Science Faction Podcast

A science and science fiction based podcast hosted by two high school friends, and two college friends. Listen and learn and geek out. In this podcast, science meets fact, meets fiction.

Episode 606: Deterioration Starts At 30 04/29/2026

Episode 606: Deterioration Starts At 30 This week’s episode has a little bit of everything—local politics, a suspicious number of Star Trek–named kittens, some genuinely cool green tech, and a short story that hits you with an existential haymaker. Real Life Devon’s in a “life is… fine” zone, which is either stability or the calm before chaos—we’ll let you decide. That leads into a surprisingly interesting question: does a mayor’s party affiliation actually matter at the local level? Texas elections are happening right now, and it sparks a broader conversation about how much politics really trickles down into day-to-day governance. Also on the home front: kids’ birthday parties, which are somehow both joyful and mildly exhausting. Ben has fully entered his foster-dad era—but for kittens. A whole crew of them: Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, and their mom Majel. He claims he didn’t name them, which statistically feels unlikely. Either way, it’s a Starfleet-grade lineup. Meanwhile, Devon’s household remains firmly anti-new-pet, so don’t expect a crossover episode there. We also touch on For All Mankind, and then pivot into the upcoming Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender film—specifically the leaks, early reactions, and what happens when studios lose control of the narrative before release. There’s some real-world legal tension brewing there. Steven… well, Steven exists this week. (You’ll hear it.) Future or Now Devon brings in a heavy one: reports that the independent board overseeing the National Science Foundation has been abruptly dismissed, raising serious concerns about political interference in scientific research and long-term innovation. You can read more here: This isn’t just bureaucratic reshuffling—it could have real downstream effects on funding, research priorities, and scientific independence. Ben tries to balance things out with something genuinely cool: Mosscrete. It’s a bioreceptive concrete designed to grow moss directly on buildings using nothing but rain and humidity. No irrigation, no maintenance-heavy systems—just passive, living architecture. It’s one of those ideas that feels obvious in hindsight but actually takes some clever engineering to pull off. This whole topic also dredges up a deep memory: Bill Nye’s moss-and-milk experiment. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you probably just learned something slightly unsettling about childhood science videos. Steven is present in this segment as well. Technically. Book Club Next Week: Saint Zero of the Hollows and the Eagle Knight by V.M. Ayala “The only sound Zero heard in their helmet was their own hyperventilating and the gentle pings from their pegasus.” That line alone is doing a lot of work. We’re excited for this one. This Week: Learning To Be Me by Greg Egan “I was six years old when my parents told me that there was a small, dark jewel inside my skull, learning to be me.” This story landed hard for all of us. It follows a life from childhood to adulthood in a way that feels deceptively simple—until it isn’t. The structure does a ton of heavy lifting, and the twist is the kind that makes you immediately want to reread it. We get into some big ideas here, especially panpsychism—the notion that consciousness might be a fundamental property of the universe rather than something that just “emerges.” It’s one of those discussions that starts philosophical and ends slightly unsettling. If you like episodes that bounce between grounded real life, big-picture science, and brain-bending fiction, this one’s for you. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41064840

Episode 605: Pop Culture in Spaaaaaace 04/22/2026

Episode 605: Pop Culture in Spaaaaaace 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 down how the game feels on the table, what works, and why it scratches that tactical cyberpunk itch without bogging players down. Ben circles back with , speculating about a possible season 4 and reflecting on season 3’s pacing issues. Longer episodes aren’t always better, and the conversation drifts into something more interesting: can “pop culture” even exist in something like Star Trek? Or does referencing it break the illusion of the future? It’s a surprisingly deep rabbit hole for a show that also features goo aliens and karaoke. Devon wraps the segment with a mini review of Dust Bunny, which sounds like it refuses to sit cleanly in any genre—magical realism, horror, maybe assassins? It’s got strong #Benergy. He’s also been bouncing between shows lately and not finding anything that sticks, which is a feeling a lot of people are quietly having right now. Future or Now Ben taps out this week and lets the science crew cook. Steven brings in a genuinely useful study: a clinical trial showing that specially designed music with auditory beat stimulation can significantly reduce anxiety. The standout detail? A 24-minute session hit the sweet spot—long enough to have a measurable effect, short enough to be practical. That idea of a “dosage” for music is interesting, especially if you’re someone trying to manage stress without adding another hour-long routine to your day. Devon follows with something more unsettling. Modern food systems are increasingly dependent on digital approval layers—databases, logistics software, automated verification. The result? Perfectly good food can sit unused or be thrown away simply because a system won’t recognize it. Not spoiled. Not unsafe. Just… digitally invisible. It’s a quiet kind of fragility that doesn’t show up until it really, really matters. Book Club Next week, the crew is reading , which opens with one of those classic sci-fi hooks that immediately rewires your brain: a child learning there’s something inside their skull learning to become them. If you know Egan, you know this is going to get existential fast. This week’s discussion centers on , and it lands somewhere between horror and speculative fiction. The premise is visceral and unsettling, and the reactions reflect that. Steven really connects with the writing style—there’s something about the way it unfolds that sticks. Devon appreciates it but keeps a bit of distance. Ben, as usual, digs into the meaning, questioning how literal or metaphorical the story’s elements are. It’s one of those discussions where nobody’s wrong, but nobody fully agrees either—which is exactly where the best conversations tend to live. If this episode has a throughline, it’s this: systems—whether they’re games, shows, bodies, or entire food networks—only work as well as the assumptions behind them. And when those assumptions get weird, everything else follows. And yeah, Steven finally got a win. That might be the biggest sci-fi moment of all. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40980020

Episode 604: Illusions and Enlightenments 04/15/2026

Episode 604: Illusions and Enlightenments 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 flu—just one of those “you’re not in control” reminders from the universe. Steven brings the nerd balance: Star Wars: Shatterpoint with Greg, continued love for Project Hail Mary, and early buzz that Avengers: Doomsday might actually land with that Infinity War-level impact. He also highlights Vantage (), a sci-fi card game that plays like a choose-your-own-adventure. Future or Now Ben highlights Phyphox (), an app that turns your phone into a portable science lab. It’s one of those tools that quietly reminds you how powerful your everyday tech really is—especially when people are using it for real experiments (). Steven brings the heavy hitter this week: scientists have successfully mapped and simulated the brain of a fruit fly—Drosophila melanogaster—and used it to control a virtual version of it. Not full human emulation, but it’s a serious step in that direction. If you want to go down the rabbit hole, check out the coverage (, ) and the demo itself (). Devon wisely sits this one out before things get too existential. Book Club This week’s story is “Terms of Enlightenment” by Patrick Hurley (), and the discussion goes deep. We get into the “matrix-ness” of the story—what it means to live in a constructed reality and whether enlightenment is about escaping it or understanding it. There’s a strong thread of Eastern philosophy throughout, especially when Ben dives into Zen koans and the idea that truth isn’t something you’re told—it’s something you experience by breaking your own thinking patterns. The conversation circles around illusion, perception, and whether “hacking reality” is just metaphor… or something closer than we think. Next Week’s Book Club We’re reading “Morning Shed” by Namita Krishnamurthy (). Every few years, the narrator’s face erupts in eyes. So… yeah. That’s where we’re headed next. If nothing else, this episode makes a pretty strong case that the line between science fiction and reality is getting thinner by the week—and we’re all just trying to keep up. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40888340

Episode 603: We Broke the Episode 04/08/2026

Episode 603: We Broke the Episode 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 Gravity Falls era, and it’s pulling him in too. The cyphers, the hidden messages—it’s that perfect blend of kid-friendly and secretly brilliant that makes you feel like you’re solving puzzles alongside the show. From there, things spiral (as they do) into TV talk. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is hitting right, but it raises a bigger question—are shows getting too dark for TV? We bounce through The Mandalorian and Grogu, try to remember what even happened in Season 3, and land hard on one standout: Maul: Shadow Lord. It’s peak Star Wars animation and feels like a true evolution of what Clone Wars started. Also, For All Mankind gets some love in the mix. Future or Now Ben brings in a strong recommendation this week: more animated feature films—specifically Your Name. He walks us through the premise, the emotional weight, and why this one stands out. If you’ve been sleeping on animated films outside the usual Western stuff, this might be the one that pulls you in. Steven… had something planned. But we talked too much Star Wars. So… NOT THIS TIME. Book Club Next week: We’re reading Terms of Enlightenment by Patrick Hurley: If you want to read ahead and join us, now’s your chance. This week: We dive into The O’Neill Cylinder in Geostationary Orbit Above Earth’s Equator by Katlina Sommerberg: This one’s a little different—it’s sci-fi poetry, and we go line by line trying to unpack it. What does it mean? What’s it saying about humanity, space, and perspective? We don’t pretend to have all the answers, but that’s kind of the fun of it. It turns into a thoughtful, slightly chaotic, and genuinely interesting conversation. If you made it this far—seriously, thank you. And if you want more of the show (bonus episodes, Discord access, behind-the-scenes chaos), you know where to find us. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40776480

Episode 602: Artemis II and the AI Art Problem 04/01/2026

Episode 602: Artemis II and the AI Art Problem 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 the emotional weirdness of realizing your kid doesn’t need you quite as much anymore. It’s a mix of pride and quiet existential dread. Naturally, he copes the way any rational adult would—by getting wrecked in a Steam sale. Casualties include Speed Demons 2 () and Q-UP (). No regrets. Probably. Steven’s been volunteering at a “Kids Night Out,” which sounds wholesome until you remember he also ran a Pirate Borg session where the players stripped their former captain completely bare. So yeah—community service on one hand, absolute pirate degeneracy on the other. Balance. Future or Now Ben brings in something surprisingly grounded this week: the science of purpose. Pulling from research and articles like Dan Harris’ piece (), the conversation digs into how having a sense of purpose isn’t just feel-good advice—it’s statistically tied to longer life and better emotional resilience. Studies show it can predict mortality rates () and even how quickly you bounce back from negative experiences (). It’s one of those moments where the show briefly brushes up against self-improvement… before inevitably spiraling back into nonsense. Devon shifts gears with This Week in Space, highlighting NASA’s Artemis II mission (). We’re talking a real-deal crewed flight looping around the moon—something that still feels unreal decades after Apollo. It’s a reminder that while we argue about Steam sales and parenting, humanity is quietly gearing up to head back into deep space. That leads naturally into For All Mankind talk—specifically the upcoming Season 5 and the teased “Star City” arc from a Russian perspective. If you’re not watching the pre-season news reports, you’re missing half the fun. The show continues to be one of the best “what if we actually committed to space?” thought experiments out there. Book Club This week’s reading, Through the Machine by P.A. Cornell (), starts as a discussion about the story itself… and quickly mutates into something much bigger. What begins as a review turns into a full-on conversation about AI art—how it’s made, how people consume it, and whether we’re all just collectively deciding not to ask uncomfortable questions. The discussion pulls in real-world context, including coverage like Ars Technica’s piece on AI-generated storytelling (), and asks the question nobody really has a clean answer to: what are we supposed to do with this? Next week’s reading shifts tone a bit with The O’Neill Cylinder in Geostationary Orbit Above Earth’s Equator by Katlina Sommerberg (). Expect big ideas, space habitats, and probably at least one tangent that derails everything. This episode is a good snapshot of what the show does best: start grounded in real life, drift into science, and end somewhere in the middle of a philosophical argument about the future—while occasionally mentioning pirates stripping a man naked. Pretty standard week, honestly. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40701160

Episode 601: Thank You, Flea! 03/25/2026

Episode 601: Thank You, Flea! 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 (check it out here: ). But it’s not all smooth putting—there’s some concern about rising course prices, less frequent releases, layoffs, and reduced iOS support. The vibe is shifting a bit, and not necessarily in a good way. Devon also caught Project Hail Mary in IMAX and came away seriously impressed—calling it one of the best book adaptations he’s seen. High praise. That leads into some appreciation for Andy Weir’s writing style and a detour into the Cheshire Crossing webcomic, because apparently we’re doing high-concept sci-fi and surreal fairy tale mashups in the same breath now. Meanwhile, Steven has fully committed to pirates. A Pirates of the Caribbean rewatch has set the tone, but instead of just watching, he’s gearing up to run a full-on Pirate Borg game (). There’s also a shoutout to Land of Eem, a muppet-inspired TTRPG being run by Christina’s husband—which sounds delightfully weird—but yeah… pirates won this week. Future or Now Devon brings in something that sounds like it’s straight out of a dystopian sci-fi script: data centers powered by human brain cells. Yes, actual biological neurons. These systems require daily maintenance—including swapping out cerebrospinal fluid—which is not a sentence you expect to hear in a tech discussion. What started as experiments where neurons learned to play Pong () has now escalated to… potentially running DOOM. Because of course it has. If you want to go deeper into the company behind it, check out . But the real question is: at what point does this stop being “cool innovation” and start being “ethically complicated nightmare fuel”? Ben counters with some technophilosophy, specifically the Three Inverse Laws of Robotics (). It’s a fun twist on Asimov’s classic rules—basically flipping the script to highlight how things could go very wrong. If Devon’s segment is about can we do this?, Ben’s is asking should we? Book Club Next week’s read: Through the Machine by P.A. Cornell This week, the crew dives into Arco!—which you can find here: Ben gives a full rundown of the film, clearly coming in as the biggest fan of the group. Steven jumps in with context on the cast and sums up the experience as “very French,” which tells you a lot if you’ve ever watched… well, anything French. Devon lands somewhere in the middle—appreciating a lot of what the movie does, even if it doesn’t fully sweep him away. If you’re into sci-fi that edges a little too close to reality, pirate RPG chaos, or just three guys trying to figure out where the line is between “cool tech” and “we’ve gone too far,” this episode’s got you covered. And if you want more—bonus episodes, unedited chaos, Discord access, and all the weird extras—head over to patreon.com/sciencefactionpodcast and join us there. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40621615

Episode 600: Almost Shakespearean 03/18/2026

Episode 600: Almost Shakespearean 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 talk of a possible return to the world of Firefly. Between comics and expanded universe material—like the recent developments covered over at SYFY Wire ( there's clearly still life in the ‘verse. But as always, the question is: should it come back, or is it better left alone? Meanwhile, the planned Buffy reboot/sequel has officially stalled out at Hulu, which… honestly might be for the best. [bad opinion AI] Devon takes us on a trip to Eureka Springs, a town built on the idea that its waters had healing properties. It’s got that old-world charm mixed with just enough weird to make it interesting—complete with a glass-and-wood beam church, ziplining adventures, and a full-on St. Patrick’s Day parade. A little history, a little adrenaline, a little chaos. Steven celebrates Pie Day the right way, follows it up with an all-day beach trip, and then pivots straight into Pirate Borg prep. There’s a game on the horizon, and the hype is real. Future or Now Ben takes the wheel with a surprisingly thoughtful discussion about endings—what makes them work, why they matter, and how often they completely fall apart. This leads into Babylon 5 (with a shoutout to Josh), and if you want a refresher or a reason to revisit it, check this out: From there, it’s all about what’s next in Star Trek. Starfleet Academy Season 1 has people talking, and the future lineup is stacked: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is on the way this summer, with Season 5 already lining up some heavy hitters—including Thomas Jane stepping in as Dr. McCoy and Kai Murakami as Sulu. And then there’s the truly baffling situation: Star Trek: Prodigy just won an Emmy… and is basically impossible to watch. If you want to feel equal parts excited and frustrated, here’s the breakdown: Steven dives into some fun (and slightly chaotic) tech territory with green screen experimentation. Corridor Crew breaks it down here: and if you want to mess with it yourself, the open-source tool Corridor Key is here: Book Club Next week, we’re checking out Arco!—you can find it on Apple TV right here: We’ll report back on whether it’s worth your time (and money). This week, we read What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom by Angela Liu: And look—this one sparked some debate. Ben tries to walk Steven through it… because it didn’t quite click at first. But Devon cuts straight through the noise and nails it: this is a horror story. Not loud, not obvious—but deeply, quietly unsettling in a way that sticks with you longer than you’d like. One More Thing Ben’s got boots on the ground this weekend at the Beacon Art Show Ekphrastic Poetry Reading, happening Saturday (3/21) at 2pm at the SLO United Methodist Church. If you’re local, go check it out—support some art, hear some poetry, and maybe report back. If you’ve got strong pie opinions, thoughts on whether Firefly should come back, or theories about that bathroom story, we want to hear them. And if you haven’t yet—subscribe, follow, and share the show with someone who enjoys a good mix of chaos, sci-fi, and questionable food takes. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40527435

Episode 599: Devon Sold a Guitar for THIS? 03/11/2026

Episode 599: Devon Sold a Guitar for THIS? 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 is awake enough to record. Ben quickly pivots into defending Starfleet Academy, which he insists is a “tremendously good show.” According to him, the loudest critics clearly aren’t watching it. During the conversation Steven realizes he somehow made it this far in life without fully understanding what the Omega Particle is, which becomes a small but hilarious rabbit hole. Meanwhile the group grumbles about the Voyager game releasing day-one DLC — a move that feels more than a little gross. Steven brings a literary palate cleanser to the table. After wrestling with the famously labyrinthine House of Leaves, he recommends another unsettling architectural mystery: Strange Houses by Uketsu. If eerie homes and unsettling mysteries are your thing, it might be worth checking out here: Ben contributes a strange internet gem called Pricemaster, a bizarre and hypnotic video that quickly becomes one of those “you just have to see it” moments during the episode. If you want to experience the same confusion we did, you can watch it here: Devon then unveils the real headline of the Real Life segment: a brand-new guitar amp. He picked up a Fender Mustang GTX 100, and the excitement level is off the charts. The amp includes digital modeling, built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, and an accompanying app that lets him endlessly tweak tones. Devon is talking about it so much that it raises a bigger question — he actually sold a guitar to buy the amp. If you know Devon, that’s a shocking development. Future or Now Ben kicks off this segment with a fascinating animated project called Arco, produced by Natalie Portman. The story follows a ten-year-old boy from the year 2932 who isn’t supposed to time travel yet. Naturally, he steals a time-travel cape and gemstone, aiming for the age of dinosaurs… and instead crash-lands in the year 2075. There he meets a girl named Iris and her robot nanny, and the unlikely trio may be the only ones who can prevent a global catastrophe. You can read more about the project here: Devon brings a science question that sounds simple but gets weird fast: why aren’t mammals as colorful as reptiles, birds, or fish? If you look around the animal kingdom, mammals mostly stick to browns, blacks, and muted tones. The explanation has a lot to do with fur structure and evolutionary pressures — bright pigments are much easier to display in feathers, scales, and bare skin than in thick mammalian fur. The article that sparked the discussion is here: Steven rounds out the segment with something even stranger — humans secretly have stripes. Not visible stripes, unfortunately, but real biological patterns called Blaschko’s lines. These lines emerge from the way skin cells divide and migrate during development. Under certain lighting conditions or medical circumstances, these patterns can actually appear, meaning everyone is walking around with hidden tiger stripes or cow-like patterns built into their skin. You can read more about that discovery here: Book Club Next week’s reading is “What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom” by Angela Liu, a title that raises several questions before you even start the story. If you want to read ahead with us, you can find it here: This week the group dives into “Presence” by Ken Liu, which you can read here: The story centers on an elderly parent living abroad and the adult children trying to care for them remotely through telepresence technology. The discussion quickly expands beyond the story itself. The hosts talk about the stark contrast between elder care in America and in other countries where multi-generational households are more common. That leads into a broader conversation about American individualism — the cultural idea that success means leaving home, chasing opportunity, and building an independent life. While that independence can open doors, it also creates distance and sometimes loneliness. The technology in the story doesn’t feel like science fiction for long. Telepresence robots and remote caregiving systems are already approaching the level shown in the story. The real question isn’t whether the technology works — it’s whether it can truly replace the sense of community and presence that people lose when families scatter across the world. It’s a thoughtful and surprisingly emotional conversation that leaves everyone wondering what responsibility looks like in a world where being physically present isn’t always possible. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40400555

Episode 598: The Twenty Year Window 03/04/2026

Episode 598: The Twenty Year Window 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 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40315355

Episode 597: Yautja, Genetics and You 02/25/2026

Episode 597: Yautja, Genetics and You ) 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 only high-lethality RPG systems can deliver with a straight face. Future or Now Devon brought in a genuinely mind-bending scientific development: researchers are finding duplicated genes that appear to have existed before the last universal common ancestor of all life on Earth. In other words, parts of the genetic toolkit may predate what we traditionally define as “life” itself. By tracking these rare, ancient gene duplications, scientists can reconstruct how early cells may have functioned and what biological features emerged first. It pushes the origin story of life further back than expected and turns evolution into less of a starting point and more of a long prologue. This spiraled naturally into broader science discussion, including a Veritasium breakdown of complex scientific ideas and some internet discourse around aliens and political commentary, because no modern science conversation remains purely scientific for long. Veritasium: Brian Tyler Cohen (Aliens & Obama discussion): Steven followed with a topic that sounds mythological but is very real: the so-called “Celtic Curse,” better known as hereditary hemochromatosis. Researchers have now mapped the genetic risk across the UK and Ireland, identifying major hotspots in north-west Ireland and the Outer Hebrides. In some regions, roughly one in 60 people carry the high-risk gene variant linked to iron overload. The dangerous part is how quietly it develops — symptoms can take decades to appear, yet untreated cases can lead to liver cancer, arthritis, and other serious complications. It’s a reminder that genetics isn’t just about ancestry curiosity; it’s about long-term health awareness. Book Club Next week’s reading is All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein (1958), which means we are heading directly into time loops, identity paradoxes, and classic golden-age sci-fi mind-bending territory. This week’s discussion centered on Predator: Badlands and, naturally, the broader Predator franchise as a whole. We talked about our personal history with the series, how it evolved from pure action-horror into something closer to mythological sci-fi, and where Badlands lands within that spectrum. Devon was a bit mixed on some of the action beats but still enjoyed the overall experience, while Steven leaned much more positive — especially when it came to the expanding Yautja lore. The cultural codes, the hunting philosophy, and the deeper worldbuilding continue to be the franchise’s strongest hook. It’s less about “monster shows up” now and more about an alien warrior culture with rules, hierarchy, and legacy, which makes revisiting the older films even more interesting in hindsight. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow the show, share it with a friend who loves sci-fi, genetics, and chaotic pop culture discussions, and check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, playlists, AI images, unedited recordings, and access to our Discord community. Come hang out, talk books, science news, and sci-fi with us — and don’t forget to read All You Zombies before next week, because the timeline is about to get weird. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40230730

Episode 596: The First Law and the Worst Lies 02/18/2026

Episode 596: The First Law and the Worst Lies 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 page and question existence” book. Meanwhile, Ben is reading , courtesy of Mom, which is a wildly different flavor of chaos. Where Steven is lost in haunted architecture and footnotes, Ben is cruising through drug-fueled journalism and American absurdity. Balanced intellectual diets all around. Devon, however, is reading… nothing. Which raises several questions. Is he okay? Is he plotting? Has he transcended books? We don’t know. We’re monitoring the situation. Ben also brought genuine excitement to the table with the upcoming . It’s got the theme song. That alone earns emotional bonus points. The real curiosity, though, is whether it leans into branching narrative choices like a Mass Effect-style experience. If it does, that opens up a ton of potential for alternate Voyager storylines, which is basically catnip for any Trek fan. Future or Now Steven covered a genuinely clever scientific development: researchers are now using earthquake sensors to detect falling space junk. Instead of building entirely new tracking systems, they’re piggybacking on instruments already listening to the Earth’s vibrations. When debris screams through the atmosphere and creates sonic booms, those sensors can track its path, breakup, and potential impact zones. It’s one of those solutions that feels obvious in hindsight but brilliant in execution — and also a reminder that space debris is no longer a purely theoretical problem. Devon brought in a story that feels like it was engineered in a lab to trigger the phrase “AI hype cycle.” A writer tested a platform where AI agents supposedly “rent grounded humans” to perform real-world tasks. The result? Almost no legitimate work, lots of promotional nonsense, intrusive automated follow-ups, and a general sense that the entire ecosystem is more marketing than function. It’s less “future of labor” and more “future of weird startup experiments.” The big takeaway: AI agents still struggle as real-world coordinators when things leave the digital sandbox. Ben, in what might be the most unexpectedly wholesome science story of the week, talked about a cow using a tool. Yes, a literal cow. Researchers observed a pet cow using a deck brush to scratch herself, even switching between the bristled end and the stick depending on the body area. That level of flexible tool use challenges the long-standing assumption that livestock lack cognitive complexity. In short: cows might be smarter (and more adaptable) than we’ve historically given them credit for, which is both fascinating and mildly humbling. Book Club For Book Club, we tackled , and this one sparked a surprisingly philosophical discussion. Herbie the robot doesn’t lie out of malice — he lies because of the First Law of Robotics: a robot may not harm a human, and emotional harm counts. So instead of telling painful truths, he tells comforting lies, which ultimately causes even more psychological damage. Classic Asimov move: take a simple rule and stress-test it until it breaks in morally uncomfortable ways. We did agree the human characters feel a bit flat and two-dimensional, but the core sci-fi idea is doing the heavy lifting. The story still holds up because the ethical dilemma is timeless: is a comforting lie more harmful than a painful truth? Especially when the lie is delivered by something programmed to protect you? YouTube link: Next week, we’re heading into a tonal shift with a watch and review of Predator: Badlands, which should move us from philosophical robots and lying logic loops straight into survival, spectacle, and probably some very questionable life choices by characters who ignore obvious danger signs. Should be fun. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow the show, share it with a friend who loves sci-fi and strange tech stories, and join our community for bonus content, playlists, AI images, and unedited episodes over on Patreon. You can also hop into the Discord to talk books, space news, and questionable future technology with us. And don’t forget to tune in next week for our review of Predator: Badlands — because nothing says thoughtful sci-fi discussion like immediately pivoting into survival horror chaos. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40154500

Episode 595: Let’s Go Buy A Bigger Boat 02/11/2026

Episode 595: Let’s Go Buy A Bigger Boat This week’s episode had everything: halftime show skepticism, aquatic conspiracy theories, holographic ethics, and a little too much time in the Wasteland. We may have skipped science again… but we made up for it with sharks and Starfleet. Real Life Devon: Safe Bets and Stadium Spectacles Devon kicked things off with the Super Bowl halftime show — Green Day and Bad Bunny sharing the stage. The big question: was Green Day the safe choice? Are legacy punk bands the NFL’s version of comfort food? Reliable. Recognizable. Not too disruptive. Devon wrestles with whether the performance felt bold or carefully calculated — and what that says about the league’s broader decision-making. It’s less about music and more about cultural positioning. When the biggest stage in America picks its soundtrack, what are they really trying to say? Ben: Jaws, Mayors, and Weresharks Ben watched Jaws with his son, and instead of simply enjoying the terror of a seaside predator, he zeroed in on the real villain: The mayor. What exactly is going on with this guy? Ben proposes several theories: Is the mayor the shark? Is the shark a metaphor? Is this some kind of Ice Nine Kills-style symbolic horror? Or… is the mayor secretly a wereshark? The conversation spirals in the best way possible. Spoiler alert: they don’t get a bigger boat. Ben also makes a strong case that Starfleet Academy is not for everyone — but it is for him. That leads to a deep dive into holograms in Star Trek. Some holograms are “hard light” and physically interactive. The Doctor in Voyager was designed for short-term use… and then just kept going. What does that mean philosophically? Legally? Spiritually? And somewhere in there, Ben cautiously circles around the fate of Captain Sisko. Steven: Fallout Season 2 — A Love Letter or a Stall? Steven brings us back to the Wasteland with thoughts on the Fallout Season 2 finale. Devon, generally, is not thrilled. The season lacked momentum. The pacing felt uneven. Something didn’t quite land. Steven counters with a structural theory: The three main characters represent different player archetypes. Different play styles. Different moral approaches to the same broken world. He also notes something important: there were a lot of Easter eggs. A LOT. For longtime game veterans, it was a treasure hunt. For casual viewers? Probably noise. Steven’s bigger hypothesis: Season 1: Establish the world and characters. Season 2: The creators indulge in their favorite corners of the setting. Season 3: (Hopefully) we move into entirely new territory not tied to a specific game. If that happens, the show might finally become its own thing. Future or Now There was, once again, too much Fallout talk. Science gets skipped. Again. We promise nothing for next week. Book Club Next Week: “Liar!” by Isaac Asimov Read it here: Classic Asimov. Robots. Logic. Emotional complications. You know the drill. This Week: “The Orchard Village Catalog” by Parker Peevyhouse Reactions were mixed — but thoughtful. Ben: Loved the realistic corporate nonsense. Found it creepy and fascinating. Devon: Felt it might be too open-ended, but still enjoyed it. Steven: Didn’t fully “get it,” but appreciated the quality of the writing. Which, honestly, is sometimes the best kind of sci-fi discussion — confusion paired with admiration. Between halftime show politics, aquatic conspiracies, holographic sentience, and post-apocalyptic pacing debates, this episode covered a lot of ground. If you’ve got thoughts on safe Super Bowl picks, weresharks, or where Fallout should go next, we want to hear them. And maybe next week… we’ll finally talk about science. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/40076500

Episode 594: Hope, Ice, and Non-Human Intelligence 02/04/2026

Episode 594: Hope, Ice, and Non-Human Intelligence This week’s episode is a very real-life-heavy one, with winter storms, family travel chaos, sick kids, and a surprising amount of ice setting the tone. From a memorable Nashville trip and pop culture check-ins to a passionate Star Trek defense and thoughtful sci-fi discussion, we settle in for a conversational episode that leans into where everyone’s headspace actually is this week. REAL LIFE Devon braved a winter storm while hosting family, with Nashville serving as the central meetup point. The group stayed in a four-story Airbnb packed with fun things to do, except for the roof, which was completely covered in ice. There was ice everywhere. This led to discussions about boil notices, what they actually mean, and whether a boil notice might have contributed to a house full of sick kids. Despite the chaos, Devon highlights the Grand Ole Opry and the Gaylord Resort, noting that it would be awesome to visit the resort someday without kids. Steven revisits Cowboy Bebop, comparing the anime to the Netflix live-action adaptation and confirming once again that the live-action version was a huge miss. On the positive side, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been a solid and enjoyable watch. Ben declares that Starfleet Academy episode 1x04 is peak Star Trek and insists that listeners should watch episode four and only episode four if nothing else. He recaps the episode, focusing on Federation and Klingon ethics around survival and why this episode delivers exactly what he wants from Star Trek. This Facebook post sparked part of the discussion: Ben also continues praising the Star Trek comic The Last Starship, describing it as noir, heartbreaking, and packed with big ideas, including Earth seceding from the Federation, a clone of Kirk, and a Borg Queen engineer. FUTURE OR NOW None this week. Too much real life. Too much talky talky. BOOK CLUB This week’s story: The Song of a Non-Human Intelligence By Mical Garcia (Jan 12, 2026) The story explores communication between cetacean intelligences and the concept of hope, defined as waiting until home feels safe again. Ben and Devon both enjoyed the story, with Devon wanting more. Steven found it a bit dry but still appreciated the world-building. Devon also discusses Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, connecting its themes to the episode’s discussion of non-human intelligence. Next week’s story: The Orchard Village Catalog By Parker Peevyhouse Steven recommends this video by Joe Scott: Thanks for listening, and be sure to check out the links in the show notes for this week’s stories and videos—we’ll be back next episode with a new book club read and, hopefully, a little less ice. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39996395

Episode 593: The Horse Cannot Be Contained 01/28/2026

Episode 593: The Horse Cannot Be Contained This week we cover a little bit of everything, including a brutal browser puzzle game, new tabletop RPG pickups, meditation meetups, comic books, and a short film with a great twist. REAL LIFE Ben kicks things off talking about the puzzle game that has completely taken over his brain, Enclose the Horse (). The goal is simple but cruel: build the biggest possible enclosure using limited walls, while the horse avoids water, ignores diagonal movement, and sometimes teleports through portals. Steven shares some new tabletop RPG pickups including Orbital Blues from and Star Borg by , plus updates from his latest Mutant Crawl Classics game where he’s running as Judge. Ben also talks about attending a meditation Sangha he found through Reddit, sitting silently with about twenty people and ending the night with an unexpected cookie tailgate. FUTURE OR NOW In Future or Now, Ben brings up an issue of Absolute Batman where Batman fights white supremacists, leading Steven to attempt a recap that goes about as smoothly as you’d expect. The conversation shifts into Superman Smashes the Klan, a graphic novel Ben highly recommends for its powerful storytelling and accessibility. The discussion touches on why Superman works so well as a symbol against hate, along with how modern comics are tackling real-world themes more directly. A related video discussion can be found here: . BOOK CLUB For Book Club, we talk about the short film Likewise, Olive from Omeleto (). Both Ben and Steven enjoyed it, even though Ben didn’t see the twist coming while Steven guessed it halfway through knowing it was a time travel story. Either way, the film still lands emotionally and is well worth watching. Next week’s reading is The Song of a Non-Human Intelligence by Mical Garcia, published January 12, 2026, available at Strange Horizons: . The story explores cetacean communication, memory, and hope carried across oceans and time. That’s it for this week. From fencing in digital horses to tabletop chaos, meditation cookies, thoughtful comics, and time travel feelings, it’s a full episode. We’ll see you next week for whales, non-human intelligence, and a whole lot of hope. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39912805

Episode 592: A Vertiginous Experience 01/21/2026

Episode 592: A Vertiginous Experience Real Life Ben opens the show by talking about vertigo—both experiencing it firsthand and wondering if Devon might be dealing with it too. He shares that he was diagnosed with a mild case and offers genuinely useful advice: if you’re experiencing vertigo, see a doctor, figure out what caused it, and which side it’s affecting. In some cases, it can be an easy fix, which is reassuring for something that can feel pretty alarming. Steven checks in with some family time, talking about Perils & Princesses and enjoying it as a group activity. Devon, meanwhile, is riding the simple but powerful high of a three-day weekend and sounding very content about it. The conversation shifts into Starfleet Academy, with Ben admitting that the advertising did the show no favors—he didn’t think it looked interesting at all. That said, once he actually watched it, he found it better than an average Star Trek episode, with compelling characters and a standout performance from Gina Yashere. There’s even a nod to classic Star Trek: The Original Series vibes, including black-and-white alien aesthetics. Verdict: Starfleet Academy is “worth your time to watch.” This leads into one of Ben’s most sarcastic self-aware rants yet, mockingly embodying the ultra-purist Trek fan: buying a DVD box set 13 years ago apparently grants lifelong authority to demand that all Star Trek content conform exactly to personal specifications—and to loudly complain about shows nobody is forcing him to watch. It’s sharp, funny, and painfully recognizable. Steven then takes on a challenge to talk about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which quickly detours into Disney’s broader design philosophy and how intentional world-building shapes visitor experience. He also mentions re-listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl and enthusiastically reaffirms his recommendation, even as Devon sounds less convinced it’s for him anymore. Future or Now Ben brings a genuinely practical tool to the table: Just the Browser The project strips AI features, telemetry reporting, sponsored content, product integrations, and other annoyances out of desktop browsers using hidden enterprise-level settings. The goal is exactly what it says on the tin—just the browser, nothing else. Steven dives into a major neuroscience breakthrough. Researchers have developed a protein that can detect faint chemical signals—specifically glutamate—received by neurons from other brain cells. For the first time, scientists can observe how neurons process incoming information before sending signals onward, revealing a previously invisible layer of brain communication. This could significantly reshape how we study learning, memory, and neurological disease. Book Club Next Week’s Watch: Likewise, Olive | Omeleto This Week’s Read: Ted Chiang – What’s Expected of Us (Nature, July 7, 2005) All three hosts enjoyed the story, but Devon absolutely steals the segment by going on a full, passionate tear about free will versus determinism. It’s one of those moments where the conversation locks in, the philosophy gets heavy, and the payoff is incredible. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39816130

Episode 591: Oral Frailties 01/14/2026

Episode 591: Oral Frailties Real Life We kick things off with a round of Real Life check-ins, because apparently none of us are allowed to simply exist quietly. Ben opens with Bedroom Talk with Ben Lawless, which is exactly as awkward, candid, and vaguely alarming as it sounds. No further clarification is offered, nor requested. Devon reports that snowboarding with his kids was actually great. No injuries, no disasters—just genuine fun on the mountain, which frankly feels suspicious but we’ll allow it. He also shares that he’s been practicing guitar for an hour a day, really locking in on technique. That means working through BPMs, tightening up tapping and sweeping, and grinding away at the Blackened solo like a man possessed. Progress is being made, fingers are suffering, and discipline is winning (for now). Steven talks about Hawaii, which lands somewhere between “kinda cool” and “why did we do this to ourselves.” The travel was awful, the resort was pretty great, and Moana… apparently isn’t Moana anymore? We don’t resolve this, but we are confident Disney has a lot to answer for. Ben also brings in Blippo+, a surreal streaming service that feels like channel surfing through an alternate universe. If you’re curious (or concerned), you can explore it directly at or read more context over at The A.V. Club: . Future or Now In Future or Now, Ben highlights a sobering study out of Japan linking poor oral health in older adults to higher mortality rates and increased need for long-term care. The research, conducted by Osaka Metropolitan University and the Institute of Science Tokyo, suggests brushing and dental care might matter more than we’d like to admit. You can read the full breakdown via The Japan Times: Devon follows up with This Week in Space, reacting to the news that the U.S. has effectively killed NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission. What happens now? Confusion, disappointment, and a lot of unanswered questions. The full story is covered here: Book Club This week’s Book Club pick is “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks, a short story that sparked very different reactions around the table. Steven enjoyed it, Ben didn’t care for it at all, and Devon—rather than choosing a side—asked ChatGPT to turn it into a song, which may be the most Devon response possible. You can read the story yourself here: Looking ahead, next week’s selection is Ted Chiang’s “What’s Expected of Us”, originally published in Nature (July 7, 2005). We’ll be digging into free will, determinism, and the uncomfortable feeling that the universe might already know what you’re about to do. As always, thanks for listening, reading, and continuing to question whether brushing your teeth might actually save your life. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39731560

Episode 590: The Christmas Fallout 12/31/2025

Episode 590: The Christmas Fallout Real Life This week’s episode starts where a lot of us have been living lately: sick, tired, and mainlining comfort food. Steven is still sick for Christmas and counting, while Ben also got hit, which pushed Christmas celebrations down the calendar a bit. The upside? More chili. More Fritos. No regrets. Holiday illness also turned into a surprisingly serious soda tasting panel. Steven gives a strong thumbs-up to Sunset Sarsaparilla, while Nuka Cola Quantum lands squarely in the “fine, I guess” category. Ben, meanwhile, makes a passionate case for Canada Dry Fruit Splash Cherry Ginger Ale, which he insists is gooooood. On the gaming front, Ben waves the bargain flag for Bang Bang Racing, currently just a dollar on Steam until January 5. It’s tiny (about 200MB), has excellent controls, and punches way above its weight. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid. You can check the deal details here: Steven also dives deeper into Fallout Season 2, Episode 2, which naturally turns into more Fallout lore and nonsense. Possibly too much. Definitely too much. But that’s the price of admission. Future or Now Ben brings some sobering science to the table this week. After the January 2025 LA wildfires, hospitals recorded a sharp rise in emergency visits for heart attacks, lung illness, and general sickness over the following three months. Researchers believe fine particles from wildfire smoke, combined with stress, played a major role. Blood tests even showed unusual changes that suggest health impacts lingered long after the fires were out. You can read more about the research here: Steven talks about Plur1bus on Apple TV+, created by Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad fame (and former X-Files writer). Ben keeps himself updated through Boars, Gore, and Swords: Steven, meanwhile, supplements his viewing with YouTube deep dives on color theory and visual storytelling. The consensus? An amazing show — but be warned, we eventually wander into spoiler territory. Go watch it first, then come back. Ben also shares a very cool Google Earth exploration centered on Albuquerque. If you want to follow along, here’s the link: Book Club No book club this week — we’re waiting on Devon, who seemed very excited, which somehow makes the waiting worse. Next week’s story is “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks, available through American Short Fiction: Special Note We’re taking a week off. For shame. But we’ll be back on January 11th, refreshed, rehydrated, and hopefully no longer coughing into our microphones. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39578145

Episode 589: They Still Make These Films? 12/24/2025

Episode 589: They Still Make These Films? This week’s episode is a little different—Steven is out sick, so it’s just Devon and Ben holding down the fort. The result is a loose, thoughtful conversation that bounces from pop culture overload to philosophy, creativity, and the art of not trying so hard. Real Life Devon kicks things off with a trip looming on the horizon, bringing equal parts snow, stress, and snowboarding. That spirals nicely into media consumption: thoughts on Switch 2, Mario Maker 2, and catching up on a new Wes Anderson film alongside a Knives Out rewatch. Cozy movies, big style, and just enough distraction to keep the anxiety at bay. Ben’s week leans cinematic and slightly exasperated. Avatar: Fire and Ash clocks in at over three hours, which raises some questions about restraint. We also talk about the newly dropped Avengers: Doomsday teaser—officially slated for December 18, 2026—and the ever-growing pile of what Ben dubs AI slop. The hype machine grinds on. Future or Now Ben files this one firmly under Now, bringing in an essay titled “The Appropriate Amount of Effort Is Zero” from Expanding Awareness. You can read it here: The conversation clicks immediately, especially when paired with that classic Star Wars line: “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” Devon connects this idea directly to music—specifically guitar playing—and how tension kills creativity. No clenched jaw. No face squinching. Relaxed hands, relaxed mind. Ben takes it further, pulling in some Eastern philosophy and the idea that over-effort can actively work against you. Trying less, it turns out, might actually get you more. Book Club No discussion this week, but we tee up next episode’s reading: “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks. If you want to read along, the story is available here: It’s short, strange, and very much in our wheelhouse—perfect fuel for next week’s conversation. Steven will be back soon, Devon will (hopefully) survive the snow, and Ben will continue his quest to consume culture without being crushed by it. Until then: loosen your grip. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39530395

Episode 588: Ben-nip and the Non-troversy 12/17/2025

Episode 588: Ben-nip and the Non-troversy Real Life We kick things off with Real Life, where Devon is suspiciously chipper and ahead on billing (don’t worry, it doesn’t last forever). Steven recounts The Great Lice Infestation of ’25, a saga that will echo through the ages—or at least the household laundry room. Ben crowns Sektori as his game of the year, describing it as the best Dreamcast game that never existed and somehow got a remaster. If that sentence alone sells you, here’s the deal-tracking rabbit hole via . Bennnip. Steven also recommends Arc Raiders, a loot-em-up that caught his attention, which leads to a discussion of an AI-related controversy surrounding the game. Ben had heard about it, and we dig into what’s actually going on, pulling from this breakdown over at Game Rant: Back at the table, Steven ran a Mutant Crawl Classics game where a gravitational-lensing mutant plant man absolutely stole the show. As they do. Future or Now Ben brings science to the table with a discussion on tea, coffee, and bone health. He walks us through a decade-long study of older women that found tea drinkers had slightly stronger bones, while moderate coffee consumption caused no harm. Heavy coffee intake—more than five cups a day—was associated with lower bone density, especially when paired with higher alcohol consumption. Tea’s benefits may come from catechins that help support bone formation, and the researchers suggest that small daily habits can add up over time. Ben even ran the ScienceDaily article through Google LM to compare it against the original paper. You can read the summary here: Devon tackles a much bigger question: why consciousness exists at all. The research suggests consciousness evolved in layers—starting with basic survival responses like pain and alarm, then expanding into focused awareness and self-reflection. These layers help organisms learn, avoid danger, and coordinate socially. Birds, interestingly, display many of these traits, implying that consciousness may be far older and more widespread than we once thought. The full write-up is worth your time: Steven had nothing this week, which is honestly its own kind of achievement. Book Club This week’s discussion centers on “The Red Thread” by Sofia Samatar, published in Lightspeed Magazine. The story features strong prose, an evocative world, and a compelling narrative voice. Devon respected it but didn’t fully connect, while Ben loved it and Steven greatly enjoyed the ride. You can read it here: Looking ahead, next week’s pick is “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks, which you can find at American Short Fiction: — As always, thanks for listening—and remember: drink some tea, question reality, and check your kids for lice. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39443820

Episode 587: Birthday Overload Apocalypse 12/10/2025

Episode 587: Birthday Overload Apocalypse Real Life We opened this week’s episode with real-life updates, starting with Steven’s full-on birthday blitz — his birthday, his kids’ birthdays, all packed into the same window. There was dinner out, a rowdy round of Ransom Notes, and the proud report that his kid nailed a fully successful sleepover. Parenting achievement unlocked. Devon, meanwhile, came in questioning reality: The Onion is still a newspaper? That somehow turned into a whole debate about debates (1 vs. 20 participants), which feels about right. And then his kid dropped the big question at home: how do we stop an asteroid from hitting Earth? Devon chose the only responsible answer: we “Armageddon” it. Ben ended up on a binge of Home Alone and Hawkeye, which is a surprisingly coherent double feature when you think about it. Future or Now Steven: Why ’90s Brains Are Built Differently Steven brought a pair of articles that explore why ’90s kids’ brains diverged from Gen Z’s: a piece from Psychology Zine () and a supporting breakdown from Newsweek (). If you grew up racing Rainbow Road in Mario Kart or discovering secrets in Pokémon Red without a guidebook, you remember when games came in chunky cartridges, had clear endings, and handed out failure like candy. You got better, or you started over. That era hard-coded a very different reward system. Compare that to now: kids juggling Fortnite battle passes, chasing Roblox skins with real money, and fending off constant push notifications baiting FOMO. According to the experts in those articles, this shift isn’t just technological — it’s actually altering how developing brains handle challenge, reward, and attention. Devon: Can We Finally Trust Quantum Computers? Devon dug into a fascinating breakthrough in quantum computing. Scientists have developed a method that can validate results from quantum computers in minutes instead of millennia. The report came from ScienceDaily () and the deeper technical writeup appeared in Quantum Science and Technology (). Right now, quantum devices — especially GBS machines — are notoriously noisy, and verifying their answers is so computationally hard that we usually just trust whatever they spit out. This new technique already exposed errors in a major earlier experiment, which is both alarming and encouraging. If we want reliable quantum hardware, this is exactly the step we needed. Ben: Giants on the Icelandic Landscape Ben found something visually stunning: a design project that turns routine electrical pylons into towering human-shaped sculptures across Iceland. They’re eerie, monumental, and beautiful in a way infrastructure never gets to be. You can see the concept on the designer’s site here: choishine.com (). These pylon-giants use only minor structural tweaks to standard tower design, but the transformation is dramatic. Instead of anonymous metal frames, the landscape gets colossal steel figures marching across the horizon. Book Club This Week: “Dark Air” by Lincoln Michel We read “Dark Air” this week — a moody, unsettling story that mixes environmental dread with strange atmospheric phenomena. You can read it for free on Granta: Next Week: “The Red Thread” by Sofia Samatar Next up is Sofia Samatar’s “The Red Thread” — intricate, mythic, and exactly the kind of story we love diving into. You can read it on Lightspeed Magazine: /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39359285

Episode 586: Space Clinics & Wartime Critters 12/03/2025

Episode 586: Space Clinics & Wartime Critters Thanksgiving came and went, and somehow all three of us survived… though some of us survived more deviled eggs than others. Let’s jump in. Real Life Steven kicked things off with the tale of a very boring Thanksgiving that was only made notable by the sheer volume of deviled eggs involved. When you commit to making 36 eggs—times two—you’re basically catering your own side quest. After recovering, he cleansed his palate by watching Jurassic Park with his kid, which is exactly the kind of comfort cinema the holiday demands. Ben had a more people-filled holiday: his mom visited (hi Martha!) and there were Thanksgiving dinners with Matt (hi Matt!). Somewhere in between all the leftovers he squeezed in a rewatch of The Fifth Element, because sometimes the only thing better than turkey is multi-pass nostalgia. Devon reported the chillest Thanksgiving of the group—Friday, low-key, nothing dramatic. Except for a family friend making chicken parm the hard way, which is an important detail because Devon would absolutely like everyone to know there is an easier way. Also: the LEGO Enterprise-D has been purchased… and may or may not have arrived. We’re waiting for the inaugural “swoosh test.” Steven also tossed in that Devon watched Zootopia 2, which, according to Steven, is “about WW2.” Take that claim as seriously as you should. Future or Now Ben brought a blast from the productivity past with the return of Freeter—a tool for organizing workflows, command line scripts, projects, and basically your entire work brain. It's cross-platform and designed to gather everything you need into one tidy dashboard. He’s excited; we’re cautiously optimistic this isn’t the start of another “Ben reorganizes his life using eight apps” arc. Devon had nothing this week, which somehow felt on-brand after his aggressively uneventful Thanksgiving. Steven highlighted A Doggone Shame, a study looking at CBD use in over 47,000 dogs. The data shows it’s mostly used on older pups with chronic conditions, and while long-term use seems linked to reduced aggression, it doesn’t do much for other anxiety-related behaviors. Also interesting: owners in cannabis-friendly states were the most likely to try CBD with their dogs. “Book Club” Next Week We’ll be reading “Dark Air” by Lincoln Michel — a speculative piece published in Granta. This Week We dove into “Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station” by Caroline M. Yoachim, a choose-your-own-adventure-style story where your choices matter… except they don’t. The story reminds you that in the clinic—just like real life—your decisions, your path, your careful strategizing… often end up being meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But weirdly, it’s fun! We all really enjoyed it. Stranger Things 5 bonus chat We wrapped with a quick chat about Stranger Things Season 5. Steven and Devon have watched a few episodes, and the question came up: Can a modern streaming show realistically handle actors aging when production takes years between seasons? Do you lean into it? Write around it? Pretend nothing happened? Pretend it’s Zootopia 2: The WW2 Years? Hard to say. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39255880

Episode 585: Pass the Physics, Hold the Simulation 11/26/2025

Episode 585: Pass the Physics, Hold the Simulation It’s a big week over here, full of visiting parents, cosmic philosophy, and at least one host wrestling with the concept of leftovers. Let’s get into it. Real Life Ben is officially in pre-Thanksgiving hype mode because his mom is coming to visit (hi Martha!). There may or may not be a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on the table—Ben is thinking about it, which is basically the same as committing, right? He’s also deep into a full-spectrum Percy Jackson immersion program: watching the movie, reading the books, and watching the new show. You can check out the show’s current score here: This leads into Ben’s latest tech spiral: trying to explain Valve to explain Steam to explain their new announcements. Yes, we’re talking Steam Machine, Steam Frame, Steam Controller… all the greatest hits of “Valve makes hardware for some reason.” Devon is dealing with some extended-family logistics involving his sister-in-law and also took a firm stance this week: he hates Thanksgiving atmosphere. The vibes? Bad. The leftovers? Worse. Respect the honesty. Steven stayed indoors and educated himself by way of extremely good YouTube movie documentaries. First up: a look at how Jurassic Park pulled off its groundbreaking effects: And then a deep dive into the behind-the-scenes of Interstellar: Not a bad way to spend a weekend. Future or Now Devon brings us the most brain-melting story of the week: physicists have now mathematically proven that the Universe is not a simulation. A team from UBC Okanagan used Gödel’s incompleteness theorem to demonstrate that reality requires a form of “non-algorithmic understanding”—something that no computational system can replicate. In other words: if this is a simulation, it’s not one any computer could run. Read the research summary here: So the Universe might be fundamentally unsimulatable. Which is cool, unless you were really hoping to blame your life choices on a bored cosmic programmer. Book Club Next Week We’re jumping into a choose-your-own-adventure-style sci-fi story with “Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station” by Caroline M. Yoachim. It’s weird, funny, sharply written, and perfect for discussion. Read it here: This Week We’re covering “City Grown From Seed” by Diana Dima. Content warning: domestic violence / domestic abuse. This one is dense, metaphorical, unsettling, and beautifully written. It explores generational trauma, identity, and rebirth through surreal botanical imagery. Definitely one of those stories that sticks with you long after reading. Find it here: /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39183070

Episode 584: Inheriting the Atom Bomb 11/19/2025

Episode 584: Inheriting the Atom Bomb 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, identity, and barbecue obligations. But the week wasn’t all jokes—Ben also shared the sad news that Orion has passed. He was a very good boy, and the pod raises a collective toast. Ben’s been spending time catching up on life, trying to relearn what “rest” even means, and also casually dropping the bomb that Affinity is now free. (Yes, really—go see for yourself at .) And while you're browsing, you can apparently rent Ben’s actual mind at , which sounds like a threat but is, in fact, a service. Steven also let us know that the is out, so it’s time to emotionally prepare for more post-apocalyptic chaos. Future or Now: Tylenol, Autism, and the Psychology of Hive Minds Devon kicks off this segment with actual real science: new research shows no clear link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and autism, which is a big deal considering how long that concern has been floating around. (Links to and the included in the show notes for the skeptics and science nerds.) Then we collectively decide: yes, we need to talk about Plur1bus. And we go deep. This is a full-spoiler discussion, so skip ahead if you’re still watching. We cover everything—from the protagonist who’s also the antagonist, to the messy moral math of a hive mind, to Devon’s incredibly passionate speech about wanting to understand hive-mind psychology. Steven brings up that Internet-as-proto-hivemind theory, and Ben drops several very good points as per tradition. If you want episode breakdowns, the has everything laid out neatly and also serves as a reminder that this show is way smarter than any of us expected when we hit “play.” Book Club (Sort Of) We skipped Book Club this week because there was simply too much Plur1bus to process. Next week: We’re reading City Grown From Seed by Diana Dima. Content warning: domestic violence / domestic abuse. You can read it for free on . /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39098895

Episode 583: Trickle Down Electronics 11/12/2025

Episode 583: Trickle Down Electronics 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 something shocking: Steven hates LEGO. Steven’s Space Drama Speaking of Steven, he’s wrestling with another defeat in Shatterpoint (at the hands of Christina’s husband, again), and somehow this leads to him buying a Camtono. Why does he have one? No one knows. But we do get a heated debate about the LEGO Enterprise and whether Ensign Ro or Tasha Yar had the raw deal in Star Trek. Devon’s Hive-Mind Obsession Devon’s been watching Plur1bus on Apple TV and can’t stop talking about how eerily well it captures collective consciousness. For a guy who insists he’s an individual, he sure sounds like part of a hive. Future or Now Ben actually brings good news this time. Seriously. His pick is a hopeful piece on how Solarpunk is already happening in Africa—how communities there are skipping the outdated infrastructure of the past and heading straight into a sustainable, decentralized future. Read it here: Meanwhile, Steven turns up the heat—literally—with a wild story out of Death Valley. Scientists studying Tidestromia oblongifolia found it doesn’t just survive in brutal heat—it adapts on the fly, rearranging its cells and genes to keep photosynthesizing when everything else would fry. It’s a real-life lesson in evolution under pressure. () Book Club This Week: In the Forests of Memory by E. Lily Yu () – a haunting, quiet story about memory, commerce, and humanity told through the eyes of a trader and a stranger. It’s as poetic as it is unsettling. Next Week: City Grown From Seed by Diana Dima () – content warning for domestic violence and abuse. It’s an eerie, metaphorical story that we’ll unpack next episode. Between Ben’s apologies, Devon’s hive talk, and Steven’s LEGO rage, it’s another week of chaos, sci-fi, and accidental enlightenment. You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts—or watch our faces slowly melt under studio lights on YouTube. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/39010055

Episode 582: The Law of Communal Dynamics 11/05/2025

Episode 582: The Law of Communal Dynamics 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 set to “Hakuna Matata.” Meanwhile, Devon escaped into Weapons—a new dark comedy-horror streaming on HBO. It’s clever, weird, and surprisingly funny for something that involves, well, weapons. Steven immediately brought up Good Boy—another horror film with an entirely different kind of twist. Ben closed his week out by jumping into the Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown demo, a roguelike that lets players reimagine Voyager’s storylines with ship management and branching plots. Boldly go, repeatedly die, try again. Future or Now Ben’s been pondering the next phase of human-computer interaction. There are two paths, he says: cyborgs and rooms. The industry is obsessed with the former—wearables, implants, the dream of merging with our devices. But Ben argues the real frontier is communal computing: Dynamicland. was a physical space in Oakland where people worked inside the computer. Tables, walls, and objects became part of a shared computational environment. Programs weren’t hidden behind screens—they existed in the room with you. From 2017 until COVID, it was a place where anyone could walk in, code with their hands, and collaborate in the real world. It’s computing as a public utility, like a library—but for imagination. Meanwhile, Steven shared a video called “,” which feels like the opposite of communal computing. Instead of the room becoming the computer, you do. Devon called it cheating, but maybe it’s just evolution—painful, electric evolution. Book Club This week’s story was by Kelly Link—an emotional, cryptic sci-fi tale that left the hosts divided. Steven liked that the story existed at all, even if he couldn’t quite parse it. Devon wasn’t sure if he liked it—he wants narratives that make sense on the first read. Ben, meanwhile, appreciated how readable it was and actually liked the story, proving once again that literary comprehension may be inversely proportional to caffeine intake. Next week’s pick: by E. Lily Yu. Until then—reset your clocks, embrace communal computing, and remember: somewhere out there, a delicious villager is waiting. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/38926740

Episode 581: Fuzzy Wires, Clear Minds 10/29/2025

Episode 581: Fuzzy Wires, Clear Minds 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 at least three pips too many. Ben got a night off parenting duties for Kids Night Out and wants to shout out for turning his playlist into a full-blown psychedelic light show. Then Steven dives into a spoiler-filled review of Sinners — which Devon also saw. If you haven’t watched it yet, consider this your warning: spoilers abound, and apparently so do opinions. Future or Now Devon takes us up to near space with the week’s wildest headline: the object that struck a United Airlines plane wasn’t space debris… it was a weather balloon. Turns out, flight 1093’s busted front window was courtesy of one of humanity’s oldest sky spies, not falling junk from orbit. 📰 Read more here: Meanwhile, Ben is fed up with the internet’s ad problem — you know, those “No Adblocker Detected” pop-ups that ruin your vibe. He found a fantastic rant about how ad-driven web economics are slowly melting the internet into a soulless sludge of clickbait and autoplay. Check it out here: . As for Steven, he contributed… absolutely nothing. His words, not ours. 📚 Book Club: “Planet Lion” by Catherynne M. Valente 📚 This week, the crew explored the lush and poetic alien world of Planet Lion by Catherynne M. Valente (). Ben didn’t love the poetic style but admits he might’ve shortchanged the story by listening instead of reading — multitasking strikes again. Devon really enjoyed it, especially the layered, lyrical tone. Steven appreciated how alien the alien perspective felt — not just in design, but in mindset. Next week’s story: “The Game of Smash and Recovery” by Kelly Link (). As always — got thoughts, theories, or strong feelings about weather balloons or weird fiction? Say it to our faces! Drop a comment or join the discussion on our socials. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/38830040

Episode 580: 11 Days VS 32 Years 10/22/2025

Episode 580: 11 Days VS 32 Years 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 occasionally remembering to play the objective. Devon also caught up on Foundation Season 3, where he’s decided Brother Day now fully channels The Dude—if The Dude had an empire and a god complex. Future or Now Devon took us on a deep dive into the evolving shape of human unhappiness. Once upon a time, midlife was the low point—a universal “unhappiness hump.” But according to new global data, that hump is flattening out. Today, mental health is worst in youth and actually improves with age. The midlife crisis may be over, but something worse has taken its place: an age of early despair. Young people are struggling more than ever before, reshaping how we think about happiness across the lifespan. 👉 Steven followed that up with a warning: don’t drink the Kool-Aid—or the soda. A massive new study of over 120,000 people found that both regular and diet soft drinks are hammering our liver health. The risk of metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) jumps dramatically with more than one can a day—and “diet” drinks might actually be worse. Changes to gut bacteria and appetite regulation are the prime suspects. 👉 Book Club No story discussion this week, but next time we’re diving into Planet Lion by Catherynne M. Valente, a luminous piece of speculative fiction about faith, communication, and the limits of understanding alien minds. 👉 /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/38744235

Episode 579: Beautiful Trash 10/15/2025

Episode 579: Beautiful Trash 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 painting and apple party (new listeners, it’s a thing), setting up a a on a Raspberry Pi 4, and cracking open the , he’s officially living his best nerd life. Ben, on the other hand, declared war on Microsoft. With Windows 10 heading toward its end-of-life, he’s switched to Bazzite Linux to avoid the sins of Windows 11. Cue righteous fury: “How dare you do what you do, Microsoft?” Also, the ROG Ally handheld PC is on the horizon — should we be excited or just emotionally prepared? 🍔 Future or Now Steven dives into a story that’ll make you rethink that bag of chips: ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now dominate the American diet — and they’re linked to chronic inflammation, heart disease, and cancer. According to , people who eat the most UPFs show higher levels of hs-CRP, an inflammation marker. The takeaway? Maybe listen when Steven yells, “What’s in your mouth?! DROP IT!” Ben, ever the tech romantic, went down a rabbit hole about creating your own physical music formats — a nostalgic rebellion against the streaming void. Inspired by , he mourns the lost art of DropMix and Rock Band, both now relics of a time when music and play collided beautifully. 📚 Book Club This week we read — a time-travel tale told entirely through wiki edit threads. It’s short, it’s clever, and it’ll make you question what’s really editable in history. Next week: — an elegant, surreal journey through alien communication and memory. 👾 Listen now for the perfect mix of VR golf, processed snacks, Linux rebellion, and speculative fiction. 🎧 Available wherever you get your podcasts. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/38594385

Episode 578: Fall Is Just Okay (But Demon Lords Are Great) 10/08/2025

Episode 578: Fall Is Just Okay (But Demon Lords Are Great) 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 tag, and kid karaoke—the real high seas adventure. The boat did, however, dock somewhere that was apparently not Devon-approved. We didn’t ask for details. Some horrors are best left off-mic. Ben’s also been deep-diving into retro TV, revisiting Police Squad! after catching the fourth Naked Gun movie. Add in Marvel Zombies—a wild, tragic, and completely zany series that gave him Batman Ninja flashbacks—and you’ve got Ben’s viewing habits perfectly summarized: somewhere between slapstick and existential decay. Steven’s been championing Peacemaker, wrapping up season 1 and binging through the first seven episodes of season 2. He gives it a full-hearted recommendation—especially if you enjoy Superman references, alternate realities, and 80s glam metal in your superhero chaos. Devon, ever the connoisseur, dropped a bombshell: there’s a new Simpsons movie coming, and it might even be replacing a Marvel release slot. He’s cautiously thrilled. On the flip side, Alien: Earth got a collective “eh” from the group—though we all agreed its many storylines and editing quirks made for an interesting dissection. Future or Now We didn’t make it here this week. Too many good tangents. Book Club This week’s read was “They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson—short, weird, and surprisingly heartfelt. The crew praised its simple but sharp worldbuilding-through-dialogue, and Ben compared its absurd tone to Ren & Stimpy’s close-up madness. For a kid-friendlier vibe, he also recommended The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Next week’s story: “Wikihistory” by Desmond Warzel, a time-travel tale told through forum posts. Want more weird science, deep-cut book talk, and bonus chaos? Join us on for unedited episodes, exclusive content, and our private Discord full of bad jokes and good vibes. Your support keeps the mics hot and the fall season just a little less “okay.” /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/38514080

Episode 577: The Robot Pope Is Real 10/01/2025

Episode 577: The Robot Pope Is Real 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) on YouTube (22K views after three years!) and got into Broom Service, a trick-taking board game where witches zoom around delivering potions. Steven, instead of heading to Gamer Fest, ran a Mutant Crawl Classics session. Mutants, post-apocalyptic chaos, dice rolling—it was all there. When he wasn’t GMing, he was kit-bashing his own mini robot out of spare parts. Award-winning, five-star author and robot builder? Normally, this is where we’d slide into our Future or Now segment—but with Devon off the grid (and possibly fighting buffet lines instead of time-travel paradoxes), we skipped it this week. Don’t worry, it’ll be back once he’s done living the boat life. We also touched on: A correction about Star Trek: Khan (there are 9 episodes, not 3—we messed that up). Parking Garage Rally Circuit, a Sega Saturn-inspired rally racer on Steam. It’s got ska, it’s got cars, and the holophonic audio makes you feel like you’re back in 1994. Rick and Morty Season 8, and the eternal question: which episode was the best? Book Club This week: We read Robert Silverberg’s 1971 short story “Good News from the Vatican.” It’s all about the election of the first robot pope, and yes, it’s as wild as it sounds. You can find it in Universe 1 or snag it Next week: We’re tackling Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made Out of Meat”—a classic piece of weird short fiction that asks: what if humans are just slabs of meat trying to talk? or . /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/38427675

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