- 53 minutes 30 secondsGood Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is a scrappy sci-fi story about time travel, causality, and whether humanity can be trusted with knowledge of its own future. Henrique Couto returns to unpack the film's big philosophical swings about fate, free will, technological hubris, and the temptation to "fix" history, while also asking the important questions: how much should a time-travel movie explain, when do paradoxes stop mattering, and which character would absolutely destroy the timeline within minutes of getting access to the machine?
11 May 2026, 11:00 am - 37 minutes 28 secondsThe Friendly Hivemind of Pluribus
"Pluribus is the Borg Collective, but polite and friendly." So says Brian Brushwood, who rejoins the show to discuss Vince Gilligan's latest program, starring Rhea Seehorn.
13 January 2026, 12:00 pm - 1 hour 36 minutesThis is How the World Ends: Apocalypse in Science Fiction
Science fiction tackles the end of the world again and again, sometimes hopefully and sometimes utterly devoid of it. Josh Jennings joins in this expensive episode to discuss the many, many fates of mankind which come to a close across the worlds of science fiction.
Space Tractor: And Other Science Fiction Short Stories
https://www.amazon.com/SPACE-TRACTOR-Science-Fiction-Stories-ebook/dp/B0FJPDYMH8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15MARPN6Y4DM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cFEATJSsQLnfuO9Y2RkgnmYoIvRwTMvIuk0R6Z6ZAp8NsR2mn5D9ml79QeygyBBR4c8Fxvw2jBUe8IGSYGo9x4iQnr3qkIF2HGcmvBRt5p4.HqB3rkgkSY53a9bxfAiHB24WIjWObnR9Rz0eWsJDaCo&dib_tag=se&keywords=josh+jennings+books&qid=1762223518&sprefix=josh+jennings%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1
4 November 2025, 12:00 pm - 1 hour 14 minutes"Scream" meets "The Truman Show": The Cabin in the Woods
In the film "Cabin in the Woods" the grizzly deaths of several archetypical characters are stage-managed by office workers in order to quench the bloodlust of ancient, pagan gods. The film is simultaneously a comedy and a horror, and an excellent romp.
Henrique Couto, host of the Weekly Spooky podcast, joins to discuss the film, as well as the appeal of horror, and why that genre in particular excels at meta narratives.
14 October 2025, 11:00 am - 50 minutes 15 secondsLet's Argue About the Prime Directive
The Prime Directive orders Starfleet officers to refrain from interfering in pre-warprdrive civilizations. It is a doctrine of cultural non-interference... But is it actually a good idea?
Scottish Scifi twins Dickie and Stone Lynch return to argue with Heaton about it.
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15 September 2025, 11:00 am - 1 hour 11 minutesThe Last Starfighter
In "The Last Starfighter" (1984) a young man has his sword-in-the-stone moment playing an arcade game which propels him into heroic intergalactic adventure. Brett Weaver joins to discuss the movie, the Hero's Journey, and to talk about what a sequel or remake would look like.
LINKS:
Heaton's Otamatone Odyssey
8 July 2025, 11:00 am - 51 minutes 55 secondsWomen Can Electrocute You
In Naomi Alderman's "The Power" women all over the planet suddenly develop the ability to shoot electrical shocks, to the point of lethality.
The natural order is entirely inverted, with men easily overpowered by women, and resulting societal tumult.
Katherine Mangu-Ward joins to discuss.
16 June 2025, 11:00 am - 59 minutes 58 secondsTime Loops
Getting thrown back to the same place in time, repeatedly, with little you can do about it has become an awesome sub genre in scifi. From Groundhog Day, to The Endless, we discuss time loops and their appeal in science fiction. Brian Brushwood joins to discuss.
20 May 2025, 10:26 am - 1 hour 21 minutesHoly Space Capitalism of the Feringi
Star Trek's Feringi are intergalactic traders, merchants, entrepreneurs, and feckless shysters. How did they get to be space capitalists when the Federation outgrew the concept of money altogether? Sean Finnerty joins to discuss Feringinar, the Rules of Acquisition, and the economy of the 24th century.
1 April 2025, 11:00 am - 1 hour 6 minutesCheating with a Sexbot
In "Subservience" Megan Fox plays a robot servant who goes off the rails, seduces her owner, and tries to kill his wife. Henrique Couto joins to discuss the ethical implications of cheating on your spouse with a robot, how we ought to treat robots even if they don't really have consciousness, and whether or not we'd buy robot servants in general.
5 March 2025, 8:07 pm - 1 hour 13 minutes"Alien" is Dudes Afraid of Getting Knocked Up
Fresh after seeing "Alien: Romulus," Dickie Lynch and Heaton discuss Ripley Scott's "Alien" franchise: the creepy aesthetics of H. R. Geiger, the deepest fears of the movie, the alien seeding of "Prometheus," and the most recent installment as a best-of.
7 February 2025, 11:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App