Possessed white girl mummy from Lee Cronin's The Mummy

The Middle Geeks Episode 79: ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ Review with Ali Nasser

We review Lee Cronin’s latest film set in Egypt with our dear friend, actor Ali Nasser.

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How Supergirl Inspired this Brown Immigrant Child

Growing up in the US as an Iraqi Kurdish/West Asian Muslim kid in the ‘90s here in the US, pre-heroes like Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), Zari Tarazi of DC’s Legend of Tomorrow, Khalid Nassour (Dr. Fate), and Green Lantern Simon Baz coming up in the 2000s and 2010s, you rarely, if ever, saw heroes on screen you could identify with.

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The Middle Geeks Episode 78: Interview with ‘Palestine 36’ Director Annemarie Jacir

We interview acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir on her latest film, Palestine 36, which debuts in US theaters this weekend.

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‘The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist’ is a Rousing Call for Humanity to Take Action

Artificial Intelligence, or “AI,” is an intentionally misrepresented term. A vast collection of machine learning algorithms using vast quantities of human-made data for predictive analytics, it is ultimately more simple than we’re led to believe. Mainly this is the design of the capitalist tech CEOs who insist that towering and complicated AI simply must be part of our daily lives when in most ways we have no practical use for it and we can get by.

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Five panelists at Awesome Con

The Middle Geeks Episode 77: LIVE at Awesome Con 2026 in Washington D.C.!

We’re live once again at Awesome Con in Washington D.C. discussing SWANA representation in Fantasy & Sci-Fi!

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A young Starfleet academy student speaking to her fellow students

Tawny Newsome and Cirroc Lofton Honor Sisko’s Legacy in ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’

We speak with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5 co-writer Tawny Newsome and returning Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Cirroc Lofton on honoring Captain Sisko and Avery Brooks in this week’s Starfleet Academy.

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Oscars sign with statue

The Middle Geeks Episode 76: SWANA Oscar Noms and Awesome Con 2026

We discuss the SWANA films that received Oscar nominations and make an exciting announcement about this year’s Awesome Con!

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Poster for play "Meet the Cartozians"

Susan Pourfar on the Cultural Resonance ‘Meet the Cartozians’

We speak with actress Susan Pourfar of Meet the Cartozians, currently playing at New York City’s Second Stage Theater until December 14.

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Actors in play "Meet the Cartozians"

Raffi Barsoumian on Embodying the Armenian American Struggle in ‘Meet the Cartozians’

Raffi Barsoumian, of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow fame as Bishop, among other roles, steps into his Armenian heritage in playwright Talenene Monahon’s magnificent play, Meet the Cartozians, currently playing at New York City’s Second Stage Theater until December 14.

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The Middle Geeks Episode 75: ‘Wicked: For Good’ and Fighting for a Cause

The Middle Geeks review the concluding film Wicked: For Good and what it has to say about fighting for your cause.

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Image of actors in the play Meet the Cartozians

‘Meet the Cartozians’ is an Incisive Love Letter to the Armenian American Experience

In the 1925 Oregon District Court case, United States v. Cartozian, Tatos Cartozian and his family argued that they, and by extension all Armenians in America, should be considered “white,” driven by the purpose to gain citizenship, per the Founding Fathers’ conception of only white men being full citizens with rights.

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Image promo of Bat-Fam for Prime

Yonas Kibreab, Haley Tju, and Michael Benyaer on Bringing the ‘Bat-Fam’ to Life

We speak to the actors Bobby Moynihan, Yonas Kibreab, Haley Tju, and Michael Benyaer about their roles in the new Prime series Bat-Fam.

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At First Glance, Universal’s ‘Mummy’ Sequel is Orientalist Regression

This past week, Egypt unveiled its new Grand Museum with a resounding announcement of their new magnificent structure spotlighting their country’s antiquities. After decades and decades of the West’s cultural theft of their relics, stories, and monopolizing of scholarship on Egypt, the museum’s opening highlights Egypt’s ownership and sovereignty over their rich history, archaeology, and scholarship, serving as a signal forward past the extreme Orientalist narratives the West thrust on it.

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Director Ritesh Gupta on the Meta Horror of ‘The Red Mask’

We interview Ritesh Gupta about directing the indie horror film The Red Mask and its meta commentary on the current state of Hollywood.

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Author Arezou Amin, pictured by Britt Barnim

Author Arezou Amin on Writing Iranian Canadian Love in ‘The Aroosi Arrangement’

I personally was never quite into the romance genre. But having read Iranian Canadian author Arezou Amin’s magnificent debut novel, The Aroosi Arrangment, coming out October 14, I realized just how badly I, and many other SWANA people, need to have this sort of representation.

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Palestine 36

The Middle Geeks Episode 74: ‘Palestine 36’ Review and the Echoes of the Past

We review Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s latest film, Palestine 36, which chronicles the last days of the British Mandate of Palestine.

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Vincent from 'The Glassworker'

Writer/Director/Composer Usman Riaz Talks about Crafting ‘The Glassworker’

Usman Riaz has achieved his lifelong dream of realizing his story, The Glassworker, to the screen. Drawing from his own love and practice of art and music, it is easy to see how both characters are avatars for Riaz, as he uses his own experiences to masterfully craft his anti-war story, serving as the film’s writer, director, and co-composer.

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NOC Review: ‘The Glassworker’ Masterfully Crafts its Anti-War Message

Writer, director, and co-composer of The Glassworker, Usman Riaz, worked on his inaugural animated film for over a decade. And the results show vividly in the finished feature, giving us a simultaneously intimate and grand story showcasing the beauty of art against the horrors of war.

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Zhaleh from "Ironheart" on Disney+

Actress Zhaleh on the Technical Advances of ‘Ironheart’

We speak with Iranian American actress Zhaleh on her role as tech CEO Sheila Zarate in Marvel’s Ironheart. She also shares some of her other NOC bona fides — from DC to Tolkien and more!

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Melique Berger on Playing Gym Leader Ryme in ‘Pokémon Horizons’

Voice actress Melique Berger has been a fixture in animation and anime for decades, bringing Black representation to life in your favorite series and franchises.

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Actor Bruce Horak

‘Star Trek’ Actor Bruce Horak on His New Crowdfunded Documentary, ‘Boldly Going’

We speak with actor and artist Bruce Horak, who played Hemmer on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, on his new crowdfunded documentary Boldly Going.

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Superman (David Corenswet) saving a man

The New ‘Superman’ Trailer Shows Us What a True Superhero Would Do in Our World

Everybody knows Superman. Everyone has an idea of who this iconic character is, with both favorable interpretations of his inherent devotion to doing good, and unfavorable interpretations of his will to help, with all his power, being unrealistic.

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An image of the father and son from the Amazon Prime series "#1 Happy Family USA"

The Middle Geeks Episode 73: ‘#1 Happy Family USA’ Review

Nadia Osman joins us once again to review Ramy Youssef and Pam Brady’s new raunchy animated series on Amazon Prime, #1 Happy Family USA.

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