Episode 605: Pop Culture in Spaaaaaace
Science Faction Podcast
This week’s episode leans a little more literary than usual—less breaking news, more storytelling, and a surprisingly thoughtful mix of sci-fi, horror, and real-world weirdness. Real Life Ben kicks things off by consciously shifting gears—less doomscrolling, more reading. A noble goal, and honestly, one that might save his sanity. That theme carries through the episode more than expected. Steven brings in the tabletop energy with , diving into a recent session with Greg. Not only did he get some solid playtime in, he actually won—a rare enough event to deserve celebration. He breaks...
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Episode 604: Illusions and Enlightenments
Science Faction Podcast
This week’s episode drifts from real-life chaos into full-on simulation theory territory—because apparently that’s just how things go now. Real Life Ben’s week kicks off with a perfect storm: his mom’s in town, the power steering pump dies, and suddenly he’s asking the very real question—is it finally time to go electric? In the middle of all that, he stumbles across 1D Chess (), which somehow takes chess, removes a dimension, and still manages to be confusing. Devon spent the week getting absolutely wrecked by a mystery illness that took out the whole family. Not COVID, not the...
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Episode 603: We Broke the Episode
Science Faction Podcast
Special Note: This episode fought us. Hard. There was some extreme editing required, and yeah—you might notice a slight dip in quality. We hear it too. But we’re owning it, learning from it, and making sure it doesn’t happen again. Appreciate you sticking with us through the chaos. Real Life Ben kicks things off with a classic combo: in-laws, tacos, and just enough drama to keep things interesting. Somewhere in the middle of that, he also put together a wild Spider-Man 3 edit with a Twilight Zone twist—honestly, it’s worth your time: Steven’s house has officially entered a...
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Episode 602: Artemis II and the AI Art Problem
Science Faction Podcast
This week’s episode kicks off exactly how you’d expect: a mix of chaos, parenting wins (and losses), and just enough sci-fi to keep things on-brand. Real Life Devon’s been deep in the thick of family life—birthday parties, Easter egg hunts, and a firm stance on “No Kings in Texas,” which is either a political statement or just a man trying to maintain order in a house full of sugar-fueled children. Either way, it’s survival mode with style. Ben’s living that logistical nightmare we all eventually face: coordinating kids’ events, managing shifting social zones, and navigating...
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Episode 601: Thank You, Flea!
Science Faction Podcast
This week we bounce from toy-filled offices and pirate obsessions into brain-powered computers and philosophical robot chaos—before wrapping things up with a very French film discussion and next week’s Book Club pick. Real Life Devon kicks things off by giving some Texans a tour of his office—which, unsurprisingly, is packed with what can only be described as adult toys. Naturally, this spirals into a broader conversation about how we’re all just kids with slightly more expensive hobbies. No shame there. Ben brings us into the world of VR with Walkabout Mini Golf’s Hollywood course...
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Episode 600: Almost Shakespearean
Science Faction Podcast
This week we bounce from the eternal debate over pie superiority (and some truly questionable anti-pie opinions) into sci-fi revivals, strange travel stories, and the art of a good ending—before closing things out with a genuinely unsettling short story that may or may not leave you side-eyeing your bathroom forever. Real Life We kick things off with the most important topic we’ve ever covered: pie. Favorites, non-favorites, and a few takes that might genuinely damage friendships. No spoilers—but some of us have very strong opinions. Ben brings a little sci-fi hope (and caution) with...
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Episode 599: Devon Sold a Guitar for THIS?
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life This week’s episode begins the way many of our weeks began: confused, slightly annoyed, and one hour short on sleep thanks to the time change. Ben kicks things off by voicing what everyone is feeling — daylight saving time is rough. Losing an hour never gets easier, and the collective fog hangs over the whole episode like a mild but persistent headache. Devon isn’t exactly escaping the chaos either. Between a hockey game down in Louisiana and spring break activities with the kids, his schedule is all over the place. Add the time shift on top of that and it’s a miracle anyone...
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Episode 598: The Twenty Year Window
Science Faction Podcast
This week we bounce from weddings with questionable video evidence to universal vaccines, rogue dubstep artists named after shingles shots, and a time-loop story that left us… conflicted. Let’s get into it. Real Life Ben officiated a wedding. It was beautiful. It was meaningful. It was legally binding. There may or may not be video proof. Somewhere, there’s a phone with 3% battery and a shaky clip of vows. Or maybe not. Either way, two people are married and that’s what counts. If you’re going to officiate a wedding, here’s the lesson: double-check the recording situation. Memory...
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Episode 597: Yautja, Genetics and You
Science Faction Podcast
) and Tyler Elliott (), both of whom absolutely delivered. Tight pacing, sharp jokes, and the kind of live energy that reminds you comedy hits different when you’re in the room instead of watching clips online. Steven, meanwhile, has been locked into A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and is fully endorsing it. Strong characters, grounded storytelling, and that classic slow-burn worldbuilding that rewards patience. On the tabletop side, his MCC game took a brutal turn when a player character died — goodbye Plank the Plantient. A true legend. A photosynthetic casualty. The kind of loss that...
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Episode 596: The First Law and the Worst Lies
Science Faction Podcast
This week we bounce from haunted literary labyrinths and gonzo chaos in Real Life, into falling space junk, AI hype experiments, and surprisingly clever cows in Future or Now — before wrapping up with Isaac Asimov’s Liar! and a discussion about robot ethics, emotional harm, and the danger of well-intentioned lies. Real Life Steven is deep into , and yeah — “trip” is the correct word. The book continues to be less of a story and more of a psychological maze that actively messes with your sense of reality while you read it. Not a casual bedtime book. More like a “stare at the...
info_outlineThis week we bounce from weddings with questionable video evidence to universal vaccines, rogue dubstep artists named after shingles shots, and a time-loop story that left us… conflicted.
Let’s get into it.
Real Life
Ben officiated a wedding. It was beautiful. It was meaningful. It was legally binding. There may or may not be video proof. Somewhere, there’s a phone with 3% battery and a shaky clip of vows. Or maybe not. Either way, two people are married and that’s what counts. If you’re going to officiate a wedding, here’s the lesson: double-check the recording situation. Memory is not a backup drive.
Ben also discovered that in newer versions of iOS, you can type to Siri. This is huge for anyone who has ever whispered a text into their phone in public and immediately regretted it. We are slowly evolving into silent thumb-typers talking to machines. The future is polite and awkward.
Devon talked about how he uses ChatGPT — not casually, but intentionally. He uses it for work. He uses it to rewrite drafts, fix spelling, tighten arguments. Think of it as a second-pass editor that doesn’t get tired. He went deeper into why he chose to pay for it and what “professional analysis” even means in an AI context. If you’re billing by the hour, clarity matters.
He also raised the question: does LexisNexis have AI baked in now? (Short answer: of course they do. Long answer: it depends how you define AI, which is half the battle in 2026.)
Ben uses “AI” differently — mostly for data sifting. Large piles of information. Pattern spotting. Less magic robot, more extremely fast intern.
Steven admitted he uses ChatGPT to help generate episode notes and images. If you’re creating consistently, tools matter. The question isn’t “Is this cheating?” The question is: “Are you using the tool to think better or to think less?” Big difference.
We also watched The First Minute of Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip — and yes, he does the backflip. Watch the full clip on YouTube and the full special on Dropout. Demi Adejuyigbe (pronounced DEM-ee ə-DIJ-oo-EE-bay) is sharp, chaotic, and there’s a killer Marge Simpson joke in the full show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kveA4wgIhI
Speaking of Marge — Marge Simpson is not dead. The French voice actress passed away. RIP. The character remains immortal yellow.
Ben also plugged his ekphrastic poetry workshop — Write Poems with Me — happening Saturday 3/7 at the Beacon Art Show or online. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to try poetry, this is it. Show up. Make weird art.
https://buttondown.com/penciledin/archive/write-poems-with-me-saturday-37-at-the-beacon-art/
Future or Now
Steven brought in a wild one: a possible “universal” vaccine from researchers at Stanford Medicine.
Instead of targeting a specific virus, this nasal spray supercharges the lungs’ immune defenses. In mice, it reduced viral load, prevented severe illness, and even blocked allergic reactions. COVID. Flu. Pneumonia. Allergens.
If this holds up in humans, that’s not incremental. That’s foundational.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260222092258.htm
Ben followed with research suggesting shingles vaccines might lower dementia risk. Studies around the shingles vaccines Zostavax and Shingrix have shown reduced dementia incidence in vaccinated older adults. There’s also data suggesting the vaccine may slow biological aging markers, including inflammation.
This is where Steven held his jokes until the very end.
Zostavax and Shingrix are dubstep artists.
“Twenty Year Window” is their debut collaboration.
“Dementia” is their first single.
Sometimes you need the bit.
But seriously — if preventing viral reactivation reduces neuroinflammation and long-term cognitive decline, that’s massive. It’s early. It’s correlation-heavy. But it’s promising.
Pay attention to this space.
Book Club
This week: All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein (1958).
https://lecturia.org/en/short-stories/robert-a-heinlein-all-you-zombies/19420/
Time travel. Identity loops. Paradoxes stacked on paradoxes.
There are also… problems.
Ben had major issues with the problematic elements. And they’re not small issues. The story reflects the era it was written in, and not in a flattering way.
Devon didn’t love the no-stakes feeling. When a story collapses into inevitability, tension can evaporate. If everything always already happened, what are we gripping onto?
Steven’s take: the story is valuable as a historical artifact. It shows where science fiction was. You can see the mechanics. The ambition. The blind spots. You don’t have to endorse it to learn from it.
That’s maturity in reading: understanding context without pretending flaws don’t exist.
Next week, we’re reading Presence by Ken Liu, published in Uncanny Magazine. Ken Liu tends to blend emotional precision with speculative ideas, so expect something thoughtful.
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/presence/
Read it. Come ready.
Final Thought
This episode circled one big theme whether we meant to or not:
Tools. AI tools. Medical tools. Narrative tools. Historical tools. The question isn’t whether tools change the world. They do. The question is whether we’re using them deliberately.
So here’s your small challenge this week:
Pick one tool you’re already using — AI, writing software, research databases, even your phone — and ask yourself:
Am I using this to sharpen my thinking?
Or to avoid it?
Be honest.
We’ll see you next week.