar-devil-overplays-her-hand-ben-ciara.html/ 

Deidre Hall brings holy water to set: https://people.com/tv/days-of-our-lives-deidre-hall-uses-holy-water-filming-scenes-where-character-is-possessed/ 

Marlena Evans on fandom.com: https://daysofourlives.fandom.com/wiki/Marlena_Evans 

The Deidre Hall website: https://deidrehall.com/ 

Notorious and ridiculous Days plotlines from which we quote: ​​https://bit.ly/3eGO8jm; https://bit.ly/3zcVJiQ 

Book review on possession: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0048721X.2021.2024744?needAccess=true 

090 THE PROFESSOR (the sage, the mentor, the crush, the villain)

When you need a compelling authority figure character on TV or movie screen, you get a priest—or a professor. We reveal four of our favorite professors on screen, and chat with a special guest whose scholarly speciality is analyzing the way professors are depicted in movies.

Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR7Kh77aNnU

David Duchovny (as himself) and Ji-Yoon Kim (Sandra Oh) in Netflix’s The Chair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRBm2tYvr84

Larry Gopnik, A Serious Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HJqPZ-KmZs 

Professor Walsh on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: https://buffy.fandom.com/wiki/Maggie_Walsh

Runner up: Professor confrontation in God’s Not Dead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFcZS8ra6gk

John C. Fitch III on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7266946/

Dissertation: “The Cinematic College Professor: Conceptions and Representations”: https://bit.ly/3I7tQxr

Article: “Making a College Professor Film: A Case Study”: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0973258619866353

Podcast drama series: “The Lowest Deep”: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1997958