Episode 142: Books That'll Get You Through The Winter Months

FromOur Opinions Are Correct

Start listening View podcast show

Episode 142: Books That'll Get You Through The Winter Months

FromOur Opinions Are Correct

ratings:

Length:

44 minutes

Released:

Nov 30, 2023

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Released:

Nov 30, 2023

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Explore the meaning of science fiction, and how it's relevant to real-life science and society. Your hosts are Annalee Newitz, a science journalist who writes science fiction, and Charlie Jane Anders, a science fiction writer who is obsessed with science. Every two weeks, we take deep dives into science fiction books, movies, television, and comics that will expand your mind -- and maybe change your life

Skip carousel

Episode 23: Sex, Lies, and Science Fiction: Let's talk about sex! In this episode we explore sci-fi tropes about where sex is going in the future, where it seems that we're doomed to become aromantic hedonists or asexual drones. We also talk about the greatest hits of scifi and fantasy sex.... by Our Opinions Are Correct
50 min listen
Episode 22: Can science fiction still give us hope for the future?: We need hope now, more than ever. So it's a good thing that more and more SF creators are trying to write hopeful stories---but what does it mean to be hopeful? Is hope a genre, or just a theme? And what the heck is "hopepunk" anyway? We talk about... by Our Opinions Are Correct
45 min listen
Episode 3: Books that stand the test of time: Some science fiction books are still fascinating after 200 years, while others make us wince after just a decade on the shelf. What makes an SF book stay relevant? Hint: it's not the book's ability to predict the future. Your hosts Annalee Newitz and... by Our Opinions Are Correct
36 min listen
Episode 32: You're doing camp wrong!: Lately the camp-themed Met Gala got us talking about camp again. What is camp? And how is it different in 2019 than in 1969? And most importantly, why is science fiction so deathly terrified of seeming campy? We're going to have a Kiki about this.... by Our Opinions Are Correct
41 min listen
Episode 31: Getting out of the Utopia/dystopia binary: We're living in an age of dystopian stories, while real-life social issues are getting pretty dystopian too. What's the point of telling dark stories in a dark time? Also, we discuss how Utopian stories and dystopian stories are actually quite similar... by Our Opinions Are Correct
41 min listen
Episode 6: Animal companions and magical beasts: Special guest Maggie Tokuda-Hall, author of the children's book Also An Octopus, joins us to talk about what happens when animals become characters in science fiction and fantasy. Animals get to speak in fairy tales, Disney movies, and stories of... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Episode 2: Propaganda and mind control in science fiction: There's something distinctly science fictional about how Facebook has been used by governments, politicians, and private companies to manipulate people's perceptions--and even affect the outcomes of elections. In this episode, we talk about how... by Our Opinions Are Correct
39 min listen
Episode 39: Monstrous Women and Women Who Make Monsters: Why do so many horror movies and stories feature terrifying women? Why do male creators treat female bodies and women's sexuality as intrinsically terrifying? And what happens when women get to create their own monsters and horror narratives? Plus we... by Our Opinions Are Correct
46 min listen
Episode 4: Crisis on infinite superheroes: With Avengers: Infinity War about to hit theaters, we needed to talk about superheroes. What is it about these larger-than-life characters that fascinates us so much? Why can't we eliminate campiness and silliness from superhero epics? And have the... by Our Opinions Are Correct
36 min listen
Episode 30: Social media must die!: Social media has become one of the biggest problems of our time. How does science fiction deal with the rise of social networks---and how is this different from the way the real-life news media talks about it? And what does the future look like after... by Our Opinions Are Correct
44 min listen
Episode 37: The history of Afro-futurism: Afro-futurism is on the rise again, thanks to the popularity of movies like Black Panther, and creators such as Janelle Monae and N.K. Jemisin. But Black-centered futurism has a long history in the U.S., and it's changed a lot over the past century.... by Our Opinions Are Correct
41 min listen
Episode 29: Real talk about the end of the universe: For our first-ever live podcast, recorded in March on the , we talked to cosmologist Katie Mack about how the universe will end. Will it be heat death or vacuum decay? We also talk about how rarely science fiction deals with the end of the universe,... by Our Opinions Are Correct
35 min listen
Episode 5: Fear of robots: Fear of robots is on the rise -- in science fiction and the tech industry. What causes this anxiety in real life, and how does science fiction imagine the future of human/robot relationships? Are we going to be raw materials for a future AI... by Our Opinions Are Correct
43 min listen
Episode 1: Hope, dread, and Star Trek: Discovery: What went wrong, and what went oh so right with this show? by Our Opinions Are Correct
37 min listen
Episode 41: The Multiverse Problem!: Multiverses are everywhere lately, from superheroes to fantasy novels. But there's one huge downside to multiple realities: you can’t change the past, and if you try, you just create a new universe. Also, we talk about Annalee's brand new... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Episode 34: How to Write a Good Ending: Everybody knows that endings are hard, and we all love to complain about the way our favorite TV show or movie ended. But with both Game of Thrones and the Avengers movies coming to an end, this is a perfect time to think about what makes for a good... by Our Opinions Are Correct
40 min listen
Episode 36: The Laws of the Future!: Real-world law is becoming science fictional. We talk about the future of surveillance and digital policing with guest Cyrus Farivar, a journalist who covers law and technology for NBC News. He's also the author of Habeas Data, a book about landmark... by Our Opinions Are Correct
41 min listen
Episode 20: Why we're excited about Doctor Who again: Doctor Who is a brand new show this year. Not only is there a lady Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, but the show's whole format feels totally different. Three companions! All new monsters! But even more than that, the show has a new, more upbeat... by Our Opinions Are Correct
40 min listen
Episode 40: What is TV criticism, anyway?: People have a lot of opinions about what it means to have opinions about TV. Who is allowed to criticize TV, and how do you do it well? In this episode, we talk to TV critics Inkoo King (Slate) and Nina Shen Rastogi (Vulture) about what it means to... by Our Opinions Are Correct
34 min listen
Episode 26: The Bomb is back: Back during the Cold War era, we were awash in stories about nuclear armageddon: either living through it, or trying to prevent it. And now, experts say the threat of nuclear holocaust is the worst it's been in over two decades. So how will pop... by Our Opinions Are Correct
35 min listen
Episode 53: F*ck Your Nihilism!: Everything is bloody terrifying right now, what with the pandemic and the would-be strongmen and the natural disasters. So it's easy to retreat into nihilistic storytelling, which revels in the destruction of civilization. But screw that --- when you... by Our Opinions Are Correct
45 min listen
Episode 27: The future of futurism: Is there a way to predict the future accurately, using data and science? In this episode, we talk to Rose Eveleth, host of the Flash Forward podcast, about the idea of futurism. We explore its history and dark roots in fascism, as well as its... by Our Opinions Are Correct
43 min listen
Episode 58: The nerd vs. jock fight was always a lie: We're sick of the nerds vs. jocks trope in pop culture. In this episode we unpack how that trope came to be, and how to get beyond high school PE trauma. We talk about science fiction that fetishizes workout routines (Arrow's salmon ladder!?), and... by Our Opinions Are Correct
38 min listen
Episode 33: Science fiction explains our messed-up economy: We talk to economist Noah Smith about how different theories of economics show up in science fiction -- and how economics is also an exercise in speculative worldbuilding. How do ideas about "rational actors" make their way into space operas, and why... by Our Opinions Are Correct
41 min listen
Episode 43: The Myth of Rugged Individualism: The idea of the "rugged individual" is all over the place in science fiction--especially in the United States. Who is this loner hero, and why are there so many stories about how personal freedom is more important than the public good? We explore the... by Our Opinions Are Correct
37 min listen
Episode 54: Science fiction didn't prepare us for the pandemic: Pandemics are a recurring trope in science fiction, but this turns out to be surprisingly unhelpful when we're facing a contagion in reality. We talk to Mike Chen, author of the new pandemic novel A Beginning at the End, about how science fiction uses... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Episode 24: We Have Many Feelings About Steven Universe: We love the show Steven Universe now, more than ever. This cartoon about a magical child has gone through a lot of changes in the past couple of years, and now its cosmic mythos has become a lot more complex—and the theme of identity has only gotten... by Our Opinions Are Correct
29 min listen
Episode 38: The new anti-capitalist science fiction: There’s been a renaissance of anti-capitalist stories in science fiction and fantasy in the U.S. But these aren't tales of violent revolution or faceless corporations. We discuss Utopia, community, and how group therapy is the opposite of... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Episode 21: Pop culture nostalgia, or branding your memories: We know you just want to curl up by the fire and bask in pop culture of yesteryear this holiday season. But too bad. We're here with special guest Katharine Trendacosta to interrogate the meaning of nostalgia in science fiction. We discuss remakes,... by Our Opinions Are Correct
38 min listen
Episode 28: What's the Matter With Westeros?: Game of Thrones comes back in a couple of weeks, so we're thinking about the politics of George R.R. Martin's fantasy world. What would a satisfying ending to this show look like? Can our heroes defeat the ice zombies AND solve Westeros' crisis of... by Our Opinions Are Correct
38 min listen

More Episodes from Our Opinions Are Correct

Skip carousel

How to turn a story into a deadly weapon: Psyops are used by the military against foreign enemies, but now these dangerous weapons of demoralization and chaos are being used in culture wars between Americans. In this episode, Annalee tells us about their new book Stories Are Weapons, a... by Our Opinions Are Correct
54 min listen
Fascism and Book Bans (with Maggie Tokuda-Hall): Science fiction has been warning us about fascism for decades — so why haven't we listened? How did Nazis become just another monster in our stories, like werewolves or cyborgs? Plus we talk about the new wave of book censorship with Maggie... by Our Opinions Are Correct
57 min listen
The Turing Test is bullsh*t (w/Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender): We're talking about the Turing Test, the grandmother of all tests for AI sentience. Joining us are AI researchers Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender, hosts of the Mystery AI Hype 3000 podcast. We discuss why the Turing Test is so influential in both... by Our Opinions Are Correct
48 min listen
Queer Horror! (with Dr. Chuck Tingle): It's a scary time for LGBTQIA+ folks — and many of us are turning to horror stories that take our real-life terrors and make them even more monstrous. To find out why, we talk to Dr. Chuck Tingle, the author of Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, and... by Our Opinions Are Correct
51 min listen
Videogame movies are officially better than comic book movies: At last, videogame movies have defeated comic book movies. We learn about why from Evan Narcisse, who writes for comic books and videogames, as well as being a journalist and critic. Then we rant about why so many people are obsessed with... by Our Opinions Are Correct
53 min listen
Encore Episode: Let's Obsess Over the Politics of Dune!: The long-awaited Dune sequel is in theaters now — and it's a huge hit. To celebrate, we're resurfacing one of our favorite episodes from the past. Is Dune a white savior fantasy? A subversive eco-parable? To find out, we talk to Haris... by Our Opinions Are Correct
45 min listen
We Don't Give a F*ck About Canon: Science fiction and fantasy fans love to argue about canon — both meanings of the word. Which stories in a fictional universe really "happened"? Which stories deserve to be enshrined as the best of the genre? We don't think either of those things is... by Our Opinions Are Correct
46 min listen
The world's humblest heroes, from plumbers to tardigrades: Inspired by The Super Mario Bros Movie, we're talking about a humble class of heroes whose lives are devoted to infrastructure maintenance and repair. There are heating engineer rogues and space janitors and, of course, plumbers. Later in the episode... by Our Opinions Are Correct
47 min listen
Encore Episode: The Incredibly Strange Career of Anne Rice: Anne Rice is best-known for her Vampire Chronicles, which began in the 1970s with her novel Interview with the Vampire. But did you know she also wrote bestselling BDSM erotica and two novels about Jesus? In this episode, we do a deep dive into Rice's... by Our Opinions Are Correct
69 min listen
Encore Episode: Science Fiction Keeps Trying To "Fix" Disabled People with Elsa Sjunneson: Science fiction and fantasy are full of portrayals of disabled bodies, some of which are nuanced and positive, and many of which... aren't. Join us as we talk about disability tropes and the realities of disabled life with Elsa Sjunneson, author of... by Our Opinions Are Correct
45 min listen
Alien ecosystems and the algae menace: All of us live embedded in webs of life known as ecosystems, and that can get pretty creepy -- or astonishingly beautiful. Inspired by the mind-blowing new animated series Scavengers Reign, we're talking about some of the best examples of alien... by Our Opinions Are Correct
50 min listen
How Doctor Who Stood the Test of Time: How does Doctor Who remain cool after sixty years? By constantly updating and reinventing itself. We've been loving David Tennant's triumphant return, and we're so pumped for Ncuti Gatwa. But we're wondering... are there lessons from Doctor Who's... by Our Opinions Are Correct
53 min listen
Episode 141: Zines: Show notes: by Our Opinions Are Correct
53 min listen
Episode 140: Silicon Valley is doomed to misunderstand the future, with Dr. Joy Buolamwini: Silicon Valley markets itself as the place where futures are born, and yet tech corporations have no real understanding of where our civilizations are headed. We are wrapping up our Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction series with some final thoughts on... by Our Opinions Are Correct
51 min listen
Episode 139: How To Write About Violence (with Fonda Lee and Lauren Beukes): Battles and smackdowns are a key part of many science fiction and fantasy stories — but how do you do them right? Do you have an obligation to show the cost of violence? And what does a good fight scene look like? To find out, we talked to authors... by Our Opinions Are Correct
39 min listen
Episode 138: Battlestar Galactica, 20 Years Later: One of the greatest science fiction shows on TV debuted twenty years ago: the rebooted version of Battlestar Galactica. This show broke new ground in depicting realistic politics — and a nuanced view of a society of artificial people. How does it... by Our Opinions Are Correct
52 min listen
Episode 137: The Creativity Fallacy: What does it mean to be a creator at a time when creativity is completely commodified? We’ll talk about the status of the author, and how audiences have idealized artists while also celebrating the so-called death of the author and rise of the... by Our Opinions Are Correct
50 min listen
Episode 136: Who Wants to Live on an Eyeball Earth? With Aomawa Shields: We've learned so much about the planets outside our solar system in the past ten years, and we're poised to learn even more. What kind of life could live on eyeball Earths, and other types of tidally locked worlds? To find out, we asked Aomawa... by Our Opinions Are Correct
50 min listen
Episode 135: The Myth of Free Speech: Tech companies love to trumpet about how their products are free speech machines. But how can we have free speech when we don't have freedom? That's what we're asking in today's episode, the latest in our Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction series. We... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Encore Episode: Work Is Not Your Friend, with Alan Henry: People have been paid for labor for at least 5,000 years, but the modern 'workplace' is a pretty recent invention. We look at how science fiction has dealt with the transformation of labor — plus we talk to Alan Henry, author of the new book... by Our Opinions Are Correct
55 min listen
Encore Episode: We're in the wrong timeline, with Connie Willis and R.F. Kuang: We've all been feeling like something is wrong with the timeline. In this episode, we ask what alternate history, fake history, and secondary world history can teach us about the present. Does exploring the past in fiction help us learn from history... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Episode 134: The State of the Galaxy: It's time for our state of the galaxy address. We’ll be talking about how humans figured out that we are living in a galaxy, and how science fiction represents other galaxies. We're also joined by Molly Peeples, an astronomer with the Space... by Our Opinions Are Correct
49 min listen
Episode 133: Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction: Ayn Rand: One science fiction author has influenced the leaders of the tech industry more than any other: Ayn Rand, who preached radical selfishness in Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead. How has Rand's vision shaped the technology we use today? To find out... by Our Opinions Are Correct
53 min listen
Episode 132: A Sense of Place with Jessica Johns: Show notes: by Our Opinions Are Correct
55 min listen
Episode 131: The State of Star Trek, with Mike McMahan: Star Trek is back in a big way: we've had three live-action TV shows and two animated shows recently, with more stuff on the way. But what does Star Trek mean to us now? And what do we want from Star Trek today? To get deeper into these questions, we... by Our Opinions Are Correct
59 min listen
Episode 130: What to Watch and Read This Summer! by Our Opinions Are Correct
46 min listen
Episode 129: Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction: Smart Home Nightmares by Our Opinions Are Correct
51 min listen
Episode 128: Dungeons & Dragons Gets Cozy: Games are packed with astounding worldbuilding, and Dungeons & Dragons is perhaps the worldbuildiest of all. We take a deep dive into the game’s transformation from from a Satanic threat in the 1980s, to a wholesome, cozy world that has inspired a... by Our Opinions Are Correct
48 min listen
Episode 127: Silicon Valley vs. Science Fiction: "Difficult Geniuses": When tech whizkids are caught behaving badly, they're just being "brilliant jerks." And the figure of the charismatic-but-bratty genius inventor is everywhere these days. We look at how the isolated, tormented mad scientist in science fiction evolved... by Our Opinions Are Correct
42 min listen
Episode 126: It's a Great Time to Read (and Write) Short Stories!: If you haven't read any short stories in a while, it's a great time to get back into them. A ton of truly excellent books of short speculative fiction came out recently, and wondrous new tales are appearing in magazines all the time. We talk about... by Our Opinions Are Correct
46 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Episode 142: Books That'll Get You Through The Winter Months

Episode 142: Books That'll Get You Through The Winter Months

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Our Opinions Are Correct