AE Reads Skiffily

Viruses are way worse with virtual reality hardware. In this episode, AE, Mona, as well as newcomer Robert Valenzuela, read the topical story "Pay Phobetor" by Shale Nelson (shalenelson.com). Originally published in the December 2014 issue of Lightspeed Magazine, this story is about a ransomware virus infecting someone's brain implant. 

You can read along here: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/pay-phobetor/

After reading the story, Mona and AE also weigh in some of the issues brought up in the story, particularly the threat of too much dependence on technology. 

Now, get ready for what is probably the best episode yet. In the words of the story, "Find a safe place to sit, away from moving objects and other hazards. Remember, think-apping while walking or driving is dangerous and unlawful."

Show Notes: 

Some of the music comes from Purple Planet (http://www.purple-planet.com), so mad props to them for providing that license-free.

Follow the show on Facebook (@SkiffilyPodcast) and Twitter (@SkiffilyPodcast). If you have Instagram, feel free to follow Mona (@sewagainsthegrain) and myself (@SkiffilyPodcast). 

Robert has a photography portfolio that you can check out at robertvalenzuela15.wixsite.com/valenzuelaphoto

 "Pay Phobetor" Copyright © 2014 Shale Nelson, reproduced with permission from the author.

In war, soldiers get eaten up and spat out. In this episode's story, "Her Husband's Hands" by Adam-Troy Castro, a woman's soldier husband is killed in combat, but brought back via digital backup to operate what is left of his body, the eponymous hands.

Episode 7 features another first for AE Reads Skiffily; after reading the scifi story, Mona and AE discuss some of its content and weigh in on issues the brought up in the story, such as whether a copy of you can really be youand how people respond to grief. You can see the show notes in my blog post if you would like to follow up on the pieces mentioned in this discussion (http://aeusoes1.blogspot.com/2017/06/ae-reads-skiffily-episode-7-her.html#show_notes) You can also read along to the story here: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/her-husbands-hands/

Follow this science fiction podcast on Facebook (@SkiffilyPodcast) and Twitter (@SkiffilyPodcast). If you have Instagram, feel free to follow Mona (@sewagainsthegrain) and myself (@SkiffilyPodcast). 

"Her Husband's Hands" Copyright © 2011 Adam-Troy Castro, reproduced with permission from the author.

Does the difference between natural and artificial matter when they are indistinguishable? In Episode 5, AE and Mona read "Beneath Impossible Circumstances" by Andrea Kneeland, first published in the April 2012 issue of Strange Horizons. In this story, a lesbian cyborg tries to deal with her wife's desires for a "natural" baby. You can read along here http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/beneath-impossible-circumstances/

Follow this science fiction podcast on Facebook (@SkiffilyPodcast) and Twitter (@SkiffilyPodcast). If you have Instagram, feel free to follow Mona (@sewagainsthegrain) and myself (@SkiffilyPodcast). 

"Beneath Impossible Circumstances" Copyright © 2012 Andrea Kneeland, reproduced with permission from the author

How can one keep a tight budget (or waistline) when even the local food truck has innovative culinary delights? From the August 2016 issue of Lightspeed Magazine, Nico (the narrator) is trying to save up to become a freelance accountant, but must battle with his love of food trucks. He discovers that Alberto, an acquaintance from a cooking class he took as a child, is a vendor of a popular food truck near his work. Alberto has invited Nico to the exclusive food truck circus.

Read along here: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/taste-singularity-food-truck-circus/

Follow this science fiction podcast on Facebook (@SkiffilyPodcast) and Twitter (@SkiffilyPodcast). If you have Instagram, feel free to follow me (@SkiffilyPodcast). 

"Taste the Singularity at the Food Truck Circus" Copyright © 2016, Jeremiah Tolbert, reproduced with permission from the author

Can love fight past the intolerance of the 1950s? What if it's between a human and an alien? For our first episode of AE Reads Skiffily, AE shares an except from Dale Bailey's "Teenagers from Outer Space,"which first appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine in August of 2016. The excerpt depicts Nancy Miller's (the narrator) visit to Bug Town, an alien enclave that popped up in Milledgeville, Ohio in the early 1950s. Nancy's best friend Joan Hayden has run away to Bug Town to escape her overbearing father. Joan's ex-boyfriend Johnny Fabriano wants to take Joan from Tham (the alien's name is actually Sam, but the aliens have a lisp and Nancy is quite the irreverent narrator) for stealing his girlfriend and ruining the top of his Mercedes Coupé. I chose this story and this excerpt because Bug Town sounds so evocative. The alien ghetto sounds both enticing and dangerous, like a dangerous narcotic or really good cheese dip.

Read along here: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/bailey_08_16/

Follow this science fiction podcast on Facebook (@SkiffilyPodcast) and Twitter (@SkiffilyPodcast). If you have Instagram, feel free to follow me (@SkiffilyPodcast). 

"Teenagers from Outer Space" Copyright © 2016 Dale Bailey, reproduced with permission from the author.