Book Review: ESCAPE POD Edited by Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya
The eponymous Escape Pod represents a ‘best-of’ anthology of sorts, celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the audio short fiction podcast. Edited by Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, the book features some of the biggest names in speculative fiction published through the podcast’s history. While I don’t have interest in listening to stories, I adore them in print form, and this collection from Titan Books offers a diverse selection of high-quality writing. With the current exclusive focus of Skiffy & Fanty on writers/works by the BIPOC community, I’ll highlight here that this collection features superb stories by Maurice Broaddus and N.K. Jemisin. In what follows, I’ll briefly review the stories in this collection.
407. Jingle Jangle (2020) — At the Movies
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-407-jingle-jangle/SandF_407_Jingle_Jangle.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSPhenomenal costumes, touching stories, and adorable robots, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink bring on the holiday cheer in this special look at David E. Talbert’s Jingle Jangle. They explore the film’s incredible visual design, its approach to story, what makes this such a special movie, Short Circuit, and so much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!
398. Tracy Deonn (a.k.a. legendQuest) — Legendborn
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-episode-398-tracy-deonn/SandF_Episode_398_Tracy_Deonn.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSecret societies, challenged legacies, and creepy shadow monsters, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink tackle Arthurian myths and Carolina legacies in this packed interview with Legendborn author Tracy Deonn! Together, they talk about Tracy’s exploration and challenge of U.S. legacies and secret societies, the personal aspects she infused into the book, the power of grief and racism, and even why she loves seaQuest DSV so darn much. And much much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!
397. Clash of the Titans (2010) — Torture Cinema #106
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-397-clashofthe-titans/SandF_397_ClashoftheTitans.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSUnsalted saltines, dick gods, and giant squid turtles, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink put on their totally-educated-about-ancient-Greece hats for a kraken good discussion of the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans. They tackle the confusing enigma that is Sam Worthington, what it’s like to play Voldemort twice, the problem with Greek gods, why Medusa’s the most screwed over character ever, and much more! We hope you enjoy the episode!
396. P. Djèlí Clark (a.k.a. The Historian) — Ring Shout
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-396-pdjeli-clark/SandF_396_PDjeliClark.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSPossessed swords, demonic klans, and mouths all the way down, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink jump through time to talk with P. Djèlí Clark about his latest novella, Ring Shout. Together, they dive into the novel’s treatment of the early 1900s, the meaning of ring shouts, black history, the brilliant characters of Ring Shout, and so much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!
Holy Shit! Representation Matters! Or, How SFF Helped Me Realize I’m Nonbinary
I can’t really tell you why I’m here saying I’m non-binary instead of saying I’m redefining cishet masculinity. One just feels more true to me than the other, and I say that with huge amounts of love and respect to everyone of all genders. —Jonathan Alexandratos, “How Geek Culture Made Me Realize I Am Non-Binary” I’m trans/nonbinary. I use nonbinary pronouns such as they/them, and I came to this bit of self-knowledge through the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) community. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn’t come to this realization about myself while in college while I minored in women’s & gender studies. I minored in gender studies because I liked thinking and talking about feminism, racial justice, art, culture, politics, and activism. I also really liked talking about gender. I thought that was just because I hated sexism, the patriarchy, and toxic masculinity. In college, I didn’t begin to think: maybe I like talking about gender because I’m trans/nonbinary. And why would I? I knew trans and nonbinary people existed, but they weren’t on my radar. Back in college, I had heard of nonbinary people, but that was about it. I rarely encountered anyone who was nonbinary or genderqueer. As far as I was aware, I didn’t personally know any trans people. I knew the definitions of transgender and cisgender, but I didn’t know all that much about trans or nonbinary people. I had never really been asked to make space for trans people, and I hardly ever saw others make space for trans people. I rarely came across media representation of trans or nonbinary people, much less good representation, much less consistent good representation.
