Alienating the Audience

The foundational elements of Star Wars are deeply mythological, influenced by Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." Professor Ryan Slesinger joins the show to explain the Hero's Journey, archetypes, and the deepest elements of the whole saga.

Fermi's Paradox brings up a troubling issue: if even a small fraction of stars have planets with intelligent life, much of it should be more advanced than us--so why have aliens never come by to say hello? Do civilizations all blow themselves up? Are we next? Josh Jennings joins Heaton to suss out the paradox, and go over possible explanations of alien absence.

Picard never left the Nexus. We caught the wrong Khan. Star Trek fandom is full of theories casting doubt on characters and plots as we know them. Brilliant or ridiculous, fan theories at least make us look at the franchise in a different light. John Krikorian of the Trek Profiles podcast and comedian Nick Sperdute join Heaton to discuss.

From "Futurama" to "Demolition Man," cryonically suspending bodies for future reanimation by tomorrow's scientists is a mainstay of science fiction. Dennis Kowalksi, President of the Cryonics Institute, joins the show to go past the tropes and explain the mechanics, science, and hopes of cryonic freezing.

Battlestar Galactica kicked off just three years after the 9/11 attacks, and tackles everything from theocratic warfare to stem cell research and waterboarding. Comedian Andrew Young joins Heaton to discuss the series, it's relentless tension and fear of being compromised by undetected enemies, and how absolutely badass Saul Tigh is.

John Varley's novel "Steel Beach" portrays a future brimming with attractive immortals living in amusement parks on the Moon--yet the main character contemplates suicide. Absent strife, can humans find purpose? Tim Sandefur joins Heaton to discuss John Varley, utopianism, and man's search for meaning.

Robert Zubrin is the head of the Mars Society and author of "The Case for Mars." He joins Heaton along with special guest co-host Andrew Mayne to discuss how to get to the Red Planet using existing technology, and the implications of finding life once we're there.

Today we speak with physicist Stephen Granade about robots! How to build giant arm-swingin' robots, how we can automate them, and where we stand on Mind Machine Interface technology in case we want to pilot said robots ourselves.

"The Girl With All the Gifts" is a brilliant spin on otherwise stale zombie tropes. Nick Sperdute and Ashland Viscosi join the program for a spoiler-free discussion about the novel.

Plus a refresher on Greek mythology, how John Locke and Thomas Hobbes pertain to Armageddon, and the time Heaton met Meatloaf.

Deep Space Nine masterfully tackled complex plot lines, moral ambiguity, and deep themes over its arc. Tom Merritt, host of the Sword & Laser podcast and scifi novelist, joins Heaton to suss out the deeper meaning of Star Trek's finest series.