Wizards & Spaceships

It’s the 20th anniversary of Blindsight! David and Rachel sit down in Rachel’s living room with marine biologist, critically acclaimed author, and enemy-of-the-state Peter Watts to drink two bottles of wine and talk about theories of consciousness, cigar-shaped harbour seals, the climate collapse, and why dystopian sci-fi authors are in fact childishly optimistic.Additional audio engineering by Rick Innis.Show Notes:RiftersThe Collapse Is Coming. Will Humanity Adapt?The Sheep Look Up, John BrunnerThe Limits To GrowthPhilosophical ZombieConsciousness and its function, David M. RosenthalMichael Timothy BennettErik Hoel Mirror TestThe Hidden SpringArthur JafaContinue the conversation on the Wizards & Spaceships Discord or on Facebook!

The podcast is part of the oral tradition, and joining us to talk about ancient epics, living texts in dead languages, Babylonian Pride parades, and how all of this relates to sci-fi, fantasy, and horror is writer, translator, and cultural historian Sophus Helle.Show notes:Sophus’ websiteElectronic Babylonian LibraryBabylonian Myths, Sophus HelleCritical Antiquities, including Human: Babylonian Reflections on Labour, Sophus HelleBeowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, J.R.R. TolkienBeowulf: A New Translation, Maria Dahvana Headley The Complete Mahabharata (online)The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics)Ovid's Metamorphoses: A New Translation, C. Luke SoucyQuery, Zilla NovikovThe Ur-Pisode: The Queer Heart of the Epic of Gilgamesh, ft. Julian GunnContinue the conversation on the Wizards & Spaceships Discord or on Facebook!

A contract with one of the five big publishing companies means placement in bookstores and libraries, reviews in major publications, award nominations, and a huge advance—even a chance to get on the bestsellers list. But is this actually the case? Joining us to talk about how the sausage gets made is Jeremy Szal, author of the Common Trilogy.Show Notes:Jeremy’s websiteFollow him on:BlueskyInstagramTikTok“Everything is random in publishing. Success is random. Bestsellers are random. So that is why we are the Random House!” Are there more libraries or McDonald’s?Author (and professional chef) Rohan O’Duill trying out one of the recipes from the Sad Bastard CookbookContinue the conversation on the Wizards & Spaceships Discord or on Facebook!

So you've trashed the world. An EMP or a nuclear bomb or a plague of zombies have taken out civic infrastructure—now it's your chance to show off your survival skills. Fortunately, there's an incredible resurgence of Indigenous post-apocalyptic fiction that offers alternative visions to surviving collapse. In this episode, we talk to author, educator in Plant Medicine & Midwifery, and hippy prepper Daphne Singingtree about how to survive and thrive after the end.We're nominated for an Aurora Award for Best Fan-Related Work!Check out the ballot (and consider casting a vote for us) at the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.Show NotesDaphne's websiteDaphne's socialsZaniyan1632, Eric FlintEmberverse, SM Stirling A Paradise Built In Hell, Rebecca SolnitBraiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall KimmererMoon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves, Waubgeshig RiceThe Marrow Thieves and Hunting By Stars, Cherie DimalineFuture Home of the Living God, Louise ErdrichTrail of Lightning, Rebecca RoanhorseThis Place: 150 Years RetoldBlood Quantum (2019)Night Raiders (2021)The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 3, "Long Long Time." [Check out Rachel's guest appearance on Two Old Farts where we talk about it!]The Hunger GamesCascade, Rachel A. RosenStar Trek: TNG: "The Inner Light" TerminatorYears Of Rice and Salt and The Ministry For the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson

Welcome to our new season! To celebrate, we’re kicking it up a notch by holding an all-star roundtable of some truly incredible writers. Vajra Chandrasekera, Samantha Mills, and Gregory A. Wilson join us to discuss didactic genre fiction. Is it a skill problem? Is it a media literacy problem? Can you hammer home a message without alienating (sorry/not sorry) your audience?We're nominated for an Aurora Award for Best Fan-Related Work!Check out the ballot (and consider casting a vote for us) at the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.Show Notes:Vajra's websiteSamantha's websiteGregory's websiteGuillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein)Dante’s InfernoKatabasis, R.F. KuangRabbit Test, Samantha MillsA Sound of Thunder, Ray BradburyDune, Frank HerbertThe Witcher, Andrzej SapkowskiLe Roman de SilenceFrom the Notebooks of Doctor Brain, Minister FaustThe Time Machine, H.G. WellsIsland of Doctor Moreau, H.G. WellsStar Trek TOS: Let That Be Your Last BattlefieldOne star review of Pride and PrejudiceWorld Bank literacy statsGrendel, John Gardner