Episode 584: Inheriting the Atom Bomb
Science Faction Podcast
This Week on the Pod: Rain, Parades, Hive Minds, and… Ben’s Brain for Rent? This week’s episode opens with a very rainy round of real-life updates. Ben has been slammed with work and declares—formally, officially, irrevocably—that poetry is better than parades. (He is fully prepared to defend this position.) Meanwhile, Steven reports that the local parade and festival still happened despite the rain, because sometimes community spirit just refuses to check the weather. And Devon? He keeps forgetting that he’s technically a Texan now, which raises several questions about residency,...
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Episode 583: Trickle Down Electronics
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life It’s another week of real life, questionable decisions, and sci-fi tangents. Does Devon Even Like Being on the Show? We ask the question no one dared to before—and yes, Devon does like being here. Just… maybe not for the reasons you think. Ben’s Apology Tour Continues Ben kicks things off with an immediate apology for this podcast. Again. But he makes up for it by diving into Apple TV’s The Big Door Prize ()—a show full of mysteries, midlife crises, and a machine that tells you your true potential. He’s also been watching Zen for Nothing and Piece by Piece, and we learn...
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Episode 582: The Law of Communal Dynamics
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Time changed again. Why? Didn’t we, as a society, vote on not doing this anymore? Every clock reset feels like an act of collective gaslighting. Ben spent his week teaching classes at the Art-a-thon, where he also led a chaotic round of Werewolves featuring the now-immortal line: “I am a delicious villager.” The kids apparently took that declaration at face value. Steven was also at the Art-a-thon, diving into unfamiliar crafts (the kind that require more glue than dignity). Between Halloween, Disney runs, and too much coffee, his week sounded like a montage of exhaustion...
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Episode 581: Fuzzy Wires, Clear Minds
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life: This week’s episode kicks off with Ben wondering what would happen if idioms were costumes. Imagine showing up to a party literally raining cats and dogs or dressed as the elephant in the room. (We’re not sure if that’s genius or horrifying.) Steven reminds everyone to say it to our faces! — meaning, drop us a comment or suggestion. Seriously. We read them. Sometimes we even respond like civilized humans. Devon went to a Halloween party with the Non-Religious Alliance of East Texas Facebook group (yes, that’s a thing), rocking a DS9 uniform costume that probably had...
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Episode 580: 11 Days VS 32 Years
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Ben was out this week, which left Devon and Steven to hold court—and as Devon reminded us, there are no kings here anyway. He showed up fresh from an event that apparently involved an axolotl costume (details were scarce, which somehow made it funnier), and immediately launched into a whirlwind of thoughts about upcoming elections, funding cuts to science, and the strange, ongoing collision between South Park and real-world politics. Meanwhile, Steven spent his weekend in the world of The Witcher: The Old World board game with Greg, slaying monsters, collecting trophies, and...
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Episode 579: Beautiful Trash
Science Faction Podcast
It’s another week in real life for the gang — or at least for most of us. Devon’s down sick, so it’s a two-man show featuring Steven and Ben navigating the bizarre crossroads of tech, food, and VR golf. 🏌️ Real Life Ben’s been tethered to the job, but he still managed to escape reality long enough to join a virtual round of — specifically the new — alongside Steven, some friends, and one of our lovely patrons. Turns out, there’s nothing quite like bonding over missed putts in low-poly Japan. Meanwhile, Steven’s week has been aggressively autumnal. Between a pumpkin...
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Episode 578: Fall Is Just Okay (But Demon Lords Are Great)
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Ben’s decided that fall is… fine. Just okay. Leaves fall, pumpkin spice happens, and he moves on. His energy’s better spent testing out new hands-free necklace cameras—a totally normal sentence—and keeping Orion fed and happy. Meanwhile, Steven dove headfirst into Shadow of the Demon Lord, playing Velmar the Archivist, a character with a flair for ancient lore and possibly poor life decisions. Five hours later, the table survived, the dice were appeased, and Steven was still buzzing from the chaos. Devon, fresh from his cruise survival, gave us tales of ice skating, laser...
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Episode 577: The Robot Pope Is Real
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Devon’s not here this week—he ditched us for a cruise. Apparently, some doctors say cruises are floating petri dishes with barely any oversight on cleanliness. But not our Devon. He’s braving the high seas while Steven sits at home thinking, “You know what sounds better than hundreds of strangers sneezing near me? Literally anything else.” Meanwhile, Ben went to the Gamer Festival at the Madonna Inn, which looked like an absolute blast. Arcade machines, board games, and maybe too many people in themed t-shirts. He even stumbled across a longplay video of Stargate (Arcade)...
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Episode 576: Our Mass Outpaces Our Structure
Science Faction Podcast
This week’s episode covers everything from Metallica rumors to vehicular combat nostalgia, with some Star Trek overload and a short story about ants the size of Buicks. Real Life First off: is Metallica doing a farewell tour? Nope. , it’s not the end. Devon’s floating the idea of a Metallica Vegas residency though—because nothing says “hard rock” like the Strip buffet scene. Speaking of trips, Devon cruised back to Cozumel and reported in with the most lukewarm Superman review ever: “It was okay.” Much more enthusiasm went to Twisted Metal, which Devon swears is actually good...
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Episode 575: Yogurt, but Make It Sci-Fi
Science Faction Podcast
This week’s episode was a ride through everything from neighborhood drama to yogurt overlords, with plenty of science and sci-fi sprinkled along the way. Real Life Ben kicked things off with Five Nights at Freddy’s—because apparently, jump scares are just how he likes to unwind. From there, he veered into a wild story involving a crossing guard, a flag man, and threats from a community member that had us questioning if this was real life or the start of a low-budget thriller. Devon had politics on his mind (as he often does), and let’s just say it was… cathartic. Steven...
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Devon
Gone again, off doing what families do. Probably eating responsibly and not playing Magic with middle schoolers. We’ll get a full download when he returns from the wilds of familial bonding.
Steven
Steven melted in Palm Springs last weekend. Like, cartoon puddle of clothes and glasses melted. It hit 112°F, and not in the fun "desert dry heat" way—it was more like a hairdryer set to regret. But he survived the heat and a surprise 65th birthday party for his mother-in-law. (Note: surprise party for a 65-year-old in 112-degree weather? Bold.)
To escape the heat and socializing, Steven brought along Timeline by Michael Crichton, tore through the whole thing, and now he won’t stop recommending it. According to him, it’s “a pleasant, rollicking adventure of death and destruction in the Middle Ages.” Classic beach read, if your beach has trebuchets.
Ben
Ben relived his childhood glory this week by annihilating two 12-year-olds at Magic: The Gathering. Old deck, newer rules, zero mercy. He’s still basking in the smug warmth of that victory and considering building a commemorative statue of himself out of old booster packs.
In nerdier news, Ben continues to experiment with Bazzite OS, a Linux distro that somehow convinced Forza Horizon 5 to run smoothly. He also tried out Wheel World, a cell-shaded, bike-themed Zelda-like that nobody asked for, but he’s glad it exists.
Streaming from PC to handheld? He recommends:
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Install Sunshine on your PC
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Install Moonlight on your handheld device
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Plug in with Ethernet if you can
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Pray to the latency gods
It’s working so far. Maybe this is the future. Maybe this is now.
Future or Now
Ben brought in a fascinating bit of anti-AI-fakery this week. Researchers at Cornell have developed a way to embed invisible “codes” into light, which act as hidden watermarks in videos. Basically: lighting at press conferences, buildings, or even Zoom calls could carry encrypted signals that make it easy to verify video authenticity later.
It’s subtle, elegant, and extremely cyberpunk. The best part? You won’t notice the difference. But your editing software will. Check it out:
🔗 Cornell’s light watermarking research
Steven countered with some good ol’ fashioned outer space optimism.
NASA’s Europa Clipper recently flew past Mars and successfully tested its radar system (REASON)—which can detect structures beneath planetary surfaces. On Earth, we use radar to find oil. On Europa, we might use it to find oceans... or something hiding in them.
More here:
🔗 NASA’s radar success en route to Europa
Book Club
This Week:
We read All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury. If you want to feel joy, sorrow, cruelty, and loss in a tight 3-page gut punch, this one's for you. It’s a story about kids, Venus, and the cruelty of the sun—or lack thereof. Also, the 1982 educational film adaptation is still seared into our brains.
📖 Read the story
📺 Watch the adaptation
📚 Anthology source
Next Week:
Transience by Arthur C. Clarke. We’re diving into one of his lesser-known works about change, memory, and humanity’s inevitable drift. Clarke has a way of making even the quietest stories feel cosmic.
📖 Read Transience
📚 Anthology source
If your air conditioner broke, if you crushed children in a card game, or if you accidentally invented a futuristic video authentication system this week—welcome. You’re one of us now.
See you next time.
Stay weird. Stay cool.
–The Team