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

P6 Regarding Batman's Political Affiliation: Is Batman a Libertarian (wealthy, gizmos, works outside the law) or something else? Which superheroes would be Democrats? Any Republicans afoot? Comedian and Marvel aficionado Megan Sass joins Heaton to discuss. by Alienating the Audience

37 min listen

Reptoid Aliens Shouldn't Have Nipples: 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... by Alienating the Audience

75 min listen

Let's Argue About "The Rise of Skywalker": 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. by Alienating the Audience

86 min listen

The Twilight Zone's Nostalgic Cold War Bunker: Tim Sandefur joins Heaton on the podcast's kickoff episode to dissect The Twilight Zone, and how Rod Serling's fascination with nostalgia, the Cold War, collectivism, and totalitarianism made the most iconic scifi/horror show in American history. by Alienating the Audience

68 min listen

P1 What Bladerunner Is Actually About: Ben Domenech joins Heaton to discuss "Bladerunner," "Bladerunner: 2049" and the book which inspired both, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K. Dick. by Alienating the Audience

48 min listen

P4 The Politics of Star Wars: Stephen Kent is the host of "Beltway Banthas" and joins Heaton to discuss the politics of Star Wars. by Alienating the Audience

49 min listen

P7 Star Trek vs. The Orville: Former Congressman Dan Maffei joins Heaton to discuss: Is the "The Orville" more Star Trek than Star Trek, or just a knockoff? by Alienating the Audience

42 min listen

Turns Out, We're All Probably Martians: Robert Zubrin is the head of the Mars Society and author of "The Case for Mars." He joins Heaton along with special guest co-host Andrew Mayne to discuss how to get to the Red Planet using existing technology, and the implications of finding life once... by Alienating the Audience

104 min listen

How to Build a Giant Robot: Today we speak with physicist Stephen Granade about robots! How to build giant arm-swingin' robots, how we can automate them, and where we stand on Mind Machine Interface technology in case we want to pilot said robots ourselves. by Alienating the Audience

58 min listen

When Darwin Meets Star Trek: 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... by Alienating the Audience

67 min listen

The Future of Humanity Involves Gene Upgrades and Cyborgs: Lord Martin Rees is a cosmologist, mathematician, and the Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom. When he's not busy running the Centre for The Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, he's authoring books on science and astrophysics. He... by Alienating the Audience

59 min listen

P3 Cold War Kirk vs. Picard the Moral Relativist: Tim Sandefur joins Heaton to discuss the philosophical differences between Star Trek TOS and Star Trek The Next Generation. Gene Rodenberry and his contemporaries lived through World War II and the Cold War, and believed in clear right and wrongs.... by Alienating the Audience

52 min listen

P5 Varys is the best Game of Thrones character: Grant Carlisle joins to discuss the power dynamics and political themes underlying Game of Thrones. by Alienating the Audience

44 min listen

The Meaning of Spock: 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. by Alienating the Audience

49 min listen

Isaac Asimov's Robots are Smarter than Whales: What do we learn about humanity when gazing through the optical sensors of a robot? Did Isaac Asimov write a novel where the end of humanity begins on a planet full of Libertarians? Ryan McGary joins for a full-throttle Isaac Asimov discussion, from... by Alienating the Audience

72 min listen

The Mythology of Star Wars: The foundational elements of Star Wars are deeply mythological, influenced by Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." Professor Ryan Slesinger joins the show to explain the Hero's Journey, archetypes, and the deepest elements of the... by Alienating the Audience

95 min listen

Is Life Worth Living in a Perfect Utopia?: John Varley's novel "Steel Beach" portrays a future brimming with attractive immortals living in amusement parks on the Moon--yet the main character contemplates suicide. Absent strife, can humans find purpose? Tim Sandefur joins Heaton to discuss... by Alienating the Audience

65 min listen

Robert Heinlein: Individualism and Free Love on the Moon!: 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... by Alienating the Audience

78 min listen

The Ethics of Holodeck Sex Romps and AI in Star Trek: 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... by Alienating the Audience

87 min listen

If We Met Aliens Could We Even Communicate?: 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... by Alienating the Audience

78 min listen

Who To Kill or Not Kill if You've Got a Time Machine: 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... by Alienating the Audience

79 min listen

P2 The Economics of "Dune": Spice is a metaphor for oil. Arrakis is the Middle East. Ben Brockshmidt joins Heaton to discuss all things dune--the economic, political, and historical influences which shaped Frank Herbert's scifi universe. by Alienating the Audience

63 min listen

How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse by Alienating the Audience

87 min listen

Battlestar Galactica & The War On Terror: Battlestar Galactica kicked off just three years after the 9/11 attacks, and tackles everything from theocratic warfare to stem cell research and waterboarding. Comedian Andrew Young joins Heaton to discuss the series, it's relentless tension and fear... by Alienating the Audience

74 min listen

The Tarkin Doctrine and Imperial Apologists: 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... by Alienating the Audience

75 min listen

Stop What You're Doing and Watch "Picard": 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,... by Alienating the Audience

53 min listen

Vagabonding: Nick and Heaton go to Narnia: When Nick and Heaton discovered an inter-dimensional doorway in the back of their refrigerator, they're able to step through and visit the winter world of Narnia. And meet one of its talking animal inhabitants. Cast: Andrew Heaton, Nick... by Alienating the Audience

17 min listen

Let's Fight About "The Undiscovered Country": If "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" is about the end of the Cold War, what's it's position on the Soviet Union? Tim Sandefur challenges Heaton on the underlying morality of the movie and whether or not it's a commie apologism, leading to a... by Alienating the Audience

65 min listen

How to Build a Colony Ship: 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... by Alienating the Audience

86 min listen

Assemble Your Own Star Trek Series: If you could put together a new series, drawing on characters from across the Star Trek franchise, what would you make? Paul Mattingly and Nick Sperdute join Heaton for a round of Starfleet Draft Picks. by Alienating the Audience

67 min listen

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

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

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