Why do so many horror movies and stories feature terrifying women? Why do male creators treat female bodies and women's sexuality as intrinsically terrifying? And what happens when women get to create their own monsters and horror narratives? Plus we talk to Mallory O'Meara about her new book The Lady from the Black Lagoon . Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
There’s been a renaissance of anti-capitalist stories in science fiction and fantasy in the U.S. But these aren't tales of violent revolution or faceless corporations. We discuss Utopia, community, and how group therapy is the opposite of authoritarianism. Also, we’re joined by K.M. Szpara, who talks to us about his steamy forthcoming novel Docile, whose tagline is, “There is no consent under capitalism.” Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes...
Afro-futurism is on the rise again, thanks to the popularity of movies like Black Panther, and creators such as Janelle Monae and N.K. Jemisin. But Black-centered futurism has a long history in the U.S., and it's changed a lot over the past century. We sit down with critic and scholar Shawn Taylor, co-founder of TheNerdsOfColor.org, to talk about Afro-futurisms of yesterday and tomorrow. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
Real-world law is becoming science fictional. We talk about the future of surveillance and digital policing with guest Cyrus Farivar, a journalist who covers law and technology for NBC News. He's also the author of Habeas Data , a book about landmark privacy cases. We discuss where our current laws are going, and what science fiction has to say about it -- especially Star Trek, a show lawyers love for a reason. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
There's nothing quite so dystopian as censorship: the suppression of knowledge, or works of art, that challenge the ruling order. We look at how science fiction, fantasy and horror have been censored. But also, what does science fiction teach us about how to resist censorship? And we talk to Ron Turner, publisher of Last Gasp, about the underground comics scene and his struggles with official censorship. Show notes: https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes/
Everybody knows that endings are hard, and we all love to complain about the way our favorite TV show or movie ended. But with both Game of Thrones and the Avengers movies coming to an end, this is a perfect time to think about what makes for a good ending. And how the heck do you write one? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
We talk to economist Noah Smith about how different theories of economics show up in science fiction -- and how economics is also an exercise in speculative worldbuilding. How do ideas about "rational actors" make their way into space operas, and why is everyone so obsessed with game theory? Plus what is the deal with Ayn Rand? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
Lately the camp-themed Met Gala got us talking about camp again. What is camp? And how is it different in 2019 than in 1969? And most importantly, why is science fiction so deathly terrified of seeming campy? We're going to have a Kiki about this. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
We're living in an age of dystopian stories, while real-life social issues are getting pretty dystopian too. What's the point of telling dark stories in a dark time? Also, we discuss how Utopian stories and dystopian stories are actually quite similar -- just two opposite extremes -- and how the best science fiction exists in the nuanced gray area between the binary poles. Plus: what stories are giving us hope right now? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
Social media has become one of the biggest problems of our time. How does science fiction deal with the rise of social networks---and how is this different from the way the real-life news media talks about it? And what does the future look like after social media dies? Shownotes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes...
For our first-ever live podcast, recorded in March on the JoCo Cruise , we talked to cosmologist Katie Mack about how the universe will end. Will it be heat death or vacuum decay? We also talk about how rarely science fiction deals with the end of the universe, as opposed to the end of our planet or species. Also, why do we think the ultimate apocalypse is so funny, and will we survive it? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
Game of Thrones comes back in a couple of weeks, so we're thinking about the politics of George R.R. Martin's fantasy world. What would a satisfying ending to this show look like? Can our heroes defeat the ice zombies AND solve Westeros' crisis of governance? And how exactly does the Iron Bank function? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
Is there a way to predict the future accurately, using data and science? In this episode, we talk to Rose Eveleth, host of the Flash Forward podcast, about the idea of futurism. We explore its history and dark roots in fascism, as well as its connection to environmental politics and the tech industry. And we talk about how Afrofuturism is changing the way we imagine tomorrow. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
Back during the Cold War era, we were awash in stories about nuclear armageddon: either living through it, or trying to prevent it. And now, experts say the threat of nuclear holocaust is the worst it's been in over two decades. So how will pop culture respond? We talk about what a 21st century nuclear-war story might look like. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
A lot of science fiction takes place in the near future, somewhere in the next century or so. But what about the far future in 10,000 years, or a million? How do writers and creators imagine deep time and make it plausible? We discuss our favorites and some misfires. Then Charlie Jane talks about her new novel, The City in the Middle of the Night (out now!), which explores a human society thousands of years from now. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
We love the show Steven Universe now, more than ever. This cartoon about a magical child has gone through a lot of changes in the past couple of years, and now its cosmic mythos has become a lot more complex—and the theme of identity has only gotten stronger. In this episode, we pull apart the show's themes, including colonization, non-toxic masculinity, and the power of families. Show notes here: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes...
Let's talk about sex! In this episode we explore sci-fi tropes about where sex is going in the future, where it seems that we're doomed to become aromantic hedonists or asexual drones. We also talk about the greatest hits of scifi and fantasy sex. Special guest Lux Alptraum talks about her new book, Faking It , about the lies women tell about sex in real life, and where we see those lies popping up in science fiction too. See links and show notes at: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes...
We need hope now, more than ever. So it's a good thing that more and more SF creators are trying to write hopeful stories---but what does it mean to be hopeful? Is hope a genre, or just a theme? And what the heck is "hopepunk" anyway? We talk about the books, movies and TV shows that are giving us hope, and what it's like to write a story about striving for a better tomorrow. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
We know you just want to curl up by the fire and bask in pop culture of yesteryear this holiday season. But too bad. We're here with special guest Katharine Trendacosta to interrogate the meaning of nostalgia in science fiction. We discuss remakes, reboots, rebranding, historical references, and traumatic memories--and how all of these are shaping the future of the genre. Plus Disney. We have many thoughts on Disney. As always, you can find show notes, references, and transcripts on www.ouropini...
Doctor Who is a brand new show this year. Not only is there a lady Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, but the show's whole format feels totally different. Three companions! All new monsters! But even more than that, the show has a new, more upbeat attitude. And it's tackling new themes, including the meaning of family and the dangers of capitalism. Join us as we go deep into the time vortex to unravel the meaning of Doctor Who in 2018. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes...
This holiday season, let's add everyone's biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Or hey--let's not! In this episode, we talk with scholar and editor Jaymee Goh, whose doctoral research focused on cultural appropriation and steampunk. She tells us what cultural appropriation is, and why it's become a source of political debate in fantasy and science fiction. Also: we discuss that one terrible scene in Back to the Future . You know the one. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.c...
It's easy to stick prosthetics on someone's face and call them an alien. But how do we represent a truly alien form of consciousness? In this episode, we talk about science fiction that succeeds (or fails) to evoke alien minds--whether they hail from other planets, or evolve inside our computers. Plus, we talk to guest Lisa Margonelli about her new book Underbug , which explores termite society. Did you know that termites socialize using butt juice? Learn all about that and more! See our full sh...
With the U.S. midterm election coming up, it's time to look at representations of democracy in science fiction. The genre is often skeptical or satirical when it comes to democracy--you can see this in everything from episodes of The Prisoner to the movie Idiocracy . But science fiction is also a testbed for dramatic re-imagingings of this political system, offering a hopeful look at a more egalitarian world. Our guest Malka Older, a human rights worker and author of the novel Infomocracy , talk...
Anti-capitalism is having a moment in the West, and especially in the U.S. political scene. But science fiction has been grappling with the promises and savage realities of capitalism since its very inception. In this episode, we talk about anti-capitalism in stories like The Matrix and The Space Merchants . We wonder why it’s so hard to imagine what comes after capitalism. Are our only options a post-scarcity Star Trek wonderland vs. Hunger Games’ neo-Feudalist nightmare? Show notes: www.ouropi...
Cities lurk in the background of many futuristic stories, but they can also be characters in them. In this episode, we talk about how cities might evolve, and whether it's inevitable that they'll become cyber-noir dystopias. Also on our minds: Why social scientists are talking about the rise of "global cities," and how Wakanda is one of the few Utopian metropolises on screen. Plus: Sci-fi mapmaker Burrito Justice joins us and explains how he crunched the GIS data to make an accurate map of San F...
Transgender people have always been part of science fiction and fantasy, but the past few years have seen a whole new generation of trans creators bursting onto the scene. Why are so many trans people flocking to SF and what kind of stories are they telling? Also, we delve into the controversy over Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, and explain why so many people are questioning the science behind this concept. Why can't teenagers shape their own identities without being accused of some mysterious ne...
Binge watching. Peak TV. Water-cooler shows. We have many names for it, but they all mean that we've got way too much television. There were 487 scripted shows on the air in 2017, and 2018 is just as packed. In this episode, we talk about the history of peak TV, and what it's done to the way we tell stories. Some TV shows have been Wiki-ized, getting so complex that you need multiple fan wikis to keep up. Others have gotten ultra-bland or egregiously weird just to stand out. Is everything terrib...
In this episode, we look at Sense8 , the globe-spanning show about mentally linked psychics from Lana and Lily Wachowski, and we celebrate its uplifting vision of people coming together and letting go of ego. But one of the most fascinating things about Sense8 is that its vision is fundamentally utopian. Why are utopias so rare in speculative fiction—and what makes them so hard to do well? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
We've all been feeling like something is wrong with the timeline. In this episode, we ask what alternate history, fake history, and secondary world history can teach us about the present. Does exploring the past in fiction help us learn from history or are we doomed to repeat it? History-obsessed authors Connie Willis (Blackout, Doomsday Book) and R.F. Kuang (The Poppy War) offer their thoughts too. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes
We've all witnessed the awesome power of fandom: saving beloved TV shows from cancellation, creating beautiful fan art and fan-fiction, and creating brilliant communities. But the dark side of fandom is also powerful, and can lead to actors and creators being harassed and driven off the internet. How is fandom changing as science fiction and fantasy go mainstream, and how can we keep interactions between creators and fans constructive? We talked to authors Delilah Dawson and Naomi Novik about th...
