Episode 77: The billionaire sub disaster (& what it says about us)
Titan, tragedy and titters on TikTok
Is compassion dependent on class-solidarity? Are some lives worth more than others? Is a nuanced approach to the comedy of catastrophe possible? No, no and possibly yes.
The OceanGate Titan submarine disaster (some would say 'tragedy', in the Greek sense) produced strong and wildly divergent responses. Jonty and Laura discuss them, as well as the reasons for media interest in the submarine situation, the ethics of laughing at anyone's suffering and the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun.
Is it ever okay to make light of suffering or death? Is it ever our place to police reactions of the oppressed to the misfortune of oppressors? What does the tone of reaction to the Titan submarine implosion (and to the idea of wealthy people being trapped and oxygen starved at the bottom of the ocean) tell us about the change in attitudes to billionaires and the ruling class generally? Is this sub our ‘let them eat cake’ moment, or an opportunity for Christians to demonstrate their prioritising of grace and mercy, or love for enemies?
Beer Christianity discusses the hubris of the Titan tragedy and the schadenfreude it brought to the surface. All in Episode 77.
You can listen to Episode 77 anywhere: In the bath, in a Zoom meeting that could have been an email, over the grave of your childhood bully with some snacks. You can find it on all major podcast platforms and, of course, right here:
While we were preparing for this episode, we came across a different take from our own. It was from someone who had made a joke about the Titan situation. As we had been horrified by a lot of the jokes, we found Corey Brown’s thoughtfulness really refreshing and a good challenge to our own immediate feelings. Corey is a super funny, really nice guy and you can find him on TikTok @coreybrown748.
As it turns out, we found his joke pretty funny, too.
Thanks to everyone who replied to our Insta request for your thoughts on the billionaire sub - we have featured a few of you in this episode too.
As always, we welcome your feedback, thoughts, questions and, above all, unhinged praise.
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Beer Christianity is an anti-capitalist, pro-BLM, pro-LGBTQ+, post-post-post-evangelical (and apparently republican) podcast where we drink a bit and talk a lot. Our aim is to be real, to be helpful and entertaining.
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