The Skiffy and Fanty Show

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen interviews L. D. Lewis, short story writer, author of A Ruin of Shadows, and Art Director of FIYAH Literary Magazine for Black Speculative Fiction! L. explains why the theme of changing allegiances after discovering the truth is something she likes to explore, how science fantasy helps her ground her world-building, her upcoming essay in Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Existence, and what it means to be the Art Director of FIYAH and how she uses that platform to boost the work of Black artists.

Then Jen talks to fangirl, Associate Professor, and KidLit activist, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, about her new non-fiction work, The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games. Jen refused to cut anything because they talk about everything from the imagination gap in publishing to how Ebony’s long involvement with fandom and as a fangirl led to the critical lens through which she developed The Dark Fantastic, whether diversity in media is a moment or a movement, and so much more goodness that you just have to listen!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Origami, abused toys, and kissing daddy, oh my! Since it’s finally 2019, the year that Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner takes place, it was time for us to finally discuss one of the most influential science fiction films of all time. As such, Shaun, Jen, and Paul, sit down to have a chat about the biggest problems in the film (including the treatment of Rachel, the Orientalism, what it means that so many POC are left behind on earth in the world of Blade Runner), what the central theme of the film is and whether or not Deckard is a Replicant (or if it even matters), the brilliant cinematography and its inspirations, the pros and cons of the various version of the film, and more!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Chill your coaxium and holster your blasters, the team is BACK!! That’s right, Shaun, Alex, and Kate have returned after a too long absence to tackle their first book in the NEW Canon, Bloodline by Claudia Gray. If you haven’t read the book yet, no worries, because the team will give you a giant spoiler wall just in case you think a book that whatever happens before Force Awakens and after Return of the Jedi could actually spoil anything for you. The team discusses how this is primarily a Leia book, what gave rise to the First Order, how and why this is not your mom’s hopeful Star Wars, and so, so much more.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page. Want to suggest a book?  Think we should add a feature?  Have a question? Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our intro music comes “Juno” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Increasingly terrified horror academics, high school musical, and Trish’s new job, oh my! Trish and Jen sit down with the CEO and COO of Escape Artists, Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner! The duo discusses the history of Escape Artists and the changes in both audio fiction and short fiction, their decision to withdraw from the Parsec Awards this year, their goal to hire diverse narrators for diverse stories, the difficulty of getting things right and learning from mistakes when you don’t, the larger podcasting market, and so much more. If you have any interest in audio fiction or podcasting, this is the… well… the podcast interview for you! (Hinthint: These folks are eligible for Hugos!)

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to short story and interactive game designer, Erin Roberts, about her work. They talk about what Erin really enjoys exploring thematically, one of the key features that connects her story, Sour Milk Girls, with her game, Thanks for the Memories, the differences and connections between writing short stories and designing interactive games, and more!

Then Paul interviews Sarah Chorn about her debut novel, Seraphina’s Lament. They discuss how she used a large cast to better tell the story, the historical events that inspired the novel and how she found that inspiration, where she plans to take the next book in her planned trilogy, and a few more things besides.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Pink bodysuits, the bisexual 80s, and legs that go on forever, oh my! Today on Torture Cinema, Paul, Alex, and Daniel review the (not so) particularly beloved 1980s fantasy musical, Xanadu! The film also has the distinction of being Gene Kelly’s last picture, so nobody can be too mad at it. If you love camp and ELO (Paul and Alex will fight you on this), then you too might truly love this movie. If you don’t, then you just might have a few things in common with at least some of our hosts.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Welcome to the first episode of Righteous Kicks — the podcast where two science fiction writers geek out about men in spandex bodysuits who kick evildoers to death in abandoned quarries until they explode. Here, we plan to ramble at length about the good, the bad, and the absolutely silly parts of the Japanese science fiction television franchise, Kamen Rider. Hopefully, we’ll introduce you to a series you’ll love to watch.

For our introductory episode, Iori Kusano and Brandon O’Brien give a brief overview of Kamen Rider‘s beginnings, their introductions to the franchise, their favourite elements of the series they’ve seen so far, and what they look forward to discussing in future episodes.

Next episode: we dive into the first 16 episodes of Kamen Rider Drive, the only Rider who gets a car instead of a motorcycle. He gets a lot of cars, in fact. Sports cars that talk. Toy cars that fight. Technically, his suit is a car… it’s wild.

Be Transformed, and Stay Righteous!

Show Notes:

In this episode of Into the Wardrobe, Shaun and Jen are joined by the lovely Becca to talk about the movie that defined Jen’s childhood, terrified Shaun, and has now inspired Becca to find a luck dragon. That move is 1984’s The Neverending Story directed by Wolfgang Peterson. Our intrepid crew discuss their own childhood traumas that made them connect so strongly with Bastian, the problems with Atreyu’s coding as Native, the movie’s approach to the tyranny of adulthood under capitalism, the good and the bad of the film’s ending, and so much more that we lost track about half-way through and can’t continue telling you. Basically, listen to the podcast.

Enjoy!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Hello, Rangers! We’re back with everyone’s favorite Space Nancy Drew in Memory! Did you miss us? This time Paul, Trish, Kate, and Alex are joined by Trish’s lovely twin, Sarah Elkins! If you’ve been reading along, Miles Vorkosigan has been through quite a few ups and downs over the series, but things finally catch up to him and, after being caught in a big lie, Miles must come to terms with who he wants to be, Lord Vorkosigan or Admiral Naismith. The team discuss Bujold’s masterful differentiation between plot and story and how Memory acts as both a valediction and a bridge between the past and the future of the Vorkosiverse.

Next time in our journey through the Vorkosigan Adventures, we’ll discuss Komarr!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Show Notes:

If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page.

Our new intro and outro music comes from “Rock Thing” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.