Our Opinions Are Correct

This is our last episode of Our Opinions Are Correct... but please stay subscribed to our feed, because you'll hear from us again. We're sad to be stepping away, but we're proud of seven years of correct opinions. And we're using this moment to think about the state of science fiction and fantasy in the twenty-first century, and what might be coming next. Shownotes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Frankenstein is back, baby. There are two new Frankenstein movies, plus tons of new fiction that plays with Frankenstein tropes. So it's time to talk about why this tale of a creature reanimated from dead body parts continues to haunt and inspire us. We get into Mary Shelley's life, the meaning of the bride, and what the monster has represented to different groups of people over the past 200 years. Plus, we dissect what makes Victor Frankenstein the original bad science daddy.  Shownotes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

We love science fiction and fantasy conventions — especially the ones that are run by fans, for fans. But they haven't changed much since the 1970s in many ways, and the world has moved on. So we asked a bunch of convention veterans to imagine how we might reimagine conventions for the 21st century, from panels to volunteering to venues. 

Not long ago, everybody was arguing about whether characters need to be "relatable". We get to the bottom of a debate that still makes us intensely grouchy. Plus we talk to one of our favorite writers, C.L. Polk, about how to write excellent descriptions in your fiction -- and it turns out to be all about connecting to a character's POV.

It's time to light a fire and curl up with a cup of cocoa and a terrifying book full of creepy shit -- or escaping from creepy shit. We've got recommendations for what to read this season! Plus, contributing host Bethany Brookshire tells us about Hellbenders, creatures who sound terrifying but are actually just little guys. She takes us down the rabbit hole of extermination campaigns to get rid of predators and pests, and why they don't always work out.

Bruce Lee changed American pop culture forever, and his incredible legacy is more relevant than ever. But how did he go from child actor in Hong Kong to one of the most important action-movie stars of all time? To find out more, we talk to Jeff Chang, author of a new book called Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America. Plus contributing host Naseem Jamnia tells us everything science has learned about fungi recenlty — and explains why science fiction has a lot of catching up to do. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

For our summer vacation, we're re-upping the first in our "Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction" series from 2023, about how Silicon Valley appropriates and misinterprets science fiction. Silicon Valley executives claim to be inspired by SF, but mostly they use it retroactively to justify their products, often missing the more complicated, nuanced ideas embedded in the original stories. In this episode, we tackled the hype cycle around A.I., which borrows liberally from the post-scarcity, post-human visions of Iain M. Banks in his Culture novels. It's time for … the Culture vs. ChatGPT!

Charlie Jane and Annalee are on book tour(s), so we're re-upping one of our favorite episodes from 2023. At that time, we were celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the rebooted version of Battlestar Galactica. This show broke new ground in depicting realistic politics — and a nuanced view of a society of artificial people. How does it hold up? To find out, Charlie Jane went back and watched the entire series — here's what she found.

It's a double book birthday! Annalee has just released Automatic Noodle, a wonderfully cozy book about robots who've survived a devastating war and now just want to run a noodle restaurant. And in 12 days, Charlie Jane is releasing Lessons in Magic and Disaster, about a trans witch who teaches her heartbroken mother how to do magic. In this episode, we're both celebrating our new books and talking about how we poured all of our feelings about the past few years into escapist tales. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect/shownotes  

It's scary out there — so thank goodness we're taking comfort in some wondrous books, TV shows, comics and movies. What makes a story comforting? And why is a dark horror story sometimes better comfort than a sweet gentle comedy? Plus we talk about the first season of Murderbot, which is about using stories to feel better and also made us feel better in real life. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect/shownotes