625. Why Do We Believe in Aliens? (with Adam Kirsch)

Adam Kirsch joins us to discuss his books We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters and The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future Without Us. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrea Kail, Tom Gerencer, and Zach Chapman join us to discuss the Apple TV series Widow’s Bay, about a small-town mayor trying to turn his haunted island into a tourist destination. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jedediah Berry, author of The Manual of Detection and The Naming Song, joins us to discuss his new sword & sorcery novel Kill All Wizards. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Philip Gelatt, writer of The Europa Report and The Spine of Night, joins us to discuss M. John Harrison’s cosmic horror space opera novel Light. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Joseph Adams, Sara Lynn Michener, and Rafael Jordan join us to discuss Season 5 of the alternate reality sci-fi show For All Mankind on Apple TV. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrea Kail, Matthew Kressel, and Tom Gerencer join us to discuss the Stephen King movie adaptations Firestarter, Maximum Overdrive, Cell, and Dreamcatcher. Time stamps: Firestarter (3:25), Maximum Overdrive (28:21), Cell (58:52), Dreamcatcher (1:18:12). Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mercurio D. Rivera joins us to discuss Vernor Vinge’s classic novella “True Names” as well as the first nine stories in the book The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge. Stories Discussed: “Bookworm, Run!” (4:12), “The Accomplice” (14:55), “True Names” (20:17), “The Peddler’s Apprentice” (38:00), “The Ungoverned” (50:04), “Apartness” (1:00:52), “Conquest by Default” (1:07:04), “Long Shot” (1:16:08), “The Whirligig of Time” (1:24:09), “Bomb Scare” (1:35:04). Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Avellone, writer on Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, joins us to discuss the role of storytelling in the Fallout series of post-apocalyptic video games. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrea Kail, Tom Gerencer, and Rajan Khanna join us to discuss Roger Zelazny’s classic novel Creatures of Light and Darkness, about a cosmic war between godlike beings. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Ha joins us to discuss the second half of the book The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson. Stories discussed: "The Translator" (1:38), "Glacier" (14:57), "The Lunatics" (27:34), "Zurich" (45:56), "Vinland the Dream" (58:34), "A History of the Twentieth Century, with Illustrations" (1:07:12), "Muir on Shasta" (1:19:14), "Sexual Dimorphism" (1:28:54), "Discovering Life" (1:41:03), "Prometheus Unbound, At Last" (1:45:11), "The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942" (1:50:22). Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices