Wizards & Spaceships

You guys had so many science questions that our resident scientists couldn't answer them all in just one episode! In this episode, Rob & Jon Mound tackle important questions such as time travel, the mutability or lack thereof of the laws of physics, and dragon taxonomy. Also, why we are not going to Mars.Show Notes: The Forever War, Joe Haldeman The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis The Time Machine (1960) Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee The Walking Dead World of Warcraft corrupted blood incident Game of Thrones dragons Coelacanth Unusual anal fin offers new insight into evolution Tiktaalik Total Recall (1990) terraforming Mars scene Spaceballs (1987)Keep the conversation going, or ask the Science Bros more questions by joining our Discord or Facebook group!

Suspension of disbelief is a cornerstone of speculative fiction, but as writers and fans, we often find ourselves wondering just how grounded in reality our favourite stories really are. We asked you, our listeners, for questions like:What would happen if I went through a wormhole? Does a Star Trek transporter just kill you and create a new copy of you? What kind of technology can or can’t you use to blow up the world?And then we got biologist Rob Mound and geophysicist Jon Mound to answer the questions you sent. There were so many we had to split it into two parts! In this part, we look at jumping out of a spaceship without a suit (why?), octopus people (yes!), sex in space (obviously!), and more!Show Notes The Core (2003) The Expanse - 5x07 | Naomi's Leap From The Pella A City On Mars, Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith Star Trek Voyager "Cathexis" on Memory Alpha Gattaca (1997) When You Nut In Space, It Push You Backwards (NSFW) "There Are Four Lights," scene from Star Trek: The Next Generation Best Served Cold, Joe Abercrombie Gerald Bull The Martian growing poop potatoesKeep the conversation going, or ask the Science Bros more questions by joining our Discord or Facebook group!

Sci-fi and fantasy has always had an optimistic current, whether it’s utopian space-age cities or noble chosen ones vanquishing a dark lord. In recent years, with the popularity of romantasy and cozy fantasy, it’s easier than ever to immerse yourself in a more hopeful world.But what if instead we made you feel bad?In this wide-ranging conversation with multitalented author and editor Nick Mamatas, we talk about crushing your joy, corporate greed in the publishing and music production industries, and why the 80s and 90s were objectively the best time for music. Show Notes:Alex Rowland’s original hopepunk post.Buy 120 MurdersNick’s BlueskyPerfect Crime PartyDark Yonder Issue 1Nick’s website that never gets updatedThat Slayer memeHave you bought Blight yet? If you like dark things, you should!Buy it from your favourite online retailerBuy direct from the publisher"Do You Love the Colour Of the Sky?" in Trollbreath Magazine

For 4000 years, The Epic of Gilgamesh has influenced mythology, theology, and literature, and its rediscovery in the 1850s is itself an epic tale of war, theft, and Hobby Lobby. A meditation on love and death, rage and grief, civilization and nature, starring two problematic queer frat boys, it is the foundation of so many of our stories. In this episode, we talk to poet, artist, and essayist Julian Gunn about the story that started it all.Show Notes:Gilgamesh, A King, At Uruk (Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Darmok")What makes the world’s first bar joke funny? No one knows.@radiantfracture on instagramJulian's blogJulian's gamesVictoria Festival of AuthorsThe Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Maureen KovacsThe Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Andrew GeorgeThe Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Sophus HelleIf you haven't had enough problematic gays raging against the gods by the end of this episode, you might enjoy Rachel's new novel, Blight! Buy it from your favourite online bookstore or directly from the publisher.Also, voting for the Aurora Awards opens June 7th! You can vote for us. Or other people. But please vote for us.

Break out the cake, balloons, and gigantic bone tentacles, it's season 2 of Wizards & Spaceships! Rachel has a new book out, Blight, the sequel to her first novel, Cascade. In this episode, you get a behind-the-scenes look at the newest instalment in the Sleep of Reason series.And did you know that tomorrow is Rachel's birthday? Why not celebrate by buying one or more of her books?Pre-order Blight (The Sleep of Reason Book 2): Amazon Other online bookstores Direct from the publisherBuy Cascade (The Sleep of Reason Book 2)Buy (or download the free ebook) The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't DieBuy Instant Classic (That No One Will Read)Aurora Awards 2025 BallotWant to stay informed? Here's how to find Rachel all over social media: Newsletter Blog Bluesky Mastodon Instagram Facebook Threads Goodreads

It's been an entire year of Wizards & Spaceships! Thank you for coming along with us on this wild and magical space ride. You can't turn on the news or doomscroll social media without hearing about how AI will revolutionize everything. Unfortunately, the worst people in the world seem to be in charge of it. In this episode, we talk to sci-fi legend Robert J. Sawyer about what AI and transhumanism really mean for humanity and our planet and how we can stand up to corporate hype and greed. Show notes: Robert's website Robert's Bluesky AI's environmental problems AI's thirst for electricity

There’s a huge crossover between tabletop role-playing game players, genre fans, and genre writers, and many of us fell in love with genre fiction by playing D&D in the basement. In this episode, we're joined by author and game designer Jesse Pohlman to talk about the considerations that go into building your own TTPRG. Show notes: Jesse’s website Jesse’s Bluesky Blight cover reveal

Pulp fiction is a cornerstone of the genres we love. In this episode, we talk to screenwriter, ghostwriter, and author of the new zombie novel Deads Rise, Shawn Whitney, about manly men doing manly things, the perils of writing romance, and close encounters with sexy lizard aliens. Show notes: Shawn's website Shawn's Twitter The Pulp Magazines Project Pulps In Special Collections

Rachel and David take the show on the road to Can*Con 2024 in Ottawa. We recorded the launch of The Dance, a multiverse anthology, as well as some general table silliness. Show notes: Buy The Dance online Can*Con Ira's website Shirley at Fantastic Fiction

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Welcome to the first episode of Wizards & Spaceships to pass the Bechdel Test! In 2023, the Hugo Awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, were rocked by scandal. That year, the convention was hosted in Chengdu, China, and a number of popular and acclaimed works, from R. F. Kuang's Babel to Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, were deemed ineligible...even though they had enough nominations to appear on the ballot. The controversy engulfed the world of speculative fiction, but what really happened? In this episode, we talk to WorldCon whistleblower Diane Lacey to get her take on what went wrong, who's to blame, and what we can learn from this moving forward.

Happy Halloween! To celebrate all that is spooky and monstrous, we're joined by poet, novelist, and David's other podcast co-host, Troy Harkin, to talk about the master of horror himself, Stephen King. Also cocaine. Show Notes: Troy's website ChiZine Publications SK Tours of Maine Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi

In this episode, we talk to Jordan S. Carroll about his new book, the Sad and Rabid Puppies, and how to avoid getting your sci-fi co-opted by fascists. Show Notes: Jordan’s Twitter: https://x.com/JordanSCarroll/ Jordan’s Bluesky: jordanscarroll.bsky.social Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt Right by Jordan S. Carroll Kaleidotrope Elizabeth Sandifer: Eruditorum Press and Neoreaction a Basilisk but why not just go ahead and read everything she’s written? Camestros Felapton’s The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War

How do you begin your epic sci-fi, fantasy, or horror story? How do you grab a viewer or reader’s attention, introduce your characters and world, and avoid the dreaded infodump? To discuss these questions and much more, we talk to Shiraz Janjua, host of the YouTube channel How the Novel Starts. Show Notes: How the Novel Starts Shiraz's website Shiraz's Instagram Bulwer-Lytton Awards Reading and Watching List: George Orwell, 1984 Karen Russell, Swamplandia Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell William Gibson, Neuromancer Michael Chabon, Yiddish Policemen's Union Vajra Chandasekera, The Saint Of Bright Doors Frank Herbert, Dune JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings  Christopher Nolan, Inception George Lucas, Star Wars

In this episode, we interview absolute legend Ken MacLeod about utopias in science fiction. And yes, we're talking about the Culture. Of course we're talking about the Culture. Show Notes: The Early Days of a Better Nation Russian Cosmism Utopia and the Return of History Postwar as the war generation's utopia China 2019, just before the pandemic Reading/Watching List The Culture, Iain M. Banks News From Nowhere, William Morris Half-Earth Socialism: https://www.half.earth/ Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 by M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin The Green-Sky Trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis Desert by Anonymous The English Utopia by A.L. Morton Utopia by Thomas More Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach Elysium (2013) The Creator (2023) Noon Universe by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky We by Yevgeny Zamyatin Lenin Lives by Philip Cunliffe Merrie England by Robert Blatchford Ministry For the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

In this episode, we talk about meeting sentient extraterrestrials: The challenges of communication, what first contact stories say about our own Earthbound society, and why the aliens won't return our texts. David's recommendations: "Darmok" (Star Trek TNG) "The Inner Light" (Star Trek TNG) The Day the Earth Stood Still Arrival The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell Rachel's recommendations "Species 10-C" (Star Trek Discovery) Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky Attack the Block Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood), Octavia E. Butler Blindsight, Peter Watts

In this episode, we're talking about the Space Western! Was Firefly cancelled too soon or is it massively overrated? Why does it continue to grip the Nerd Imagination? Is it even okay to use Western elements in SFFH?Credits: Shamelessly stolen from Star Trek's "Spectre of the Gun," the Expanse Season 1 trailer, UFO Cowboy's official trailer, and Firefly's "Jayne's Town." The background music clips are "Somewhere In the Dark" and "Western Showdown" by Holizna and licensed under Creative Commons.

Welcome to Wizards & Spaceships, a podcast that's about both wizards and spaceships, featuring poet David L. Clink and novelist Rachel A. Rosen. In this episode, we introduce ourselves, talk about our favourite media, and explain why genre snobs need to get a lot less snobby. Do infodumps have a place in literature? Do all fantasy novels need to be a series? Grab a metaphorical drink with your newest nerdy friends and join us for our podcast launch.