Episodes

  • The Great Hugo Awards Controversy ft. Diane Lacey

    The Great Hugo Awards Controversy ft. Diane Lacey
    Nov 15 2024
    Welcome to the first episode of Wizards & Spaceships to pass the Bechdel Test! In 2023, the Hugo Awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, were rocked by scandal. That year, the convention was hosted in Chengdu, China, and a number of popular and acclaimed works, from R. F. Kuang's Babel to Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, were deemed ineligible...even though they had enough nominations to appear on the ballot. The controversy engulfed the world of speculative fiction, but what really happened? In this episode, we talk to WorldCon whistleblower Diane Lacey to get her take on what went wrong, who's to blame, and what we can learn from this moving forward.
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    46 mins
  • The King of Horror ft. Troy Harkin

    The King of Horror ft. Troy Harkin
    Oct 15 2024
    Happy Halloween! To celebrate all that is spooky and monstrous, we're joined by poet, novelist, and David's other podcast co-host, Troy Harkin, to talk about the master of horror himself, Stephen King. Also cocaine. Show Notes:
      • Troy's website


      • ChiZine Publications


      • SK Tours of Maine


      • Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Speculative Whiteness

    Speculative Whiteness
    Sep 15 2024
    In this episode, we talk to Jordan S. Carroll about his new book, the Sad and Rabid Puppies, and how to avoid getting your sci-fi co-opted by fascists. Show Notes:
      • Jordan’s Twitter: https://x.com/JordanSCarroll/


      • Jordan’s Bluesky: jordanscarroll.bsky.social


      • Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt Right by Jordan S. Carroll


      • Kaleidotrope


      • Elizabeth Sandifer: Eruditorum Press and Neoreaction a Basilisk but why not just go ahead and read everything she’s written?


      • Camestros Felapton’s The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War
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    36 mins
  • In the Beginning ft. Shiraz Janjua

    In the Beginning ft. Shiraz Janjua
    Aug 15 2024
    How do you begin your epic sci-fi, fantasy, or horror story? How do you grab a viewer or reader’s attention, introduce your characters and world, and avoid the dreaded infodump? To discuss these questions and much more, we talk to Shiraz Janjua, host of the YouTube channel How the Novel Starts. Show Notes:
      • How the Novel Starts


      • Shiraz's website


      • Shiraz's Instagram


      • Bulwer-Lytton Awards


    Reading and Watching List:
      • George Orwell, 1984


      • Karen Russell, Swamplandia


      • Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell


      • William Gibson, Neuromancer


      • Michael Chabon, Yiddish Policemen's Union


      • Vajra Chandasekera, The Saint Of Bright Doors


      • Frank Herbert, Dune


      • JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings


      • Christopher Nolan, Inception


      • George Lucas, Star Wars
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    55 mins
  • A New World In Our Hearts

    A New World In Our Hearts
    Jul 15 2024
    In this episode, we interview absolute legend Ken MacLeod about utopias in science fiction. And yes, we're talking about the Culture. Of course we're talking about the Culture. Show Notes: The Early Days of a Better Nation Russian Cosmism Utopia and the Return of History Postwar as the war generation's utopia China 2019, just before the pandemic Reading/Watching List The Culture, Iain M. Banks News From Nowhere, William Morris Half-Earth Socialism: https://www.half.earth/ Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 by M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin The Green-Sky Trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis Desert by Anonymous The English Utopia by A.L. Morton Utopia by Thomas More Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach Elysium (2013) The Creator (2023) Noon Universe by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky We by Yevgeny Zamyatin Lenin Lives by Philip Cunliffe Merrie England by Robert Blatchford Ministry For the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • You Never Get a Second Chance to Make First Contact

    You Never Get a Second Chance to Make First Contact
    Jun 15 2024
    In this episode, we talk about meeting sentient extraterrestrials: The challenges of communication, what first contact stories say about our own Earthbound society, and why the aliens won't return our texts. David's recommendations:
      • "Darmok" (Star Trek TNG)


      • "The Inner Light" (Star Trek TNG)


      • The Day the Earth Stood Still


      • Arrival


      • The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell


    Rachel's recommendations
      • "Species 10-C" (Star Trek Discovery)


      • Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky


      • Attack the Block


      • Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood), Octavia E. Butler


      • Blindsight, Peter Watts
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    43 mins
  • Some People Call Me the Space Cowboy

    Some People Call Me the Space Cowboy
    May 15 2024

    In this episode, we're talking about the Space Western! Was Firefly cancelled too soon or is it massively overrated? Why does it continue to grip the Nerd Imagination? Is it even okay to use Western elements in SFFH?

    Credits: Shamelessly stolen from Star Trek's "Spectre of the Gun," the Expanse Season 1 trailer, UFO Cowboy's official trailer, and Firefly's "Jayne's Town." The background music clips are "Somewhere In the Dark" and "Western Showdown" by Holizna and licensed under Creative Commons.
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    35 mins
  • Where Are We, and Why Are We In This Handbasket?

    Where Are We, and Why Are We In This Handbasket?
    Apr 15 2024

    Welcome to Wizards & Spaceships, a podcast that's about both wizards and spaceships, featuring poet David L. Clink and novelist Rachel A. Rosen. In this episode, we introduce ourselves, talk about our favourite media, and explain why genre snobs need to get a lot less snobby. Do infodumps have a place in literature? Do all fantasy novels need to be a series? Grab a metaphorical drink with your newest nerdy friends and join us for our podcast launch.
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    35 mins