The Functional Nerds Podcast

In episode 380 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back an old friend – Jamie Todd Rubin!

About Jamie Todd Rubin: Jamie Todd Rubin writes fiction and nonfiction, and has been blogging since late 2005. His fiction has appeared in many of the leading science fiction magazines, as well as a few anthologies. His nonfiction has appeared in science fiction magazines, as well as places like The Daily Beast and 99U. He’s a former member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

By day, he manages software projects, and occasionally write code. He lives in Falls Church, Virginia with his wife and three children.

This week’s picks:

* Jamie: The Library Book by Susan Orlean

* John: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

* Patrick: Evernote

* Bonus Pick: RVshare.com

Links:

* Jamie Todd Rubin on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Patrick and John are back for the second of two Just Us episodes. We’re talking about Patrick’s hole in one, the increasingly fractured digital streaming services marketplace, Netflix and Prime, comiXology Unlimited and reading digital comics, and more.

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Patrick and John are back for the first of two Just Us episodes. In the first, we talk about a recent controversy over digital licensing rights and how they impact what you ‘buy’ including movies, tv shows, audiobooks and ebooks. Additionally, we go down the road of digital media versus print media – costs, distribution, rights and more.

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 377 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back an old friend – Mur Lafferty! Mur has a new book out called Solo: A Star Wars Story – the official novelization of the movie!

About Solo: A Star Wars Story: Though Han Solo has thrilled Star Wars fans for decades, the notorious wisecracking scoundrel was chasing adventure and dodging trouble long before he walked into the cantina at Mos Eisley spaceport.

Young Han dreams of someday soaring into space at the helm of his own starship and leaving his home, the gritty industrial planet Corellia, far behind. But as long as he’s trapped in a life of poverty and crime—and under the thumb of the sinister Lady Proxima and her brutal street gang—reaching the distant stars seems impossible. When Han tries to escape with his girlfriend and partner-in-crime, Qi’ra, he makes it out—but she doesn’t. Desperate for a way to find his own offworld vessel and free her, Han enlists in the Imperial Navy—the last place for a rebellious loner who doesn’t play well with others.

When the Empire clips his wings, Han goes rogue and plunges into the shady world of smugglers, gamblers, and con artists. There he meets the charming and cunning high roller Lando Calrissian, makes an unlikely friend in a cantankerous Wookiee called Chewbacca, and first lays eyes on the Millennium Falcon. To snag his piece of the outlaw pie, Han joins a crew of pirates to pull off a risky heist. The stakes are high, the danger is great, and the odds are slim. But never tell Han Solo the odds.

About Mur Laffery: Mur Lafferty is a podcaster and writer from Durham, NC. She made her name with podcasting (I Should Be Writing, The Angry Robot Podcast, and Escape Pod, the premier SF podcast magazine) and has written for magazines, roleplaying games, and audio and video podcasts. She currently cohosts with Matt Wallace the Hugo Award winning podcast Ditch Diggers, about the business of writing, when the craft is not as important as the deadline.

She’s the author of I Should Be Writing, Six Wakes, The Shambling Guides, Solo, and part of the team that writes Bookburners.

This week’s picks:

* Mur: Leder Games Root

* John: Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday

* Patrick: The Dragon Prince

Links:

* Mur Lafferty on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 376 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Grim Dark Fantasy author Anna Smith Spark! Her Empires of Dust trilogy began with the David Gemmell Awards shortlisted The Court of Broken Knives, and continues with the newly released The Tower of Living and Dying.

About Anna Smith Spark: Anna lives in London, UK. She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website www.greatworks.org. Previous jobs include petty bureaucrat, English teacher and fetish model.

Anna’s favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at sff conventions wearing very unusual shoes.

This week’s picks:

* Anna Smith Spark: The Last Kingdom

* The La Vuelta a Espana 2018 Bike Race

* John: Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists by Kay Larson

* Patrick: It’s Tough Being Cobra These Days by Carrie Vaughn

Links:

* Anna Smith Spark on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Patrick and John return from the Labor Day break to discuss how they, and social media, has changed in the years since starting The Functional Nerds podcast, including how we use social media and which platforms we prefer.

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Patrick and John return from a brief hiatus (Patrick has been sick) to talk about the music they’ve been listening to, the books they’ve been reading, how they consume books these days, beer, podcasts, and so very much more. You’ll just have to listen for yourself to gobble up all the goodies. And a special shout out to Gail Carriger. See Gail? I listen – hardly any Star Wars talk at all!

Note: We’ll also be taking the Tuesday after Labor Day off. Look for us again in -2- weeks!

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 373 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author and podcaster Tim Niederriter. He has several books out, including Spells of the Curtain: Court Mage, Spells of the Curtain: Battle Mage, Spells of the Curtain: Winter Mage, Memory Lost: A Post-Apocalyptic Cyberpunk Thriller (The Root Conspiracy Book 1), Mind Chase: A Post-Apocalyptic Cyberpunk Thriller (The Root Conspiracy Book 2) and Image Storm: A Post-Apocalyptic Cyberpunk Thriller (The Root Conspiracy Book 3).

About Tim Niederriter: Tim Niederriter is a freelance writer and editor. He writes stories in science fiction, fantasy, and combinations of the two for himself and for others. When not writing fiction or losing at the occasional videogame, he maintains a blog at dwellerofthedeep.wordpress.com, and you can find his personal website at timniederriter.com. He lives in Minnesota for as long as the corn decides not to eat him.

This week’s picks:

* Tim Niederriter: Epica Vs Attack on Titan Songs

* John: I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern

* Patrick: Batman and Harley Quinn

Links:

* Tim Niederriter on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Patrick and John return from a brief hiatus to talk about all the goodies coming out of San Diego Comic Con 2018!

What does this conversation include? We’re so glad you asked! Among other things, we discuss: Doctor Who, DC Comic’s new streaming service, Titans, Young Justice, Man of Steel, Ben Affleck, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (new trailer), Shazam!, Star TreL Discovery, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Voltron: Legendary Defender and CBS All Access.

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 371 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Hugo-award winning author, Mary Robinette Kowal! Her book – The Calculating Stars – is out with its companion in the duology – The Fated Sky – will be out in August!

About The Calculating Stars: A meteor decimates the U.S. government and paves the way for a climate cataclysm that will eventually render the earth inhospitable to humanity. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated timeline in the earth’s efforts to colonize space, as well as an unprecedented opportunity for a much larger share of humanity to take part.

One of these new entrants in the space race is Elma York, whose experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too—aside from some pesky barriers like thousands of years of history and a host of expectations about the proper place of the fairer sex. And yet, Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions may not stand a chance.

About Mary Robinette: Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Ghost Talkers, The Glamourist Histories series, and the Lady Astronaut duology. She is a cast member of the award-wining podcast Writing Excuses and also a three-time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary, a professional puppeteer, lives in Chicago. Visit her online at maryrobinettekowal.com.

This week’s picks:

* Mary Robinette: Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA by Amy Shira Teitel

* John: Baby Driver

* Patrick: Black Lightning

Links:

* Mary Robinette on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2018 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.