My friends Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone and Reverend Travis McKee invited me to join them on a podcast where we discuss fantasy, science fiction and religion. It’s called Sacred Realms, and it’s been a blast. We are three episodes in, and they keep getting better and better with each recording session. (Note: Rabbi Pepperstone already had one season of Sacred Realms recorded with Rabbi Lindsay Healey-Pollack before he invited us on board; season two begins with a June 1, 2025 episode).
Episode 1: Revenge of the Sith
Our first episode revisits Revenge of the Sith in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of its release. I was a huge Star Wars nerd growing up, as was Rabbi Pepperstone. I suspect this was the genesis of his idea for inviting me onto his podcast. At the end of April we met in the theater to watch the film together, and had a fantastic time. Seeing it on the big screen again brought back all of the warm feelings I had for this movie twenty years ago. In this podcast episode we muse over the surprisingly rich religious themes in the film. We all came away from our recent viewing of it with a deeper appreciation for the wisdom to be gleaned from its story. The story of Anakin’s fall to the dark side of the Force is not just fantasy, but mirrors our own struggles with temptation.
Episode 2: What's Happening in the Realms?
In Episode Two we have the first of two “What’s Happening in the Realms?” episodes. In these we talk about science fiction and fantasy old and new. Rabbi Pepperstone calls the old stuff the “genizah,” referencing the storehouse for worn-out Jewish books in synagogues or cemeteries. This is a wide-ranging episode, discussing Andor, The Last of Us, Thunderbolts, Murberbot, Captain America: Brave New World , and Black Mirror. I contribute to the Sacred Realms Genizah with thoughts on In the Hall of the Dragon King by Stephen Lawhead, an Evangelical fantasy novel from the early eighties.
Episode 3: Post-Apocalypticism
Episode Three brings up the she’ilah (question): What food would you take with you into an apocalypse? My cohosts love post-apocalyptic stuff, and we discuss some examples of that genre here. We also discuss more Marvel shows and films, Murderbot again, The Last of Us, and Paradise. Rabbi Pepperstone shares his love for The City of Ember series from the Genizah.
More on the Way!
There is more to come. We’ve already recorded an episode on the James Gunn’s Superman that will be a lot of fun. It’s being edited right now.
This has been an exciting and pleasurable development in my life. We’re still getting to know each other, but I think you can hear that we enjoy being with each other and having conversations. I anticipate that future episodes will be even better. I’m especially hopeful that as we feel more comfortable with one another, we’ll engage in friendly argument more often. We share a lot of the same loves, but we obviously have very different religious perspectives. Stay tuned for deeper discussions on religious faith, as provoked by science fiction and fantasy.
