Godzilla: Monster as Metaphor

Dr Naja Later is an academic tutor at Swinburne. Their research examines the relationship between pop culture and social issues, with a focus on superheroes, monsters, and comic books.

Jason Christopher Jones is Lecturer and Coordinator of Japanese Studies at Monash University. His work centers on cultural adaptation as represented in Japanese film, television, animation, manga, and other texts. He has written academic papers on Godzilla adaptations, frequently given public talks on Godzilla and recently co-written a short article on Godzilla Minus One in The Conversation. His most recent research topics have seen him examining the world from the perspective of the Japanese sommelier in wine manga and (re)visiting the 1960s, 70s and 80s to investigate the image-creating capacity of US media products in Japan. He is also an active subtitler and scripter for a number of international streaming services. He is currently working on a monograph on Japanese body horror film and co-hosts the horror film podcast, Super Fun Scary Cast.

Julian Lee is the Associate Dean of Global and Language Studies at RMIT University. His work examines the subjective experience of globalization, including his edited volume Narratives of Globalization. In Monsters of Modernity: Global Icons for Our Critical Condition, co-authored with colleagues, he explores how monsters illuminate global issues like environmental challenges. Julian is also a member of the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University and works in the School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies.

Silvi Vann-Wall is a writer, podcaster, and filmmaker with a love for bombastic genre flicks. They currently work as the film content lead for ScreenHub.com.au, where they review film and TV, and write news about the Australian screen industry. They spend their increasingly scarce spare time doing improv comedy and musical theatre.