Space the Nation

Ana and Dan get off their oblongs long enough to debate this Very Serious Book about a kind of dim Artificial Friend (ironically, a sun-worshipper!). It is also a sneak entry into our Obama or O'Bummer series, but I'm only going to put one special stamp on the cover at a time!

Ana and Dan hack their governor modules and put down their visors to enjoy some Sanctuary Moon without dealing with humans and their annoying real-world emotions. Oh, what's that? Ana and Dan have to deal with each other. The idea was so painful I've dropped to 97 percent efficiency. This is technically part of the AI-des of March, since Murderbot is an artificial intelligence who is not a man. Can a robot be "on the spectrum"? Is terraforming as cut-throat as all that? Is there IR in this novella? I don't care.

Dan was in Serbia this week! Enjoy this refresher course in donning your stillsuit slip-fashion.

Ana and Dan drank the water of life... at Cosmic Coffee in Austin, TX, for our first-ever tiny desk live show. This show has a lot of ambiance (background noise) and even some audience Q&A (none of which are more like comments). We hope you love it as much as we did. Or, you know, can stand it.

It was as if thousands of podcast listeners suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. We disappeared from Apple Podcasts, because AI. If you listen via that method, there are now literally dozen of new-to-you episodes to enjoy! Please do enjoy. If you want to avoid missing *any* shows, including our special episodes, consider becoming a Patron! We love you either way.

Ana and Dan will take those noodles to go while they ponder what they'll do about that turtle on its back. The great grand-daddy of scifi noir, Blade Runner's visuals still resonate even if the script clunks more than it sings. There is IR and a critique of capitalism in this movie.

Ana and Dan open up some Keikaku beers and ask this movie if it knows it's a movie. This gorgeous exploration of power, identity, gender, and self-awareness is a decade old but of the moment, with its sexy AI and Joe Rogan billionaire. It has IR, a critique of capitalism, and Oscar Isaac disco dancing. (This did not get posted last week; technical difficulties -- many apologies.)

Ana and Dan accede to the superior analysis and portfolio acquisition of cats. We've been meaning to do a Scalzi book for some time -- but which one? Then the decision was taken out of our hands, because talking (typing) cats. There is IR in this book.

Ana and Dan add some fresh motor oil to their hearts to gear up for this adventure in a post-apocalyptic science fiction gothic mutant medical horror romance set in the distantly future French Alps. Intrigued? You should be! This novel sets a high degree of difficulty for itself and... just about succeeds. Like, succeeds enough to be really interesting! There is a lot of body horror, some IR, and a wealth of critiques of capitalism.