The STARLOG Podcast

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, HBO’s Lanterns has completed its first season and now is the time for Green Lantern fan and podcast host Jordan Hoffman to render final judgement on the prestige television green magic space ring show! Then, after more depressing A.I. news in this week’s Science Fact, we get the ultimate lesson in providing receipts from Star Trek writer D.C. Fontana in the STARLOG Archive.

This week’s guest Annalee Newitz, the Editor-In-Chief of STARLOG Volume 2! Annalee is here to talk about their newest novel A Wall Is Also a Road and not about STARLOG Magazine (this time). There’s a lot to talk about in this tale about Gardenpath, a slime mold and Murtis, a talented sex worker from Pompeii. Based science, Annalee explains how ancient Pompeii really used urine in wool processing and how a non-human scientist might view an Earth sunset. 

A Wall Is Also a Road is on sale now! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250228031/awallisalsoaroad/

Follow Annalee Newitz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghidorahnotweak/

Follow Annalee Newitz on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annaleen.bsky.social

NEXT WEEK:

Next week, STARLOG’s going to the Kubrick Archives with archivist, curator, and filmmaker Micahel Chaiken, who was tasked by the Criterion Collection with assembling “The Complete Kubrick,” the first full collection of Stanley Kubrick’s films.   

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 17!

02:45 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

12:15 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

23:30 - The STARLOG Archive - D.C. Fontana Corrects the Record

32:34 - Annalee Newitz!

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, your hosts delve into the SCP Foundation, a collaborative online fiction universe inspiring new projects from Neon and A24. Dave explains how its Creative Commons roots complicate the move from fan-created stories to Hollywood films. Jordan recommends State of Weightlessness, a 1994 documentary about Soviet cosmonauts and the Soviet space program that is now available online. Then, The STARLOG Archive unearths a 1980 Future Life article about “talking magazines,” an ambitious idea to put audio recordings directly on magazine pages.

This week’s guest Swapna Krishna, a writer, journalist, host, and content creator specializing in space, science, technology (and a friend of Jordan’s). Swapna schools the boys on the current state of NASA’s space projects and just how much SpaceX and Blue Origin have to do with the current state of space travel. Not only do we learn about Artemis III and what they hope to accomplish on the moon, but that the proof of Martian life is a $7 billion dollar retrieval mission we still aspire to. 

More Swapna Krishna: https://bio.site/skrishna

Follow Swapna Krishna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skrishna/

Follow Swapna Krshna on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/swapnakrishna.com

NEXT WEEK:

Next week, STARLOG’s first return guest is EIC of our new print magazine Annalee Newitz! This time, they come on the podcast to talk about their new novel A Wall Is Also A Road, and how it relates to both pompeii and single-cell goops that poop as social interactions. That will make sense if you tune in next week and pick up A Wall Is Also A Road at your local bookseller.

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 16!

02:21 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

10:43 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

15:16 - The STARLOG Archive - Future Life Talking Magazines

23:27 - Swapna Krishna

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, both of your hosts struggle with how little sci-fi is represented in the New York Times’ 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century List before launching into Dave’s story-loving review of Star Wars: Zero Company on the Playstation 5. Then, bad news about Artificial Intelligence agents forced to do research to pay for their own existence, before a STARLOG Archive that brings us back to last week’s discussion on the movie D.A.R.Y.L.

This week's guest has had a fantastic 12 months with the release of his non-fiction book Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World, winning the Pulitzer Prize with his novel Angel Down, and publishing a wild science fiction novel called The Sixth Nik! Author Daniel Kraus comes on the STARLOG Podcast to talk about writing the book he’s seen described as the last book anyone will allow him to write.

Purchase The Sixth Nik at:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Sixth-Nik/Daniel-Kraus/9781668079478

Follow Daniel Kraus on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/kraus_author/

NEXT WEEK:

Next week, we’re joined by a writer, journalist, host, and content creator specializing in space, science, technology, and pop culture: it’s Swapna Krishna! Taking a break from darting around the globe reporting on the newest in space exploration, Swapna will drop by STARLOG to tell us just what is happening with NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin.

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 15!

08:55 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

15:35 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

26:46 - The STARLOG Archive - Barrett Oliver Interview

37:25 - Daniel Kraus!

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, both of your hosts (and, judging from the box office, a lot of you) went to the theaters to check out director Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil and report back on this comedy/horror/sci-fi thriller film. Then, Jordan introduces Dave to the sad scientific realities of Pinky and The Brain. In even more Resident Evil retrospective, we dig up the first mention of the franchise in the STARLOG Archive way back in September 1997.

This week’s guest is Editor-In-Chief of Polygon and co-host of the new Point It Out show, Matt Patches. After knowing the hosts for over a decade, the writer and father asked us to reconsider the 1985 film D.A.R.Y.L., considered a flop or a cult classic depending on if your parents owned the VHS. Patches wants to talk about parenting, robot children, and baseball. D.A.R.Y.L. is a great reason to discuss all three.

Next week, author or Whalefall and 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction for Angel Down, Daniel Krause comes on the podcast to talk about the wild world of his new sci-fi book, The Sixth Nik and his collaborations with George Romero that lead to his non-fiction book Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World.

Discover Polygon’s Point It Out Podcast on YouTube!

Watch Point It Out on your desktop at Polygon.com

Follow Matt Patches on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/matt.patches/

And BlueSky:https://bsky.app/profile/misterpatches.bsky.social

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 14!

04:52 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

13:28 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

21:15 - The STARLOG Archive - Resident Evil

29:08 - D.A.R.Y.L. with Matt Patches

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, Jordan is catching up on sci-fi and sent Dave to the theaters to see Hope (호프), the new Korean sci-fi action flick from director Na Hong-jin. Then, a traffic jam of colorful delivery robots blocked a sidewalk in Chicago, so it’s time to talk about why you should pay a human to deliver your chicken salad sandwich. In the STARLOG Archive this week, Back to the Future’s Bob Gale talks about his film version of Doctor Strange.

This week’s guest is author, writer, and pop culture thinker John DeVore, who is a personal friend of Jordan. John DeVore is a two-time James Beard Award–winning writer and editor who has worked for The New York Post, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Marvel Comics, among many others. He wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie, the 1986 animated classic that killed your robot dad.

Next week, we’re bringing in Polygon Editor-and-Chief and co-host of the new Point It Out podcast, Matt Patches, who has inspired us to give another look at the 1985 science fiction D.A.R.Y.L. which is about both parenting and A.I.

NOTICES:

Hope Is being given a wide American theatrical release by NEON pictures. Check your local listings.

VIDEO: Delivery robots clog Chicago sidewalk

John DeVore’s book Theater Kids is available now!

Follow John DeVore on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/johndevore/ 

And BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/johndevore.bsky.social

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Lucky Episode 13!

03:19 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

11:57 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

20:46 - The STARLOG Archive - Bob Gale’s Doctor Strange

28:11 - Transformers: The Movie with John DeVore

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, Jordan is excited he got to see the Sun Ra Arkestra perform their particular brand of whacked out, mind-expanding, space-is-the-place music, which leads Dave to tell Jordan about Onslaught, a just barely sci-fi horror/action movie directed by Adam Wingard. Then, Jordan dazzles Dave with the real-life cyborg burrowing cockroaches that may one day rescue them from a collapsed STARLOG Archive. In said archive: Leonard Nimoy hosting In Search Of… introduced him to some “wild” ideas. 

This week’s guests are the directors of Chronovisor, a science fiction film based on a real chronovisor conspiracy theory that got a monk excommunicated. Kevin Walker and Jack Auen tell Jordan how they found the inspiration for this unique independent film, and how they ended up shooting in Portugal and beautiful libraries even on a microbudget.

Next week the podcast celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Transformers: The Movie with special guest, author, internet raconteur, and Optimus Prime mourner, John Devore. 

NOTICES:

SunRaArkestra.com

Onslaught is currently in theaters.

Remote-control robot bugs could deliver lifesaving aid to disaster victims

Chronovisor - Directed by Kevin Walker and Jack Auen is in select theaters this September.

While writing a monograph on historical theories of memory, Béatrice (Anne Laure Sellier), a respected academic, becomes beguiled by the allegedly true story of the Chronovisor, an occult device said to reproduce visuals from any point in history on a TV screen. Her obsession with the mysterious machine drags her from her Upper East Side apartment through the depths of New York City’s hidden libraries, to the edge of a breakthrough.

Where to see CHRONOVISOR:

https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/chronovisor/

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 12!

02:42 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

09:07 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

16:50 - The STARLOG Archive - In Search Of…

25:45 - Chronovisor with directors Kevin Walker and Jack Auen

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, Jordan and Dave catch up on Lanterns on HBO (which has aired three episodes of its first season) before a discussion of the newest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ("Off-Hour") leads to a conspiracy theory about a season of genre riffs being a safe franchise choice. Then, Jordan explains how a planet can be “puffy,” and dives into the STARLOG Archive for evidence of a lost film: SFX 1140.

This week’s guest is Dean Devlin, who began his career as an actor (Real Genius) before moving into writing and directing with his creative partner Roland Emmerich in a historic 1990s run of Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Patriot. Devlin’s currently running television franchises The Ark and The Librarians: The Next Chapter can be found on traditional television with the back-catalog available on the ad-supported streaming service Electric Now. Of course, we ask about Bill Pullman’s speech in Independence Day.

NEXT WEEK:

Next week the podcast welcomes directors Kevin Walker and Jack Auen who have made Chronovisor, a very special sci-fi film about a rumored artifact that allows the Vatican to peer through time. Get pumped for the movie and learn how the duo pulled off a sleek 16mm film on a micro-budget. 

NOTICES:

New Episodes of Lanterns air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max through October 4th.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is posting weekly to the Paramount Plus app through September 24th

Meet the Milky Way’s puffiest planets [Science News]

The Ark, season three, is currently airing on the Sci-Fi Channel

The Librarians: The Next Chapter is currently airing its second season on TNT

Check out Electric Now at www.electricnow.tv or search for the app on your smart TV.

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 11!

05:10 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

19:54 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

24:49 - The STARLOG Archive - Bob Balaban’s missing short

33:02 - Dean Devlin!

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, Jordan and Dave discuss the new series on HBO based on a DC Studios property: it’s Lanterns! Jordan’s love of Green Lantern lore meets Dave’s penchant for Damon Lindelof produced television mysteries. In science fact, virtual reality appears to help people think they have wings instead of arms, allowing them to ... learn to fly? Then, into the STARLOG Archive to hear about a film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End that was never meant to be.

This week’s guest is Rodney Ascher, a filmmaker and documentarian who has made films that might be found in the documentary section of your streaming service. He joins the podcast to discuss his movies Room 237 (a deep dive on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining), A Glitch in the Matrix (an investigation into if we live in a simulation), and his newest film Ghost Boy.

Next week the podcast welcomes Dean Devlin, the writer and producer of sci-fi hits like Stargate and ID4: Independence Day, to answer some questions about the films of his past and newest seasons of his shows The Ark and The Librarians: The Next Chapter.

RELEASE NOTICES:

New Episodes of Lanterns air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max through October 4th.

25 people learned to fly with virtual wings. Here’s how the brain changed [Science News]

You can stream Room 237 for free with ads on PlutoTV. Glitch in the Matrix can be rented or purchased on VOD platforms.

Ghost Boy at RodneyAscher.com

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 10!

02:13 - What’s New in Science Fiction?

16:24 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

22:20 - The STARLOG Archive - Issue 42 January 1981

29:42 - Rodney Ascher!

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, Jordan and Dave discuss the new film The End of Oak Street, an Amblin-style dinosaur sci-fi movie that has a wild twist. Then, Jordan and Dave try to understand how a wave can, in certain conditions, move faster than light. For this week’s Starlog Archive, the letters section of yore has beef with Richard Donner’s 1978’s Superman 

This week’s guest is a novelist, poet, playwright, and L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College: Andrea Hairston! Jordan wants to pick her brain about her new novel The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays. There’s a podcaster, a budding relationship between a woman and her employee, oh and there’s an interdimensional St. Berdoodle that’s going to help solve a local murder mystery in a small college town.

Next week on the podcast, we’re joined by Rodney Ascher, a filmmaker and documentarian who has made wild rides like Room 237 (2012), The Nightmare (2015), A Glitch in the Matrix (2021), and Ghost Boy (2025).

LINKS/RELEASE NOTICES:

The End of Oak Street is in theaters now.

Energy Can Move Faster Than The Speed of Light Thanks to Weird 'Loophole'

Physicists Found Something That Can Move Faster Than Light: The Darkness Inside It

AndreaHairston.com

Order The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays here!

FORMAT:

00:00 - The End of Oak Street

09:15 - Brief SPOILERS for The End of Oak Street

11:30 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

20:44 - The STARLOG Archive

30:34 - Andrea Hairston!

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Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!

In this episode, Jordan and Dave discuss the new film One Night Only which is a rom-com on its face but might have a not-sexy sci-fi twist. Then, Jordan tells Dave about naked mole rat society scents before returning to the STARLOG Archives of the early 1980s letters pages to discuss if Jedi get Revenge (and continuing last week’s Jackboot Fandom discussion). 

This week’s guest is director of such films as The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, Now You See Me, Fast X, and The Last House: Louis Leterrier! His newest film, currently streaming on Netflix, stars Wagner Moura and Greta Lee as the parents of two children trapped in a house…by the rain? Stream The Last House before listening to this interview!

Next week, Andrea Hairston is a science fiction and fantasy playwright and novelist who will tell us about her newest novel The Redemption Center Is Closed On Sundays. There will be multiple dimensions, the gossip of college towns, a murder mystery, and a very special dog.

LINKS/RELEASE NOTICES:

One Night Only: An Honest Attempt to Understand the Ridiculous World of Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro’s New Rom-Com [Vanity Fair]

Naked mole-rat queens rule their colonies with a potent odor [Science News]

The Last House is currently streaming on Netflix!

FORMAT:

00:00 - Welcome!

02:24 - What’s Happening in Science Fiction?

10:33 - What’s Happening in Science Fact?

15:15 - The STARLOG Archive

28:27 - Louis Leterrier

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