Episode 564: Becky Chambers Is My Therapist
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Ben Ben’s been quietly communing with the universe—and possibly with time travelers—through a book of accidental poetry called . These are poems born from Wordle guesses, wrangled into a strangely beautiful collection. The result feels like overhearing wisdom whispered from another dimension... or from your roommate’s weird dreams. Ben recommends reading it with an open mind and maybe a cup of tea. Or a flux capacitor. Devon Devon had to Dad some emails this week—calmly but firmly correcting errors from people who apparently do not know how email works. He also saw Elio,...
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Episode 563: Aspergillus Strikes Back
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life This week, real life got weird, itchy, nostalgic, and just slightly chaotic. Ben celebrated a birthday by dragging his family through a hike in tick-infested grass. Friendly reminder: Don’t go into the long grass. We’ve seen Jurassic Park, we know how this ends. Devon may or may not be living in Foreverware straight out of Eerie, Indiana. Start checking those Tupperware lids, folks. Steven escaped a house overrun with cousins the only way he knows how: board game store therapy. Here’s what we’re playing: is only $5 on Steam right now and it still rules. Devon showed us how...
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Episode 562: The Robot Seems Fun, but the Kids are in Trouble
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Ben had a pretty heartfelt Father’s Day. The kind that makes you wonder what to do with all those sentimental cards—save them? Repurpose them? Wallpaper a studio? He’s thinking bigger: moleskin notebooks and sketchbooks as repositories for meaningful letters, doodles, and moments. He also caught You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at SLOREP, which delivered all the nostalgia and Peanuts poignancy one could hope for. Devon saw Annie live and reports back that yes, the sun did come out. Meanwhile, he was also boots-on-the-ground at the No Kings march in Tyler, TX, where roughly...
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Episode 561: In Search of Small Comforts
Science Faction Podcast
with Travis Barker on drums. Yes, really. Future or Now Devon read and now feels like a hypocrite for still eating meat. The book’s argument: if animals can suffer, they deserve rights. Cue a deep dive into factory farming, animal testing, calorie efficiency, and whether “ethical meat” should be a rare luxury rather than a daily default. They talk about cows, chickens, and baby monkeys; the morality of milk and butter; and why our modern food system depends on people looking the other way. Steven questions how to get enough protein on a vegan diet, and Devon admits it’s complicated...
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Episode 560: Rat Hustlers
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Things kicked off with stories from Friday night’s bonfire, where the nature of reality was hotly debated between toasted marshmallows. That conversation somehow spiraled into a serious (and slightly absurd) discussion about Noodles and Soba—Ben’s son’s pet rats—and the potential benefits of getting female rats fixed. Apparently, doing so can add about a year to their lifespan by preventing reproductive cancers, but the surgery’s cost is a tough sell when you’re in what Ben called “debt paydown mode.” Devon floated the idea of unscrupulous “rat hustlers” faking...
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Episode 559: Yesterday’s Dream was a Full Page
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Roundup Let’s address the elephant not in the room: Devon is dead. Well, not dead-dead. Just birthday-visit-family-IRL-dead. We pour one out for our absent co-host, and prepare for his resurrection next week. Meanwhile, Steven has been watching robots get wild. The Wild Robot, that is. The new animated flick has dropped (), and Steven's verdict is in: heartwarming vibes, metal clanking emotions, and just enough kid-friendly existentialism to make you question whether your Roomba has feelings. Also, did you know Black Adam shows up in DC League of Super Pets? Steven does. And...
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Episode 558: Starts with S, Ends with T
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Devon [Redacted silence.] Possibly building up for a season finale of his own. Or meditating on NASA budget cuts. Either way—stoic. Steven We wrapped Andor, and while it stuck the landing, there’s still one huge question: Where are Hera, Chopper, and the Ghost crew?! Justice for space moms and droid chaos: Also, Steven took us on a wild detour into Monopoly studies with college students—spoiler alert: inherited wealth makes people awful. Shocking, we know. Ben Fresh from science camp and rocking a healthy dose of jet lag, Ben managed to be late to his own poetry reading. But...
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Episode 557: You Can't Call Them Skin Babies
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Devon went full medieval this week with a trip to a Renaissance Fair—this one featuring permanent structures that actually looked “authentic” instead of slapped together by ye olde hot glue. There were swinging rides, wooden horses, and some legit jousting. Unfortunately, the real fantasy was thinking the kids would have fun. Big downer energy. Steven is gearing up for an Arizona trip but had to make a sudden detour into Best Buy territory after his TV gave up the ghost. On the plus side, Andor continues to be amazing and makes up for any consumer electronics woes. (It really...
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Episode 556: Quesorios
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life: Devon would like to make one thing clear: queso is fine. Queso is acceptable. Just… not on everything, okay? Some of us still want to taste the actual food under the goo. That said, he did just survive a kid’s pool party, so maybe he’s earned the right to eat whatever the hell he wants — even fake grass, which he claims is "for winners." We’re choosing not to dig into that statement. Steven, meanwhile, embraced the full Force of May 4th with joy, lightsabers, and an animated binge of Tales of the Empire — now fully released and featuring everyone’s favorite...
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Episode 555: Not His First Time (Building A Lightsaber)
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Devon just got back from Barcelona, where his sister-in-law’s wedding was equal parts joyful and medically confusing (house-wide illness, mystery IV drip, etc.). Between family chaos and questioning the overwhelming religious vibes, he managed to sneak in a tour of tapas bars—including Bobby’s Free, a barbershop turned speakeasy where you open a safe to get a drink. Also on the agenda: the Sagrada Familia, which still looks like Gaudí teamed up with an alien architect. and judge for yourself. Steven went full Jedi at Disney’s Star Wars Night on Batuu, adding more...
info_outlineReal Life
This week, real life got weird, itchy, nostalgic, and just slightly chaotic.
Ben celebrated a birthday by dragging his family through a hike in tick-infested grass. Friendly reminder: Don’t go into the long grass. We’ve seen Jurassic Park, we know how this ends.
Devon may or may not be living in Foreverware straight out of Eerie, Indiana. Start checking those Tupperware lids, folks.
Steven escaped a house overrun with cousins the only way he knows how: board game store therapy.
Here’s what we’re playing:
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Burnout Paradise Remastered is only $5 on Steam right now and it still rules. Devon showed us how to pull off some in-game stunts. Sadly, not applicable to real life.
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Steven got cozy with Harmonies, a gorgeous little nature-builder where you balance habitats and critters.
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Ben brought in Infinite Board Game (Piecepack)—a modular system that spawned classics like Worm Derby and 9 Ball.
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Steven also shouted out Tak (playable with Piecepack!) and unboxed his shiny new copy of Slugblaster.
Future or Now
We talk a lot about the future, but this week, the past clawed its way back into the conversation.
Ben shared a killer quote from Ray Bradbury:
“I’m warning you now, so you don’t have to pay a psychiatrist 20 years from now…”
It came from a great piece of writing advice for screenwriters, poets, novelists—anyone with a keyboard. TLDR: read other stuff, write other stuff. Don’t get boxed in. Read the whole post here.
Devon brought space horror to the table: a NASA satellite that’s been dead for 57 years just pinged Earth out of nowhere. Read more
Steven dove into the fungal unknown: scientists have turned Aspergillus flavus—yes, the tomb fungus found in places like King Tut’s burial site—into a potential treatment for leukemia. Cursed no more. Science article here
Book Club
We’re still steeped in the gentle robot comfort of Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built. This week, we covered:
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Audible Chapters 6–8
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Book Chapters 4–6:
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An Object, and an Animal
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Remnants
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Grass Hen with Wilted Greens and Caramelized Onion (legit sounds delicious)
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Next week:
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Book Chapters 7 & 8 (The Wild, The Summer Bear)
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Audible Chapters 9–10
Bonus recommendation: Devon says you should read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, if you want philosophy, talking apes, and big “what’s-wrong-with-the-world” energy.