The Skiffy and Fanty Show

Concentrated sin, collective intelligences, and space cannibalism, oh my! Jen  and  Shaun are at it again (again) with another Reading Rangers format. This time, they explore the short story short list for the 2020 Nommo Awards! This one is a meaty podcast, folks. We’ve got a lot of stories to discuss, from tales of artificial intelligence to generation ship cannibalism, beings who consume t...

Scavengers, teenagers, and truth-stretching old dudes, oh my! Jen  and  Shaun are at it again with another Reading Rangers format. This time, they explore The Wild Shore , the first book in Kim Stanley Robinson’s Three Californias trilogy, recently reprinted by Tor. Together, they explore the novel’s themes of teen life, literary history, and the post-apocalypse, the political underpin...

#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, BLACK LIVES MATTER, oh my! Jen  and  Shaun return (sorta) to the Reading Rangers format to discuss our latest announcement about the direction of the show for the remainder of 2020 AND to examine Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild” and Tochi Onyebuchi’s Tor.com essay, “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.” This one is jam packed w...

Magic metallic fists, human brain power, and flying Turks, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink tag team on the strangest and most incoherent Torture Cinema film we’ve ever covered:  Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam (a.k.a. The Man Who Saved the World or Turkish Star Wars ). From the film’s incredibly dense and incoherent plot to its obsession with extra long, kung fu-inspired fights to its blatant the...

Anniversaries, cringe, and laughs, oh my!  Jen  and  Shaun  celebrate the 10th anniversary of this ridiculous podcast by jumping back in time to retread the wonders of our  very first episode . Together, they share thoughts on 10 years of podcasting and some of our fans’ favorite episodes, dive into the content from our first episode to see how things have progressed, and offer some grown up...

Derelict spacecraft, alien goo, and confused science, oh my! Today’s episode is a special one. Most of you have never heard it before because it never appeared on the Skiffy and Fanty feeds! So go back in time with Shaun Duke and Paul Weimer for an early conversation about Prometheus ! We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Prometheus   (IMDb) If you have a question you’d like us to answ...

Evil houses, commercial breaks, and bucking tradition, oh my! Shaun Duke and David Annandale are back at it with a new Totally Pretentious show about Nobuhiko Obayashi’s infamous 1977 horror comedy, House / Hausu. Together, they discuss the film’s road to production, its unique presentation of horror elements, Obayashi’s production relationship with his daughter, and so much more...

Dragon friends, creeper kings, Dennis Quaid, oh my! Shaun Duke , Paul Weimer , and Alex Acks join forces for another Torture Cinema foray into the obscene. Or is it? Together, they journey into the wild world of Dragonheart , discussing its anachronistic treatment of history, whether its CG holds up, the wonders of its casting choices, some of its creepy sexism, and more! Plus, there are dragons....

Evil witches, quirky wizards, and Warwick Davis, oh my! Shaun and Jen go back in time for an honest and super nerdy discussion of 1988’s fantasy epic,  Willow . Together, they explore the film’s production, it’s positivist approach to little people, the wonders of its world, and its exciting themes and impact. This is one of those truly open and honest conversations, so if you&#8...

Viruses, coping mechanisms, and rants, oh my! In today’s off-the-cuff-totally-not-normal episode, Jen and Shaun turn their attention to discussing the things they’re doing to cope with this new pandemic situation we all find ourselves in. Only, that’s not exactly what this episode is about. It’s about coping. It’s about what’s going on right now. And it’s...

Giant mechanical spiders, male boob grabbing, and nice trains, oh my! Shaun Duke , Paul Weimer , and Alex Acks join forces for this special Pandemic Edition of Torture Cinema. Together, they tackle the infamous 1990s blunder,  Wild Wild West , explore through a drunken stupor the film’s approach to characterization, history, Western tropes, race, gender, and disability. This is a jam-packed...

Ubiquitous tentacles, wholesome content, and riding his rainbow in the sky! Shaun Duke and  Jen Zink break all the rules we arbitrarily set for Torture Cinema to discuss a film so beautiful and so bonkers bananapants that it might have fixed the 80s all on its own if it had only been popular enough! Together, they dig into the wild world of 1984’s  Voyage of the Rock Aliens , from its wild m...

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun Duke interviews Libia Brenda about the Mexicanx Initiative and  A Larger Reality 2.0 , a new hybrid anthology. They discuss the importance of the initiative, the unique hybrid nature of the new anthology, the importance of unconventional forms of narrative, and much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!   Show Notes: Libia’s...

Jedi Knights, scary futures, and Wookies, oh my! For this special episode of the show, Shaun is joined by Michael R. Underwood for a retrospective discussion of  Star Wars . Together, they look back at the  Star Wars  /  Skywalker  saga and other  Star Wars  property to set the stage for an examination of the journey thus far and the journey yet to come. What will  Star Wars  look like now that th...

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun Duke interviews Ariela Housman & Terri Ash of Geek Calligraphy fame. They discuss the wild world of professional calligraphy, what it takes to run a calligraphy business, where their geek passions come from, and so much more. Then Shaun and Jen Zink join forces in a Dublin cafe to talk to Tanya DePass about I Need Diverse Games, gaming culture, the all...

Chinese ninjas drug dealers, questionable costumes, and premed / law prostitutes, oh my! Shaun Duke , Jen Zink , and Paul Weimer are back on the Torture Cinema horse with a deliciously stupid Patreon-selected mashup:   The VelociPastor . We tackle the film’s questionable production history, its various odd narrative decisions, what it means to film three different countries in the same locat...

Heroic stands, robot nannies, and more Yodito, oh my! Jen Zink and Shaun Duke are back for more discussion about  The Mandalorian . You can’t blame them, can you? The show is awesome! Together, Shaun and Jen talk about the show’s continued subversion of narrative tropes, the mythology of the Mandalorians, the place of the show in the Star Wars oeuvre, and so much more! We hope you enjo...

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun Duke interviews the the wondrous Malka Older about the 1st season of Serial Box’s Orphan Black , co-written with Madeline Ashby, Mishell Baker, Heli Kennedy, E.C. Myers, and Lindsay Smith! They discuss the incredible task of bringing a beloved TV show to the written form, the work it takes to write a serial story with a lot of awesome folks, and much...

Cute droids, contortionist plots, and the Abrams, oh my!  Shaun Duke  and  Alex Acks  don their Rebel uniforms to tackle the conclusion to the  Star Wars  saga,  The Rise of Skywalker . Together, they talk about what the film represents within the trilogy, how Abrams attempted to tie everything together, and where the film goes right and where it goes wrong, and much more. Like traditional style r...

New years, new decades, and new changes, oh my! In our first episode of 2020, Jen and Shaun take a trip in a time machine to discuss some of the things they loved in 2019 and some of the things they’re looking forward to in 2020. From books to movies to awkward social events, there’s a lot to love about 2019 and a lot to expect in 2020. That’s kinda the theme, right? Looking back...

Exploding gems, racist wrestlers, and orphans, oh my! In this very special (and totally late) holiday edition of Torture Cinema, Shaun , Julia , Alex , and Jen tackle a truly horrifyingly bad Christmas movie,  Santa with Muscles . From Hulk Hogan’s questionable acting skills to the nonsensical plot, the odd connections to famous actors and popular TV shows, and the utterly bananapants charac...

Town rivalries, reindeer, and fishy circumstances, oh my! Shaun , Jen , and Becca join forces to discuss Netflix’s animated Santa origin story, Klaus . Together, they contemplate the meaning of tradition in a town wrapped up in rivalries and hate, the significance of the Sami people to the story and our world, the film’s joyous treatment of the Santa story, and much more. We hope you e...

Sweet Westerns, delicious Mando’a, and Yodito, oh my! Screen Scouts takes a departure from our Babylon 5  re-watch for an impromptu discussion about  The Mandalorian . Shaun and Jen join forces to talk about how the show approaches Mandalorian culture and diaspora, Favreau’s moderate obsession with Westerns, the politics of  Star Wars , Wernor Herzog, and baby Yoda (species whatever)....

Questionable journalists, questionable comedy, and questionable geography, oh my! Shaun Duke , Alex Acks , Jen Zink , and Trish Matson wander into an unsuspecting Eastern European town to discuss the 1985 “comedy,” Transylvania 6-5000 . With their magic judge hats on, the crew tackles the film’s approach to comedy, the absurdity of its monster-centric premise, twist endings, hair...

Linda Hamilton, Linda Hamilton, and Linda Hamilton, oh my! Alex and Trish join forces to discuss the newest installment in the Terminator franchise, Terminator: Dark Fate . Together, they discuss the return of Linda Hamilton and what it means for the franchise and women, the new terminator model, the timey wimey plot, and so much more! We hope you enjoy the episode! S how Notes: Terminator: Dark F...