{"podcast":{"title":"The Desert of the Reel: A Movie Podcast","slug":"the-desert-of-the-reel-a-movie-podcast-6745471","podcast_index_feed_id":6745471,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/ef374714/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desert-of-the-reel","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/40033773/40033773-1702701906834-241e47ae9797b.jpg","author":"Desert of the Reel","episode_count":136,"summary":"Welcome to the Desert of the Reel, a movie podcast where host Ryan Hudson forces co-host Jason Dietz to watch the big blockbuster movies he’s refused to watch because he didn’t think they were worth his time. As two passionate high school English/film/philosophy/creativity teachers with graduate degrees, we're dedicated to using our academic training to argue about and dig deeply into movies. We explore the creativity and philosophy in our films and push our listeners to think critically about their entertainment.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T20:19:57.206759+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-desert-of-the-reel-a-movie-podcast-6745471"},"episode":{"title":"Batman Begins (2005) The Desert of the Reel #117","slug":"batman-begins-2005-the-desert-of-the-reel-117","published_at":"2026-04-10T22:01:19+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-desert-of-the-reel-a-movie-podcast-6745471/batman-begins-2005-the-desert-of-the-reel-117","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-desert-of-the-reel-a-movie-podcast-6745471","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desert-of-the-reel/episodes/Batman-Begins-2005-The-Desert-of-the-Reel-117-e3hnpfn","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/ef374714/podcast/play/118268855/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-10%2F421822137-44100-2-c1a715f3e11c3.m4a","summary":"Batman Begins marks a return to superheroes for DOTR (or does it… is Batman actually a superhero?). We get into it and email us your thoughts at desertofthereelpod@gmail.com This episode features a trip down memory lane for our intrepid duo, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the various Batman series. Ryan and Jason both like this movie a lot, although they had issues with some of the casting (Cillian Murphy for Jason and Katie Holmes for Ryan). Aside from the weakness of Scarecrow as a villain, they really didn’t have many cons. On the pro side, there’s a lot of philosophical depth to this film. Our intrepid duo tackles fear, social responsibility, justice, apathy, and…working within our SPHERES (for those of you playing DOTR bingo). Help us settle the argument… is Batman a superhero or just a smart, rich ninja?","meta_description":"Batman Begins marks a return to superheroes for DOTR (or does it… is Batman actually a superhero?). We get into it and email us your thoughts at desertoft…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":6755,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-desert-of-the-reel-a-movie-podcast-6745471/episodes/batman-begins-2005-the-desert-of-the-reel-117/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-desert-of-the-reel-a-movie-podcast-6745471/batman-begins-2005-the-desert-of-the-reel-117.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}