Realmatic Investigator: A Cosmere Podcast

Alan gets a little more personal about the things he has in common with Sarene in Chapter 17 of Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. What is Pedagogy and why is it so hard to learn? What is up with Shuden and Race in this book? How is Sarene so good at figuring out Hrathen’s whole plan, but so terrible at finding information about the Elantrians?Pretentious Word BINGO:ConspicuousVulnerabilityInteriorityExhibitsExotisizedProblematicPedagogyExclusionaryFascisticHuaxiaTaijituMy theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan gets Axial about Raoden in Chapter 16 of “Elantris’ by Brandon Sanderson. The chapter is packed with a lack of violence and I love it. How many times can one person say alienation in one podcast? There aren’t even aliens in this book, and I’m going to say that word a lot. Like- A LOT.Pretentious Word BINGO:IncrementalMarginalSuperficialCalculusAlienationDebutDissolutionLogotherapyLogosArbitraryHexisThe Axial Age might be a thing.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan analyses Hrathen’s Trolley Problem as he has a repressed dream of Elantris in Chapter 15. I talk about the Crusades, the utility of doubt in faith, and how time is a circle.Pedantic Word BINGO:PsycologicalPropelNaturalisticDiffuseAuthorityExpeditious“The Trolley Problem” is a thing.Madeline L’Engle was a bestselling Fantasy author who wrote extensively about her personal spiritual journey.The Crusades were one of the worst field trips in history.Alan talked with co-host Anya about “Kingdom of Heaven” a film set during the crusades.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan details Sarene’s fight against the Patriarchy, and her greatest enemy- Art- in chapter 14 of Elantris. What do women want in Kae? What are they allowed to want? What does it cost Sarene to live authentically? The answers reveal what it means to be a hero in Sarene’s story.Pretentious Word BINGO:PatriarchyCalibrateSystemicCrassCoalitionSupernaturalEnlightenmentRomantic EraBlame ShiftingReconcileMary Wollstonecraft was a foundational feminist philosopher.Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a political philosopher who was optimistic about social cooperation in primitive history.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan talks about the short-story that is Elantris Chapter 13. Can Raoden climb Maslow’s pyramid to discover how hieroglyphs became an alphabet? Is Karata Omnibenevolent?Am I just throwing words and ideas together in a description that describes nothing?Pretentious Word BINGO:ArchetypePietyLogographicDerivativeSummum MalumStatus QuoAssimilatedContingentInteriorityExternalizeOmnibenevolenceOld Chinese is not the same as “simplified” modern Chinese characters or any of the related East Asian alphabets.Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a thing.The ‘Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra: Seven Treasures’ is a scripture in a Buddhist tradition that includes the parable of the lamp. (Page 8 Sec 1.3)My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan gets into Contrast, Abstraction, Devotion, and Dominion as the we explore Chapter 12. Hrathen envies Dilaf’s passion while he has a crisis of identity. What would St Anselm say? St who? What’s all this now?Pretentious Word BINGO:EstrangementFunctionGregariousFracturingContrastAbstractionPerspectiveSpectrumParadigmPathosAdmonishParadoxOntologyReconcileMidrashWhat was Apollonian and Dionysian again??Who was St Anselm? What is the Ontological Argument? Anselm wrote about the fall of Lucifer in “De Casu Final” where he explores the correct use of free will.Translations of the Quran are not scripture in Islam.The Great Chain of Being is a thing.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan takes a long look at Chapter 11. The Patriarchy shows up to the party, we get a lesson about the meaning of ‘Plantation’, and meditate on the corporate structure of King Iadon’s government. Does Utopia make us better people, or so comfortable that we never have to change? If the gods are dead, is that the worst thing that could happen? Why was Beowulf fighting naked in the dark? Because he was a hero, sule. Kolo?Pretentiousness Word BINGO:CoalitionDisparityParadigmImplementedCalibrateInertiaAnachronismRatifyStereotypeEtymologySystemicAnarchyInhibtsViabilityContingentParametersLibertarianLiberalismPaleolibertarianismCommunism in ChristianityThe etymology of PLANTATIONThe Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle, WA and the Portland Autonomous Zone in Portland, WA were recent examples of political anarchy in America.An example of Corporation-as-Fantasy-Kingdom is Final Fantasy VII’s Shinra Corp. which Alan should know because he has played that game exactly 19,789, 428 times in his life.Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations made a small ripple in world history.The Great Thanksgiving Hoax by Richard Maybury was published by the Mises Institute in the 1980s.Rush Limbaugh’s Thanksgiving Story.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan returns after an unplanned break to talk about Chapter 10. Learn about the Male Gaze by not experiencing it. Learn about the Emperor of America who never ruled anything. Learn about how stereotypes are subverted as they are asserted in Elantris.Pretentious Word BINGO:COVIDReiterateAuthenticNarritiveRealismSardonicMale GazePatronizingVulnerableUbiquitousRhetoricExistentialismDisordianismWho is Mr Spock?Kate Elliott’s ‘The Omniscient Breasts’ about Male Gaze in Fantasy novels.Dr Brene Brown had a viral TED Talk about vulnerability and has written many best-selling books about her research including ‘Braving the Wilderness’.Brandon Sanderson’s 3rd Law of MagicSimone de Beauvoir in her own wordsThe price of books in the pastWho is Emperor Norton?My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan breaks down Chapter 9 of Elantris which is practically a zoo with all the animals roaming around. Metaphorical animals. Which kinda makes it a metaphorical zoo. Well it isn’t a zoo really, it’s more like…… a fantasy of a zoo if the animals were also people. Not like- werewolves. There aren’t werewolves in Elantris. Just metaphorical political animals who are also people…… Wow. There is some stuff in this chapter.Pretentious Word BINGO:InstantiatedParadigmApollonianCunningSchismAntagonismMachiavellianHypotheticalProprietyLeviathanSlave ChristianityWords of BrandonDialethicNiccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli lived in Florence during the Italian Renaissance and wrote the classic political philosophy manual The Prince.Marcus Tullius Cicero witnessed the fall of the Roman Republic with enormous grief. But he got his revenge on Europe by becoming the most hated man in history by every student forced to learn Latin.Death of the Author is a critical framework that focuses on the text and not the author.Fredrich Hayek wrote The Road Serfdom to combat the central banks that emerged in the wake of World War II.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Is Elantris Marxist propaganda? Are the Laws of Supply and Demand hardwired into people? Alan digs into the humor of Chapter 8, the Great Chain of Being, and Serene’s feminist Marxist tendencies. Lots of pretentious words in this one!Pretentious Word BINGO:CoalitionTheologySavvyNeoclassicalSubstantivismIntrinsicAffective LaborPrimitive AccumulationMarxismEthosPredicatedPapal InfallibilityWhat is a Neoclassical Economics??Karl Polanyi thought that economies were relational and not rational, and that the economy was not some pure sphere of material exchange. The way we trade was expressed in every part of the culture, which was one unified artifact- not purified stations like Religion, The Market, Home Life, etc.Shiloh Whitney’s Academic paper on the idea that affective labor includes raising families, and other unpaid labor that has been the domain of women throughout history.The Great Chain of Being???My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan heads back to Elantris so he talk about Dorthy leaving Oz, Balefire unraveling The Pattern, and John Locke inspiring Freaky Friday. So he stays perfectly on topic about Chapter 7 of Elantris- right? Sort of…Pretentious Word BINGO:IntrinsicSad PuppiesSatisfyingDirectly ProportionalDark Matter/ EnergyIdentity“The Prince and The Cobbler”CognitionMoral CalculusHow to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott CardA podcast about Wild Seed by Octavia Butler and why Alan has read it every year.Orson Scott Card as a Mentor, Friend, and Bigot by Rachel EdininThe One PowerBrandon Sanderson’s Laws of MagicJohn Locke was more than a hunter on LOSTParable of the Lost Sheep- Matthew 18: 12-14My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan gets pragmatic and apologetic about Chapter 6 of Elantris. Hrathen and Dilaf pour over the history of the Elantrians and cook up a plan for hatred, that will convert a nation. Meanwhile, learn how the 20th century nation-state was built on race-theory and what that has to do with Shu-Dereth.Pretentious Word BINGO:FormulateInfrastructureThemeAdmonishNation-StateCynicallyGhettoHomogeneousRoma PeopleMysticalPragmatismWho was Williams James?My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan talks about swearing in Fantasy, how much Americans love Competence, and how Thomas Hobbes understood Elantrian society. Hrathen hates heterodoxy, Sarene feels tragically happy, and Iadon is a dummy. It’s the fifth chapter of Elantris!Pretentious Word BINGO:TritagonistAspirationAnachronisticThrowbackAbstractionExhibitingManifestParadigmHeterodoxyJo Walton’s delightful article about the history of swearing in Fantasy.A podcast featuring Brandon Sanderson talking about how to use Competence in your writing.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan gets rhetorical about World-Building in the fourth chapter of Elantris. Learn what a Leviathan is, and what it has to do with people who want to fight all the time. Like the gangs in Elantris. Who act like a leviathan? No. That’s not right….Pretentious Word BINGO:EstrangementExpositionRhetoricalAudience SurrogatePessimisticRepelsLeviathanSocial ContractsPaleolithicPerpetrateSummum MalumSpuriousThe advice of Jessica Morrell at the Word by Word blog about Exposition.Thomas Hobbes wrote the boring book “Leviathan” where he asserted that everyone is bad.There was a British Civil War?Luke 9: 57-62 is about how Christianity reshapes your identity and social obligations.The Epic of Gilga-who???My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan tackles the third chapter of Elantris and explains how Hrathen is a Studio Ghibli character. What is a tritagonist? How is Shu-Dereth like imperial Christianity and Satanic tyranny at the same time? Will these questions be answered? Maybe?Pretentious Word BINGO:OstensiblyAssimilateTritagonistInstitutionalZealotLibertyThe Means of ProductionCalibratedIntrinsicA, B, C, of TV plot-writingPrincess Mononoke was the first Studio Ghibli film to have a theatrical release in the US.The Ticking Clock trope is a useful way to put pressure on a plot.Judaism in the Roman Empire.How the Roman Empire became Christian.Christianity in Western Europe.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan takes a detour to talk about Attack on Titan. Learn about Japanese history and culture, and how that is reflected in the world-building of Attack on Titan. Alan talks about why criticism is important when something in a story can contribute to human suffering. Can you ignore something out of existence?Pretentious Word BINGO:ShogunMeiji RestorationImperial JapanAlt-RightComplicityHypocriticalThe culture of “Ho-Ren-So” makes it difficult for younger workers to innovate or get credit for their work in Japan.Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution requires that any military force be strictly defensive. Lately Shinzo Abe has interpreted this to mean that Japan could leave its territory to defend itself in certain circumstances.Japanese War CrimesMy theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherMusic for “Attack on Titan” composed by Hiroyuki Sawano and used without permissionFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Alan talks about Elantris Chapter 2 and gets very social-justice about Sarene. In other news, Ashe is C3-PO and we learn Kae is a Foil.Pretentious Word BINGO:DisyllabicPedanticFoilCoalition3rd Person OmniscientDramatic IronyPatronizingDissonancePatriarchalParadigmParallel Structure in writing can be on the level of a sentence, paragraph, chapters, or whole stories.Contrast is a powerful literary tool that provides energy through variety for the audience and highlights what makes a setting or character distinct.Alfred Hitchcock talks about Dramatic Irony.Simone de Beauvoir wrote “The Second Sex” which was a huge part of Feminism gaining traction in the 20th century.Listen to how ZIon is pronounced in Hebrew!My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

The podcast begins with the first chapter of Elantris! How many fancy words do you know? You will learn so many new fancy words by listening to this podcast! Impress your friends, or put them to sleep. Yeah, maybe that second one…Pretentious Vocabulary BINGO:DisyllabicClose Third Person POVAudience SurrogateSpeculative FictionCognitive EstrangementApollonianTolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories” was an important part of defining Fantasy as a genre.Darko Suvin wrote about Science Fiction, and helped to define the genre after the so-called Golden Age.Apollo and Dionysus are used as a spectrum by several thinkers in several fields.The Day of the DeadFake Homelessness and the suspicion of people invested in the status quo.My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com

Meet Alan, the Realmatic Investigator and learn why he is recording a podcast about Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere novels one chapter at a time. What is criticism? What is truth?Check out all the podcasts on the Hallowed Ground Media Network.Death of the Author as a critical framework.Pretentious Vocabulary BINGO:DialetheismTaoismLao TzuThe TaoMarxismUtopian Anarchist“Universal Human Emancipation” is a concept from Karl Marx essay “On The Jewish Question” (1843)My theme song is Celtic Rock by TexasBrotherThe Physical Realm theme is Energetic Alternative Dirty Rock by DenisDrummer85The Cognitive Realm theme is Action Taiko Drums by MidnightSnapThe Spiritual Realm theme is Cinematic American Rock by OctoSoundFollow the show on Twitter @RealmaticPI and send long-form feedback with the email contact@hallowedgroundmedia.com