Clones, Classics, and Collective Consciousness: The 2026 Dionysus Nominees

This year’s Dionysus Awards movie special came together a little too late to serve as our usual Oscars preview, but having it air a few weeks later offers a different kind of opportunity for filmic reflection. Another change was Josh’s guest co-host, former Stanford colleague Jorah Dannenberg, who has appeared on the program numerous times (and even co-hosted once a few years back). What didn’t change this year was my producer’s impulse to add visuals to these cinematic conversations.

Once again with no Roving Philosophical Report in the episode, Josh and Jorah jump right into their first pair of nominees, Companion and Mickey 17, which are vying for “Best Future-Facing Fantasy That Asks What Makes Us Human (and Whether That’s Even a Good Thing).” The latter has the more overtly futuristic sci-fi premise (and overall look), but both take technologies that aren’t quite here yet as the basis for exploring questions of personhood and self.

In the second segment, Josh and Jorah welcome Amy Coplan from Cal State Fullerton, who nominates Hamnet and the new Frankenstein for “Best Tweak on a Classic That Raises Questions about Parents and Children.” As Jorah notes, both of these films are feasts for the senses, albeit in very different ways. Amy makes the Dionysus case for both, but of course Josh and Jorah are the jurors here.

Although television has moved beyond its recent so-called golden age, TV shows are becoming part and parcel of the Dionysus landscape. This year, regular co-host Ray nominates two popular series for “Best TV Show That Blows Up All Your Theories of Personal Identity”: Severance, which aired its second season this past year, and Pluribus, a new show from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. Both present extended thought experiments on personal identity that made for great television and perhaps even better radio philosophy.