Science Fiction

Torture Cinema Polls

Torture Cinema Poll #9: Emergency Movie Poll — Help Us Fill the Gap!

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Jen and I were supposed to read Tom Kratman’s Caliphate, but after trying to read the book, we realized that the kind of bad we are looking for when we do these Torture Media segments doesn’t exist there.  Caliphate is a bad book, but it’s not a book that we can make fun off without crossing our own lines of comfort with comedy. That’s where you all come in!  We need to pick a movie for Torture Cinema, and fast!  If you’ll be so kind, please vote for the bad movie you’d like us to watch this week to fill the gap. The poll will run for 24 hours.  Thanks!

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 97 — Roundtable Discussion: Scifi and Your Worldview (w/ Myke Cole, Stina Leicht, and Paul Weimer)

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow97seasonThree–RoundtableDiscussionScifi/Sandf–Episode97–RoundtableDiscussion–ScifiAndYourWorldview.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSA whole bunch of awesome folks (Myke Cole, Stina Leicht, and Paul Weimer) have decided to join us this week for an oddly personal discussion of how science fiction and fantasy influenced our lives, what it’s like to grow up geek, and other related topics.  The humor meter is on high alert with this one, folks. We hope you enjoy the episode!  Feel free to tell us how SF/F changed your worldview in the comments. Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 97 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion (0:00 – 1:03:51) Myke Cole’s Website Our interview w/ Myke! Myke’s guest post:  “Superhero Ethics“ Stina Leicht’s Website Our first interview w/ Stina! Our second interview w/ Stina!  (Part One and Part Two) Stina’s guest post:  “Tacking Other Cultures in Fiction“ Paul Weimer’s Website Paul’s Twitter Buy Myke’s and Stina’s book(s)!  Trust me.  They’re good. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 95 — The Hunger Games RaceFail, Black Superheroes, and Google Glasses

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow95seasonThree–Episode95–TheHungerGames/Sandf–Episode95–TheHungerGamesRacefailBlackSuperheroesAndGoogleGlasses.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIt’s time for some controversy!  This week, Jen and I talk about the “shock” over casting black people in The Hunger Games, why we need more black superheroes, and Google’s new super geek item of the year (which isn’t an April Fool’s joke, apparently).  Feel free to drop in with your thoughts! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 95 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion (0:00 – 33:12) “Google’s Project Glass Eyewear:  Next Big Google Flop or Hit?“ “White Until Proven Black:  Imagining Race in Hunger Games“ “Hunger Games Tweets“ “‘Hunger Games’ and Hollywood’s racial casting issue“ Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Blog Posts

Guest Post: “Superhero Ethics” by Myke Cole

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I grew up on comic books. By this, I don’t mean that I grew up standing on piles of them (although, now that I think about it, I probably did that a few times); I mean that I grew up reading them. I thrilled to Superman reversing the earth’s rotation in an effort to turn back time to stave off disaster. I loved it when Batman crashed through a window to save a sleeping couple from a would-be marauder. The X-Men kept us safe from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Avengers did that when Hydra and AIM came calling. The Justice League? Always on watch. From space. Seeing all. I was a kid. I never asked why. They did it because they were “good guys” (and by “guys,” I mean some of them weren’t). They were genetically driven to do what was right, which always happened to coincide with my desire to sleep safe and comfy in my bed at night. As I grew up, I began to understand that human interests are sometimes at odds with each other. Two different people can both want the same thing, a

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 93 — Defining Urban Fantasy, Plus Doctor Who Companions and Dying American SF

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShowEpisode93–DefiningUrbanFantasyPlusDoctorWho/Sandf–Episode93–DefiningUrbanFantasy–PlusDoctorWhoCompanionsAndDyingAmericanSf.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThis week’s episode is an impromptu discussion about some fantastic topics (thanks a lot, Stina Leicht, for making us ramble like buffoons).  On today’s show:  Paul Weimer forces us to attempt, albeit at the last minute, urban fantasy; Doctor Who finally has a new companion, about which we feel like bitching; and apparently science fiction in American TV is dying (yes, we’re not playing the “SF is dying” game; specificity is everything). We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Note 2:  Because we only briefly covered defining urban fantasy in this episode, we are going to bring it into our interview this week with Stina Leicht.  Expect more discussion then! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 93 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion (0:00 – 33:44) “New Doctor Who Companion is Jennifer-Louise Coleman” by Stubby the Rocket (Tor.com) “10 Better Choices for the Next Doctor Who Companion” by K. Tempest Bradford “The Death of American Sci-fi” by Russell Holly (Geek.com) Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 92 — The Amazing Amazon and the ‘Problem’ of Faith in Science Fiction

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow92seasonThree–TheAmazingAmazonAndThe/Sandf–Episode92–TheAmazingAmazonAndTheproblemOfFaithInScienceFiction.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSWhen do we draw the line in Amazon’s publishing war?  Who really suffers from the battle?  And why is Faith so important in science fiction?  Is Faith necessary for realistic SFF?  These questions are our focus for this discussion episode.  If you have any opinions on these topics, leave a comment! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 92 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion (0:00 – 32:26) “Amazon Removes Kindle Versions of IPG Books After Distributor Declines to Change Selling Terms” by Michael Cader (Publishers Marketplace) “The Importance of Faith as an Element in Realistic SFF Worldbuilding” by Bryan Thomas Schmidt (AISFP) Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

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