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The Ringer-Verse

‘Project Hail Mary’ Instant Reactions | The Midnight Boys

20 Mar 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?

5.65 - 23.775 Steve Ahlman

Welcome into the Ringerverse. This is, of course, the Ringer's Nexus podcast feed for all things fandom. We are Steve, the architect, almond, builder, and tinker of things. Jomie, the explainer. Daron, you've got questions, he's got answers. Old man Van, he of the receding resurgent hairline. Coke, baby, Chuck, 24 karat closer. Together we are known as Alpha Midnight Boys.

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24.816 - 45.517 Steve Ahlman

We'll be right back after this. Follow us on socials, Insta, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok. Jomie's job is saved.

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Chapter 2: What are the instant reactions to 'Project Hail Mary'?

45.637 - 46.999 Steve Ahlman

Jomie, what's going on on social media?

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47.02 - 56.734 Jomi Adeniran

My job is not saved. It is saved. My job is not saved. It's saved. There's so much game left, okay? There's so much work we have to do. There's so much new stuff that we have to do as a team, as a brotherhood.

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56.774 - 60.6 Van Lathan

With these skyrocketing gas prices, none of us safe. You see what I'm saying? We live here now.

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60.64 - 61.602 Charles Holmes

We can't go anywhere else.

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61.682 - 63.044 Jomi Adeniran

Anything is possible right now.

63.064 - 70.64 Steve Ahlman

Let's calm down. Nothing is saved yet. Okay, so you just, how about this? Your job is saved, but you need to ascend.

70.94 - 73.967 Jomi Adeniran

No, no. If I still need to ascend, then my job is saved.

73.987 - 78.116 Van Lathan

Well, maybe they're fire. Instead of you surviving, can you thrive?

78.136 - 88.811 Steve Ahlman

It's the difference between job and career. Right. Yeah. Right. So we got Rock'em Sock'em Robots right here. So listen, here's the thing that I learned. Oh, look, guys, we're back in our new digs.

Chapter 3: How does the plot of 'Project Hail Mary' unfold?

88.831 - 101.523 Steve Ahlman

It's fun that we're back. Hey. Love it here. We already did one show here. This wouldn't be the first show that we've actually done here. That's not the way that that works. That would never happen. Because we got to do it. What?

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101.563 - 103.945 Van Lathan

We're recording the Project El Mary pod early.

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104.206 - 105.727 Steve Ahlman

It's our first time in here.

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105.747 - 107.869 Jomi Adeniran

We did the Sinners one last week.

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107.949 - 113.656 Steve Ahlman

I was going to do it just like Charles. But you said you can't do that. Well, you can't do that.

113.676 - 115.398 Van Lathan

It's fine. You know what? No, let's not do that.

Chapter 4: What themes are explored in 'Project Hail Mary'?

115.418 - 125.171 Van Lathan

Let's not do that. Let's not go behind the curtain. You got to do certain episodes first. Technically, this is the first time all the Midnight Boys have been. But you're ruining the illusion for people.

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125.251 - 143.339 Steve Ahlman

But you know why you're not ruining it, though? Because this episode is going to come out after the other episode, which we're already going to talk about the new studio digs in the other episode. So we're just basically doubling down on it. Because it's great and we love it. You guys are so restrictive. This is a big problem. I want you guys to really work on this. I run a strict program.

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143.359 - 152.388 Steve Ahlman

How about that? You don't run shit. I run a strict program. That's the problem. How about that? The reality is you guys are lighten up.

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152.689 - 156.453 Jomi Adeniran

Who's we? Who's we? Okay, from the dude who don't like Filipino food.

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156.813 - 158.314 Steve Ahlman

I don't like Filipino food.

158.675 - 159.876 Jomi Adeniran

I'm not trying to hear that from you.

159.916 - 169.249 Steve Ahlman

I don't like Indian food. Give me other cuisines. You basically like no Asian cuisines. No, that's not true. I like Chinese food.

169.389 - 170.291 Jomi Adeniran

I like Thai food.

170.311 - 173.077 Steve Ahlman

You said Japanese food was a one-trick pony.

Chapter 5: What are the implications of weaponizing astrophage?

2932.527 - 2943.939 Steve Ahlman

It's still there. The stuff that ate the sun, we still using it. We got astrophage on Earth. I hope you guys don't think that the governments of the Earth aren't going to find a way to weaponize the astrophage.

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2943.959 - 2962.292 Charles Holmes

This is my biggest question now because all of these stories – I love it when stories do this because they're like, okay, all of the governments have squashed all beef and now we're like a coalition of the willing and we're going to solve this problem. Now the world is solved. What happens now? Do we just all go back to squabbling and fighting? We have astrophage bombs.

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2962.593 - 2967.743 Jomi Adeniran

I mean, you saw what was it, a milliliter of astrophage could do?

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2968.304 - 2969.747 Charles Holmes

Can you melt like an entire block of?

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2969.767 - 2988.641 Jomi Adeniran

Well, no, to the two scientists that got blown up, right? Now imagine if you had like three tons of astrophage, what you could do to a small country if that's what you felt like doing. I don't think we're that woke, even after the death of millions, I assume, during the Ice Age. They'll be like, great, we warmed everything up, we're cool, now how do we turn this into guns and bombs?

Chapter 6: How do different cultures view space exploration?

2988.661 - 3001.843 Jomi Adeniran

Does that cloud your judgment of wanting to save the Earth? It's like, well, what am I saving? I mean, that's not really that. I wouldn't even get that far. It's like, I don't really want to die for y'all. That's part of the struggle. I'm not really trying. The human condition, Steve. That's science fiction, baby. I'm not that woke, I'm sorry.

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3001.823 - 3006.19 Steve Ahlman

You want to weaponize the astrophage.

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3006.311 - 3013.743 Jomi Adeniran

I don't want to weaponize the astrophage. I'm just saying if a strap was like, hey, you're only in person. We need somebody who knows TikTok really well to be on this spaceship.

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3014.164 - 3014.584 Charles Holmes

Honestly?

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Chapter 7: What is the significance of Rocky as a character?

3014.644 - 3015.165 Jomi Adeniran

Are you going?

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3015.185 - 3037.865 Van Lathan

I'm like, if you don't get Alex Earl, if you don't get Taylor Crane, leave me alone. Another one of my questions is, What do you think it is about space that like aging white movie stars are just like, bruh, get me in space. Not only get me in space, I need to be alone. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like Brad Pitt was dealing with his daddy issues in space.

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3038.085 - 3038.986 Jomi Adeniran

Matthew McConaughey.

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3039.066 - 3047.113 Van Lathan

Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, now Ryan Gosling. Like there is something about the aging white movie star where they're like, I got to be alone.

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3047.133 - 3047.713 Jomi Adeniran

Final Frontier.

3047.913 - 3048.994 Charles Holmes

Final Therapy Frontier.

3049.074 - 3063.025 Jomi Adeniran

I mean, that's really it, right? We don't think about the ocean. as a place of discovery and wonder and magic, right? We're not staring. every day looking down at the ocean, but we look up and we go, look at the stars, look at the moon.

3063.045 - 3063.666 Charles Holmes

We haven't been there yet.

3063.686 - 3069.172 Jomi Adeniran

You know, endless. It's a void of space, right? You can do anything in there. I think that's what it is.

Chapter 8: How does the discussion of world cuisines unfold?

3086.132 - 3108.848 Jomi Adeniran

So here's a movie Van would make. And it would be so plain, but in space. And you would just put every single black actor that is from 28 to 55. Every single one. Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, all of them. Just put them in a movie. And it would basically be like Star Trek. Are the biracials allowed in space? Are the biracials allowed in space?

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3108.948 - 3114.135 Steve Ahlman

I would never make this, what you're talking about. That's actually your movie. I've never made anything like that. Right.

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3114.155 - 3117.019 Jomi Adeniran

I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. What space movie would you make with black people?

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3117.259 - 3136.725 Steve Ahlman

Well, you know, the movie, the one that I'm doing, think about that. Think about the novel that I'm writing. I told you all about it. Oh, my God. So, but no, but no. You know, it's interesting that you said, I don't know. One reason why we don't do this is because I don't think that white audiences buy the brilliance of black people.

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3138.562 - 3155.439 Steve Ahlman

I think a lot of these movies that you're talking about, the people mathing their way out of shit. You put Will Smith or one of these people up there, and not to make this serious and weighty, you put Will Smith up there, you put somebody else up there, people are going to start asking questions. It's like, we ain't never seen no niggas get no Nobel Prizes for no shit like this.

3155.979 - 3170.838 Steve Ahlman

And I'm just telling you, you can take Ryan Gosling, and Ryan Gosling, just with the way our brains work, it registers to people that Ryan Gosling could be both kin, and the most brilliant man in the world.

3171.139 - 3182.946 Van Lathan

You don't think audiences would take Will Smith and be like... Will Smith... I think you could do Will Smith. You could do Will Smith. Now, would people... This is nothing against Idris Elba, but if you put Idris Elba, are people like...

3184.394 - 3192.807 Steve Ahlman

I'm talking about audiences. I wouldn't have a problem with that. I think what people want to do when they see Will Smith fight aliens is they want to see him shoot at them.

3192.827 - 3197.434 Van Lathan

Independence Day. Independence Day. So if he domed Rocky right when he saw him.

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