where science meets fact meets fiction

  • Episode 540: Coins, Consequences, and Coverage Denied

    Episode 540: Coins, Consequences, and Coverage Denied

    REAL LIFE Devon:We celebrated Nolan’s Mario-themed birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s, and it was pure Mario madness—even down to LEGO sets! At home, we dove into the SNES Classic, revisiting classics like Super Mario World and Mario Kart. Speaking of Mario Kart, Ben has a lot of thoughts about kart racing games. Oh, and…

  • Episode 539: Cough Up the Holidays

    Episode 539: Cough Up the Holidays

    Real Life Devon shared his thoughts on Red One, a Christmas action movie involving a military operation to save Santa, describing it as “a slog and not clever,” though his kid loved Home Alone. Steven wrapped up holiday cleanup and started reading Future Noir, a deep dive into the making of Blade Runner. He also…

  • Episode 538: Secretion Exploitation

    Episode 538: Secretion Exploitation

    Real Life  Devon shared highlights from their recent trip to Oregon, where they visited the coast, skipped skiing, and explored a lighthouse. The visit to Tillamook stood out, especially encountering a hilariously judgy giant cow head. Check out Tillamook here. Steven went on a major upgrade spree, adding a new desk chair, soundboard, and computer…

  • Episode 537: Where Rabbits Run Free and Robots Fly Close

    Episode 537: Where Rabbits Run Free and Robots Fly Close

    Real Life Steven shares his recent battle with the flu, updates to his computer and recording setup, and his deep dive into World’s Finest from the Superman: The Animated Series. He’s also been watching That Christmas on Netflix, a cozy seasonal pick. Meanwhile, Ben recounts his creative ventures, like shadow boxing the Moon Lord, experimenting…

  • Episode 536: Trekking Through Space, Time, and Disaster Tech

    Episode 536: Trekking Through Space, Time, and Disaster Tech

    Real Life: Steven is sick or dead, we don’t remember, so Ben and Devon take over the show. Devon is traveling for the holidays so needs to bill as much as possible at work. Devon explains what it’s like to be an independent contractor. Ben’s work is a little less reliable. Snoop Dogg records a…

  • Episode 535: Terrible Substitute Teachers

    Episode 535: Terrible Substitute Teachers

    This episode contains: Ben welcomes a special guest host: Flint Lawless. Steven and Devon are off dealing with family illness and work commitments, so you know what that means! Well, we don’t actually talk about video games at all this one (I know, right?). Future or Now: The Magic Eye: Remember autostereograms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostereogram)? Stereograms are…

  • Episode 534: The DNA Origami Field

    Episode 534: The DNA Origami Field

    This episode contains: We three hosts gobbled up Thanksgiving, celebrating with families, parents and in-laws. Why did Ford call their electric car a Mach-E? Or is it Maquis? A Mockery? Ben gives a slightly different (and more positive) take on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice than Devon’s review from a couple months ago (https://sciencefactionpodcast.com/2024/09/11/episode-522-incomprehensibly-gravelly/). The first half hour…

  • Episode 533: Needs Improvement

    Episode 533: Needs Improvement

    REAL LIFE Devon is dealing with a sick family and Ben is wiped, despite finally having a chance to rest. Ben has been covering for his boss and teaching a beginning HTML class to kids. Most of the kids are awesome but some are “chaos gremlins.” Ben also just drove to Burbank and back for…

  • Episode 532: Horizontal Gene Transfer

    Episode 532: Horizontal Gene Transfer

    Real Life Devon shared about their recent visit to Fredericksburg, aka “Texas wine country,” where the German settlers brought their food and flair. While there were tempting wine tastings, Devon was not about to wait 30 minutes for a sip. Oh, and they’re currently battling a cold, which sounded something like SNNNOOORRRRTTT. Meanwhile, Steven recapped…

  • Episode 531: Colin Farrell’s In This?

    Episode 531: Colin Farrell’s In This?

    This episode contains: Steven and Ben are handling post-election nerves and how to channel that energy productively. Ben’s been comforted by watching New York City newscasts from 1981, which you can find on YouTube. How refreshing it is to see a newscast that’s not supposed to be entertainment! Steven’s been focusing on family time and…