Science Faction Podcast

It's another week in real life for the gang — or at least for most of us. Devon's down sick, so it's a two-man show featuring Steven and Ben navigating the bizarre crossroads of tech, food, and VR golf.

Ben's been tethered to the job, but he still managed to escape reality long enough to join a virtual round of Walkabout Mini Golf— specifically the new Tokyo DLC — alongside Steven, some friends, and one of our lovely patrons. Turns out, there's nothing quite like bonding over missed putts in low-poly Japan.

Meanwhile, Steven's week has been aggressively autumnal. Between a pumpkin painting and apple party (new listeners, it's a thing), setting up a a pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi 4, and cracking open the Hellboy board game, he's officially living his best nerd life.

Ben, on the other hand, declared war on Microsoft. With Windows 10 heading toward its end-of-life, he's switched to Bazzite Linux to avoid the sins of Windows 11. Cue righteous fury: "How dare you do what you do, Microsoft?" Also, the ROG Ally handheld PC is on the horizon — should we be excited or just emotionally prepared?

Steven dives into a story that'll make you rethink that bag of chips: ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now dominate the American diet — and they're linked to chronic inflammation, heart disease, and cancer. According to Science Daily, people who eat the most UPFs show higher levels of hs-CRP, an inflammation marker. The takeaway? Maybe listen when Steven yells, "What's in your mouth?! DROP IT!"

Ben, ever the tech romantic, went down a rabbit hole about creating your own physical music formats — a nostalgic rebellion against the streaming void. Inspired by this Y Combinator post, he mourns the lost art of DropMix and Rock Band, both now relics of a time when music and play collided beautifully.

This week we read "Wikihistory" by Desmond Warzel — a time-travel tale told entirely through wiki edit threads. It's short, it's clever, and it'll make you question what's really editable in history.

Next week: "Planet Lion" by Catherynne M. Valente — an elegant, surreal journey through alien communication and memory.

👾 Listen now for the perfect mix of VR golf, processed snacks, Linux rebellion, and speculative fiction. 🎧 Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Real Life

Ben's decided that fall is… fine. Just okay. Leaves fall, pumpkin spice happens, and he moves on. His energy's better spent testing out new hands-free necklace cameras—a totally normal sentence—and keeping Orion fed and happy.

Meanwhile, Steven dove headfirst into Shadow of the Demon Lord, playing Velmar the Archivist, a character with a flair for ancient lore and possibly poor life decisions. Five hours later, the table survived, the dice were appeased, and Steven was still buzzing from the chaos.

Devon, fresh from his cruise survival, gave us tales of ice skating, laser tag, and kid karaoke—the real high seas adventure. The boat did, however, dock somewhere that was apparently not Devon-approved. We didn't ask for details. Some horrors are best left off-mic.

Ben's also been deep-diving into retro TV, revisiting Police Squad! after catching the fourth Naked Gun movie. Add in Marvel Zombies—a wild, tragic, and completely zany series that gave him Batman Ninja flashbacks—and you've got Ben's viewing habits perfectly summarized: somewhere between slapstick and existential decay.

Marvel Zombies on IMDb

Review on The Playlist

Steven's been championing Peacemaker, wrapping up season 1 and binging through the first seven episodes of season 2. He gives it a full-hearted recommendation—especially if you enjoy Superman references, alternate realities, and 80s glam metal in your superhero chaos.

Devon, ever the connoisseur, dropped a bombshell: there's a new Simpsons movie coming, and it might even be replacing a Marvel release slot. He's cautiously thrilled. On the flip side, Alien: Earth got a collective "eh" from the group—though we all agreed its many storylines and editing quirks made for an interesting dissection.

Future or Now We didn't make it here this week. Too many good tangents.

Book Club

This week's read was "They're Made Out of Meat" by Terry Bisson—short, weird, and surprisingly heartfelt. The crew praised its simple but sharp worldbuilding-through-dialogue, and Ben compared its absurd tone to Ren & Stimpy's close-up madness. For a kid-friendlier vibe, he also recommended The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

Read "They're Made Out of Meat"

Watch the short film adaptation

Flapjack on IMDb

Next week's story: "Wikihistory" by Desmond Warzel, a time-travel tale told through forum posts. Read it here

Want more weird science, deep-cut book talk, and bonus chaos? Join us on Patreon for unedited episodes, exclusive content, and our private Discord full of bad jokes and good vibes. Your support keeps the mics hot and the fall season just a little less "okay."

Devon's not here this week—he ditched us for a cruise. Apparently, some doctors say cruises are floating petri dishes with barely any oversight on cleanliness. But not our Devon. He's braving the high seas while Steven sits at home thinking, "You know what sounds better than hundreds of strangers sneezing near me? Literally anything else."

Meanwhile, Ben went to the Gamer Festival at the Madonna Inn, which looked like an absolute blast. Arcade machines, board games, and maybe too many people in themed t-shirts. He even stumbled across a longplay video of Stargate (Arcade) on YouTube (22K views after three years!) and got into Broom Service, a trick-taking board game where witches zoom around delivering potions. Rules here if you're curious.

Steven, instead of heading to Gamer Fest, ran a Mutant Crawl Classics session. Mutants, post-apocalyptic chaos, dice rolling—it was all there. When he wasn't GMing, he was kit-bashing his own mini robot out of spare parts. Award-winning, five-star author and robot builder? Yeah, he's got range.

Normally, this is where we'd slide into our Future or Now segment—but with Devon off the grid (and possibly fighting buffet lines instead of time-travel paradoxes), we skipped it this week. Don't worry, it'll be back once he's done living the boat life.

We also touched on:

• A correction about Star Trek: Khan (there are 9 episodes, not 3—we messed that up).

• Parking Garage Rally Circuit, a Sega Saturn-inspired rally racer on Steam. It's got ska, it's got cars, and the holophonic audio makes you feel like you're back in 1994. Check it out here.

• Rick and Morty Season 8, and the eternal question: which episode was the best?

This week: We read Robert Silverberg's 1971 short story "Good News from the Vatican." It's all about the election of the first robot pope, and yes, it's as wild as it sounds. You can find it in Universe 1 or snag it here on Kindle

Next week: We're tackling Terry Bisson's "They're Made Out of Meat"—a classic piece of weird short fiction that asks: what if humans are just slabs of meat trying to talk? Read it here or watch this short adaptation.

This week's episode covers everything from Metallica rumors to vehicular combat nostalgia, with some Star Trek overload and a short story about ants the size of Buicks.

First off: is Metallica doing a farewell tour? Nope. Despite the headlines , it's not the end. Devon's floating the idea of a Metallica Vegas residency though—because nothing says "hard rock" like the Strip buffet scene.

Speaking of trips, Devon cruised back to Cozumel and reported in with the most lukewarm Superman review ever: "It was okay." Much more enthusiasm went to Twisted Metal, which Devon swears is actually good TV.

Ben's week was a mash-up of retro and weird: revisiting the vehicular combat classic Vigilante 8 (alternate 1975, naturally) and driving headlong into Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom—a game best described as Super Mario 64 colliding with Crazy Taxi in an alleyway.

Steven had a great run in Shatterpoint, squaring off against Greg. Steven fielded Lord Maul and Count Dooku, Greg ran the entire Rogue One crew, and fun was had by all.

Also, Ben dog-sat and chicken-sat for Steven. His payment? Eggs. A true barter economy.

Ben wasn't going to let us off the hook without some Star Trek chatter. Two new official Trek series just dropped—including Star Trek: Scouts, a preschooler show that Ben insists counts. He's also tossing out theories about Jack Ransom connections and reminding us that Khan is on the way too. That's… a lot of Trek. Maybe too much Trek.

Steven meanwhile is hyped because Star Trek LEGO,

is now officially a thing. The USS Enterprise and a Type-15 Shuttlepod in brick form? Yes, please.

Devon had nothing this week. (Hey, he's allowed a bye week.)

This week we dug into Edward Bryant's 1979 short story giANTS, which dives into what happens when you ignore the square-cube law. Quick refresher: double the size of an insect, and its mass increases faster than its strength or breathing ability. Meaning giant ants would basically suffocate under their own bulk. Science ruins everything, but at least it makes for great fiction.

Next week we're jumping back to 1971 with Robert Silverberg's Good News from the Vatican (found in Universe 1). Grab it here, if you want to read along.

This week's episode was a ride through everything from neighborhood drama to yogurt overlords, with plenty of science and sci-fi sprinkled along the way.

Ben kicked things off with Five Nights at Freddy's—because apparently, jump scares are just how he likes to unwind. From there, he veered into a wild story involving a crossing guard, a flag man, and threats from a community member that had us questioning if this was real life or the start of a low-budget thriller.

Devon had politics on his mind (as he often does), and let's just say it was… cathartic.

Steven closed his section with a review of Mickey 17 (yes, the Bong Joon-ho movie starring Robert Pattinson), finally finishing Rick & Morty, and then going deep into the concept of an Alien Earth.

Meanwhile, Ben reminded everyone to get your COVID booster while you still can. His advice? If you need to, just say you have asthma. "Who's gonna check?" he asked. (Don't tempt fate, Ben.)

Ben brought us back to his favorite corner of the internet: The Weird Wide Web. This time he found:

• A Pigeon Hadron Collider (yes, it exists),

• Computer shoes (also real, somehow),

• And a store that generates anything you type (Hacker News link here)

Devon turned things more serious with some big Mars news. NASA's Perseverance rover collected a sample called Sapphire Canyon from an ancient riverbed, and it could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. NASA's announcement and the coverage highlight the discovery's potential—though, as Devon pointed out, politicians are already trying to spin credit in ways that don't hold up.

Steven brought us back to Earth (sort of) with the rise of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs. Harvard Health explains how they work, while a new RAND report, shows nearly 12% of Americans have already tried them. Effective? Yes. Side effects? Also yes.

This week we read "When the Yogurt Took Over" by John Scalzi (link here), which you may know from its animated adaptation in Love, Death & Robots. Short, weird, and oddly plausible—because if dairy products do overthrow humanity, it's probably our fault.

Next week: we're tackling Edward Bryant's "giANTS" (1979), which you can find here. Prepare yourself for some very big bugs.

Devon also dropped some knowledge about Sean Carroll's The Particle at the End of the Universe, tying our sci-fi chat back to real physics.

That's the roundup! Between pigeons smashing atoms, yogurt world domination, and Mars microbes, it was one of those episodes where the line between real science and sci-fi got blurry—and we loved every minute of it.

This week's episode is stacked—like a plate at Boar & Barley (Ben barely survived, oh God). Speaking of Milwaukee, Devon had some things to say, and Steven dove into Rick and Morty season 8 on HBO—has the quality shifted? Plus, Marvel's Thunderbolts snuck its way into the convo.

Devon brought us back to the Bob-verse world with Dennis E. Taylor's Flybot. He called it "enjoyable" (which is Devon for a glowing review). Near-future tech, asteroid mining, eco-terrorists, and a scrappy AI robot pieced together from spare parts—this one's a cozy puzzle-box of sci-fi. We also asked: is this "Casual Sci-Fi"? "Cozy Sci-Fi"? Someone trademark that.

Ben, meanwhile, shouted "Star Trek? Hell yeah, brother" and broke down Noah Hawley's almost-made Star Trek film that would've tied directly into The Next Generation. Read more here.

Steven brought his A-game with Alien: Earth episode 5—he swears it's the best Alien movie in a long time. High praise.

Patron Renee joined us! She told us about her latest comic-con adventures and stuck with us for the whole episode (you love to see it).

This week we read "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson—a story that scooped up basically all the awards back in the early '90s (Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, Locus, Asimov's Readers, you name it). It feels like something straight out of Haruki Murakami—quiet, strange, and deeply human. Oh, and yes, we did wonder aloud: what if it was Banthas Discover Fire?

📖 Read it here: Lightspeed Magazine 🎬 DUST adaptation: Watch on YouTube 🎧 Audiobook: Listen here

Next week: "When the Yogurt Took Over" by John Scalzi (which also got the Love, Death + Robots treatment). Check it out here.

This week's episode had a slightly different vibe—Ben was buried under a mountain of work, so he wasn't able to make it. But don't worry, Steven and Devon had plenty to talk about.

Real Life Devon's mom was visiting, and he took a trip out to Milwaukee for baseball. Turns out the city is super clean… but also a little seedy after dark. Naturally, breweries came up (because it's Milwaukee), and he hit up Broken Bat Brewery—complete with darts, wiffle ball, and the echo of a chant we kept repeating: Miller Miller!

Meanwhile, Steven went full hobby mode. He finished painting Anakin, played Shatterpoint with Greg, and even reconnected with an old friend. On top of that, we dove into Alien: Earth with a quick mini recap and review.

What Devon's Watching & Reading Devon's keeping up with Foundation season 3, which is still going strong with some big, interesting ideas. He also talked about The Battle for the Big Bang—sadly not available on audio—and continued his personal project of reading through the Bible. He's been trying to make sense of how religion developed, comparing the Old Testament to the New Testament, and even mentioned James Talarico. Lots of deep thought packed into his reading stack.

Future or Now Nothing in this segment this week.

Book Club (Coming Up) Next week, we'll be reading Terry Bisson's Bears Discover Fire—a short story that basically swept the awards back in the early '90s. It won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and a few others, and it even inspired Bisson's later tongue-in-cheek story Bears Discover Smut. Bisson, who sadly passed away in January 2024, was a giant in short speculative fiction. He's also the mind behind They're Made Out of Meat—a must-read if you've never come across it.

If you want to check it out before we dive in:

• Read it here

• Watch the DUST adaptation

• Listen to the audiobook

So grab your copy of Bears Discover Fire in whichever format works best and get ready to talk talking bears, fire, and why this little story became such a classic.

California, what are you doing? Rain in the summer? Hail in Tahoe? Absolute chaos. At least Steven's chickens are thriving in this strange new climate—they've started laying eggs. A LOT of eggs. So many, in fact, that we're considering a new Patreon tier: Egg Delivery from Steven. Fresh, farm-to-door… assuming you live close enough for him to walk them over.

Ben dove deep into nostalgia this week with a first look at the Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown game. It's got exploration, it's got starships, it's got Janeway energy. Check it out for yourself: ▶ Trailer

🎮 Steam Page

Meanwhile, Steven is geeking out over the Fallout Season 2 trailer—and its direct nods to New Vegas. Naturally, that raised the question: What's the canonical ending to the game? Opinions vary, but the lore debate is half the fun. Oh, and in case you missed it: Fallout 5 has officially entered production. Start hoarding bottle caps now.

Ben's also still working on his short game in VR with Walkabout Mini Golf's new Tokyo level. Neon lights, serene gardens, and… capybaras? Yep, you read that right. Meta has the details

And if you've got a taste for tabletop chaos, Steven recommends Pirate Borg, a salty spin-off of the grimdark cult classic Mörk Borg. If you've ever wanted to fight skeletons with black powder pistols and a parrot on your shoulder, this one's for you: Pirate Borg

Ben found a wild take this week: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds might not be in the Prime Universe. Interesting theory, problematic delivery—watch at your own discretion: Positronic Hypersonic Video.

Meanwhile, Steven went full science mode: Physicists have confirmed that angular momentum is conserved even when a single photon splits into two. It's an experiment so precise, it's basically like catching a needle in a quantum haystack. If you're into photons behaving themselves, here's the breakdown: ScienceDaily.

This week's read: "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ. A colony on Whileaway has survived for 30 generations without men—until a crew of them shows up and decides to "fix" things. Classic, award-winning, and razor-sharp social commentary. Read it here and join the discussion.

Next week, we're tackling "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson—a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short story where, well, bears discover fire. They start holding campfires on highway medians. It's about aging, wilderness, and the strange comfort of community. Read it here and bring your s'mores.

What do you think—should we actually launch the Egg Delivery Tier, or is that just inviting chaos? Let us know in the comments!

Devon has been knee-deep in yard work, prepping and installing artificial grass and fixing up fences. But the real highlight was his trip to Milwaukee for some baseball—and of course, some Alice Cooper trivia because apparently Milwaukee and Alice Cooper are forever linked thanks to Wayne's World.

Ben gave us an update on Orion. He's starting to lose his appetite, which is always tough. What do you do when your dog doesn't want to eat? It's something a lot of pet owners face, and Ben's in the thick of it. On a lighter note, he's been living in a world of Clue. Playing the board game, rewatching Clue: The Movie, and even checking out Cal Poly's recent stage production where the ending changes each night depending on which solution the cast performs. (Yes, that's as fun as it sounds)—here's a behind-the-scenes look

Steven has been getting some gaming in. He had a Shatterpoint rematch with Christina's husband—this time Steven lost, but it was extremely close. He also got to dive into This Is Not A Test, a post-apocalyptic skirmish game from Worlds End Publishing.

Devon started watching Dark on Netflix. It's a time travel show, and while the subtitles/dubs can get a little weird, the slow-burn mystery is "pretty good." Each character has a younger/older actor because of the show's 33-year cycle, and by Season 3 it's seriously complex. But the real question: is it a slow burn, or is it just a slog? Devon says it's not hard to follow, but your memory has to do some heavy lifting.

Devon and Steven circled back to Alien Earth. Their verdict: just alright. Some weird editing choices, decent acting, solid effects. The first episode had promise, but the second one dragged. Jury's still out.

Ben came in with a much happier update: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back with "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail." Yes, Spock had a Sehlat—a giant bear-cat pet—and the episode absolutely nailed it. Even better, Star Trek finally won another Hugo Award for the first time since The Next Generation's finale. (Lower Decks took home two Hugos!) Here's the news

And because Ben can't help himself, he also reminded us that Ryan North (yes, Dinosaur Comics Ryan North) had a hand in B to the F.

This week we read "2 B R 0 2 B" by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a short satirical story set in a future where humanity has solved aging and disease—but keeps population at a strict 40 million. The catch? For every new baby, someone has to voluntarily die. Vonnegut being Vonnegut, it's absurd, bleak, and a little too close to home. You can read it free on Project Gutenberg or even watch a short film adaptation

Next week we'll be reading "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ. It's the Nebula Award-winning 1972 short story about a colony called Whileaway where all the men died off 30 generations ago. When a ship of men finally arrives, they announce their intentions to "restore balance"—but the women of Whileaway have no interest in being "fixed." It's sharp, powerful, and still incredibly relevant. You can read it here or check out this reading on YouTube.

Real Life Ben's having a bit of an "old man yells at cloud" week. Everything is changing, young people adapt, old people stretch (sometimes), and Orion—our good doggo—is in late-stage kidney failure. Can the universe just… not for five minutes?

Steven is counting the days until school starts again. When does he get his elusive "me time"?

Devon? Out in the yard, living the Yard Work Man life, which means he's off the show this week.

The Domingues household is fully embracing lazy summer mode.

Ben's been watching K-Pop Demon Hunters—thanks to field-adjacent reporter Matt. It's PG, but is it okay for kids who are spooky-sensitive? Think "My Little Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Speaking of Buffy—she's coming back, baby. The new Slayer? She was in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Ben wonders: how old was she when they filmed this? Because slayers start at 18, right? Just because it dropped this year doesn't mean it wasn't filmed in the Before Times™.

Steven's deep in Star Wars: ShatterPoint. Played Christina's husband again—this is a game about objectives, not just smashing plastic. Rematch today at 3pm.

Future or Now Ben: Eh? Oh Well! – AOL is officially shutting down dial-up on September 30, 2025, after 34 years. Yes, apparently it was still alive. Email will continue, so Grandpa's chain forwards are safe.

Devon: Not here. So sad.

Steven: Yum or Yuck? – New research points out that ultraprocessed foods are bad (shocker) and are tied to chronic health issues, especially in lower-income groups. Experts want clearer guidelines and systemic change.

Book Club Next Week: 2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut – A short satirical look at population control in a future where disease and aging are gone, and the moral dilemmas of a society with strict population caps. Read here or watch here.

This Week: Transience by Arthur C. Clarke – A masterclass in telling hundreds of thousands of years of history in just a few pages, all set on a single beach at the edge of a forest.

Also: Foundation season 3, Wondla season 2, and how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds keeps poking the continuity bear.