Culture on My Mind
No Disassemble! 40 Years of Short Circuit
August 6, 2026

In 1986, the world was introduced to Johnny 5. The Short Circuit films focus on an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains sentience. There were two films, the first of which is arguably better and centers its story on discussions of life, intelligence, and warfare.

The films also have an unfortunate legacy of inadvertent racism, which I wrote about in 2020.

These films still remain favorites from my childhood, even though they aren’t the greatest things committed to celluloid. I may need to revisit them again for this site in the future.

On June 3rd, Joe Crowe, Gary Mitchel, Shaun Rosado, O. Hai Mark, and Kyle McCraw discussed these films and their legacy, including the ethics of robotic weaponry, the concept of AI souls, and the merits of El DeBarge.

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These Classic Track Quarantine Panels are hosted by Gary Mitchel and Joe Crowe, the diabolical masterminds behind the Dragon Con American Sci-Fi Classics Track. If you want to play along at home, grab your internet-capable device of choice and navigate the world wide webs to the track’s YouTube channel and/or the group on Facebook. If you join in live, you can also leave comments and participate in the discussion using StreamYard connected through Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch.

Gary can also be found on A Podcask of Amontillado, a horror-themed podcast that he co-hosts with Erin McGourn.

If you want to connect with the track, Joe, and/or Gary on the socials, you can find them on Twitter (ClassicTrack, JoeCroweShow, and sneezythesquid) and Instagram (SciFiClassicTrack, JoeCroweShow, and Gary_Mitchel). And, of course, to celebrate more pop culture awesomeness, you can find Dragon Con all year round on the internet, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

You can find those discussions and more every other Thursday as the American Sci-Fi Classics Track explores the vast reaches of classic American science fiction.

The episode art each week is generously provided by the talented Sue Kisenwether. You can find her (among other places) on her website Subspace Sue.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.