Science Faction Podcast

Real Life

This week's episode begins the way many of our weeks began: confused, slightly annoyed, and one hour short on sleep thanks to the time change. Ben kicks things off by voicing what everyone is feeling — daylight saving time is rough. Losing an hour never gets easier, and the collective fog hangs over the whole episode like a mild but persistent headache.

Devon isn't exactly escaping the chaos either. Between a hockey game down in Louisiana and spring break activities with the kids, his schedule is all over the place. Add the time shift on top of that and it's a miracle anyone is awake enough to record.

Ben quickly pivots into defending Starfleet Academy, which he insists is a "tremendously good show." According to him, the loudest critics clearly aren't watching it. During the conversation Steven realizes he somehow made it this far in life without fully understanding what the Omega Particle is, which becomes a small but hilarious rabbit hole. Meanwhile the group grumbles about the Voyager game releasing day-one DLC — a move that feels more than a little gross.

Steven brings a literary palate cleanser to the table. After wrestling with the famously labyrinthine House of Leaves, he recommends another unsettling architectural mystery: Strange Houses by Uketsu. If eerie homes and unsettling mysteries are your thing, it might be worth checking out here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strange-houses-uketsu/1146276773

Ben contributes a strange internet gem called Pricemaster, a bizarre and hypnotic video that quickly becomes one of those "you just have to see it" moments during the episode. If you want to experience the same confusion we did, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/CUmmxW7Ksc8?si=6s1IRr2FuGy72Zo8

Devon then unveils the real headline of the Real Life segment: a brand-new guitar amp. He picked up a Fender Mustang GTX 100, and the excitement level is off the charts. The amp includes digital modeling, built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, and an accompanying app that lets him endlessly tweak tones. Devon is talking about it so much that it raises a bigger question — he actually sold a guitar to buy the amp. If you know Devon, that's a shocking development.

Future or Now

Ben kicks off this segment with a fascinating animated project called Arco, produced by Natalie Portman. The story follows a ten-year-old boy from the year 2932 who isn't supposed to time travel yet. Naturally, he steals a time-travel cape and gemstone, aiming for the age of dinosaurs… and instead crash-lands in the year 2075. There he meets a girl named Iris and her robot nanny, and the unlikely trio may be the only ones who can prevent a global catastrophe. You can read more about the project here: https://collider.com/arco-streaming-online-natalie-portman/

Devon brings a science question that sounds simple but gets weird fast: why aren't mammals as colorful as reptiles, birds, or fish? If you look around the animal kingdom, mammals mostly stick to browns, blacks, and muted tones. The explanation has a lot to do with fur structure and evolutionary pressures — bright pigments are much easier to display in feathers, scales, and bare skin than in thick mammalian fur. The article that sparked the discussion is here: https://www.livescience.com/animals/why-arent-mammals-as-colorful-as-reptiles-birds-or-fish

Steven rounds out the segment with something even stranger — humans secretly have stripes. Not visible stripes, unfortunately, but real biological patterns called Blaschko's lines. These lines emerge from the way skin cells divide and migrate during development. Under certain lighting conditions or medical circumstances, these patterns can actually appear, meaning everyone is walking around with hidden tiger stripes or cow-like patterns built into their skin. You can read more about that discovery here: https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-actually-have-secret-stripes-and-other-strange-markings

Book Club

Next week's reading is "What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom" by Angela Liu, a title that raises several questions before you even start the story. If you want to read ahead with us, you can find it here: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/what-we-mean-when-we-talk-about-the-hole-in-the-bathroom/

This week the group dives into "Presence" by Ken Liu, which you can read here: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/presence/

The story centers on an elderly parent living abroad and the adult children trying to care for them remotely through telepresence technology. The discussion quickly expands beyond the story itself.

The hosts talk about the stark contrast between elder care in America and in other countries where multi-generational households are more common. That leads into a broader conversation about American individualism — the cultural idea that success means leaving home, chasing opportunity, and building an independent life. While that independence can open doors, it also creates distance and sometimes loneliness.

The technology in the story doesn't feel like science fiction for long. Telepresence robots and remote caregiving systems are already approaching the level shown in the story. The real question isn't whether the technology works — it's whether it can truly replace the sense of community and presence that people lose when families scatter across the world.

It's a thoughtful and surprisingly emotional conversation that leaves everyone wondering what responsibility looks like in a world where being physically present isn't always possible.

This week we bounce from weddings with questionable video evidence to universal vaccines, rogue dubstep artists named after shingles shots, and a time-loop story that left us… conflicted.

Let's get into it.

Real Life

Ben officiated a wedding. It was beautiful. It was meaningful. It was legally binding. There may or may not be video proof. Somewhere, there's a phone with 3% battery and a shaky clip of vows. Or maybe not. Either way, two people are married and that's what counts. If you're going to officiate a wedding, here's the lesson: double-check the recording situation. Memory is not a backup drive.

Ben also discovered that in newer versions of iOS, you can type to Siri. This is huge for anyone who has ever whispered a text into their phone in public and immediately regretted it. We are slowly evolving into silent thumb-typers talking to machines. The future is polite and awkward.

Devon talked about how he uses ChatGPT — not casually, but intentionally. He uses it for work. He uses it to rewrite drafts, fix spelling, tighten arguments. Think of it as a second-pass editor that doesn't get tired. He went deeper into why he chose to pay for it and what "professional analysis" even means in an AI context. If you're billing by the hour, clarity matters.

He also raised the question: does LexisNexis have AI baked in now? (Short answer: of course they do. Long answer: it depends how you define AI, which is half the battle in 2026.)

Ben uses "AI" differently — mostly for data sifting. Large piles of information. Pattern spotting. Less magic robot, more extremely fast intern.

Steven admitted he uses ChatGPT to help generate episode notes and images. If you're creating consistently, tools matter. The question isn't "Is this cheating?" The question is: "Are you using the tool to think better or to think less?" Big difference.

We also watched The First Minute of Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip — and yes, he does the backflip. Watch the full clip on YouTube and the full special on Dropout. Demi Adejuyigbe (pronounced DEM-ee ə-DIJ-oo-EE-bay) is sharp, chaotic, and there's a killer Marge Simpson joke in the full show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kveA4wgIhI

Speaking of Marge — Marge Simpson is not dead. The French voice actress passed away. RIP. The character remains immortal yellow.

Ben also plugged his ekphrastic poetry workshop — Write Poems with Me — happening Saturday 3/7 at the Beacon Art Show or online. If you've been waiting for a sign to try poetry, this is it. Show up. Make weird art.

https://buttondown.com/penciledin/archive/write-poems-with-me-saturday-37-at-the-beacon-art/

Future or Now

Steven brought in a wild one: a possible "universal" vaccine from researchers at Stanford Medicine.

Instead of targeting a specific virus, this nasal spray supercharges the lungs' immune defenses. In mice, it reduced viral load, prevented severe illness, and even blocked allergic reactions. COVID. Flu. Pneumonia. Allergens.

If this holds up in humans, that's not incremental. That's foundational.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260222092258.htm

Ben followed with research suggesting shingles vaccines might lower dementia risk. Studies around the shingles vaccines Zostavax and Shingrix have shown reduced dementia incidence in vaccinated older adults. There's also data suggesting the vaccine may slow biological aging markers, including inflammation.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/could-a-vaccine-prevent-dementia-shingles-shot-data-only-getting-stronger/

This is where Steven held his jokes until the very end.

Zostavax and Shingrix are dubstep artists. "Twenty Year Window" is their debut collaboration. "Dementia" is their first single.

Sometimes you need the bit.

But seriously — if preventing viral reactivation reduces neuroinflammation and long-term cognitive decline, that's massive. It's early. It's correlation-heavy. But it's promising.

Pay attention to this space.

Book Club

This week: All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein (1958).

https://lecturia.org/en/short-stories/robert-a-heinlein-all-you-zombies/19420/

Time travel. Identity loops. Paradoxes stacked on paradoxes.

There are also… problems.

Ben had major issues with the problematic elements. And they're not small issues. The story reflects the era it was written in, and not in a flattering way.

Devon didn't love the no-stakes feeling. When a story collapses into inevitability, tension can evaporate. If everything always already happened, what are we gripping onto?

Steven's take: the story is valuable as a historical artifact. It shows where science fiction was. You can see the mechanics. The ambition. The blind spots. You don't have to endorse it to learn from it.

That's maturity in reading: understanding context without pretending flaws don't exist.

Next week, we're reading Presence by Ken Liu, published in Uncanny Magazine. Ken Liu tends to blend emotional precision with speculative ideas, so expect something thoughtful.

https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/presence/

Read it. Come ready.

Final Thought

This episode circled one big theme whether we meant to or not:

Tools. AI tools. Medical tools. Narrative tools. Historical tools. The question isn't whether tools change the world. They do. The question is whether we're using them deliberately.

So here's your small challenge this week: Pick one tool you're already using — AI, writing software, research databases, even your phone — and ask yourself:

Am I using this to sharpen my thinking? Or to avoid it?

Be honest.

We'll see you next week.

*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-(--header-height)" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "a5f5ff52-5256-4ce6-b880-55860250bba9" data-testid= "conversation-turn-3" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn="user"> This week we jump from stand-up comedy, missing co-hosts, and fallen plant heroes in Real Life into pre-life genes, ancient genetic risks, and cosmic-scale evolution in Future or Now — before closing out with Predator: Badlands, franchise nostalgia, and a deep appreciation for Yautja lore. *]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:a536e4cd-3b99-4c7d-806a-66eb28bad4a9-1" data-testid= "conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant">

Real Life

Ben was not present this week. The official explanation given: he's out marrying his sister. We chose not to ask follow-up questions for legal and emotional reasons, and instead moved forward with cautious respect and mild concern.

Devon had a far more socially acceptable outing, hitting a comedy show and discovering a cool new cocktail bar right next to the venue — which is objectively the correct pairing for live comedy. He caught sets from Heather Shaw (https://www.instagram.com/heathershawiskidding/) and Tyler Elliott (https://www.instagram.com/tylerelliottcomedy/), both of whom absolutely delivered. Tight pacing, sharp jokes, and the kind of live energy that reminds you comedy hits different when you're in the room instead of watching clips online.

Steven, meanwhile, has been locked into A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and is fully endorsing it. Strong characters, grounded storytelling, and that classic slow-burn worldbuilding that rewards patience. On the tabletop side, his MCC game took a brutal turn when a player character died — goodbye Plank the Plantient. A true legend. A photosynthetic casualty. The kind of loss that only high-lethality RPG systems can deliver with a straight face.

Future or Now

Devon brought in a genuinely mind-bending scientific development: researchers are finding duplicated genes that appear to have existed before the last universal common ancestor of all life on Earth. In other words, parts of the genetic toolkit may predate what we traditionally define as "life" itself. By tracking these rare, ancient gene duplications, scientists can reconstruct how early cells may have functioned and what biological features emerged first. It pushes the origin story of life further back than expected and turns evolution into less of a starting point and more of a long prologue.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260210082913.htm

This spiraled naturally into broader science discussion, including a Veritasium breakdown of complex scientific ideas and some internet discourse around aliens and political commentary, because no modern science conversation remains purely scientific for long.

Veritasium: https://youtu.be/XX7PdJIGiCw?si=dRNcQst0xU_XKcYE Brian Tyler Cohen (Aliens & Obama discussion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0438rjwS7c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZP90ldOByo&t=134s

Steven followed with a topic that sounds mythological but is very real: the so-called "Celtic Curse," better known as hereditary hemochromatosis. Researchers have now mapped the genetic risk across the UK and Ireland, identifying major hotspots in north-west Ireland and the Outer Hebrides. In some regions, roughly one in 60 people carry the high-risk gene variant linked to iron overload. The dangerous part is how quietly it develops — symptoms can take decades to appear, yet untreated cases can lead to liver cancer, arthritis, and other serious complications. It's a reminder that genetics isn't just about ancestry curiosity; it's about long-term health awareness.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260221000332.htm

Book Club

Next week's reading is All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein (1958), which means we are heading directly into time loops, identity paradoxes, and classic golden-age sci-fi mind-bending territory.

https://lecturia.org/en/short-stories/robert-a-heinlein-all-you-zombies/19420/

This week's discussion centered on Predator: Badlands and, naturally, the broader Predator franchise as a whole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator:_Badlands

We talked about our personal history with the series, how it evolved from pure action-horror into something closer to mythological sci-fi, and where Badlands lands within that spectrum. Devon was a bit mixed on some of the action beats but still enjoyed the overall experience, while Steven leaned much more positive — especially when it came to the expanding Yautja lore. The cultural codes, the hunting philosophy, and the deeper worldbuilding continue to be the franchise's strongest hook.

It's less about "monster shows up" now and more about an alien warrior culture with rules, hierarchy, and legacy, which makes revisiting the older films even more interesting in hindsight.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow the show, share it with a friend who loves sci-fi, genetics, and chaotic pop culture discussions, and check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, playlists, AI images, unedited recordings, and access to our Discord community. Come hang out, talk books, science news, and sci-fi with us — and don't forget to read All You Zombies before next week, because the timeline is about to get weird.

This week we bounce from haunted literary labyrinths and gonzo chaos in Real Life, into falling space junk, AI hype experiments, and surprisingly clever cows in Future or Now — before wrapping up with Isaac Asimov's Liar! and a discussion about robot ethics, emotional harm, and the danger of well-intentioned lies.

Real Life

Steven is deep into House of Leaves, and yeah — "trip" is the correct word. The book continues to be less of a story and more of a psychological maze that actively messes with your sense of reality while you read it. Not a casual bedtime book. More like a "stare at the page and question existence" book.

Meanwhile, Ben is reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, courtesy of Mom, which is a wildly different flavor of chaos. Where Steven is lost in haunted architecture and footnotes, Ben is cruising through drug-fueled journalism and American absurdity. Balanced intellectual diets all around.

Devon, however, is reading… nothing. Which raises several questions. Is he okay? Is he plotting? Has he transcended books? We don't know. We're monitoring the situation.

Ben also brought genuine excitement to the table with the upcoming Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown. It's got the theme song. That alone earns emotional bonus points. The real curiosity, though, is whether it leans into branching narrative choices like a Mass Effect-style experience. If it does, that opens up a ton of potential for alternate Voyager storylines, which is basically catnip for any Trek fan.

Future or Now

Steven covered a genuinely clever scientific development: researchers are now using earthquake sensors to detect falling space junk. Instead of building entirely new tracking systems, they're piggybacking on instruments already listening to the Earth's vibrations. When debris screams through the atmosphere and creates sonic booms, those sensors can track its path, breakup, and potential impact zones. It's one of those solutions that feels obvious in hindsight but brilliant in execution — and also a reminder that space debris is no longer a purely theoretical problem.

http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260124003808.htm

Devon brought in a story that feels like it was engineered in a lab to trigger the phrase "AI hype cycle." A writer tested a platform where AI agents supposedly "rent grounded humans" to perform real-world tasks. The result? Almost no legitimate work, lots of promotional nonsense, intrusive automated follow-ups, and a general sense that the entire ecosystem is more marketing than function. It's less "future of labor" and more "future of weird startup experiments." The big takeaway: AI agents still struggle as real-world coordinators when things leave the digital sandbox.

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-rent-human

https://www.wired.com/story/i-tried-rentahuman-ai-agents-hired-me-to-hype-their-ai-startups/

Ben, in what might be the most unexpectedly wholesome science story of the week, talked about a cow using a tool. Yes, a literal cow. Researchers observed a pet cow using a deck brush to scratch herself, even switching between the bristled end and the stick depending on the body area. That level of flexible tool use challenges the long-standing assumption that livestock lack cognitive complexity. In short: cows might be smarter (and more adaptable) than we've historically given them credit for, which is both fascinating and mildly humbling.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01597-0?_returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225015970?showall%3Dtrue

Book Club

For Book Club, we tackled Liar! by Isaac Asimov, and this one sparked a surprisingly philosophical discussion. Herbie the robot doesn't lie out of malice — he lies because of the First Law of Robotics: a robot may not harm a human, and emotional harm counts. So instead of telling painful truths, he tells comforting lies, which ultimately causes even more psychological damage. Classic Asimov move: take a simple rule and stress-test it until it breaks in morally uncomfortable ways.

We did agree the human characters feel a bit flat and two-dimensional, but the core sci-fi idea is doing the heavy lifting. The story still holds up because the ethical dilemma is timeless: is a comforting lie more harmful than a painful truth? Especially when the lie is delivered by something programmed to protect you?

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/jDXW9hEjxps

Next week, we're heading into a tonal shift with a watch and review of Predator: Badlands, which should move us from philosophical robots and lying logic loops straight into survival, spectacle, and probably some very questionable life choices by characters who ignore obvious danger signs. Should be fun.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow the show, share it with a friend who loves sci-fi and strange tech stories, and join our community for bonus content, playlists, AI images, and unedited episodes over on Patreon. You can also hop into the Discord to talk books, space news, and questionable future technology with us. And don't forget to tune in next week for our review of Predator: Badlands — because nothing says thoughtful sci-fi discussion like immediately pivoting into survival horror chaos.

This week's episode had everything: halftime show skepticism, aquatic conspiracy theories, holographic ethics, and a little too much time in the Wasteland. We may have skipped science again… but we made up for it with sharks and Starfleet.

Real Life Devon: Safe Bets and Stadium Spectacles

Devon kicked things off with the Super Bowl halftime show — Green Day and Bad Bunny sharing the stage. The big question: was Green Day the safe choice?

Are legacy punk bands the NFL's version of comfort food? Reliable. Recognizable. Not too disruptive. Devon wrestles with whether the performance felt bold or carefully calculated — and what that says about the league's broader decision-making.

It's less about music and more about cultural positioning. When the biggest stage in America picks its soundtrack, what are they really trying to say?

Ben: Jaws, Mayors, and Weresharks

Ben watched Jaws with his son, and instead of simply enjoying the terror of a seaside predator, he zeroed in on the real villain:

The mayor.

What exactly is going on with this guy?

Ben proposes several theories:

• Is the mayor the shark?

• Is the shark a metaphor?

• Is this some kind of Ice Nine Kills-style symbolic horror?

• Or… is the mayor secretly a wereshark?

The conversation spirals in the best way possible. Spoiler alert: they don't get a bigger boat.

Ben also makes a strong case that Starfleet Academy is not for everyone — but it is for him. That leads to a deep dive into holograms in Star Trek. Some holograms are "hard light" and physically interactive. The Doctor in Voyager was designed for short-term use… and then just kept going. What does that mean philosophically? Legally? Spiritually?

And somewhere in there, Ben cautiously circles around the fate of Captain Sisko.

Steven: Fallout Season 2 — A Love Letter or a Stall?

Steven brings us back to the Wasteland with thoughts on the Fallout Season 2 finale.

Devon, generally, is not thrilled. The season lacked momentum. The pacing felt uneven. Something didn't quite land.

Steven counters with a structural theory: The three main characters represent different player archetypes. Different play styles. Different moral approaches to the same broken world.

He also notes something important: there were a lot of Easter eggs. A LOT. For longtime game veterans, it was a treasure hunt. For casual viewers? Probably noise.

Steven's bigger hypothesis:

• Season 1: Establish the world and characters.

• Season 2: The creators indulge in their favorite corners of the setting.

• Season 3: (Hopefully) we move into entirely new territory not tied to a specific game.

If that happens, the show might finally become its own thing.

Future or Now

There was, once again, too much Fallout talk.

Science gets skipped.

Again.

We promise nothing for next week.

Book Club Next Week:

"Liar!" by Isaac Asimov Read it here: https://lecturia.org/en/short-stories/isaac-asimov-liar/23933/

Classic Asimov. Robots. Logic. Emotional complications. You know the drill.

This Week:

"The Orchard Village Catalog" by Parker Peevyhouse https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-orchard-village-catalog/

Reactions were mixed — but thoughtful.

Ben: Loved the realistic corporate nonsense. Found it creepy and fascinating. Devon: Felt it might be too open-ended, but still enjoyed it. Steven: Didn't fully "get it," but appreciated the quality of the writing.

Which, honestly, is sometimes the best kind of sci-fi discussion — confusion paired with admiration.

Between halftime show politics, aquatic conspiracies, holographic sentience, and post-apocalyptic pacing debates, this episode covered a lot of ground.

If you've got thoughts on safe Super Bowl picks, weresharks, or where Fallout should go next, we want to hear them.

And maybe next week… we'll finally talk about science.

This week's episode is a very real-life-heavy one, with winter storms, family travel chaos, sick kids, and a surprising amount of ice setting the tone. From a memorable Nashville trip and pop culture check-ins to a passionate Star Trek defense and thoughtful sci-fi discussion, we settle in for a conversational episode that leans into where everyone's headspace actually is this week.

REAL LIFE

Devon braved a winter storm while hosting family, with Nashville serving as the central meetup point. The group stayed in a four-story Airbnb packed with fun things to do, except for the roof, which was completely covered in ice. There was ice everywhere. This led to discussions about boil notices, what they actually mean, and whether a boil notice might have contributed to a house full of sick kids. Despite the chaos, Devon highlights the Grand Ole Opry and the Gaylord Resort, noting that it would be awesome to visit the resort someday without kids.

Steven revisits Cowboy Bebop, comparing the anime to the Netflix live-action adaptation and confirming once again that the live-action version was a huge miss. On the positive side, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been a solid and enjoyable watch.

Ben declares that Starfleet Academy episode 1x04 is peak Star Trek and insists that listeners should watch episode four and only episode four if nothing else. He recaps the episode, focusing on Federation and Klingon ethics around survival and why this episode delivers exactly what he wants from Star Trek. This Facebook post sparked part of the discussion: https://www.facebook.com/28601265/posts/pfbid02D298Wi45gN3cZd8S4GMS7ypkdj7ja5zsHSQKwahiZ2eVQzyV7sApm6Fu46Z8X9fFl/?app=fbl

Ben also continues praising the Star Trek comic The Last Starship, describing it as noir, heartbreaking, and packed with big ideas, including Earth seceding from the Federation, a clone of Kirk, and a Borg Queen engineer.

FUTURE OR NOW

None this week. Too much real life. Too much talky talky.

BOOK CLUB

This week's story: The Song of a Non-Human Intelligence By Mical Garcia (Jan 12, 2026) https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-song-of-a-non-human-intelligence/

The story explores communication between cetacean intelligences and the concept of hope, defined as waiting until home feels safe again. Ben and Devon both enjoyed the story, with Devon wanting more. Steven found it a bit dry but still appreciated the world-building.

Devon also discusses Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, connecting its themes to the episode's discussion of non-human intelligence.

Next week's story: The Orchard Village Catalog By Parker Peevyhouse

https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-orchard-village-catalog/

Steven recommends this video by Joe Scott:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1FMViCd6I4

Thanks for listening, and be sure to check out the links in the show notes for this week's stories and videos—we'll be back next episode with a new book club read and, hopefully, a little less ice.

This week we cover a little bit of everything, including a brutal browser puzzle game, new tabletop RPG pickups, meditation meetups, comic books, and a short film with a great twist.

REAL LIFE

Ben kicks things off talking about the puzzle game that has completely taken over his brain, Enclose the Horse (https://enclose.horse/). The goal is simple but cruel: build the biggest possible enclosure using limited walls, while the horse avoids water, ignores diagonal movement, and sometimes teleports through portals. Steven shares some new tabletop RPG pickups including Orbital Blues from Soul Muppet Publishing and Star Borg by JP Coovert, plus updates from his latest Mutant Crawl Classics game where he's running as Judge. Ben also talks about attending a meditation Sangha he found through Reddit, sitting silently with about twenty people and ending the night with an unexpected cookie tailgate.

FUTURE OR NOW

In Future or Now, Ben brings up an issue of Absolute Batman where Batman fights white supremacists, leading Steven to attempt a recap that goes about as smoothly as you'd expect. The conversation shifts into Superman Smashes the Klan, a graphic novel Ben highly recommends for its powerful storytelling and accessibility. The discussion touches on why Superman works so well as a symbol against hate, along with how modern comics are tackling real-world themes more directly. A related video discussion can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ5ID_k_iBA.

BOOK CLUB

For Book Club, we talk about the short film Likewise, Olive from Omeleto (https://youtu.be/lwEssWpRrxg). Both Ben and Steven enjoyed it, even though Ben didn't see the twist coming while Steven guessed it halfway through knowing it was a time travel story. Either way, the film still lands emotionally and is well worth watching.

Next week's reading is The Song of a Non-Human Intelligence by Mical Garcia, published January 12, 2026, available at Strange Horizons: https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-song-of-a-non-human-intelligence/. The story explores cetacean communication, memory, and hope carried across oceans and time.

That's it for this week. From fencing in digital horses to tabletop chaos, meditation cookies, thoughtful comics, and time travel feelings, it's a full episode.

We'll see you next week for whales, non-human intelligence, and a whole lot of hope.

Real Life

Ben opens the show by talking about vertigo—both experiencing it firsthand and wondering if Devon might be dealing with it too. He shares that he was diagnosed with a mild case and offers genuinely useful advice: if you're experiencing vertigo, see a doctor, figure out what caused it, and which side it's affecting. In some cases, it can be an easy fix, which is reassuring for something that can feel pretty alarming.

Steven checks in with some family time, talking about Perils & Princesses and enjoying it as a group activity. https://perilsandprincesses.com/ Devon, meanwhile, is riding the simple but powerful high of a three-day weekend and sounding very content about it.

The conversation shifts into Starfleet Academy, with Ben admitting that the advertising did the show no favors—he didn't think it looked interesting at all. That said, once he actually watched it, he found it better than an average Star Trek episode, with compelling characters and a standout performance from Gina Yashere. There's even a nod to classic Star Trek: The Original Series vibes, including black-and-white alien aesthetics. Verdict: Starfleet Academy is "worth your time to watch."

This leads into one of Ben's most sarcastic self-aware rants yet, mockingly embodying the ultra-purist Trek fan: buying a DVD box set 13 years ago apparently grants lifelong authority to demand that all Star Trek content conform exactly to personal specifications—and to loudly complain about shows nobody is forcing him to watch. It's sharp, funny, and painfully recognizable.

Steven then takes on a challenge to talk about Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, which quickly detours into Disney's broader design philosophy and how intentional world-building shapes visitor experience. He also mentions re-listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl and enthusiastically reaffirms his recommendation, even as Devon sounds less convinced it's for him anymore.

Future or Now

Ben brings a genuinely practical tool to the table: Just the Browser https://justthebrowser.com/ The project strips AI features, telemetry reporting, sponsored content, product integrations, and other annoyances out of desktop browsers using hidden enterprise-level settings. The goal is exactly what it says on the tin—just the browser, nothing else.

Steven dives into a major neuroscience breakthrough. Researchers have developed a protein that can detect faint chemical signals—specifically glutamate—received by neurons from other brain cells. For the first time, scientists can observe how neurons process incoming information before sending signals onward, revealing a previously invisible layer of brain communication. This could significantly reshape how we study learning, memory, and neurological disease. https://sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251225235950.htm

Book Club

Next Week's Watch: Likewise, Olive | Omeleto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwEssWpRrxg

This Week's Read: Ted Chiang – What's Expected of Us (Nature, July 7, 2005) http://www.concatenation.org/futures/whatsexpected.pdf

All three hosts enjoyed the story, but Devon absolutely steals the segment by going on a full, passionate tear about free will versus determinism. It's one of those moments where the conversation locks in, the philosophy gets heavy, and the payoff is incredible.

Real Life

We kick things off with a round of Real Life check-ins, because apparently none of us are allowed to simply exist quietly.

Ben opens with Bedroom Talk with Ben Lawless, which is exactly as awkward, candid, and vaguely alarming as it sounds. No further clarification is offered, nor requested.

Devon reports that snowboarding with his kids was actually great. No injuries, no disasters—just genuine fun on the mountain, which frankly feels suspicious but we'll allow it. He also shares that he's been practicing guitar for an hour a day, really locking in on technique. That means working through BPMs, tightening up tapping and sweeping, and grinding away at the Blackened solo like a man possessed. Progress is being made, fingers are suffering, and discipline is winning (for now).

Steven talks about Hawaii, which lands somewhere between "kinda cool" and "why did we do this to ourselves." The travel was awful, the resort was pretty great, and Moana… apparently isn't Moana anymore? We don't resolve this, but we are confident Disney has a lot to answer for.

Ben also brings in Blippo+, a surreal streaming service that feels like channel surfing through an alternate universe. If you're curious (or concerned), you can explore it directly at https://blippo.plus/ or read more context over at The A.V. Club: https://www.avclub.com/blippo-makes-art-out-of-channel-surfing.

Future or Now

In Future or Now, Ben highlights a sobering study out of Japan linking poor oral health in older adults to higher mortality rates and increased need for long-term care. The research, conducted by Osaka Metropolitan University and the Institute of Science Tokyo, suggests brushing and dental care might matter more than we'd like to admit. You can read the full breakdown via The Japan Times: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/05/japan/science-health/elderly-dental-hygiene/

Devon follows up with This Week in Space, reacting to the news that the U.S. has effectively killed NASA's Mars Sample Return Mission. What happens now? Confusion, disappointment, and a lot of unanswered questions. The full story is covered here: https://www.iflscience.com/us-just-killed-nasas-mars-sample-return-mission-so-what-happens-now-82148

Book Club

This week's Book Club pick is "The Janitor in Space" by Amber Sparks, a short story that sparked very different reactions around the table. Steven enjoyed it, Ben didn't care for it at all, and Devon—rather than choosing a side—asked ChatGPT to turn it into a song, which may be the most Devon response possible. You can read the story yourself here: https://americanshortfiction.org/janitor-space/

Looking ahead, next week's selection is Ted Chiang's "What's Expected of Us", originally published in Nature (July 7, 2005). We'll be digging into free will, determinism, and the uncomfortable feeling that the universe might already know what you're about to do.

As always, thanks for listening, reading, and continuing to question whether brushing your teeth might actually save your life.

Real Life

This week's episode starts where a lot of us have been living lately: sick, tired, and mainlining comfort food. Steven is still sick for Christmas and counting, while Ben also got hit, which pushed Christmas celebrations down the calendar a bit. The upside? More chili. More Fritos. No regrets.

Holiday illness also turned into a surprisingly serious soda tasting panel. Steven gives a strong thumbs-up to Sunset Sarsaparilla, while Nuka Cola Quantum lands squarely in the "fine, I guess" category. Ben, meanwhile, makes a passionate case for Canada Dry Fruit Splash Cherry Ginger Ale, which he insists is gooooood.

On the gaming front, Ben waves the bargain flag for Bang Bang Racing, currently just a dollar on Steam until January 5. It's tiny (about 200MB), has excellent controls, and punches way above its weight. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. You can check the deal details here: https://isthereanydeal.com/game/bang-bang-racing/info/

Steven also dives deeper into Fallout Season 2, Episode 2, which naturally turns into more Fallout lore and nonsense. Possibly too much. Definitely too much. But that's the price of admission.

Future or Now

Ben brings some sobering science to the table this week. After the January 2025 LA wildfires, hospitals recorded a sharp rise in emergency visits for heart attacks, lung illness, and general sickness over the following three months. Researchers believe fine particles from wildfire smoke, combined with stress, played a major role. Blood tests even showed unusual changes that suggest health impacts lingered long after the fires were out. You can read more about the research here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251220104619.htm

Steven talks about Plur1bus on Apple TV+, created by Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad fame (and former X-Files writer). Ben keeps himself updated through Boars, Gore, and Swords: http://boarsgoreandswords.com/

Steven, meanwhile, supplements his viewing with YouTube deep dives on color theory and visual storytelling. The consensus? An amazing show — but be warned, we eventually wander into spoiler territory. Go watch it first, then come back.

Ben also shares a very cool Google Earth exploration centered on Albuquerque. If you want to follow along, here's the link: https://earth.google.com/web/search/Albuquerque/@35.16557795,-106.74593037,1672.53654999a,233.96919711d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=Cj4iJgokCUSJAsPilUFAEUCfJ-B8lEFAGTzU80gBr1rAIWpgL9d9sFrAKhAIARIKMjAyNC0wOC0zMBgBQgIIAToDCgEwQgIIAEoNCP___________wEQAA?authuser=0

Book Club

No book club this week — we're waiting on Devon, who seemed very excited, which somehow makes the waiting worse.

Next week's story is "The Janitor in Space" by Amber Sparks, available through American Short Fiction: https://americanshortfiction.org/janitor-space/

Special Note

We're taking a week off. For shame.

But we'll be back on January 11th, refreshed, rehydrated, and hopefully no longer coughing into our microphones.