The political economy of speculative fiction
We are joined by Neil Sharpson author of debut novel, When the Sparrow Falls. It’s a clever and engaging science-fiction thriller looking at artificial intelligence, totalitarianism, and transhumanism available from Tor books on June 29.
You can find Neil at unshavedmouse.com and on Twitter.
Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor
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Seth from Hugos There, Take Me To Your Reader, Brief & Not So Brief joins us to discuss Palm Springs. We talk about Cartesian Dualism, capitalism, and what is a life worth living.
Seth hosts Hugos There, a monthly podcast talking about Hugo Award winning novels with a guest(s). It’s great. Check it out. You can also hear him on Take Me To Your Reader
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things directed by Ian Samuels, screenplay by Lev Grossman
Being and Time by Martin Heidegger
One-Minute Time Machine directed by Devon Avery, written by Sean Crouch
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Political intrigue, medical ethics, cross cultural dialogue, and teen dating… If that seems like too much for one episode of DS9 you’re right! Come with us as we muddle through this beautiful mess of an episode.
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We are joined by Daryl Gregory (twitter) to discuss his new novella, The Album of Dr. Moreau. We get into animal rights, the nature of consciousness, and the privilege of wealth.
Also by Daryl Gregory and available in late August, Revelator, pre-order now.
Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein
Animal Liberation: The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement by Peter Singer
By Force Alone and The Escapement by Lavie Tidhar
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This week’s episode is a rare look into our own future, as Sisko travels back to 2024. In a world of Neo Trotskyists, walled ghettos, net tycoons and Quad Cycles the Federation’s own time travel policy must be violated to save it.
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We are joined by Basma Ghalayini, editor of the collection Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba, and Ra Page, the cofounder of publisher Comma Press. Palestine +100 is a collection of stories exploring how Palestine might look 100 years after the Nakba when Palestinians were displaced and the occupation by Israel began.
Comma Press is a not-for-profit publisher specialising in the short story and fiction in translation. It is committed to a spirit of risk-taking, and aims to put the short story at the heart of contemporary narrative culture.
If you are able, please donate to relief efforts in Palestine such as through the Islamic Relief Fund.
Mortal Engines by Stanislaw Lem
Roadside Picnic By Arkady and Boris Strugatsky; Also listen to our episode on Roadside Picnic
Nabil Farouk an Egyption author known for the Cocktail 2000 and the Future File series.
Paranormal on Netflix adapted from Ahmed Khaled Tawfik’s Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa series
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To Coup or not to Coup? Things get political as the news on your side Androids and Assets team talks about headlines from 1994. Reviewing Season 3 episodes 8 and 9.
The crew of Deep Space Nine is exploring the Gamma Quadrant, which is totally their job, and using a little warship to do it. They discover a planet that falls in and out of our dimension. Dax falls in love with a creep.
Riker shows up on the Station. Kira makes nice and shows him around, even giving a tour of the Defiant. Ben works with Gul Dukat to find a Federation ship before it can kill innocent Cardassian civilians.
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For May Day we read Soviet era novel, Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It’s a bleak look at utopia, the utterly alien nature of aliens, and the insignificance of humans.
We disagree about the end of the novel and leave it up to you, dear listener, to decide the true meaning.
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Continuum Drag joins the boys to review… Pogs, I guess, and Season 3 episodes 6 and 7.
Odo is a father for a day after Quark buys a Jem’Hadar baby and immediately surrenders it to the state. Jake is dating an older woman and Ben doesn’t approve. Difficult fathering situations abound.
We reference this wonderful episode from Syfy Sistas during our discussion.
Ben joins Jake on his job placement with O’Brien for a day. As they are working to convert an ore processing unit into a refinery. They trip a security subroutine and cause Cardassian counter rebellion measures to come into effect threatening the entire station.
Continuum Drag is an excellent podcast exploring the forgotten and little seen sci-fi television of yesterday.
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We talk about currency, empire, and colonialism in Seth Dickinson’s The Traitor Baru Cormorant. This is a novel all about economic conquest and effective resistance to empire with a seeming message that there is no effective resistance to empire.
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