Are We Having Fun Yet? ft. Peter Watts

Happy Halloween! There's no shortage of horrors, but the best one is the horror found in forces that are so large, so abstract, or upsetting that to engage with them directly would drive you insane. With us to discuss cosmic horror are Devinder Thiara and Jesse Scoble, co-creators of a new comic, Dead Money.Show notes:https://jdstudios.art/Devinder on FacebookJesse on BlueskyJesse’s SubstackMoby Dick illustration with the eyeYour new TBR/TBW list:Call of Cthulhu RPGThe Three-Body Problem, Liu CixinAlien franchiseThe Thing (1982)H.P. LovecraftConan, Robert E. HowardSwamp Thing, Alan MooreHellblazercomicsPreacher, Garth EnnisThe Invisibles, Grant MorrisonHammers on Bone, Cassandra Khaw Aliens the Board GameBlindsight, Peter Watts Laundry Files, Charles StrossMove Under Ground, The Damned Highway, and I Am Providence by Nick MamatasTrue DetectiveLovecraft Countryby Matt RuffDavid’s poem inPolar BorealisThe Devil’s Highway, Luis Alberto UrreaThe Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValleThe Undead Sorceress, JF Garrard The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham JonesContinue the conversation on the Wizards & Spaceships Discord or on Facebook!

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

Genre fiction is full of strong, independent women, badass heroines, brave Final Girls, and virginal princesses. Frankly, we’re getting a little sick of it? For our season finale, with us to discuss difficult women is the queen of messy, complicated, and antiheroic female protagonists herself, the legendary Silvia Moreno-Garcia!Show NotesSilvia's websiteSilvia's Instagram and ThreadsSignal To Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (find out why Rachel is correct and all of the Goodreads reviewers are wrong)Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-GarciaCountess by Susan PalumboUnknown Number: The High School CatfishRachel’s Problematic FavesBellis Coldwine (The Scar by China Miéville)Baru Cormorant (The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickson)Essun (The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin)Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power by Nate Stevenson)David’s Problematic FavesMorgan Le Fay (Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory)Cersei Lannister (A Song Of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin)Jadis (The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis)Silvia’s Problematic FavesEleanor and Theodora (The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson)Constance and Merricat (We Have Always Lived In the Castle by Shirley Jackson)Everything by Tanith LeeRebecca and Rachel (Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier)Emma Bovary (Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert)Are they genre? Nah, but we still love themCass Neary novels by Elizabeth HandGone Girl by Gillian FlynnWuthering Heights by Emily BrontëThe Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia HighsmithLolita by Vladimir NabokovWashington Square by Henry JamesAnna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Amazing Stories Magazine. It started way back in March or April, of 1926, depending on who you ask. With us to talk about the magazine's past, present, and maybe even the next hundred years, are its publishers and editors: Steve Davidson, Kermit Woodall and Lloyd Penney.Show notes:Amazing Stories Magazine onlineWikipedia's entryGalactic CentralSF Encyclopedia

Charles R. Saunders was a Halifax journalist and, with his Imaro novels, the founder of the "sword and soul" genre and a Black Canadian literary icon. When he died in obscurity in 2020, journalist Jon Tattrie joined fans worldwide to uncover where he was buried, commemorate his life, and bring him the prominence he deserved. For Black History Month, we're joined by Jon to tell us about Charles' remarkable career and his new biography, To Leave a Warrior Behind: The Life and Stories of Charles R. Saunders, the Man Who Rewrote Fantasy.Show Notes:To Leave a Warrior Behind: The Life and Stories of Charles R. Saunders, the Man Who Rewrote Fantasy by Jon TattrieWrite Now with Jon TattrieThe New Moon’s Arms by Nalo HopkinsonThe Broken Earth by N.K. JemisinThe Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia SamatarInterview With the Vampire (2022-)BladeStar Man’s Son by Andre NortonSkin of the Sea by Natasha BowenAnnaka by Andre FentonDark Fantasy zineJaycen Wise URAEUSMshindo I. KuumbaCharles in the CSFFA hall of fameCharles R. Saunders' select biography:Imaro (1981) Second Edition (2006) Third Edition (2014)The Quest for Cush (1984) Second Edition (2008)The Trail of Bohu (1985) Second Edition (2009)The Naama War (2009)Nyumbani Tales (2017)Dossouye (2008)Dossouye: The Dancers of Mulukau (2012)Other novelsDamballa (2011)Abengoni: First Calling (2014), fantasy novelNon-fictionSweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace (1990)Spirit of Africville (1992)Share & Care: The Story of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children (1994)Black & Bluenose: The Contemporary History of a Community (2002)

Magazines and journals have been a foundational part of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror since the very beginning and provide us with the stories, art, and critical analysis that keep the genre vibrant. These collaborations are a labour of love and the lifeblood of the literary scene. With us to talk about the work of editing and producing them are two rising stars in the field, Josh Wilson, editor of The Fabulist, and Alexandra Pierce, editor of Speculative Insight.Show Notes:The FabulistThe Fabulist on BlueskyThe Fabulist on InstagramSpeculative InsightSpeculative Insight on BlueskySpeculative Insight on InstagramLetters to TiptreeLuminescent ThreadsRadon JournalClarkesworldkhōréōTrollbreath