De-Aging Well
There’s an old saying that everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to get old. The same can be applied to our favorite sci-fi fantasy franchises. As familiar faces return to Star Wars, Star Trek...
28 Apr 202236min
Neurodivergent Futures
One of the most common requests I've gotten over the years has been to do an episode about why so many autistic people are drawn towards science fiction, and these suggestions have come from listeners...
14 Apr 202229min
Nosferatu Live
100 years ago this month, the vampire film Nosferatu was released in Germany. Not long after, it was hit with a lawsuit – which the filmmakers lost – and every copy of the film was to be destroyed. At...
31 Mar 202232min
A Nation Dreams of Itself
The Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world, but this conflict was foreshadowed in Ukrainian and Russian speculative fiction. I talk with several fantasy writers in Ukraine about how they’ve use...
17 Mar 202230min
Asian Futures Without Asians
It’s a future we’re all very familiar with. The rainy streets are full of neon dragons, noodle shops, and other Asian iconography mixed up and decontextualized amid sci-fi flourishes, but something is...
3 Mar 202236min
Beforeigners
In the sci-fi drama Beforeigners from HBO Nordic, Oslo is overrun with immigrants and refugees. But they haven’t come from other countries. They’re from the past. In fact, they’re from three specific ...
17 Feb 202236min
Headcanon Fodder
Have you ever watched a movie or show, gotten sucked into a mystery and come up with your own idea of what is going to be revealed – only to find out that you’re wrong? Do you accept what’s now establ...
3 Feb 202235min
Politics of the Funnies Part 2
Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source of information for most Americans. In those days, Walt Kelly and Al Capp were titans ...
20 Jan 202230min
