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PODCAST

Alienating the Audience

Andrew Heaton and an army of nerds plunge deep, deep into films, books, and TV shows to ask: what"s science fiction really about? What is The Twilight Zone really exploring? What are the underlying themes of Star Trek? What is the worldview of Star Wars? Also sometimes Heaton performs comedy on other planets.

fiction science fiction

All Episodes

55:03

How to Make Money on Mars

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/04/09

We'll probably get to Mars a lot sooner if people think they can make a buck off of it. Andrew Mayne, author of the book "How to Make Money on Mars" joins the show to discuss what feasible, if not lucrative, private Mars missions might look like.

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01:10:33

Pitch Us On Stargate!

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/04/02

AJ West and science consultant Mika McKinnon ("Stargate Atlantis" and "Stargate Universe") join the program to pitch Stargate as bingable show, and suss out its themes and triumphs.

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58:35

Starfleet Draft Picks (Live Show)

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/03/27

In a special just-for-kicks live episode, Star Trek consultants Dr. Erin Macdonald and Dr. Mohamed Noor return to the show to play Starfleet Draft Picks: If you could staff a new vessel with characters from any Star Trek series, who would you select?

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01:14:40

Nano Robots Aren't Trying to Kill You

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/03/26

Andrew Maynard is a scientist, professor, and expert in nanotechnology. He joins the show to answer: how likely is it that microscopic robots will go awry and turn the world into gray goo? What cool inventions are on the horizon? And finally, what are the good and bad portrayals of nanotechnology in science fiction?

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01:20:17

The First Modern Zombie Novel

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/03/19

"The Day of the Triffids," by John Wyndham, arguably kicked off the modern zombie genre, in which protagonists flee shambling cannibals in an urban wasteland. Josh Jennings joins Heaton to review the book, and ask: what is so fascinating about zombies on a primal level?

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01:00:56

Hugh Howey on Making an Entertaining Apocalypse

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/03/12

Hugh Howey is the author of "Wool," the New York Times bestselling thriller set in a massive post-apocalyptic bunker. He joins the show to talk about his book, the nature of existential threats, and why optimists are the ultimate heretics.

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01:22:41

Understand Every Scifi Hero through Dungeons & Dragons

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/02/27

Why is Darth Vader "Lawful Evil" or Ramsay Bolton "Chaotic Evil"? Captains Kirk and Picard are both good, but only one of them is "Neutral." The D&D Alignment System comprehensively explains the moral temperaments of any scifi character you can lob at it! New York comedians (and long-time D&D veterans) Chris Scott and Nick Sperdute join to explain.

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01:18:11

If We Met Aliens Could We Even Communicate?

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/02/20

What would first contact with an alien civilization look like? Could we handle it? If we could, would it even be possible to communicate with a vastly different (or superior) intelligence? Peter Boghossian, Professor of Philosophy at Portland State University, joins to geek out about aliens and science fiction.

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01:19:05

Who To Kill or Not Kill if You've Got a Time Machine

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/02/11

Brian Dunning, host of the Skeptoid Podcast, joins Heaton to talk about all things time travel--the best films, TV shows and books, plus how to get around pesky time travel paradoxes, if we should try to go back and kill Hitler, and the most interesting period of history to return to as a tourist.

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01:14:19

How Midichlorians and Harry Potter’s Wizard Genes Work

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/02/05

Dr. Eric Spana (Duke University biology professor and delightful nerd) joins Heaton to discuss how genetics works in various scifi and fantasy realms: from recessive wizarding genes in Harry Potter, to the midichlorians of Star Wars, to super power mutations in the world of X-Men.

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52:40

Stop What You're Doing and Watch "Picard"

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/01/30

The long-awaited "Picard" series is out now, starring Patrick Stewart and following the exploits of Jean-Luc Picard two decades after we last saw him in "Nemesis." Nicholas Sperdute comes on to analyze the pilot, predict where the plot will take us, and generally enjoy the relief that it looks like it will be a great franchise.

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01:26:17

How to Build a Colony Ship

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/01/22

If we had to send a spaceship to start a colony on another planet, how many humans would we need to get the party started? How do you avoid inbreeding, and what's a stable amount of people to maintain purpose on a multi-generational mission? Rob Raffety joins to discuss, looping in everything from "The Twilight Zone" to "Wool" and "Children of Time."

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48:56

The Meaning of Spock

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/01/15

Mr. Spock is the most captivating character in Star Trek lore, and the embodiment of logic in popular culture. John Champion, host of "Mission Log" Star Trek podcast, joins Heaton for a deep dive into the character and meaning of Spock.

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01:07:11

When Darwin Meets Star Trek

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/01/08

Dr. Mohamed Noor is the author of "Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can Teach Us about Evolution, Genetics, and Life on Other Worlds," and is the head of Biology at Duke University. He joins the show to talk about the origins of life, and why aliens could probably never mate in real life despite knocking boots in Star Trek.

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01:26:01

Let's Argue About "The Rise of Skywalker"

Alienating the Audience ·

2020/01/02

Alright, it's been a month--let's discuss "The Rise of Skywalker"! Is it the franchise-busting wompa scat critics panned it as, or just a situation of haters gonna hate? Nick Sperdute joins to analyze the film.

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01:58:04

Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?

Alienating the Audience ·

2019/12/18

The central premise to The Matrix is that we're actually living in a computer simulation, as well as think piece episodes from Star Trek, Black Mirror, and even Rick & Morty. Jay Mutzafi, host of "The Last Turtle" philosophy podcast joins Heaton to talk about Simulation Theory, and it's scifi application.

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01:14:41

The Tarkin Doctrine and Imperial Apologists

Alienating the Audience ·

2019/12/12

How would Emperor Palpatine's Press Secretary describe the Galactic Empire? How would Grand Moff Tarkin spin the destruction of Alderaan? Jonathan Last of "The Bulwark" joins Heaton to describe why he believes the Empire was a good thing--an imperfect system, but on balance the best one for peace and order in the galaxy.

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01:17:53

Robert Heinlein: Individualism and Free Love on the...

Alienating the Audience ·

2019/12/05

Robert Heinlein, author of "Stranger in a Strange Land," "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," "Starship Troopers," and dozens of other novels, is at the tippy top of science fiction's pantheon of writers. Andrew Mayne joins the show to discuss Heinlein and the themes which pervaded his corpus: competency, rugged individualism, and free love. Want to chat about the episode with other nerds? Check out Heaton's Heathens on Discord.

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01:15:14

Reptoid Aliens Shouldn't Have Nipples

Alienating the Audience ·

2019/11/26

Dr. Erin Macdonald is an astrophysicist and science fiction consultant who advises major Hollywood productions on what they're screwing up in scripts. She joins Heaton to discuss the physics pitfalls science fiction constantly blunders into, from artificial gravity to the proliferation of cleavage in species that don't have mammalian glands. Plus: the difference between warp bubbles in Star Trek, the FTL drive in Battlestar Gallactica, and the hyperspace of Star Wars.

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01:26:59

The Ethics of Holodeck Sex Romps and AI in Star Trek

Alienating the Audience ·

2019/11/20

What's Star Trek's take on Artificial Intelligence, and how do Aristotle's virtue ethics govern Data? Also if the holodeck can summon AI's, and they are indeed sentient, is it ethical to sleep with them? John Krikorian of "Trek Profiles" and Alexandra August of "The Disco Trek" come on for an awesome chat about AI in the Star Trek universe.

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169 results

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