The Functional Nerds Podcast

For the truly Epic 400th episode of The Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick and John welcome not one, but TWO amazing guests! Gail Carriger and Tom Merritt!

With such combined intellect and wit, we tackle what’s changed in the 9 years since the Functional Nerds began, including but not limited to the following topics: podcast, publishing, Amazon, Netflix, Inkshares, Slice of SciFi, SFSignal, YouTube, Self Publishing, Traditional Publishing, imposter syndrome, NPR, Daily Tech News, Beyond the Trope Podcast, Disney+, Gail’s books, Tom’s books, their podcasts and so much more…

About Gail Carriger: Gail Carriger writes comedies of manners mixed with steampunk and urban fantasy (plus sexy queer paranormal romance as G L Carriger). Her books include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School series for young adults. She is published in many languages, has over a million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.

Her debut made Audible’s Best list, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book, an IndieBound Notable, and a Locus Recommended Read. She has received the ALA’s Alex Award, the Prix Julia Verlanger, the Elbakin Award, the Steampunk Chronicle’s Reader’s Choice Award, and a Starburner Award. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, cephalopods, and tea.

About Tom Merritt: Tom is an award-winning independent tech podcaster and host of regular tech news and information shows. Tom hosts Sword and Laser, a science fiction and fantasy podcast, book club and publishing imprint, with Veronica Belmont. Tom has published several science fiction and technology books, including Citadel 32: A Tale of the Aggregate, The Year in Tech History, Sword and Laser Anthology, and Lot Beta. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two dogs.

He also co-hosts Daily Tech News Show, covering the most important tech issues of the day with the smartest minds in technology. Tom and Scott Johnson cover the best of the geek world in a weekly show called Current Geek. With Brian Brushwood Tom hosts Cordkillers, bringing people the news they need to watch the TV shows and movies they want when they want and how they want them. He also hosts Top 5 for Tech Republic.

No picks this week, but we do have links to stuff our guests recommend you check out:

* Gail’s New Sci-fi book: The 5th Gender

* Gail’s podcast: 20 Minute Delay

* Contact/Follow Gail Carriger: Contact Gail

* John Ross Bowie on Never Not Funny at SF Sketchfest

* Gail’s podcast recommendation: The Exponent podcast

* Story: Google Podcast transcripts

* Story 2: BBC pulls podcasts from Google

* Story 3: Apple announcements...

This week, Patrick and John pre-celebrate the upcoming 400th episode of the Functional Nerds by recording the 399th episode and talking about The Dirt, Motley Crue, media hosting, podcasts, podcast and advertising networks, DVDs, music concert DVDs, Bohemian Rhapsody, VH1, Chicago, The Miami Showband Massacre, and more…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 398 dawns and our intrepid Functional Nerds – Patrick and John – chat about many things, including but not limited to: Crisis On Infinite Earths and the Arrow-verse, The Magicians, Game of Thrones, Jack Ryan, The Umbrella Academy, Facebook, Battlestar Galactica, The BSG Orchestra, Supergirl, The Flash and Batwoman, Triple Frontier, Magnum P.I., S.W.A.T. and The Expanse…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

For episode 397, Patrick and John welcome back another old friend – Tracy Townsend! Her new book, The Fall, will be released on June 11, 2019 from PYR.

About Tracy: Tracy Townsend holds a Master’s degree in Writing & Rhetoric from DePaul University and a Bachelor’s degree in creative writing from DePauw University, a source of regular consternation when proofreading her credentials. She has served as chair of the English Department at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, an elite public boarding school, where she currently teaches creative writing and science fiction & fantasy literature. She has been a martial arts instructor, a stage combat and accent coach, and a short-order cook for houses full of tired gamers. Now she lives in Bolingbrook, Illinois with two bumptious hounds, two remarkable children, and one very patient husband. Her short story, “Late Arrivals,” was published by Luna Station Quarterly in March 2016, where she now writes monthly columns on sff story craft and world-building.

About The Fall: Eight months ago, Rowena Downshire was a half-starved black market courier darting through the shadows of Corma’s underside. Today, she’s a (mostly) respectable clerk in the Alchemist’s infamous apothecary shop, the Stone Scales, and certainly the last girl one would think qualified to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders a second time. Looks can be deceiving.

When Anselm Meteron and the Alchemist receive an invitation to an old acquaintance’s ball–the Greatduke who financed their final, disastrous mercenary mission fourteen years earlier–they’re expecting blackmail, graft, or veiled threats related to the plot to steal the secrets of the Creator’s Grand Experiment. They aren’t expecting a job offer they can’t refuse or a trip halfway across the world to rendezvous with the scholar whose research threw their lives into tumult: the Reverend Doctor Phillip Chalmers.

Escorting Chalmers to the Grand Library of Nippon with her mismatched mercenary family is just a grand adventure to Rowena until she discovers a powerful algebraic engine called the Aggregator. The Aggregator leads Rowena to questions about the Grand Experiment she was never meant to ask and answers she cannot be allowed to possess. With her reunited friends, Rowena must find a way to use the truths hidden in the Grand Library to disarm those who would hunt down the nine subjects of the Creator’s Grand Experiment, threatening to close the book on this world.

This week’s picks:

* Tracy: West of West by Angus Watson

* John: Twilight of the Gods: A Journey To the End of Classic Rock by Steven Hyden

* Patrick: Spider-Man: Into The Spider Verse

* Bonus Pick: Captain Marvel

Links:

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

Time for Episode 396 of the Functional Nerds Podcast! This is a mostly spoiler-free chat about The Umbrella Academy, as well as but not limited to the following random topics: groceries, Netflix, Fall Out Boy, the Arrowverse, The Tick, King Soopers, My Chemical Romance, Gotham, Mark Millar, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Dragon Prince Season 2 and Girl Scout Cookies…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

For episode 395, Patrick and John welcome back an old friend – Howard Andrew Jones! Howard’s new book – For The Killing of Kings is out from St. Martin’s Press in Hardback, eBook and coming soon – Audiobook!

About Howard Andrew Jones: Howard Jones’s debut historical fantasy novel, The Desert of Souls (Thomas Dunne Books 2011), was widely acclaimed by influential publications like Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publisher’s Weekly, made Kirkus’ New and Notable list for 2011, and was on both Locus’s Recommended Reading List and the Barnes and Noble Best Fantasy Releases list of 2011. Its sequel, The Bones of the Old Ones, made the Barnes and Noble Best Fantasy Release of 2013 and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. He is the author of four Pathfinder novels, an e-collection of short stories featuring the heroes from his historical fantasy novels, The Waters of Eternity, and the recently released novel from St. Martin’s, the first in a new fantasy series, For the Killing of Kings, which received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.

About For The Killing of Kings: Their peace was a fragile thing, but it had endured for seven years, mostly because the people of Darassus and the king of the Naor hordes believed his doom was foretold upon the edge of the great sword hung in the hall of champions. Unruly Naor clans might raid across the border, but the king himself would never lead his people to war so long as the blade remained in the hands of his enemies.

But when squire Elenai’s aging mentor uncovers evidence that the sword in their hall is a forgery she’s forced to flee Darassus for her life, her only ally the reckless, disillusioned Kyrkenall the archer. Framed for murder and treason, pursued by the greatest heroes of the realm, they race to recover the real sword, only to stumble into a conspiracy that leads all the way back to the Darassan queen and her secretive advisors. They must find a way to clear their names and set things right, all while dodging friends determined to kill them – and the Naor hordes, invading at last with a new and deadly weapon.

This week’s picks:

* Howard: The Dragon Prince (Netflix)

* John: Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George Leonard (Author)

* Patrick: Incredibles 2 (Netflix)

Links:

* Howard Andrew Jones on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 394 of the Functional Nerds Podcast is here! What are Patrick and John talking about this week? A host of things including but not limited to: the hosting glitch we had, podcasting for as long as we have – and what’s changed in that time, SFSignal.com, John DeNardo, politics and social media (DUN DUN DUN!), our new Patrons-only FB group, media hosting, Spotify, music licensing, Evernote, jazz, iTunes, Cable TV, Ray Brown and Lake Street Dive…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

It’s 393 people! And this week, Patrick and John welcome Becky Chambers – part of the team of writers who wrote The Vela, a brand new season of fiction from Serial Box! The writing team includes Becky, Yoon Ha Lee, Rivers Solomon, and S.L. Huang.

About Becky Chambers: Becky Chambers is the author of the science fiction novels The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit, and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, among others. She also writes essays and short stories, which can be found here and there around the internet.

In addition to writing, Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. She spends her free time playing video and tabletop games, keeping bees, and stomping around the woods. Having lived in Scotland and Iceland, she is currently back in her home state of California.

About The Vela: Orphan, refugee, and soldier-for-hire Asala Sikou doesn’t think too much about the end of civilization. Her system’s star is dying, and the only person she can afford to look out for is herself. When a ship called The Vela vanishes during what was supposed to be a flashy rescue mission, a reluctant Asala is hired to team up with Niko, the child of a wealthy inner planet’s president, to find it and the outer system refugees on board. But this is no ordinary rescue mission; The Vela holds a secret that places the fate of the universe in the balance, and forces Asala to decide—in a dying world where good and evil are far from black and white, who deserves to survive?

This week’s picks:

* Becky: Return of the Obra Dinn (Video game)

* John: Lake Street Dive (band)

* Patrick: Closed Patreon Group on FB

Links:

* Becky Chamber’s website

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

It’s the 392nd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast and both Patrick and John are hiding from the polar vortex, safe and sound indoors and recording a Just Us episode for you. What do they talk about? A better question might be – what DON’T they talk about?! Topics this week include but are not limited to: The polar vortex, quitting shows you don’t like, how smart TV’s are being subsidized which is how they’re so cheap (hint: they’re tracking what you’re watching…), Netflix, Travelers, The King: A documentary about Elvis, American Gods, Starz, The Orville, The Punisher S2, CBS All Access, Roku and more…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In the 391st episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick and John welcome back former SFSignal.com contributor, anime enthusiast and author – Django Wexler! Django has a new book out – Ship of Smoke and Steel – the launch of Django Wexler’s cinematic, action-packed epic fantasy Wells of Sorcery trilogy.

About Django Wexler: Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Microsoft in Seattle, where he now lives with two cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not writing, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.

About Ship of Smoke and Steel: In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the great port city of the Blessed Empire, eighteen-year-old ward boss Isoka comes to collect when there’s money owing. When her ability to access the Well of Combat is discovered by the Empire—an ability she should have declared and placed at His Imperial Majesty’s service—she’s sent on an impossible mission: steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship—a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit.

This week’s picks:

* Django: Children of Ruin (Children of Time) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

* John: Voltron (Netflix)

* Patrick: DC Comics on Comixology

Links:

* Django Wexler on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.