The Functional Nerds Podcast

In the epic 340th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick welcomes John Anelio who welcomes Patrick Hester to talk about the bands Extreme, Radiohead, Soul II Soul, and Tom Petty. Which leads (obviously – come on now) to streaming shows, Star Trek: Discovery versus The Orville, the CW, Game of Thrones and The Humans. Which, as inevitably happens in every household across the world, leads to talk of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and, of course, The New Mutants. We certainly hope you’re following along here, people…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 339 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Charles de Lint – the author of more than eighty adult, young adult, and children’s books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora (three times), Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others and was recently inducted into the Canadian SF & Fantasy Association Hall of Fame. His latest book, The Wind in His Heart – de Lint’s first adult novel in eight years – was published in September 2017.

The Wind in His Heart: Young Thomas Corn Eyes sees into the otherworld, but all he wants to do is get off the rez. Steve Cole escaped from his rock star life to disappear into the desert and mountains. Fifteen-year-old barrio kid Sadie Higgins has been discarded once too often. Blogger Leah Hardin needs to leave Newford, come to terms with the loss of her best friend, and actually engage with her life. When these lives collide in the Hierro Maderas Mountains, they must struggle to escape their messy pasts and find a way to carve a future for themselves. They don’t just have to learn how to survive. They have to learn how to fly.

This week’s picks:

* Charles: The Rules of Magic: A Novel (The Practical Magic Series) by Alice Hoffman

* John: The Traveling Wilburys

* Patrick: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream (Netflix link)

Links:

* Charles on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 338 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome J.T. Evans to talk about his debut novel – out in a couple weeks from WordFire Press – Griffin’s Feather!

About J.T.: J.T. Evans writes fantasy novels. He also dabbles with science fiction and horror short stories. He is the former president of Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group and Pikes Peak Writers.

Griffin’s Feather is an urban fantasy about an immortal Roman Centurion named Marcus who works as a bounty hunter for the gods of the ancient world in modern-day San Antonio. When two such gods appear and set him on separate tracks, he has little time to get the jobs done before they’ll start hunting him…

This week’s picks:

* J.T.: eero Home WiFi System

* John: Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

* Patrick: Sedona, Az.

Links:

* J.T. Evans on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 337 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome New York Times Bestselling author Kevin Hearne to talk about his new book – out today! – A Plague of Giants! Plus, ya know, we talk about the Iron Druid books, cuz, yeah – Patrick is a HUGE fan…

About Kevin: Kevin hugs the hell out of trees and loves doggies and living in Colorado with his family. He is also fond of comic books, whiskey, beer, tacos, fresh air, clean energy, and friendly people. He’s prone to singing in parking lots if you get him drunk enough and has been told that his handwriting is really quite lovely.

About A Plague of Giants – a thrilling novel that kicks off a fantasy series with an entirely new mythology–complete with shape-shifting bards, fire-wielding giants, and children who can speak to astonishing beasts.

MOTHER AND WARRIOR

Tallynd is a soldier who has already survived her toughest battle: losing her husband. But now she finds herself on the front lines of an invasion of giants, intent on wiping out the entire kingdom, including Tallynd’s two sons–all that she has left. The stakes have never been higher. If Tallynd fails, her boys may never become men.

SCHOLAR AND SPY

Dervan is an historian who longs for a simple, quiet life. But he’s drawn into intrigue when he’s hired to record the tales of a mysterious bard who may be a spy or even an assassin for a rival kingdom. As the bard shares his fantastical stories, Dervan makes a shocking discovery: He may have a connection to the tales, one that will bring his own secrets to light.

REBEL AND HERO

Abhi’s family have always been hunters, but Abhi wants to choose a different life for himself. Embarking on a journey of self-discovery, Abhi soon learns that his destiny is far greater than he imagined: a powerful new magic thrust upon him may hold the key to defeating the giants once and for all–if it doesn’t destroy him first. Set in a magical world of terror and wonder, this novel is a deeply felt epic of courage and war, in which the fates of these characters intertwine–and where ordinary people become heroes, and their lives become legend.

This week’s picks:

* Kevin: The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang

* John: The Way of Baseball Finding Stillness at 95 mph by Shawn Green

* Patrick: Rick and Morty S2 & 3

Links:

* Kevin Hearne on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 336 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick and John talk about Stevie Ray Vaughan: Rise of a Texas Bluesman, guitars, music, sheet music, guitar tablature, music books, Unplugged, Eric Clapton Unplugged, the blues, Bon Jovi, documentaries, Video Games: The Movie, modern game consoles, and much more.

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Music List for those who ask…:

* Wanted Dead Or Alive (acoustic)

* Oreo Cookie Blues (acoustic)

* Life By The Drop (acoustic)

* Layla (acoustic)

* Blue on Black (acoustic)

In the double-sized episode 335 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome journalist, editor, author, DJ and 2017 MileHiCon Toastmaster, Jason Heller. His latest book, Strange Stars, is available for pre-orders and will come out June 5, 2018. We talk about a lot of things, including his book, our new recording platform – Zencastr – MileHiCon, Ed Bryant, Herbie Hancock, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Fleetwood Mac, King Crimson, Goosebumps and more…

About Jason Heller: Jason is a journalist, editor, and author whose books include: Strange Stars (forthcoming from Melville House); the alt-history novel Taft 2012 (Quirk); the Goosebumps tie-in Slappy’s Revenge (Scholastic); the Pirates of the Caribbean tie-in The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook (Disney); and a chapter of Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s The Time Traveler’s Almanac (Tor). He is also the former nonfiction editor of Clarkesworld and won a Hugo Award as part of that editing team. His short stories have appeared in Apex Magazine, Farrago’s Wainscot, Sybil’s Garage, Paper Darts, Nightmares Unhinged, Swords v. Cthulhu, and many others. He writes about books and/or music for NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker, and is a former Senior Writer of The Onion’s A.V. Club. His writing has also appeared in Weird Tales, Entertainment Weekly, Alternative Press, and Tor.com. He is the co-editor of the upcoming anthologies Cyber World (Hex) and Mechanical Animals (Hex), and is a 2009 graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. He’s represented by Jennifer Jackson, Vice President of Donald Maass Literary Agency. He lives with his wife Angie in Denver, where he plays in various bands.

About MileHiCon: MileHiCon is an annual science fiction/fantasy convention held in Denver, Colorado in October. It is primarily literary, although it also has an art show, dealers’ room, the Critter Crunch (similar to Robot Wars), the Critter Float-illa (robotic competition in the hotel pool), a video room, anime room, masquerade, gaming, bat’leth tournament, and programming on science, writing, literary, media and fannish topics. It runs its own track of kid-friendly, interactive programming and also hosts the Avistrum Academy of Sorcery. It is run by MileHiCon, Inc., a Colorado not-for-profit corporation, and donates money each year to local literacy programs.

This week’s picks:

* Jason: Escape from Planet Earth (song) by The Continental IV

* John: Leia, Princess of Alderaan

* Patrick: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, audiobook, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

Links:

* Jason Heller on Twitter

* MileHiCon on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

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In episode 334 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman – co-authors of Slayers & Vampires: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Buffy & Angel – the amazing true story of Buffy and the friends, vampires, slayers, and demons who changed television forever.

About Edward Gross: Edward Gross is an entertainment journalist who has covered film and television for a wide variety of publications, including Geek, SciFi Now, CFQ, SFX, Starlog, Cinescape and many others. Additionally he’s written a number of non-fiction “making of” books, including this year’s two-volume Fifty-Year Mission: the Complete Oral History of Star Trek (co-written with Mark A. Altman) for St. Martin’s Press.

About Mark A. Altman: Mark A. Altman is a writer, producer and actor whose credits include, DOA: Dead or Alive (producer), The Specials (producer, actor), Free Enterprise (writer, producer, actor), House of the Dead (writer, producer), House of the Dead 2 (writer, producer, actor), Room 6 (writer, producer, actor), The Thirst (producer), All Souls Day (writer, producer), Dead And Deader (writer, producer), The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: Volume One: The First 25 Years (writer, with Edward Gross).

This week’s picks:

* Ed: Wiseguy TV Show

* Mark: Feud: Bette and Joan

* John: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

* Patrick: The Confederation Series by Tonya Huff – Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

Links:

* Edward Gross on Twitter

* Mark A. Altman on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 333 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Annalee Newitz – Tech Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and the founding editor of io9. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of popular tech site Gizmodo. She is the author of Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction (Doubleday and Anchor), which was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. Her first science fiction novel, Autonomous, will be released from Tor in September 2017.

* Annalee’s Website: https://www.techsploitation.com/

* Annalee on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/author/annalee/

About Annalee: Annalee Newitz is the Tech Culture Editor at Ars Technica. Her work focuses on cultural impact of science and technology. She founded the science and science fiction blog io9.com, and is the author of Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. Her first novel, Autonomous, comes out in September 2017. She has a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley, and was the recipient of a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT. She lives in San Francisco with many other life forms, some of which have yet to be identified.

This week’s picks:

* Annalee: An Excess Male: A Novel by Maggie Shen King

* John: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching – a translation by Ursula K. Le Guin

* Patrick: Marco Polo – Netflix original series

Links:

* Annalee Newitz on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 332 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick and John talk about Stormtrooper armor in Star Wars – why do they even have it?? – Rogue One, G.I. Joe and Cobra characters moving faster than the speed of laser light, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Flash and Supergirl, the CW, Netflix, Hulu, io9, Invasion!, binging versus watching in-season, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Lightning, Static Shock, Justice League, Batman Beyond, the DC Animated Universe, Disney, Ant Farm, Saved by the Bell, massive comic book crossovers, Batman, and tighter storytelling in the CW Superhero Universe.

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

In episode 331 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Laurence MacNaughton, author of A Kiss Before Doomsday.

About Laurence: He grew up in a creaky old colonial house in Connecticut that he was pretty sure was haunted. As a kid, he was a choirboy in a church that was built in 1754. He also pounded out stories on a black manual typewriter until he sold his first magazine article at age 19. Over the years, he’s been a bookseller, typesetter, printer, copywriter and (somewhat randomly) a prototype vehicle test driver. When not writing, he bikes and hikes the Colorado Rockies, explores ghost towns and wrenches on old cars. But the whole time, he is usually thinking about the book he’s going to write next. He loves connecting with readers.

This week’s picks:

* Laurence: Canva – free online book cover templates

* John: Mr. Big: Defying Gravity

* Patrick: Vatta’s War Audiobooks by Elizabeth Moon,

narrated by Cynthia Holloway

Links:

* Laurence MacNaughton on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

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

© 2017 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.