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 620: See It In IMAX 08/05/2026

Episode 620: See It In IMAX This week the crew dives into everything from the enduring appeal of Star Trek and classic science fiction to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, Saturday morning superheroes, and the ever-growing spoiler problem surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then it's on to the Future or Now segment, where Linux experiments with collaborative computing, the Large Hadron Collider may have stumbled onto an unexpected clue about dark matter, and the hosts speculate about what Spider-Man: Brand New Day means for the future of Marvel. Real Life Ben kicks things off with a reminder that, in his opinion, all Trek is good Trek. That naturally leads into a discussion about the six Star Trek movies featuring the crew of the USS Enterprise and why the franchise continues to find new fans across generations. He also revisits Carl Sagan's Contact, arguing that both the novel and the Jodie Foster film remain some of the finest examples of thoughtful hard science fiction ever created. Devon brings a dose of nostalgia with the return of Blockbuster Game and Movie Quotes, revisiting the classic video rental era and the memorable quotes that defined countless movie nights. Steven reviews The Odyssey, sharing spoiler-filled thoughts on the film's strengths, historical accuracy, and breathtaking presentation. His recommendation is simple: if you have the opportunity, see it in IMAX. One unexpected highlight was the Cyclops sequence, whose visual style reminded him of surreal 1990s rock music videos, channeling the atmosphere of bands like Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails. Steven also revisits X-Men '92, X-Men '96, and X-Men '97, praising how well the original animated series portrayed its female characters. Better yet, his kids were immediately hooked after watching the iconic two-part opener, Night of the Sentinels. Future or Now Ben explores the surprisingly underdeveloped world of multi-seat computing on Linux after reading an excellent write-up on the subject at . While the Wayland protocol already supports multiple users sharing a single computer remarkably well, many surrounding applications and libraries still lag behind. The project demonstrates exciting possibilities for collaborative gaming, pair programming, classrooms, and other shared computing experiences. He also highlights the cooperative physics game Heavenly Bodies (), whose unique gameplay feels like the perfect showcase for this kind of multi-user setup. Devon heads underground—literally—to CERN, where researchers continue investigating mysterious "unidentified falling objects" inside the Large Hadron Collider. According to a recent article from ScienceAlert (), tiny dust particles unexpectedly drift into the proton beam, disrupting experiments. The bigger mystery isn't the dust itself, but what causes it to move in one of the cleanest scientific instruments ever built. Some physicists now wonder whether these events could be indirect hints of dark matter interacting with the detector in ways nobody anticipated. Steven wraps things up with thoughts on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, using it as a springboard to discuss the modern spoiler culture surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With audiences dissecting every trailer, casting announcement, and leaked set photos months before release, the hosts debate whether the excitement of surprise has largely disappeared. Along the way, Ben poses one of the episode's more important questions: If it's a gray movie... should Hulk be gray too? /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/42333160

Episode 619: Trash With Linux Glitter On It 07/29/2026

Episode 619: Trash With Linux Glitter On It This week on Science Faction, life milestones collide with pop culture as Ben celebrates finally paying off over two decades of student loans while Devon contemplates a lifetime of payments. The crew also dives into Star Trek, Mothership, San Diego Comic-Con reveals, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Cowboy Bebop, and an unexpectedly deep rabbit hole exploring the technology behind the original Jurassic Park. As always, it's a mix of real life, science fiction, and everything wonderfully nerdy in between. Real Life Ben reached a major milestone this week by finally paying off his student loans after 21 years. It's the kind of accomplishment that deserves a celebration, especially considering how many people are still carrying student debt decades after graduating. Devon balanced out the optimism by joking that he's probably never going to finish paying his off. Steven has been spending time with Mothership: Wages of Sin, another adventure for the acclaimed sci-fi horror RPG. If you're interested in checking it out, you can find it here: Ben also finds himself in an unfamiliar situation: waiting on absolutely nothing. Instead, he talked about his latest favorite gadget, the Clicks Keyboard for smartphones: The Star Trek discussion continued with Star Trek: Axanar – The Gathering Storm, where Faran Tahir's appearance was a welcome surprise. You can watch it here: That naturally led into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4's episode Valles Marineris, which managed to answer the timeless question: What if Star Trek had dinosaurs? The crew discusses whether that's exactly what Trek needed—or never knew it needed. Future or Now San Diego Comic-Con brought plenty of announcements to unpack, including new reveals surrounding Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Jean-Pool, and the surprise pairing of Ghost Rider and Starfighter. Ryan Reynolds continues to find creative ways to keep Deadpool in the spotlight. Ben also rounds up several pieces of Avatar: The Last Airbender news, including the upcoming animated Aang film and the newly announced sequel series, Avatar: Seven Havens. After finally finishing the original Cowboy Bebop anime and its movie, Ben shares his thoughts on why the series has remained such a classic for nearly three decades. The conversation then shifts into one of the nerdiest rabbit holes imaginable: a painstaking technical breakdown of every computer seen in the original Jurassic Park. It's a fascinating look at how the filmmakers blended real hardware with Hollywood magic. That naturally prompts Devon to shout, "SAM NEILL DIED! LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!" before everyone remembers they're actually talking about his characters. The discussion quickly turns into a debate over Sam Neill's best science fiction performance. Is it the cosmic horror masterpiece Event Horizon (1997), or the vampire thriller Daybreakers (2009)? To wrap things up, the crew also highlights Jurassic Systems, a fan project dedicated to faithfully recreating the iconic computer interfaces from Jurassic Park. As always, expect plenty of tangents, questionable opinions, and passionate debates about dinosaurs, spaceships, anime, and why fictional operating systems from 1993 still look cooler than the ones we use today. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/42255200

Episode 618: Beyond Beads 07/22/2026

Episode 618: Beyond Beads This week on Science Faction, summer is in full swing as the hosts swap stories about kids, water parks, drama camp, and surviving the relentless heat. From AI writing Firefox extensions and Apple's latest legal battle with OpenAI to why horror suddenly clicks for one of the hosts, the conversation bounces between technology, entertainment, and the strange ways artificial intelligence can make us more confident while making us less correct. Real Life Steven's household traded the Renaissance Faire for a visit from his nephew, which led to the realization that "boy energy" really is its own force of nature. While the kids spent the week at drama camp, thoughts turned to Shakespeare, with the conclusion that Romeo + Juliet would be vastly improved if Dream Theater handled the soundtrack. Book club is also gearing up for Macbeth, because apparently there's never a bad time for a little murder and prophecy. Ben has been embracing peak summer with trips to the water park, while Devon is trying to survive the brutal Texas heat. His family's solution? Buying an old-school lawn sprinkler so the kids could cool off the classic way. Once again, the phrase "boy energy" proves to be an unexpectedly recurring theme. Technology also found its way into everyday life. Ben explained how AI helped him build a Firefox extension that converts webcomics into CBZ files, explored locally running language models with OpenCode, and used AI to determine which models would best fit his hardware. In one particularly fitting moment, he asked an AI how to repair some aging Python code, only for it to recommend an existing Firefox extension that solved the problem entirely. The hosts also wondered who keeps naming Google's AI products after notebooks before discussing . The conversation then shifted to Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI over allegations of trade secret theft involving former employees. You can read more about the case here: Entertainment wrapped up the segment with Steven declaring that all five episodes of X-Men '97 Season 2 are absolute bangers, along with praise for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced and a reminder that Assassin's Creed Origins includes one of gaming's coolest educational features: an interactive museum tour through ancient Egypt. Ben also celebrated the release of Heave Ho 2, while everyone wondered whether it's destined to become a terrible influence on Devon's kids. Future or Now The hosts somehow found themselves discussing more Game Changer chaos before moving into horror. Devon admitted that he may finally be developing a taste for the genre after watching Backrooms and Obsession, both of which started life as YouTube shorts before becoming full productions. He praised Backrooms for its eerie liminal-space atmosphere, while describing Obsession as a more traditional "be careful what you wish for" horror story. If you've been horror-curious but never quite crossed over, these might be good starting points. Ben then highlighted a fascinating study showing one of AI's biggest hidden dangers. Researchers found that people using AI assistance became three times less accurate while also becoming twice as confident in their answers. Even more striking, the willingness to simply admit "I don't know" dropped from 44% to just 3% when AI was available. It's a reminder that AI works best when treated as a helpful assistant—not an unquestionable authority. Finally, the crew couldn't resist talking about the newly revealed Star Trek crossover sets coming to Magic: The Gathering. Whether you're a Trek fan, a Magic player, or just someone whose wallet is already crying, the crossover looks like another ambitious mashup worth checking out. Steven rounded out the week by admitting that, for once, he didn't have a specific science story to bring—which may have been the most surprising revelation of the episode. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/42183535

Episode 617: More Effort than a Prompt 07/15/2026

Episode 617: More Effort than a Prompt This week the crew covers everything from beach vacations and superhero movies to fascinating new discoveries about the human brain and the future of artificial intelligence. Devon reports back from a family-filled Mississippi beach trip, Steven shares his thoughts on Supergirl, Ben highlights listener feedback and celebrates a birthday, and the science discussion dives into how anesthetized brains may be doing far more than we ever imagined. Then the conversation shifts into the strange world of AI's "latent space" and why it may become one of humanity's most important creative tools. Real Life Ben starts things off by wishing a very happy birthday to longtime listener Hank before sharing some thoughtful listener feedback from Episode 615. We always appreciate hearing what everyone thinks, so keep those comments coming! You can read the feedback here: Devon returns from a family vacation in Long Beach, Mississippi. Between the huge gathering of relatives, plenty of kids running around, and an incredibly shallow beach stretching nearly a mile into the Gulf, it was the perfect destination for a laid-back family getaway. Steven finally catches Supergirl and discovers a movie that lands squarely in the middle of the review spectrum. While online opinions seemed split between "masterpiece" and "disaster," the film ended up being... fine. The crew discusses its themes surrounding human trafficking and the metaphor of women having their power stripped away, while also pointing out that the constant switching of powers eventually became distracting. Despite its flaws, everyone agrees the performances, visual effects, and sound design were excellent, with Ben giving special praise to the imaginative creature designs. Future or Now Devon brings a study that challenges what we thought we knew about consciousness. Researchers discovered that people under general anesthesia may continue processing language at a surprisingly sophisticated level. Even while completely unconscious, patients could distinguish different types of words and showed neural activity suggesting they were predicting upcoming words before hearing them. The findings raise fascinating questions about what consciousness really is and could eventually influence both anesthesia research and future brain-computer interfaces. Read more: Ben explores Kevin Kelly's idea that latent space is becoming an entirely new creative medium. Rather than acting as giant databases that memorize information, modern AI models compress enormous amounts of human knowledge into abstract mathematical relationships. This "latent space" becomes something people can navigate—moving between concepts, artistic styles, scientific ideas, or even alternate histories. Kelly argues that this shared conceptual landscape could become a platform for scientific discovery, personalized AI systems, and entirely new ways of thinking, where generating ideas and thinking become nearly the same process. Read Kevin Kelly's article here: Steven wraps up the discussion with a practical example of AI in everyday life, explaining how it helped troubleshoot and update his Raspberry Pi Pi-hole installation. What could have been a frustrating afternoon of terminal commands and Linux troubleshooting turned into a quick collaborative problem-solving session, highlighting how AI can be just as useful for practical technical tasks as it is for creative ones. Thanks for listening! If you enjoy the show, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share the podcast with a friend. Your support helps us keep exploring the latest science, technology, and the wonderfully weird stories that make Science Faction what it is. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/42103880

Episode 616: The Existential Horror Of Being A Sentient Toy 07/08/2026

Episode 616: The Existential Horror Of Being A Sentient Toy This week, Steven is away, leaving Ben and Devon to hold down the fort. That means plenty of movie reviews, travel plans, museum science, unexpected tsunami discoveries, and, naturally, a healthy dose of Star Trek discussion. Real Life Devon is getting ready for a family vacation to Long Beach, Mississippi, where a whole group of friends will be joining in on the fun. Their last trip didn't exactly provide ideal beach weather, so everyone is hoping for sunnier skies this time around. Ben, however, refuses to acknowledge any alternative naming conventions—it will always be the Gulf of Mexico. The movie marathon continues this week. Ben checked out Young Washington and came away feeling... lukewarm. While it wasn't terrible, he felt it leaned far too heavily into its religious themes for his tastes. Devon's household has been busy catching up on family movies. Minions and Monsters earned mixed marks, mostly because the title promises far more monsters than it actually delivers. Devon joked that it should have been called "Minions Do Hollywood" instead. With kids currently obsessed with both Super Mario and the Minions, though, it was still a hit at home, and the Rabbids look like they'll be another favorite before long. Ben also saw Masters of the Universe and had a much stronger recommendation. Fans who grew up with the franchise will apparently find plenty to appreciate, echoing comments from Red Letter Media that longtime viewers will get the most out of it. Devon rounded out the week with Toy Story 5. Surprisingly, he couldn't remember much about the third or fourth films, but still found himself enjoying the newest installment. As always, Pixar somehow manages to package deeply unsettling existential questions—like the horror of being a sentient toy—into a heartfelt family film. Future or Now Ben brought one of the stranger scientific discoveries of the week: museums may soon have a new employee... superworms. Researchers have found that the larvae commonly sold as pet food may actually outperform the flesh-eating beetles traditionally used to clean skeletons for museums and forensic research. Superworms efficiently strip away soft tissue without damaging delicate bones, while also being much easier to contain than dermestid beetles, which have a nasty habit of escaping and infesting museum collections. With the proper number of larvae, scientists can produce clean, display-ready skeletons while avoiding many of the downsides of chemical treatments or boiling. Read more here: Devon followed up with an incredible story about tsunamis and satellites. After a massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula, a NASA satellite captured one of the most detailed observations ever made of a giant tsunami crossing the Pacific Ocean. The data revealed something scientists didn't expect. Large tsunamis have traditionally been considered "non-dispersive," meaning they should largely maintain their shape as they travel across the ocean. Instead, researchers observed dispersion, where different portions of the wave traveled at slightly different speeds, causing the tsunami to spread into a leading wave followed by several trailing waves. Even more impressively, these observations suggest the original earthquake rupture was larger than early models indicated. Learn more here: Of course, no Ben and Devon episode would be complete without a Star Trek update. Strange New Worlds Season 4 is on the horizon, and Ben has been enjoying The Last Starship, calling it well worth the read for Trek fans looking for more spacefaring adventures. That conversation naturally led to Prelude to Axanar and Axanar: The Gathering, two impressive fan productions that continue to spark discussion among Star Trek enthusiasts. Watch them here: Finally, Devon has also been watching Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. While he's enjoying it overall, he admitted it hasn't quite lived up to his expectations. It's a tense, stressful watch that keeps him engaged, even if it hasn't completely won him over yet. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/42010000

Episode 615: Spreading the Word (of Totally Local AI) 07/01/2026

Episode 615: Spreading the Word (of Totally Local AI) This week's episode is a celebration of birthdays, geeky gifts, local AI experimentation, and some genuinely fascinating science. We dive into everything from Pride Month festivities and House of the Dragon's return to California's new law against obnoxiously loud streaming ads, before wrapping up with a beautiful cosmic mystery finally solved by the James Webb Space Telescope. Real Life Ben kicked things off by talking about his birthday, which was unfortunately followed almost immediately by a weekend spent working rather than relaxing. His wife was busy running a table during local Pride Month festivities while Ben provided backup support, proving once again that birthdays don't always get to stay birthdays. Somewhere along the way, however, one important truth emerged: POWER TO THE BIDET! The conversation quickly shifted into one of Ben's favorite topics—local AI. He talked about spreading the word of Totally Local AI, explaining why running models on your own hardware can be a compelling alternative to relying entirely on corporate AI services. The discussion covered the difference between simply using AI-powered tools versus depending on large cloud providers, along with some of the software making local AI increasingly accessible. Ben has been experimenting with NotebookLM alongside Ollama and Opencode, currently running a model delightfully named Big Pickle. Steven's household has officially survived another June birthday season. With multiple celebrations packed into an already busy month, his youngest daughter's birthday required not one but two birthday parties, reinforcing the long-held belief that June birthdays are a scheduling nightmare. Of course, no birthday is complete without memorable gifts. Highlights included The String from Frozen Fever, which immediately became a favorite, along with the impressive LEGO Hogwarts Castle & Grounds set. Steven also argued that, in many cases, smaller LEGO display models actually hit the sweet spot better than their gigantic counterparts—less overwhelming to build, easier to display, and somehow even more satisfying. Finally, House of the Dragon returned, and Steven shared his thoughts on the Season 3 premiere, discussing where the series appears to be heading and whether the opening episode successfully sets the stage for another season of political intrigue, dragons, and inevitable tragedy. Future or Now California viewers may have noticed something different starting July 1: streaming service advertisements are no longer allowed to blast your ears during commercial breaks. A new California law extends loudness regulations to streaming platforms, similar to legislation previously passed in Illinois. If you've ever scrambled for the remote because a commercial suddenly doubled in volume, this change is specifically aimed at solving that problem. Ben breaks down the new legislation, why it matters, and whether streaming services will finally stop using volume as their favorite attention-grabbing tactic. You can read the original Ars Technica article here: Steven then traveled 57 light-years from Earth to discuss one of astronomy's most colorful mysteries. Astronomers have finally solved the puzzle of the famous "Pink Planet" using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists discovered that the strange world's atmosphere contains water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and—perhaps most surprisingly—clouds made from salt particles. It's the first direct confirmation of salty clouds in an object like this and helps explain why the planet has displayed such unusual colors and atmospheric behavior for years. Beyond simply solving a long-standing mystery, the discovery provides another glimpse into the incredible diversity of planets that exist beyond our own solar system, reminding us just how strange—and beautiful—the universe can be. You can read more about the discovery here: /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41922135

Episode 614: Not Even the Crickets Laughed 06/24/2026

Episode 614: Not Even the Crickets Laughed This week we talk Father's Day, lightsaber obsessions, swimming pools, Gravity Falls, cyberpunk light bulbs, Spider-Man, Star Trek, and the sci-fi shows and movies our families can't stop watching. Real Life Father’s Day was in the air this week, and Devon assumes his son was probably excited about it, though kids have a funny way of keeping those things mysterious right up until the last minute. Meanwhile, Steven has found himself completely obsessed with lightsabers lately and thinks he may have finally figured out why these glowing space swords continue to have such a grip on his imagination decades later. Ben’s family adventures continue as his son returned from a school trip to Washington D.C. and New York City. Despite photographic evidence suggesting he spent the entire trip looking mildly inconvenienced, his teachers insist he had a fantastic time. Ben also recently visited the incredible MOTHERSHIP restaurant in San Diego, a themed dining experience designed to look like a crashed spaceship hidden inside a cave. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was unforgettable, and highlights included a “Kylo Ren” inspired bathroom with a mirrored ceiling and an astronaut radio transmission looping over NASA-style beeps. Meanwhile, Ben’s son has become obsessed with space, watching Apollo 13 and spending hours playing Kerbal Space Program, which Ben wholeheartedly approves of. Devon reports that his son has learned the theme from Gravity Falls on piano and now plays it constantly. If you know the theme, you already understand exactly what Devon’s household sounds like right now. Ben brings a fascinating indie game to the table with CASCADER, a Portal-inspired puzzle game set in a mysterious supernatural forest that constantly shifts and changes around you. If you enjoy environmental puzzles and weird atmospheric settings, this one might deserve a spot on your wishlist. Steven highlights Star Trek: Outposts Unknown, an upcoming strategy title set in the Star Trek universe. We discuss the appeal of building and managing a frontier outpost while trying to survive the dangers of deep space. Summer has clearly arrived for everyone involved. Steven’s kids have practically moved into the swimming pool, while Devon’s children are also spending as much time in the water as possible between rainstorms. Ben has been playing Detroit: Become Human, which naturally leads to a discussion about Quantic Dream, Star Wars: Eclipse, and whether that game actually exists or is simply an elaborate collective hallucination. We also dive into the surprisingly complicated world of chess set consolidation. How many chess sets does one family really need? The answer is apparently fewer than Ben owns. Future or Now Devon wraps up a few television reviews, including Hulu’s Paradise, which has completed its second season and is already confirmed for a third. He also talks about the finale of Widows Bay, which somehow feels like Parks and Recreation wandered into a Stephen King novel. We also get a brief review of For All Mankind Season 5. Devon’s verdict: “I didn’t mind it.” Ben shares one of the most delightfully cyberpunk projects we’ve seen in a while: someone converted a cheap WiFi-enabled smart light bulb into a tiny hidden server that hosts digital copies of banned books. The result is part embedded systems engineering project, part hacker art installation, and entirely fascinating. Steven checks out the trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and discusses what Marvel appears to be setting up next for everyone’s favorite wall-crawler. Finally, Devon reports that his kids are fully locked into movie hype mode. Toy Story 5 is on the radar, and they’re especially excited for Minions & Monsters, which recently made headlines by casting George Lucas after the Star Wars creator revealed he was apparently a huge fan of the franchise. Whether it's crashed spaceships serving vegetarian food, cyberpunk light bulbs distributing banned literature, or kids turning swimming pools into second homes, this week’s episode has a little bit of everything. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41794050

Episode 613: Intonation and Isolation 06/17/2026

Episode 613: Intonation and Isolation This week it's just Steven and Devon holding down the fort while Ben is away, which means the conversation somehow manages to jump from guitar maintenance to Star Wars collectibles to post-apocalyptic murder mysteries without missing a beat. Real Life Devon spent part of the week giving some attention to an old Kelly-style guitar that had been fighting him for years. After wrestling with the floating tremolo system, he explains the joys and frustrations of guitar intonation and why getting everything properly adjusted can feel more like engineering than music. With the guitar finally behaving itself, he's been spending time learning Vivaldi's Summer, proving once again that classical music can be every bit as metal as heavy metal. Meanwhile, Steven returned from a Disney trip with a collection of souvenirs that may or may not require their own dedicated shelf. The haul includes a Spira gift card, a BB-series droid, a C-series droid head popcorn bucket, a Grand Holocron, a new Star Wars font hat, and nearly every Kyber crystal available. Unfortunately, despite collecting the entire rainbow, none of the elusive secret crystals made their way home. Such is the way of the Force. Future or Now Devon dives into Paradise on Hulu, starring Sterling K. Brown. What initially appears to be a political thriller quickly reveals itself to be something much stranger. Without spoiling too much, the series combines a whodunit mystery with a post-apocalyptic setting and some surprisingly deep character development. The show's vision of "The American Dream Underground" becomes one of the most fascinating aspects of the story, and Devon argues that the character work is what truly elevates the series above similar mystery shows. The conversation also briefly touches on Hoppers, now available on Disney+. The verdict? It's definitely strange. Whether that strangeness is good or bad may depend entirely on your tolerance for Pixar-style weirdness. There may also be connections to the Pixar Theory, but there simply isn't enough time to open that particular can of worms. Steven brings an interesting study examining the real-world effects of popular GLP-1 weight-loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. Researchers analyzing Fitbit data discovered that while patients successfully lost weight after starting the medications, many also became less physically active. Daily step counts and exercise levels declined, raising concerns because these drugs can reduce muscle mass alongside fat loss. The findings highlight an important reminder: losing weight and maintaining physical fitness aren't necessarily the same thing, and preserving strength remains a critical part of long-term health. Links Paradise (IMDb): Weight-loss medication activity study: This episode covers everything from guitar maintenance and Disney loot to dystopian mysteries and the surprising relationship between weight loss and physical activity. Just another normal week on Science Faction. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41679700

Episode 612: Small Cracks, Big Problems 06/10/2026

Episode 612: Small Cracks, Big Problems This week was a little lighter on the host count, as Devon was trapped in the endless gravitational pull of legal work, but Ben and Steven still managed to cover everything from adopted kittens to the future of humanity in space. Real Life Ben started things off with an apology for being a little checked out during the last episode. He was physically present, but mentally running on fumes. Fortunately, life is looking up. The foster kittens are beginning to find homes, which is both exciting and bittersweet. He also took a moment to congratulate all the recent graduates out there before diving into family TV time. The household continues its journey through Star City, and after episode two, Nicole is already predicting where the story is headed. While the series has proven compelling, some mature content, light torture, and strong language have made it a slightly awkward fit for younger viewers. Devon wasn't able to join us this week thanks to an overwhelming amount of lawyering. We assume he is somewhere buried beneath paperwork and legal precedent, emerging only occasionally for coffee. Steven reminisced about a Disney trip he took with Ben years ago before jumping into a discussion of the For All Mankind season finale and what season six might bring. We unpack the strengths and weaknesses of the latest season, revisit the complicated Baldwin and Stevens family connections, and discuss why the Stevens kid is definitely not the mysterious Mars Peacekeeper. The conversation also explores the implications of the show's latest time jump and what it could mean for the future of the series. Steven also finished Gravity Falls with his kids, watching the final five episodes of season two in a single marathon session. Even when the show edged close to becoming a little too intense for younger audiences, it always managed to pull back and deliver an emotional, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful conclusion. Years after it first aired, it remains one of the best family animated series ever produced. Future or Now Ben kicked off the science segment with an aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts were temporarily instructed to shelter while engineers continued monitoring a long-running air leak in the Russian section of the station. The culprit is a small connecting tunnel that has developed microscopic structural cracks over time. Despite years of repairs and investigation, the leak remains one of the ISS's most persistent engineering headaches. The story naturally led into a broader discussion about , including new commercial space stations currently under development and what might . Steven brought a much more to the table. Researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new perovskite-based catalyst that dramatically lowers the temperature required to produce hydrogen from water. The breakthrough could allow industrial facilities to use waste heat that would otherwise be discarded, turning it into a valuable source of clean hydrogen fuel. If the technology scales successfully, it could reduce production costs, improve efficiency, and help make hydrogen a more practical energy source for industries ranging from steel manufacturing to renewable power generation. It's the kind of breakthrough that could quietly reshape entire sectors without most people realizing it until years later. From leaky space stations to cleaner energy, adopted kittens to animated mysteries, this week's episode covers a surprisingly wide range of topics—even with one host missing in action. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41551315

Episode 611: We Can’t Unsee What We’ve Seen 06/03/2026

Episode 611: We Can’t Unsee What We’ve Seen Welcome back to Science Faction, where this week we cover everything from Disney trips and dying handheld consoles to exploding rockets, prestige television, and one of the most unsettling science fiction stories ever written. Steven is preparing for an upcoming Disney adventure and is especially excited to introduce his nephew to Galaxy’s Edge. The kid's current obsessions are droids and starships, which means Disney has essentially engineered an entire section of the park specifically to drain Steven’s wallet. Devon wrestles with the chaos that comes with family trips, navigating in-law logistics and the impossible task of fitting too many events into a single day. He also takes a moment to recommend comedian Josh Adam Meyers, whose visit to Devon's hometown left quite an impression. Meanwhile, Ben says goodbye to his foster kittens, affectionately known as "the captains," and reflects on their departure. To distract himself from the sadness, he gives us a fascinating history lesson on the , Bandai’s handheld gaming system that briefly challenged Nintendo's dominance in Japan. In Future or Now, Ben dives into the and why industry experts view the incident as potentially catastrophic for the company. Beyond the loss of a vehicle, concerns center around damage to launch infrastructure and the enormous delays that can follow major launch pad failures. We also spend time discussing For All Mankind, with Ben currently watching the first season alongside his child while also keeping up with the latest season. The conversation turns to the show's increasingly tense alternate-history storytelling, particularly its depiction of Star City. Ben also highlights Becky Chambers’ upcoming novella, , which immediately caught the attention of science fiction fans. Devon joins the For All Mankind discussion and branches out into several other shows. We talk about the gleeful brutality of The Boys and the unusual premise of Widow's Bay on Apple TV+, which Devon describes as feeling like Parks and Recreation collided headfirst with a Stephen King novel. Steven mostly enjoys the ride this week, contributing commentary while the conversation bounces between exploding rockets, television recommendations, and speculative fiction. For Book Club, we begin by announcing next week's story, . The story opens with a wonderfully strange description of how to draw a spaceship, setting the tone for what promises to be a memorable piece of science fiction. This week's discussion focuses on , a modern classic that retells the events of John Carpenter's The Thing from the perspective of the alien itself. The story radically reframes the film's events, transforming what appeared to be a horrifying monster into something far more complicated and tragic. We discuss the unforgettable line, "I am being Blair. I escape out the back as the world comes in through the front," and examine how Watts uses the alien's perspective to challenge assumptions about identity, communication, and survival. Naturally, comparisons to The Thing (1982) dominate the discussion, while we mostly leave the 2011 prequel out in the cold where it belongs. Thanks for listening to another episode of Science Faction! If you'd like even more content, including bonus episodes, exclusive posts, Discord access, AI-generated artwork, and direct interaction with the hosts, be sure to check out our Patreon. You can also subscribe on YouTube, leave us a review wherever you listen, and join us next week as we discuss The Stars Look Away From This Vessel. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41520360

Episode 610: Slop On Slop On Slop 05/27/2026

Episode 610: Slop On Slop On Slop This week on the podcast, we dive into a galaxy far, far away, a dangerously beautiful state park, the surprising success of four-day work weeks, and why people are wildly confused about the environmental impact of the food they eat. Then we wrap things up in the Book Club with a poetic AI encounter that left us intrigued, confused, and maybe slightly emotionally mugged in a dark alley behind a fusion restaurant. Real Life Steven and Ben both checked out The Mandalorian & Grogu together… sort of. One of us managed to participate in the review despite not fully seeing the movie, which honestly may be the most authentic Star Wars fan experience possible at this point. We talk about the surprisingly fantastic stop-motion effects, some genuinely cool CG creature work, and whether Hutts should really be speaking Basic. Steven remains unconvinced. Ben argues the movie wisely avoids dragging along the baggage from season 3 of The Mandalorian and feels more focused because of it. Meanwhile, Devon took a trip to where the scenery was beautiful and the children were apparently training for a career in extreme sports. Watching kids play near dangerous rapids is apparently one of the most effective ways to discover new forms of parental anxiety. Fortunately, nobody was swept away into the wilderness, and everyone had a great time risking life and limb in nature. Future or Now Ben brings us a story about and found that things went… suspiciously well. Productivity held steady, employee happiness improved, and workers generally seemed less miserable. We discuss whether shorter work weeks are the inevitable future or whether society is too psychologically dependent on pretending exhaustion equals virtue. Devon covers a study showing that . A lot of folks assume “processed” automatically means environmentally terrible, while massively underestimating the impact of beef production. Even foods people often think of as universally eco-friendly can have surprisingly high environmental costs depending on water usage, transport, and production methods. It turns into a conversation about how humans love oversimplified categories, even when reality stubbornly refuses to cooperate. Steven, meanwhile, contributes absolutely nothing this week, which honestly may have reduced the overall chaos level of the episode by at least 12%. “Book Club” This week we read , and the title alone probably tells you this was not going to be a straightforward experience. The poem opens with the line: “I suppose you want my wallet. No? My body then.” …and from there things only become more surreal, philosophical, and emotionally slippery. We spend a good chunk of time trying to unpack what the poem is actually saying about identity, technology, desire, performance, and the strange relationship humans are developing with artificial intelligence. It’s dense, layered, and definitely one of those works that demands active engagement instead of passively washing over you. In other words: the exact kind of thing that makes for a great podcast discussion and an exhausting homework assignment. Next Week’s Book Club Next week we’ll be reading . “I am being Blair. I escape out the back as the world comes in through the front.” If you enjoy horrifying perspective shifts, existential dread, and science fiction that actively stares into your soul, you may want to read ahead before the episode drops. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41441690

Episode 609: Not a Euphemism for Hell 05/20/2026

Episode 609: Not a Euphemism for Hell This week the crew deals with sick kids, travel chaos, and kitten catastrophes before diving into ancient supervolcanoes, bizarre retro coding experiments, and a deeply unsettling sci-fi moral dilemma inspired by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Real Life Steven’s week turned into a strange mix of California road trips, tactical miniatures combat, and disease management. Devon came out for a visit, which meant plenty of hanging out, board games, and attempts to squeeze hobby time into an already overloaded week. Steven got to play some Robo Rally with Greg and Robert, along with trying out Let's Dig for Treasure, a game whose title sounds wholesome but absolutely invites goblin behavior. Meanwhile, Steven continued the noble quest of teaching Star Wars: Shatterpoint to Devon while Ben allegedly “rested,” which is apparently code for strategically avoiding rules explanations and measuring tools. Steven also spent another week in solo dad mode, which became significantly harder once kid sickness entered the arena and started critting morale checks. Ben, meanwhile, remains trapped in the ongoing kitten saga. The kittens continue producing biological surprises at an industrial pace, while Ben contemplates the eternal debate between older gaming hardware and modern VR technology. Specifically: the Wii may have looked ridiculous, but at least it wasn’t trying to strangle your family with cords every time somebody turned around. According to Ben, the Wii was “for moms,” which honestly may have been Nintendo’s most successful market strategy ever. Devon was not present for this segment because he was likely somewhere over the western United States eating airport pretzels and regretting flight delays. Future or Now Ben descended into the strange and fascinating world of the demoscene with “Wake Up, Neo,” a tiny 16-byte x86 program capable of turning cascading Matrix-style code into sound. Yes: sixteen bytes. Not sixteen kilobytes. Sixteen actual bytes. The conversation spiraled into appreciation for the demoscene itself — a long-running culture of programmers creating absurdly impressive audiovisual experiments under ridiculous technical limitations. “Wake Up, Neo” writeup: Demoscene overview: Steven brought humanity to the brink of extinction with the story of the Toba supereruption. Scientists believe the eruption may have darkened skies and cooled the planet so severely that early human populations nearly collapsed. But newer archaeological evidence suggests humans may have been far more adaptable than previously believed. Instead of folding under pressure, ancient communities appear to have shifted strategies, developed new tools, and survived conditions that should have wiped them out. In other words: humanity’s greatest evolutionary trait may not be intelligence, strength, or speed — it may simply be the stubborn refusal to quit. ScienceDaily article: Devon once again contributed by existing somewhere inside the airline system. “Big Question” This week’s Big Question was deeply uncomfortable in exactly the way a good science fiction premise should be: Would you rather have actually killed someone and have absolutely no memory of it… or have vivid memories of killing someone when it never actually happened and could never be proven true? Ben immediately pointed out the horrifying lack of control involved in the first option. Somewhere out there, a terrible thing happened, and you were responsible for it without even knowing. That uncertainty alone could eat someone alive. Steven argued the second option might actually be worse for him personally. Even if the memory were false, the emotional weight would still feel real. Guilt doesn’t necessarily care whether something objectively happened. If your brain fully believes you murdered someone, your nervous system probably isn’t going to politely wait for evidence before spiraling. The conversation naturally drifted into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the famous episode Hard Time, where Chief O’Brien receives implanted prison memories so traumatic they permanently alter him psychologically. Episode reference: It turns out fake trauma may still just be… trauma. Which is a pretty bleak realization for a podcast episode that also contained kitten poop discussions. Thanks for listening to another episode of The Science Faction Podcast! If you enjoy weird science, existential sci-fi questions, retro tech rabbit holes, and hearing exhausted dads attempt coherent conversation, consider supporting the show on Patreon for bonus episodes, Discord access, AI art, unedited recordings, and more. You can also subscribe on YouTube and help spread the word to fellow science-fiction weirdos. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41364900

Episode 608: Grade 3 Spondylolisthesis 05/13/2026

Episode 608: Grade 3 Spondylolisthesis Another week, another episode where we somehow go from broccoli discourse to self-driving cars to limb regeneration technology and then cap it all off with rogue timestreams on a college campus. Just a normal day for . Real Life Ben opens the show with an important culinary clarification: broccoli is the green one. Not the other green one. Also maybe “broccolini” exists? Science remains divided. Meanwhile, Ben’s household has become a temporary kitten sanctuary. Tiny baby cats are everywhere, and while Ben is trying his best, he freely admits his wife appears to be significantly more qualified in the art of keeping tiny creatures alive. On top of that, his son has started developing an actual social life, which Ben correctly identifies as a direct threat to traditional family hanging-out time. The family also continues debating the orbital mechanics of For All Mankind, with Ben’s 12-year-old officially unconvinced by the show’s space logistics. Devon reports back from a Dallas anniversary trip with his wife celebrating ten years of marriage. The trip included visits to the Perot Natural History Museum, multiple Waymo sightings, an improv show with front-row seats, and a self-driving Uber ride that still included a human technician nervously supervising the robot future. Steven survived a busy week while his wife was out of town and also got some bonus hangout time with Devon during the visit. Naturally, this somehow led to new miniatures for entering the house. The crew also stumbles into Texas voter registration statistics, discovering that as of August 2025 there were reportedly more registered Democrats than Republicans in Texas, which sparks discussion about perception versus raw registration numbers. According to reporting from , Democrats accounted for approximately 46.52% of registered voters compared to 37.75% registered Republicans. Future or Now (~10 min ea) Devon brings in one of the wildest science stories of the week: researchers may have identified a key genetic pathway involved in limb regeneration. Scientists studying axolotls, zebrafish, and mice uncovered a family of “SP genes” connected to regeneration. By disabling these genes, proper bone regrowth stopped entirely. Researchers then used zebrafish-inspired gene therapy techniques to partially restore regeneration in mice. The long-term dream? Moving beyond prosthetics and eventually regrowing living tissue and limbs in humans. Tiny salamanders may once again be carrying the future of medicine on their weird smiling backs. Read more from . Ben follows that up with a double nostalgia feature. First up is The Thirteenth Floor, the underrated 1999 sci-fi film that had the misfortune of arriving alongside The Matrix. Decades later, removed from direct comparisons, Ben argues the movie absolutely holds up and deserves a second look. Then comes a glowing recommendation for Mixtape, a coming-of-age game centered around three teenage friends spending one final night together before life changes forever. Ben describes it as emotionally sincere, genuinely hilarious, visually stunning, and powered by an incredible soundtrack. The animation style apparently evokes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse energy, while the tone lands somewhere between Dazed and Confused, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and High Fidelity. Ben strongly recommends it even for non-gamers, suggesting that simply watching a playthrough could still deliver a great experience. Check it out at . Steven unfortunately runs out of time this week, proving once again that reality remains the greatest enemy of podcast scheduling. Book Club Next Week’s Story Next week the crew will be reading: by Lesley Hart Gunn "I suppose you want my wallet. No? My body then." This Week’s Story This week’s discussion focused on: Update on Rules for the Spatiotemporal Use of Campus Spaces by Andrea Kriz The story presents a university campus slowly unraveling under the pressure of a rogue timestream, delivered through increasingly absurd administrative announcements and policy updates. “Dear Members of the Community, As we begin yet another fall semester in the throes of the rogue timestream unleashed on our campus…” The crew spends a lot of time trying to piece together exactly what catastrophic event caused the university to devolve into bureaucratic temporal chaos. Everyone agreed the story was fantastic, weird in exactly the right ways, and surprisingly effective at balancing humor with unsettling implications. Read it here: Thanks for listening to the show! If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, share it around, and check out the Patreon for bonus episodes, Discord access, behind-the-scenes content, and more sci-fi chaos. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41283850

Episode 607: Billionaires Line Their Pockets With Our Eyeballs? 05/06/2026

Episode 607: Billionaires Line Their Pockets With Our Eyeballs? The latest episode of The Science Faction spirals from Star Wars spoilers and obsolete gaming hardware to AI-powered paper interfaces, billionaire airline schemes, and a surprisingly heartfelt sci-fi short story discussion. Also: Devon’s mom makes a guest appearance. Real Life Steven kicks things off with the finale of Maul: Shadow Lord, which somehow managed to exceed expectations and leave him wanting even more animated Star Wars content. That naturally led into random Star Wars news, toy leaks, and the growing suspicion that The Mandalorian and Grogu may already be accidentally spoiling itself through merchandise. Nothing says “carefully guarded cinematic surprise” like a plastic action figure showing up six months early. Ben dives deep into the glory of the New Steam Controller — the strange, awkward, beloved device whos first version maybe arrived too early for the world to appreciate. Thumbpads, gyroscopes, weird ergonomics, customization rabbit holes… the gang discusses why the controller still has devoted fans years later, and why scalpers continue to treat new tech like buried treasure. That somehow mutates into a discussion about AI infrastructure and whether we’re entering a full-blown “Rampocalypse.” Is AI consuming all available RAM on Earth? Why do hardware prices keep fluctuating like cursed crypto charts? Nobody has all the answers, but everyone agrees the future smells faintly of overheated GPUs. Ben also brings up the world of HFY (“Humans Eff Yeah”) sci-fi stories — tales where humanity survives, thrives, or weaponizes sheer stubbornness against impossible odds. If you’ve ever wanted science fiction powered by caffeine, duct tape, and irrational confidence, HFY may be your genre. Meanwhile, Devon’s mom came to visit. Hi mom! Steven also revisits Cyberpunk: Combat Zone from Monster Fight Club: The crew talks miniatures, skirmish combat, and the appeal of tactical cyberpunk warfare. This naturally evolves into a completely different question: how does Hackers still have such a low Rotten Tomatoes score? Some crimes cannot be forgiven. Future or Now Steven and Devon discover the incredible website: The dream? Take ownership away from billionaires and let the people run an airline. The concerns? Literally everything else. Devon immediately begins asking practical questions like: “What happens if people pledge money and then don’t pay?” This turns into an unexpectedly entertaining conversation about collective ownership, internet chaos, and the terrifying logistics of buying an airline like it’s a Kickstarter for a board game. Ben brings in a fascinating essay by James Somers: Somers proposes the idea of a “paper computer,” where AI bridges the gap between tactile physical objects and digital systems. Instead of staring at glowing rectangles all day, users could interact with notebooks, index cards, sketches, and handwritten notes while AI quietly handles transcription, synchronization, and organization in the background. The discussion drifts into concepts similar to Dynamicland — a future where computing becomes ambient, physical, and less psychologically exhausting. Less clicking. More touching grass. Possibly literally. Book Club (~20 min) This 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.” The crew unanimously loved this one. The story blends sci-fi, mysticism, military imagery, and desperate emotional momentum into something that strongly reminded everyone of Red Rising. Giant-scale emotional stakes, rigid systems, brutal conflict, and characters struggling under impossible expectations — it hit a lot of the same notes in the best way. That comparison leads naturally into discussion of The Will of the Many, which Devon recently listened to during a road trip. The gang talks about recurring themes in modern science fiction: empire, hierarchy, sacrifice, rebellion, and the terrifying pressure of being “special” in worlds designed to consume people. This week’s story earned a rare unanimous recommendation from the hosts. Next Week: Update on Rules for the Spatiotemporal Use of Campus Spaces by Andrea Kriz “Dear Members of the Community, As we begin yet another fall semester in the throes of the rogue timestream unleashed on our campus…” Time distortions. Academic bureaucracy. Campus memos. Reality collapsing under administrative language. This already feels extremely promising. Whether it’s crowdfunded airlines, AI-powered paper notebooks, ancient Sith conspiracies, or sci-fi knights hyperventilating on robotic pegasi, this episode somehow manages to connect all of it into one giant conversation about technology, humanity, and the weird systems we build around ourselves. It’s one of those episodes where the tangents get dangerously powerful, the recommendations stack up fast, and everyone leaves wanting to immediately consume more science fiction. If you enjoyed the episode, consider supporting the show over at Patreon for bonus episodes, unedited recordings, Discord access, AI art drops, playlists, behind-the-scenes chaos, and more: You can also subscribe to the YouTube channel for clips, uploads, and future content: Thanks for listening, and remember: if the internet successfully crowdfunds an airline before affordable housing, we may already be living in cyberpunk. /episode/index/show/sciencefactionpodcast/id/41194365

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

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