618. The Story of Fallout (with Chris Avellone)

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

John Joseph Adams, Rajan Khanna, and Christopher M. Cevasco join us to discuss Season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new HBO series set 100 years before Game of Thrones. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Kay joins us to discuss Season 1 of the Apple TV+ series Pluribus, about an alien virus that transforms most of humanity into an extremely cheerful hive mind, and his book Panics and Persecutions, which explores some of the worst excesses of cancel culture. 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 first half of the book The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson. Stories discussed: “Venice Drowned” (10:53), “Ridge Running” (19:25), “Before I Wake” (26:55), “Black Air” (34:18), “The Lucky Strike” (44:23), “A Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions” (55:29), “Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars” (1:09:15), “The Blind Geometer” (1:17:30), “Our Town” (1:25:25), “Escape from Kathmandu” (1:28:54), “Remaking History” (1:44:05). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David P. Silverman, author of Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World, joins us to discuss his new science fiction novella Darkshiner. Topics discussed: David's childhood, Star Trek and Trekkies, science fiction conventions, Douglas Adams, atheism among sci-fi fans, persuasion vs. coercion, the idea behind Darkshiner, fiction like Darkshiner, AI collaboration, human editors, scientific accuracy, character names, cover blurbs, Babylon 5, the current state of sci-fi TV, church tax breaks, Atheists for Liberty, Dungeons & Dragons, setting aside differences. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Gerencer and Rajan Khanna join us to discuss Roger Zelazny’s classic novel Roadmarks, about a magical highway that runs through time and space. Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle joins us to discuss her favorite science fiction and her new podcast Reasonably Optimistic. Topics discussed: Robert Heinlein and libertarianism, working in book publishing, Lord of the Rings and Rendezvous with Rama, Peter Suderman and video games, Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu, Megan’s science fiction novel, the state of book publishing, explaining science fiction to women, Dune and artificial intelligence, Megan’s podcast and optimism. 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 The Running Man, The Long Walk, The Dead Zone, and The Mist. Time stamps: The Running Man (17:44), The Long Walk (47:14), The Dead Zone (1:10:45), The Mist (1:30:20). Ad-free episodes are available to our paid supporters over at patreon.com/geeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices