Grounded Geeks

May 31, 2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. In this episode, we talk about what the prosperous all-Black community of Greenwood was—and what was lost in one of the worst acts of terrorism that took place in U.S. history. And to help us process this horrific event (since clearly not enough of us learned about this in our school textbooks) we turned to some of our favorite shows, Watchmen and Lovecraft Country, both on HBO Max. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com

MAJOR SPOILERS in this episode for the Amazon Prime original animated series (and the comic book), Invincible! Today we talk about why this show reminds us of "the immigrant experience"—including random details from our lives about growing up as the children of immigrants—and why colonizers suck. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

Welcome to our new series at Grounded Geeks called Superhero Smorgasbord! This is when we'll take something that's happening in the real world and then talk about how certain characters or entities in the geek world would react to that particular situation. So on this first round, we naturally covered the COVID-19 pandemic. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

It's the end of Ramadan so Eid Mubarak to one and all! For this episode—our Eid special—we roll back the clock and discuss (arguably) the first comic book ever created called The Hamzanama. (We don't know if it's THE first comic book ever because we're not scholars so chill). The Hamzanama came about because the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great commissioned a series of paintings to turn the epic of Hamza into a comic book back in the 1500s! So buckle up for a very casual yet thorough history lesson on comics and how they came about through oral storytelling traditions dating back to the 600s. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

We're releasing this week's episode early just so we can say "May the Fourth be with you!" to our audience. (We literally call ourselves Grounded Geeks. Don't be surprised). So naturally, on this joyous day we wanted to discuss The Mandalorian and the surprising parallels to religious extremism that can be seen on this show. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

Be warned: There are MAJOR SPOILERS in this episode for Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier! And also major spoilers for how much racism/fascism sucks. Aman and Lena do a deep dive on the show, what they loved about it, and the disappointing—and often horrific—truth about so many aspects of U.S. history. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

Happy Earth Day! Take a trip down memory lane with Aman and Lena as they discuss their childhood obsession with Captain Planet and how much they wanted to be Planeteers too. And also how we—meaning countries, governments, and corporations—really need to do something about climate change...yeah. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

Ramadan Mubarak / Happy Ramadan! In celebration of the beginning of this holy month for Muslims, Aman and Lena wanted to talk about their absolute favorite comic book character, Ms. Marvel. Her name is Kamala Khan, she's a first-generation Pakistani and Muslim-American teenager growing up in Jersey City. And in this episode, we talk about all the ways that her story has broken stereotypes, barriers, etc. and personally brought us back into the comic book world as (semi)adults. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

Not only did we get to talk about one of our favorite TV shows (that not enough people are watching right now), but Aman and Lena also discuss how incredibly timely it is—especially considering the recent rise in anti-Asian hate and violence across the U.S. Everyone needs to watch Warrior and in our humble opinion, it should be required viewing for every American. And if you're paying attention, HBO Max, we need you to make #WarriorSeason3 happen. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

After four long years, Zack Snyder's Justice League is finally here! So naturally Aman and Lena had to talk about it and compare it to the theatrical Justice League, which came out in 2017. There were compliments, complaints, and disagreements shared. And at one point we went on a tangent to talk about that time we used to live in Kiev, Ukraine. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

In this episode, Aman and Lena geek out on all that WandaVision had to offer—the grief, the trauma, the philosophical questions on life and death, and everything in between. Be warned: This episode contains major spoilers for WandaVision and pretty much everything else in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com.

This podcast began in 2016 and then we went on hiatus...for five years. A lot has happened since then, so Aman and Lena wanted to (re)introduce themselves, give some updates on their lives, and talk about just how relevant the geek world can be to the real world—and why sometimes we need stories of superheroes in our own lives. SHOW NOTES: groundedgeeks.medium.com. The Grounded Geeks theme song is brought to you by Feyzan Beats.

Our commentary and first impressions on all the awesome/weird/maybe racist? movies, TV shows, and comics announced at San Diego Comic Con 2016! Oh and this bonus episode definitely contains explicit language and/or spoilers. You've been warned

Welcome back for Episode 7 of Grounded Geeks! Where we strive to make the geek world relevant. In this episode we discuss the prospect of the the God of Lies and Mischief, Loki Laufeyson, running for President. Of course, we can't do that without discussing the candidacy of Donald J. Trump and the Republican National Convention! We also give you an update on Civil War II. Things are getting interesting! And of course, a bunch of other random musings on current events. So what are you waiting for? Start listening!!

Welcome to Episode 06 of Grounded Geeks! This is our July 4th special episode. How convenient that Independence Day: Resurgence is out right now for this special occasion! We talk cheesiness, Brexit, alien invasions, humanity's future, history, and so much more! P.S. Listen also for Bill Pulman's epic speech from 1996

In our quest to make the geek world relevant, this episode is all about Marvel's new event, Civil War II. Which is NOT the same as Captain America: Civil War the movie. So don't worry. This isn't a repeat of our 3rd episode. So hold on to your seats listeners, as we hit you with heavy issues of privacy, civilian rights, terrorism, bias, and much much more! And a disclaimer by a terrible Lyndon B. Johnson impersonator!

This episode is centered around the new X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse. Even though the movie was a massive disappointment, we still have a lot to talk about. We grew up loving X-Men as kids, and as pseudo-adults, we now know why! We talk about the X-Men and their relevance to race and LGBT people, and also how X-Men/Inhumans are metaphors for Muslims in America. Of course, we do still critique the movie, and how it lacked the soap-opera element that made X-Men a thing. Come join us! And find the show notes here: https://medium.com/@GroundedGeeks

WARNING! THIS PODCAST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR Unless you live under a rock, you probably know that Captain America: Civil War came out in theaters earlier this month. In Episode 4, we discuss all things related to Captain America from Cap's shield to the physics of Ant-Man to non-state actors to Wakandan diplomacy. And joining this discussion is our special guest/friend, Olivia! She brings an uninformed non-expert opinion on superhero-related issues. FYI: We apologize for any background voices you may hear in this episode. But honestly, you should take this as proof that we are poor and can't record our episodes in a proper sound booth.

Welcome back for Episode 2! We're happy you're giving us another chance to enlighten you! Yea... We're using a rather broad definition for the word "enlighten." The new Black Panther comic series is out, and is written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the king of Wakanda has made his grand entrance in the MCU. So of course we talk about that. We talk about race, culture, and how Wakanda is the dream never realized of countries rich in resources.

Grounded Geeks discusses "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and how the movie FAILS TO ADDRESS the issues of aliens, social issues, and popular sovereignty. We go off on some other tangents, but that's the main gist of it.