We are a team of poets and artists who write and publish original stories anchored in traditional Christian symbolism.
179 To Grok or Not to Grok?
In the Disney classic Snow White, a queen looks at a flat, reflective surface, and asks it this question: “Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” The magic mirror gives the queen an answer she did not want to hear, and so an evil plot is hatched against her poor, sweet step-daughter. Silly queen. All she had to do was ask the question again in a more specific way. She would have gotten a better answer, been satisfied, then gone on her merry way; all would’ve been right with the world—at least in the Grok way of doing things. On tonight’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies pondered Artificial Intelligence (a.k.a. Super Intelligence) and what it is and is not capable of doing. We wondered whether it would become an addictive obsession for people, whether they would rely on it and trust it to give the unvarnished truth—or at least the unvarnished facts—and most importantly, whether they would succumb to the illusion that they, and not the machine, were creating with it. Have a listen, and please give us your ideas in the comments! —Streamed October 2, 2026
178 To Eternity and Beyond!
Elon Musk wants to save humanity by building a ship to take us to Mars and beyond; he wants to find a way to save the consciousness, the memory, of humanity so that it does not perish when Earth eventually does. He has spent a fair amount of time speaking about this over the past few years as his SpaceX venture plows ahead at great speed. As Christians, we know that only God saves; as Catholics, we know that exploration of creation through philosophy and the sciences does not conflict with our faith; and as a Catholic and a scholar, Professor Fulton Brown knows that this idea is already around 900 years old. No, there is nothing new under the sun. Join us on this week’s Mosaic Ark, as we discuss the Mystic Ark, as described by Hugh of St. Victor in 1125.
177 Quest for Fantasyland
The Professor is prepping for a panel that she is going to participate in at BasedCon next week, and fellow poet Quinn Kimball is here to help! For the panel, she has been asked to think about why “so many fantasy worlds default to a vaguely medieval hereditary monarchy,” but before she can answer that question, she needs to know where and what Fantasyland actually is. Join us for a globe-girdling exploration of lands that might or might not be called “Fantasy”!
176 Quest for the Chosen One
Based Con is coming up in a couple weeks, and the Professor wanted to brainstorm some ideas for one of the panels on which she is appearing, “The Case Against the Chosen One.” What’s all the fuss about “the chosen one” in fiction, and why do both authors and audiences find it so appealing? Is it some kind of hard and fast rule à la Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, that there must even be a Chosen One at the center of a story? The Professor sent KC off to find out. After pulling up a few examples from popular books and films over the last 50 years, it seemed difficult to argue against its apparent necessity. But is there something darker going on with these repetitive story elements? The Professor thinks so; KC isn’t so sure. Listen and tell us what you think in the comments. —Streamed August 28, 2026
Join us at BasedCon! https://basedcon.com/
175 The Pursuit of Liberty
The Mosaic Ark was back this week to celebrate our 4th anniversary of streaming! On our last stream, we discussed the Declaration of Independence, and how its professed right of "the pursuit of happiness" was influenced by Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man.” After that broadcast, KC asked the Professor how such a solid understanding of happiness had been turned on its head during the 20th century and changed to mean radical individualism and personal freedom above all else. “Oh, that’s John Stuart Mill,” she replied. “Here’s your new homework!” And thus ended KC’s happiness over our discussion of Pope, which was transformed into cynical frustration over Mill’s self-contradictory essay “On Liberty.” And if you listen to this stream, she’ll tell you how she really feels about Mill! And please leave us your opinions in the comments!