What Makes a Terrible Sidekick
Alienating the Audience
What qualities define a sidekick? What makes a good one or a cringey one? Tom Brennan and Jeremiah Johnson join to discuss.
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Plot Holes!
Alienating the Audience
What's the difference between a gaping plot hole, vs mere shoddy writing or poor character decisions? Scottish science fiction enthusiasts Stone and Dickie Lynch join the show to discuss.
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It's Time to Watch Babylon 5
Alienating the Audience
Babylon 5 has a magnificent plot arch, solid writing, and vibrant characters. If it weren't for the low budget and 90s CGI, it would have been massive cultural sensation--bigger than Game of Thrones!
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Children of Men
Alienating the Audience
What happens to society when everyone on Earth goes sterile, and there's no future generation to hand things off to or better the world for? Andrew Young and Josh Jennings join to discuss the film "Children of Men".
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We Are Legion, We Are Bob
Alienating the Audience
Dennis Taylor's "Bobiverse" comedically follows the exploits of an engineer whose mind is uploaded into a self-replicating probe, which becomes its own civilization of Bobs.
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The Giant Universe of Doctor Who
Alienating the Audience
Justin Robert Young comes on to discuss "Doctor Who," arguably the most successful science fiction program (along with Star Trek) in history, and the most popular scifi program in Britain.
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Jordan Morris on Satire in a Dome
Alienating the Audience
Jordan Morris is the author of "Bubble" and the co-host of "Jordan, Jesse Go!" on Maximum Fun. He joins the show to discuss culture and economic satire... in space.
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Los Angeles is Hideous
Alienating the Audience
I have a new book out! Los Angeles is Hideous: Poems About An Ugly City. Arguably the funniest book ever written about the horribleness which is LA. Here are two quick readings from what is about to become your new favorite coffee table book.
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False Memories in Science Fiction
Alienating the Audience
In a world where you can download memories directly into your brain, how can you determine what's reality and what's artifice?
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Logan's Run is Afraid of Baby Boomers
Alienating the Audience
"Logan's Run" (1976) explores a society where everyone dies aged 30. In the most campy, over-the-top 70s scifi romp imaginable, it explores fear of ageing, fear of death, fear of infantalization... and fear of Baby Boomers.
info_outlineNick and Heaton visit Kashyyyk to work as mall santas for Life Day on the Wooki homeworld.
"Silent Night" care of "How it Should have Ended" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd79mpzBnJ4