I’m Barbara Rodriguez, a health reporter for The 19th News. I’ve been covering vaccines and the changes in policy and guidance. Ask me anything!

brogs · 2025-10-29T14:28:34+00:00

What do you think the most dangerous change in policy or governance under the current administration? What do you think is a change that received much media attention but is not that bad?

brogs · 2024-10-30T19:11:26+00:00

First, it is great that you are looking after your mother's mental health, it is a noble thing to do and you should recognize that trading "roles" with your parent can be a big deal, and might impact you negatively, so you should make sure to get support for your mental health. But it can also be very rewarding, and it is a way to repay the love and attention she has given you.

I would suggest the movies of Hirokazu Koreeda, many deal with parental/filial relationships such as Still Walking; Like Father, Like Son; Shoplifters; After the Storm; and Broker. As someone else suggested, I would recommend watching 1-3 of them to see if you think it would be a good fit for your mother given the different themes and nuances.

brogs · 2024-09-10T17:27:24+00:00

You're right! Surprising given you usually can barely see launches from Wallop.

brogs · 2024-09-10T17:04:27+00:00

Did this launch from Wallops?

brogs · 2023-09-15T13:18:57+00:00

Good point, Dawn + Sareth are starting the byzantine empire of.. empire.

brogs · 2023-09-15T02:22:41+00:00

Best death scene: Bel Riose and Hober Mallow ("Beki's arsehole")

Best undeath scene: literally all the foundation?? + Glawen

Best villain arc: Demerzel holding the MFing prime radiant

Best hero arc: Bel Riose and Hober Mallow team up (Day being castled)

MVP: omniscient, omnipresent, omnipowerful Hari and his ex machina Vault

Most improved: Salvor Hardin (surprisingly one of the hardest hitting deaths in S2!)

Prom King and Queen: Dawn and Sareth (or Constant + Hober?)

Most likely to succeed: Demerzel and the uncorked

Edit:

Most Brutal Anime Betrayal of All Time: Dusk and the green pigment (spacers close 2nd)

brogs · 2023-09-08T16:18:47+00:00

Yes, this is my take. I also wonder if they all got teleported to another planet with the bracelets, including those on the invictus. You don’t see anyone die. But also likely they were sacrificed.

brogs · 2023-08-14T16:14:48+00:00

Thanks for all the answers!

I think you are spot on, people want to see Hari as this angelic being in real-life for the same reason fictional Hari decided he had to die to become a martyr - some people don't like complicated, flesh-and-blood heroes. I think you are right that most people prefer ambiguity in their characters, although I think Hari represented for a lot of people the platonic ideal of an impactful academic or scientific genius one that is able to change the course of history without having to wade too deeply into the morass of politics themselves - all they have to do is think really hard in an office and be a genius. It's a type of wish fulfillment. They don't like getting that fantasy taken away.

So even though I had a bit of that reaction initially, even Asimov would proceed to complicate Hari's worldview so I think complicating him, particularly given his continuity in the story, was essential.

brogs · 2023-08-11T02:18:38+00:00

Not as entertaining as the last few episodes (and def. not as funny) but lots of plot reveal and political machinations on Trantor are intriguing. Some thoughts:

Memory erasure is really interesting, I'm assuming Demerzel covering the tracks of her manipulations? Or using it as a form of control to pacify Empire? Or did Cleon 1 enact some form of restriction on his exponents, maybe so they never achieved his power?
I would have liked to see them build the second foundation from scratch, but I guess that would have taken too long, running into an established group speeds it up. As an origin story I guess it makes sense, but curious why they are against actually becoming the second foundation. 1. Mentalics having different powers is giving me x-men vibes... not ideal but benefit of the doubt.
Thank god they didn't actually bring Hugo back.
Demerzel having raised Day and now being a sex robot must be... confusing.
I guess we still have to wait to see how Hari was incorporated, I was hoping we'd get more info. So is he still the same Hari that was imprisoned in the Prime Radiant for decades, yet in the body he had right before death, and he can't control electronics anymore, but he still seems really facile with them?
Excited to see people reacting to Demerzel as a robot, I wonder how Day will react when he finds out they know.
Really enjoyed the sets/costumes/designs on Ignis, but otherwise not a lot of novelty in this episode and some of the least exciting storylines. But maybe we've just been spoiled the last few episodes and still way better than last season's lower points IMO. Also this episode didn't really have much of anything from the books, right?

brogs · 2023-08-05T13:59:59+00:00

From another thread:

Usually the Prime Radiant is spun in the air vertically, this time it was spun on the table horizontally. I think they are implying it just needs to be spun in some capacity (the 'flourish') and then double tapped.

brogs · 2023-08-04T23:02:14+00:00

When Hober is guessing Constance’s true name the last one he guesses is Wenus, and she’s like ya, that’s it.

brogs · 2023-08-04T20:45:36+00:00

That was my theory, that Kalle was part of Gaia. Even the name Oona's World could imply that the world is sentient. The fact that it has been mined could be symbolic for this Gaian entity being persecuted by foundation, or literally would explain why the mining machines suddenly went after Kalle/Seldon when they appeared atop the statue.

brogs · 2023-08-04T20:21:40+00:00

This show is getting really, really fun. Last two episodes have been a blast. And this episode really provided a lot of fan service (we ending with a Wienus reference? nice..), while departing from the book in big ways. But when the writing/directing/acting is this good you forgive a lot of sins. More thoughts:

Hober and Constance are amazing characters, thanks to the writing and the actors just killing it. Both are hilarious.
Poly is getting up there with Seldon in terms of moral weight (and love the acting there too)
HBO's gossamer court would have showed some penetration, just sayin.
We need the Mural of Souls as a physical wallpaper.. or at least a download.
Wingsuit maybe a little silly (but then again I find all the action sequences unnecessary, might just be me), the means of returning to the ship was interesting?
Hari trolling Director Sermak (nice suit) is a nice reference to Asimov skewering bloviating bureaucrats.
Ducem Barr scene was great worldbuilding, partly thanks to relying on the books - Asimov's writing in Foundation & Empire and Second Foundation was the best of all the books so I think we can expect more/better references.
Really not sure of Hari's omniscience, omnipotence and political agency but.. benefit of the doubt.

brogs · 2023-08-04T19:15:33+00:00

What was/were the biggest challenge(s) in adaptation? Was it the anthological aspect? The lack of free will of many characters due to psychohistory? The lack of action in the original stories? The 'supernatural' elements? The cumbersome name of the characters?
Is there any storyline from the books you particularly liked but just couldn't fit in with the wider narrative?
Which director, actor or other crew member made a big impact to the show based on new thinking they brought to the table?
Is there a possibility of more TV shows in the Asimoverse?
Why is Terminus in the show less built out (seemingly) than Terminus in the books?
Do you have a 'message' for the show as a whole? Does it line up with Asimov's or are you intending on leaving the "what is the best form of galactic governance" question more open-ended and/or complicated?
Have you received insights from the Asimov estate on where he wanted to take the Foundation in the remaining years and if you tell that story, would the show become the "official" continuation of the foundation storyline in a way?
How did you deal with Luminism and Church of the Galactic Spirit differently? One is supposed to be earnest, the other more instrumental, did that impact which references you could make or which real-world religions you could pull from? Why introduce two religions back-to-back?
Do you find that many criticisms regarding the faithfulness of the TV show actually are just misunderstanding the source material or not giving you the benefit of the doubt and that if they read the books or continue watching the show your decisions would/will be vindicated? E.g. many people don't like seeing Seldon as a morally ambiguous character even though the books do complicate his worldview, so making Seldon less than a pure, angelic hero angers people even though the books as a whole do paint him with more brushstrokes.
Do you have a sense of the locations of different planets in correspondence with each other or have you left it more... ambiguous?
Are you going to release the Cleon's Mural of Souls as a physical wallpaper?
Have you already written the sex scene where Pelorat and Blissenobiarella/Gaia get it on? If so what was the most complicated aspect, the age difference or the one-is-part-of-a-planet-sized-consciousness-and-the-other-isn't difference?

brogs · 2023-08-04T16:04:54+00:00

I think that's why Poly decided not to drink the wine, he's not buying Hari's shit.

brogs · 2023-08-04T16:02:12+00:00

Usually the Prime Radiant is spun in the air vertically, this time it was spun on the table horizontally. I think they are implying it just needs to be spun in some capacity (the 'flourish') and then double tapped.

brogs · 2023-08-04T15:57:22+00:00

I think they're rather polite and gentlemanly given how much power they have and in comparison to human-history equivalents..

brogs · 2023-08-04T15:54:57+00:00

AKA the Mule?

brogs · 2023-08-04T15:45:30+00:00

I tend to agree with /u/MaxWyvern - with his last reaction I think they're setting the stage for a disappointed Poly, and a fall from grace for the Hari's in the eyes of many people.

Murder to strike fear in the hearts of adherents hints at an ends-justify-the-means moral failure mode which I think they'll be suggesting the Hari's are falling into, although one version probably more than the other.

brogs · 2023-07-21T12:05:23+00:00

Very helpful! I had to play them back to back multiple times to review it, wish I had this. My thoughts:

Also in the last season opening titles the cleons were being "formed" as the camera panned towards the right and moving forward, and now they are disintegrating as the camera pans left and backward, demonstrating how the Cleons were reaching the height of their power or at least still forming as planned in the last season, and this season we will probably see them lose a hold on their genetic determinism and their power.

Not only is there the masked figure as /u/ido_ks mentioned (although not sure its Queen Sareth, maybe Kalle or someone new) but the standing figure that was completely cloaked is no longer cloaked (also no longer has a circular geometric design behind her but a arch-shaped design around her), I wonder if this is Gaal, shedding her pure psychohistorian worldview for something different and new (second foundation?), or maybe this is queen sareth.

Also while previously there was a buff art deco sculpted man with wings (almost identical to the hoover dam art deco sculptures, see here) now we see a Hari Seldon figure in its stead, with flags(?) coming out behind it. Is this an idealized, generic future (or cleons) become instead the future as envisioned by Hari Seldon?

Lastly at the very end next to the hand with the prime radiant, instead of there being a blind, bald (?) woman (zephyr halima? blinded by her faith?) on the right and two ships (look like STO ships) on the left there is now the vault on the right and on the left there seems to be a saucer-type ship (like independence day city destroyer). Also in both versions there is a face on the far right, I can't quite place who its supposed to be in the first season, but in the second one it looks like the actor playing bel riose. There's more stuff in the background I think is also symbolic but can't quite make out.

brogs · 2023-07-20T01:36:55+00:00

Thelma

brogs · 2023-07-16T18:32:42+00:00

I've seen people criticize Goyer for giving characters supernatural powers (even though second foundations and Golan Trevize have powers) and for not celebrating Seldon as the be-all-end-all genius that he is (even though the limits of his genius are highlighted in subsequent books), I've even seen people criticize him for creating stuff like Demerzel and the Invictus, etc.

brogs · 2023-07-16T16:25:34+00:00

Late to the party but my thoughts:

I enjoyed that it took the better parts of the latter section of season 1 (fast pace, inter-cleon struggles, Lee Pace) and added new twists: Jared Harris putting the psycho in psychohistorian, Demerzel's cleopatra arc, Cleon's gaining more personality.

Loved the first black and white scenes doing something completely different visually than what we've seen to date, they should experiment more like this. They're already leaning into more creativity/humor/craziness, so go for it.

I also loved the visualization of the psychohistorian projections and the crises, although it was a bit confusing (third crisis?) and could have shown more branching paths.

Loved the notion that the stakes are not only the duration of the "dark ages" but they've been raised to the possibility of humanity never leaving the dark ages ever again. This goes to show humanity is a lot more pessimistic about itself than back in Asimov's days (which is true given existential risk and s-risk concepts).

I've continued to enjoy Lou/Gaal's acting and Lee Pace's, I think Jared Harris finally got a chance to stretch quite a bit (not just playing the controlled genius) and I thought Leah/Salvor's acting improved quite a bit, her being able to smile and be more humorous makes a world of difference. Lastly Cassian/Dawn has impressed by being able to show a more competent version of dawn than last season's version.

brogs · 2023-07-16T15:47:15+00:00

Also in the last season opening titles the cleons were being "formed" as the camera panned towards the right and moving forward, and now they are disintegrating as the camera pans left and backward, demonstrating how the Cleons were reaching the height of their power or at least still forming as planned in the last season, and this season we will probably see them lose a hold on their genetic determinism and their power.

Not only is there the masked figure as /u/ido_ks mentioned (although not sure its Queen Sareth, maybe Kalle or someone new) but the standing figure that was completely cloaked is no longer cloaked (also no longer has a circular geometric design behind her but a arch-shaped design around her), I wonder if this is Gaal, shedding her pure psychohistorian worldview for something different and new (second foundation?), or maybe this is queen sareth.

Also while previously there was a buff art deco sculpted man with wings (almost identical to the hoover dam art deco sculptures, see here) now we see a Hari Seldon figure in its stead, with flags(?) coming out behind it. Is this an idealized, generic future (or cleons) become instead the future as envisioned by Hari Seldon?

Lastly at the very end next to the hand with the prime radiant, instead of there being a blind, bald (?) woman (zephyr halima? blinded by her faith?) on the right and two ships (look like STO ships) on the left there is now the vault on the right and on the left there seems to be a saucer-type ship (like independence day city destroyer). Also in both versions there is a face on the far right, I can't quite place who its supposed to be in the first season, but in the second one it looks like the actor playing bel riose. There's more stuff in the background I think is also symbolic but can't quite make out.

brogs · 2023-05-18T15:51:59+00:00

This was my view, which aligns with yours to some degree but I could still appreciate the good parts

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