In the podcast's first panel interview, I speak to two Stephen King scholars, Simon Brown and Regina Hansen, about King's illustrious career and influence on science fiction.

Book and movie recommendation: The Dead Zone.

In the first of three horror-themed episodes for October, I discuss one class work that I passed over before and one new work.

Recommendation: The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

Other work discussed: Jordan Peele's Nope

Techno-thrillers are a surprisingly fuzzy category that sits at the border of sci-fi and suspense. In this episode, I give an overview of the subgenre and the different ways it can be classified.

Book recommendation: Delta-v by Daniel Suarez

Sam Boush on the categories of techno-thrillers. My review of Delta-v.

Other books discussed: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

As part of my catch-up series, I review the Marvel movies that have come out since the start of the pandemic.

Movie recommendation: The New Mutants. (I really think it's underrated.)

Experimenting with a new format, my friend Greg and I have a conversation about anime and its place in the science fiction genre.

TV recommendation: Cowboy BebopMovie recommendation: Castle in the Sky: Laputa

I interview Dr. Paul Frommer, the creator of the Na'vi language from Avatar as well as Barsoomian from Disney's John Carter.

Prospective movie recommendation: Avatar: The Way of Water

Dr. Frommer's blog.

In this second catch-up episode, I talk about the most recent monster movies (and one novel) to come out and their place in science fiction as a whole.

Movie recommendation: Love and Monsters

My YouTube video on the physics of giant monsters.

Other works discussed: The Color out of Space (2019) Underwater (2020) Godzilla vs. Kong Jurassic World Dominion Monster Hunter (2020) The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Science fiction frequently plays with language in different ways to explore the concepts of philosophy, culture, and cognition; and constructed languages (or conlangs) are a big part of that. In this episode, I highlight how conlangs have contributed to the genre over its history.

TV recommendation: Defiance (Kastithanu, L'Irathi, Indojisnen, and Kinuk'aaz, by David J. Peterson)

My blog posts about language in Creationism. jan Misali's Conlang Critic playlist.

Other languages discussed: Newspeak (Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell) Láadan (Native Tongue, by Suzette Elgin) Klingon (Star Trek, by Marc Okrand) Na'vi (Avatar, by Paul Frommer)

My first episode catching up both on classic works of sci-fi that I passed over before, and new works from the past 2 years. These are "short" episodes that will continue intermittently with longer ones.

Book recommendation: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Other book discussed: Cities in Flight by James Blish

My review of A Case of Conscience by James Blish

I interview Farah Mendlesohn, a scholar of children's sci-fi and fantasy literature and author of The Intergalactic Playground.

Farah's website.

Farah's book recommendations: The Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (free online)