Reality Alternative

How did we make it 10 episodes before getting into an argument about whether Star Wars is Sci-Fi or Fantasy?

That’s all prologue to the big question: Is ‘Superhero’ a genre, or some offshoot of Sci-Fi or Fantasy?

SPOILERS for Wanted (the comic) from 50:00-51:30

Recommendations:
Chuck Palahniuk: Haunted - amzn.to/2jQqDpm
Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves - amzn.to/2jQiXDA
Marvel 1602 - amzn.to/2jQl6Px
Cabin in the Woods - amzn.to/2itJlHq
Worm - parahumans.wordpress.com

Intro/Outro music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com

If you purchase any of the recommendations above, we may receive a small commission

First recording of 2017! We tackle one of genre fiction's most troublesome tropes- the Mary Sue! What's a Mary Sue? Who's a Mary Sue? Who's not? ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AND MORE WILL BE ANSWERED THOUGHTFULLY AND CONCLUSIVELY FORECLOSING ALL FUTURE DEBATE!

Plus NEWS! And MAILBAG!

Also, some thrilling new format changes, and Greg got a new microphone! WE AWAIT YOUR PRODUCTION JUDGMENT.

Spoilers for *The Name of the Wind*

State of the Sanderson 2016: brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2016/

Recommendations:
China Miéville - The Scar: amzn.to/2iT0DMZ
Karen Travis - Republic Commando Series: amzn.to/2j7EBDT

Intro/Outro Music Courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com

If you purchase any of our recommendations from the above links, we may receive a small commission.

One of the bright spots in the cultural nightmare that was 2016 was Netflix's *Stranger Things*. We use that as a jumping-off point for a wide-ranging talk about nostalgia in movies, music, games, TV, and books- where it's done right, where it's done wrong, and where it's just some goober pointing at something from the first Bush administration and shouting through their Hot Pockets: "HEY REMEMBER THIS"?!

Steven King interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA2kzmoAsnk

Recommendations:
Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle: amzn.to/2hOJRLb
Doom: amzn.to/2hIAXhX
Arcade Fire Suburbs: amzn.to/2hIn1o6
John Carpenter Lost Themes: amzn.to/2iY2e0R
Black Mirror Episode San Junipero
Perturbator - Dangerous Days: amzn.to/2iwCGsr
Dance with the Dead - Out of Body: dancewiththedead.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-body

Music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com
If you purchase any of our recommendations through the links above, we may receive a small commission.

Greg explains DUNE to Andrew. Ever been at a super cool party and everybody's talking about Kwisatz Haderach's and Shai Hulud's and you feel totally left out? Well, you're about to join the IN CROWD with this spolier-iffic primer on the sandiest of sci fi classics.

Music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com

We saw Rogue One, and want to talk about it!

Spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars story, of course.

ALL CHRISTMAS MOVIES ARE ONE IN THE UNBLINKING EYE OF UR-SANTA WHICH SPIES US AND SHALL NEVER LET US REST

Let's deconstruct all your favorite X-Mas movies, specials, and cherished family traditions, to uncover THE TRVE SPRT OV CHRSTMS

Recommendations are too numerous to list, find them on the reddit: www.reddit.com/r/realityalternative

Music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com

New Star Wars on Friday! Rapscallions, rebels, and rogues! The Rebel Alliance (or Resistance, I guess? Force Awakens is weird) has some murky goals… Andrew helps Greg understand Star Wars backstory through real world history, and Greg wonders why nobody in the Galaxy knows how to read.

Recommendations:
X-Wing Series by Michael Stackpole: amzn.to/2gFl5zo
Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn: amzn.to/2gFlkua
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie: amzn.to/2hGBEII

Music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com

If you buy any of our recommendations from the list above, we may receive a small commission.

We respond to some of your feedback, and do some housekeeping around our spoiler policies and similar pedantry.

Alternate Universes! Alternate Timelines! The bullshit election results have caused us to consider the possibilities of worlds other (better?) than our own. Lots of comic-book-ass nonsense, speculation on videogames as simulations of multiversal concepts, and some real deep cogitatin’ on the moralities of decision-makin’ and the existential comfort of the multiverse.

Oh, and Barry Allen can’t make Bernie Sanders president. Sorry.

If you buy any of our recommendations from our links, we may receive a small commission.

Recommendations:
Rick Remender: Black Science: amzn.to/2g2ISKP
China Mieville: The Scar: amzn.to/2gWH0jR
The Flash: amzn.to/2g2GsMw
Supernatural Season 6: amzn.to/2hbHjuq
Deadlands Reloaded: amzn.to/2h9cl1V

Music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com

Andrew knows nothing about Star Trek. so Greg explains the most exciting and interesting parts to him - politics and economics.
-Is it weird that the government space “scientists” have torpedos and lasers and ranks like “Admiral” and “Lieutenant”?
-Is it weird that even though it’s supposed to be a multi-species, multi-cultural utopia, all the leadership positions are held by humans, and mostly white dude humans?
-What if Call of Duty culture was a planet?
-Thought Experiment of The Week: Donald Trump in a Post-Scarcity Economy. We recorded this before he was your kleptarch-elect.
-Utopia Bottlenecks
-Universal Basic Income makes things more like Star Trek. Tell your local representatives.
-The human spirit of adventure! (as an insidious government plot!)
-A really weird coincidence suggests dark forces haunting your hosts!

Trigger warnings: Rape, Abortion

Recommendations:
Dillinger Escape Plan: Dissociation amzn.to/2fvdxQS
Dan Simmons: The Terror: amzn.to/2gBY51r
Dan Simmons: Hyperion: amzn.to/2gAdF12
Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E1 "The Child"
Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E9 "Measure of a Man"

We may receive a commission if you buy our recommendations.

Music courtesy PANDAS: pandas.bandcamp.com