Lately, it feels as though a lot of fantasy books come in two kinds: cozy, or extremely dark. During a scary time in the world, we seek either comforting sweetness, or violent catharsis. To find out more, we talked to Nghi Vo, whose recent books include The City in Glass and The Brides of High Hill. Plus we talk about how to include white characters in a story without centering whiteness.

We're taking a cozy, autumnal trip back in time to "peak television," when animation was truly feral and we had shows like "Over the Garden Wall." We'll talk about this otherworldly tale of singing frogs, sibling rivalry, and nice witches, as well as the ways that animation has changed since the mid-teens. Plus we talk to Michele Tracy Berger, author of the new horror story collection Doll Seed, about why being experimented on is so damn scary. 

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Science fiction and fantasy are full of wondrous libraries containing everything from powerful artifacts to some dang good reads. How does the idealized view of libraries in speculative fiction compare with the real-life libraries, which are under attack by would-be censors and culture warriors? Also, we talk to award-winning author Ken Liu about his brand new translation of the classic Daoist text, the Dao De Jing.

Shownotes and more info at https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

It's time for some writing advice! We talk about how to raise the stakes in a story without wrecking it. What exactly do we mean by "stakes," anyway, and does raising them always involve some kind of plot twist? Later in the episode we talk to the creators and musicians behind the blog Women of Noise to learn more about the women who rule electronic music, and why there is an overlap between noise music and science fiction.

Shownotes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com

Science fiction is great at helping people get used to strange concepts — or people — and making us see them as more "normal." But what does "normal" mean, and is it always a good thing? Later in the episode, we talk to Rob Cameron, author of the new novel Daydreamer, about writing neurodivergent characters.

When someone disrespects you in a subtle way, with plausible deniability, it can do just as much damage as overt bigotry. So we're talking about microaggressions — what they are, and how science fiction explores them but also perpetuates them. And later in the episode, we talk to Stanford professor Evelyn Douek about what's next for content moderation on the internet.

In one of our favorite episodes from 2021, we talked to TV news commentator and author (and scifi fan!) Wajahat Ali about nationalism in science fiction. It's feeling relevant again. We'll be back in your feeds with brand-new episodes starting in two weeks!

Dearest Listeners, you asked us for advice, and now we've got the definitive answers! From writing and relationship questions, to concerns about the best way to alter the timeline, we tackle it all. 

We're learning so much about dinosaurs lately — there are incredible new species, discoveries about how they had sex, and more detailed evidence about what happened during their final days on Earth. To find out more, we talk to Riley Black, author of the award-winning book The Last Days of the Dinosaurs. Riley also tells us about being a furry, and dispels some common misconceptions about furries.

Shownotes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

What is the point of absurdist storytelling in a world that feels absurd? We talk about science fiction that gets silly, satirical, and weird -- and why we need it desperately. From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to The Onion, we analyze absurdism as readers and writers. Then we're joined by Victor Manibo, author of the brilliant new novel Escape Velocity, who tells us about how his background in immigration law helped him write an anti-billionaire space opera.

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

The Planet of the Apes franchise spans decades and formats: it started as a French novel in 1963, and then jumped the Atlantic to become a long-running series of movies, TV shows, a cartoon, and even videogames. We talk about the politics of the story, and why some versions succeed while others fail. Then we're joined by Josh Friedman, who wrote Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and get some interesting backstory on the latest film in the franchise.

Shownotes: https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes