The Skiffy and Fanty Show

This month, Rachel and Daniel talk about the SFiT that came out in September and what they’re reading now. As Daniel points out, several of the short stories they discuss have some kind of fairy-tale element to them, leading the co-hosts to think about the interesting connections between that genre and science fiction. And while September’s short SFiT was dominated by stories from Kore...

Creepy cult children, confusingly animated monsters, and Korn, oh my! Shaun Duke , Alex Acks , and David Annandale meet in the corn fields to discuss 1984 adaptation of Stephen King’s  Children of the Corn . They discuss the film’s bizarre plot structure, what it’s like to be murdered by creepy cult children, the wonders of corn demons, terrible 80s relationships, and more! We ho...

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun Duke interviews the fantabulawesome C.S.E. Cooney about Desdemona and the Deep and the wonderrifical Carlos Hernandez about Sal and Gabi Break the Universe ! Unlike other Signal Boost episodes, this one features both guests on the same mic! And that means in addition to talking about Cuban food, the politics of wealthy society (and goblins), their unique j...

Shadow dominoes, buddy psycops, and genocidal love, oh my! The Babylon 5  re-watch of Season 3 continues! Shaun , Mike , and Paul tackle episodes 13 through 17. They explore the progression of the war with the Shadows, Centauri courtship culture and the complex “racial” politics of the show, our beautiful dreams for a buddy cop show featuring Garibaldi and Bester, and so much more. So...

Shenanigans, pastelitos, and tele novelas, oh my! Jen Zink and Paul Weimer are joined by Valerie Valdes, author of the banging new space adventure, Chilling Effect . Together, they discuss Valerie’s approach to precursor aliens, building multicultural space systems, and the found family vs. bio family trope. They also take a dive into the influence of video games on Valerie’s work! We...

Dirty mice, invisible plots, and Leslie Nielsen, oh my! Shaun Duke , Alex Acks , and Paul Weimer throw themselves on Freddy’s clawed hand to discuss  Stan Helsing , a movie made by drunk people to torture the dead. Together, they discuss the film’s approach to humor, its nonsensical plot, why Leslie Nielsen is in this movie, and all the ways that this film is both offensive and hopeles...

Welcome to 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! This month, because you all voted for it, Iori and Brandon begin Kamen Rider Fourze ! Deep space and high school drama collide! We note that this is essentially every American teen movie if they were all partially s...

Hello, Rangers! In today’s exploration of Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga, Trish Matson , Kate Sherrod , Alex Acks , Stina Leicht , and Paul Weimer take a stab at A Civil Campaign . Together, they talk about the novel’s exploration of gender roles, the wild world of regency romances, how the book feels like an endpoint for certain narrative threads, and butterbugs! Next time in our jour...

Rachel and Daniel return this month with a wide-ranging conversation about the SFT they’ve been reading/hearing about/wanting to read from the summer. While Rachel was reading Liu Cixin’s Supernova Era (tr. by Joel Martinsen), The Aayakudi Murders by Indra Soundar Rajan (tr. Nirmal Rajagopalan), and The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresan (tr. Will Vanderhyden), Daniel was finishing Laurenc...

In today’s episode, David and Shaun take a good look at Werner Herzog’s  Fitzcarraldo  (1982). Before digging into the film, they discuss the controversy surrounding lead actor, Klaus Kinski, including relatively recent revelations about his abuse of his daughters and his relationship with other actors and Werner Herzog. From there, they look into the film’s themes of colonialism...

Robots, twisted motherhood, and Swankery, oh my! Shaun, Jen, Alex, and Paul join forces to discuss the truly compelling science fiction film,  I Am Mother (2019). Together, our ragtag survivalist bunch talks about the film’s approach to motherhood, the power of independent SF cinema, the meaning of the film’s ending, and so much more. It’s a spoilerrific podcast, folks, but you k...

Prep your survival manual and press those imperial officer uniforms! Shaun, Alex, and special guest, Tiara W., cast reddish eyes at the new canon to discuss Timothy Zahn’s return to the universe in  Star Wars: Thrawn . Our intrepid crew talks about this new incarnation of the only member of the Blue Man Group that matters, with some attention to how his character differs from the Legends uni...

Footnotes, diaries, and doors, oh my! In today’s episode, Jen Zink and Paul Weimer interview the Hugo Short Story winning writer, Alix E. Harrow, about her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January ! Find out how this book puts Alix’s cheating methods on display, how she worked to subvert the white colonial narrative of classic portal fantasy, what books she used as a model, and s...

Greasy chest hair, lasting 2 minutes, and animal abuse, oh my! Recorded (sorta last minute) in a hotel room in Dublin, Ireland, this special edition features Shaun Duke , Alex Acks , Julia Rios , Jen Zink , Brandon O’Brien , and special guest / friend of the show, Linnea ! Together, our intrepid crew tackles yet another Nicolas Cage debacle,  Next , which could charitably be called a  loose ...

The Hass, chauvinist robots, and Italians, oh my! In a Torture Cinema podcast that meanders almost as much as the movie, Shaun Duke , Jen Zink , and Trish Matson get together to discuss this month’s Patreon selection, Starcrash ! Not only do the team discuss everything from the truly awful logic to the surprising inclusion of an… uhhh… active female protagonist, we also introduce...

WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! This is a slightly different Signal Boost than usual. Instead of our usual two boosts, this time we want you to focus completely on the super extra important fund drive for the amazing STRANGE HORIZONS !! Today, Jen Zink is joined by by Strange Horizons newest Editor-in-Chief, Vanessa Rose Phin, to talk a little bit about the structure, history, and the voice of Strange Horizons a...

This month, Rachel has a special guest on the podcast! Julia Meitov Hersey (@JuliaMeiHersey), who translated the psychological-fantasy-thriller Vita Nostra from the Russian, comes on to talk about how she first started translating the complex, lyrical work of Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (@DyachenkoW); what makes translating speculative fiction unique; and her own future projects. Insightful and en...

In today’s episode, David and Shaun turn their attention to Cat People (1942) and its loose sequel,  The Seventh Victim (1943). Together, they discuss the impact these films had on the development of the horror genre, the terror of the beast within, the treatment of cults and psychiatry in each film, and much more! Prepare yourselves for another foray into cinematic greatness. Enjoy the epis...

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Paul Weimer and Kate Sherrod interview the wonderful Ada Hoffmann about her debut novel, The Outside . They discuss the really fun basis for the novel, the mash-up of horror and space opera, representation of neurodivergent characters, AI gods, linguistic spiders, and a bunch more fun stuff! Then Shaun Duke talks to David Wellington about  The Last Astronaut , h...

Bad haircuts, beer, and delicious pandering, oh my! Shaun, Alex, Trang, and Stina assemble to tackle one of the biggest films in cinematic history:   Avengers: Endgame . This one is a spoilerrific podcast, y’all, which means we talked about some of the biggest permanent changes to the MCU, from who dies to who gets redemption and more. We also tackle some of the controversies about the film,...

Irma, Imperialism, and Islands, oh my! In today’s episode, Shaun Duke and Brandon O’Brien interview Cadwell Turnbull about his debut novel about aliens in the U.S. Virgin Islands, The Lesson ! Cadwell discloses the myriad of themes he either explored or was thinking about while writing the novel including Colonialism, systems of violence, disaster capitalism and Hurricane Irma, power dynamic...

Boat cars, “Killa Cockaroaches”, and cannibals, oh my! Much to Jen’s chagrin, in her absence the team, Shaun Duke , Paul Weimer , and Alex Acks , discover a lot to criticize in the 1977 film adaption of a Roger Zelazny book, Damnation Alley ! Jen likes to think they only criticize it because they just wanted it to be better than what we got which is a monotonous 90 minute post-ap...

Welcome to 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! This month, Iori and Brandon wrap up the final episodes of Kamen Rider Drive ! Heroes and villains resurrect from the grave, old cases are finally solved, Gou’s worst fears are finally realized, Iori delights...

April brought us stories and books about the merging of the biological and artificial, zombification, organic routers, and much more. Plus we talk about what we’ve been reading, our favorite stories this month, and translations that we wish we could have yesterday . Remember: with new stories and books coming to their attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy...

In this episode of Into the Wardrobe, Shaun Duke and Jen Zink talk about the dark and somewhat terrifying — but also whimsical and often hilarious — first major production of Don Bluth films, The Secret of NIMH , released in 1982 and based on Robert C. O’Brien’s book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH . Our intrepid duo discuss the film’s garage-style production, the h...