For our summer vacation, we're re-upping the first in our "Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction" series from 2023, about how Silicon Valley appropriates and misinterprets science fiction. Silicon Valley executives claim to be inspired by SF, but mostly they use it retroactively to justify their products, often missing the more complicated, nuanced ideas embedded in the original stories. In this episode, we tackled the hype cycle around A.I., which borrows liberally from the post-scarcity, post-human visions of Iain M. Banks in his Culture novels. It’s time for … the Culture vs. ChatGPT!

Charlie Jane and Annalee are on book tour(s), so we're re-upping one of our favorite episodes from 2023. At that time, we were celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the rebooted version of Battlestar Galactica. This show broke new ground in depicting realistic politics — and a nuanced view of a society of artificial people. How does it hold up? To find out, Charlie Jane went back and watched the entire series — here's what she found.

It's a double book birthday! Annalee has just released Automatic Noodle, a wonderfully cozy book about robots who've survived a devastating war and now just want to run a noodle restaurant. And in 12 days, Charlie Jane is releasing Lessons in Magic and Disaster, about a trans witch who teaches her heartbroken mother how to do magic. In this episode, we're both celebrating our new books and talking about how we poured all of our feelings about the past few years into escapist tales.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect/shownotes

It's scary out there — so thank goodness we're taking comfort in some wondrous books, TV shows, comics and movies. What makes a story comforting? And why is a dark horror story sometimes better comfort than a sweet gentle comedy? Plus we talk about the first season of Murderbot, which is about using stories to feel better and also made us feel better in real life.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect/shownotes

We keep hearing about the supply chain lately... but what is it? And how do all these shipping containers moving around the world shape our lives? We talk to Alexis Madrigal, author of the brand new book The Pacific Circuit, about how trade with Asia has changed Oakland. Plus we talk about how science fiction deals with the idea of the supply chain, and what can go wrong with it.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

We’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we’re talking to Cirocco Dunlap, the showrunner of The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, easily one of our favorite shows right now. Season 2 just came out, and we talk to Dunlap about cute body horror, dealing with mental illness, and interspecies romance. Then contributing host Maggie Tokuda-Hall brings us some bad news. She talks to Kelly Jensen, who runs the newsletter Well Sourced, bringing us up to date on all the latest developments in book bans and library censorship in the United States.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Public health is a vital part of keeping all of us safe — but what does it mean, and where did the concept come from? Special guest host Naseem Jamnia breaks it down for us, and tells us about some fantasy stories that show why public health is a collective concern. Plus we talk to scientist Natsaha O'Brown at Rutgers University about all the discoveries we've made lately about the blood-brain barrier.

It's the end of science as we know it in America. As the U.S. government dismantles science agencies and slashes budgets for health and environmental research, we talk about what it means to politicize science. How is that different from the time-honored tradition of analyzing the politics of science? Then we are joined by contributing host Maddie Stone, an environmental journalist, who tells us about the forgotten history of the videogame SimEarth, where you help an entire planet's ecosystems evolve. Yep, before The Sims, there was SimEarth.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect/shownotes

It's time to rise up. That's why we’re talking about the power of protest, in real life but also in fiction. Indeed, the act of writing science fiction can itself be a protest, and sometimes it’s just as powerful as marching in the street. Later in the episode, we're joined by andré carrington, who is the editor of a new anthology of Black speculative fiction called The Black Fantastic. He tells us why fascists are so terrified of books and the pleasures of reading.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Where did the Internet go wrong, and how do we fix it? To find out more, we talk to entrepreneur and activist Anil Dash about the alternate history of technology. But first, we talk about why Doctor Who is better than ever, and why we're loving the current season  — but where is this venerable TV show headed next? We explore our hopes, dreams and anxieties about our favorite Time Lord.