Shows
TradesFormation UnlockedCount Jobs, Not Clicks with Matt JonesDon’t let an agency brag about 50 “leads” when they were just clicks.“If the phone hasn’t rung, who cares?” — Matt Jones, Tradie Web Guys and The Site Shed.In this episode, Adrian and Matt tear down vanity metrics and show you how to build a system that gets site visits, deposits, and jobs sold.You’ll learnWhy clicks and “conversions” mean nothing without calls and bookingsThe real leak in your business: weak lead handling and slow follow-upHow AI, SMS, and simple pipelines lift conversion fastWhat to track: Ad → Discovery/Triage → Site Visit →...
2025-09-2347 min
Victoria Real Estate PodcastBehind the Build: Rolling Tides & the Story of 1789 Emerson with Matt RasmussenSend us a textIn this episode of the Victoria Real Estate Podcast, host Adrian Maclaren, alongside Vincent Baart and Jocelyn Cseff from the CityNest Team at RE/MAX Camosun, sits down with Matt Rasmussen — CEO of Rolling Tides Construction, co-owner of Rolling Tides Developments and Northshore Haven, and founder of Ruth’s Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.We dive deep into Matt’s inspiring journey from tradesman to developer, his philosophy on building with purpose, and how his team brought 1789 Emerson — Victoria’s first six-plex Missing Middle townhome development — to life.You’ll hear behind...
2025-08-1237 min
The Aspiring STEM GeekFinance, Economics and Management with Matt Taylor - #11In this episode I talk with Matthew Taylor. Matt is a portfolio manager with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. We discuss how Matt became interested in finance & economics, Bell Labs, Matt's time as a consultant in the Utilities industry, investing during the Russian default & Asian currency crisis, private equity, hedge funds, the business of AI and book recommendations. Hope you enjoy!CONNECT:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-dolinay-frm-96a289106/GitHub: https://github.com/ad17171717X: https://twitter.com/DolinayGOdysee: https://odysee.com/@adriandolinay:0
2025-05-021h 37
The Matt Fryer Golf PodcastEp 37 - Adrian Fryer Gives His Honest Thoughts About My Golf!In this special episode of The Matt Fryer Golf Podcast, Matt is joined by none other than Adrian Fryer, who shares his expert insights on the state of Matt’s golf game—no holding back! They break down what’s working, what needs improvement, and the adjustments Matt can make to take his game to the next level.With the first Major of the season just around the corner, the duo also dives into all things Masters. From potential winners and the challenges Augusta National presents, Matt and Adrian give their perfect concession stand menu as well.T...
2025-04-0437 min
Dirt Church Radio Trail RunningThe Trail To Western States Starts On The Road- Adrian MacDonald. Dirt Church Radio 315Kia ora e te whānau. When Adrian MacDonald moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, he didn’t do it for the trails, he did it for love and the chance to run hills at altitude. With a background in road and track, MacDonald didn’t hit the trails until the pandemic canceled races and he thought he’d try his hand at an FKT. The rest, as they say, is history. Andrew and Matt speak to Adrian about his back-to-back wins at the historic Leadville 100, what it took to get him there, his road, er, trail to Western States...
2025-02-251h 05
Becoming Work Optional#022 - Being Poor Sucks: How to Change the Money Beliefs Holding You Back with Dr. Brad Klontz and Adrian BrambilaIn this episode of Becoming Work Optional, Matt and Rachael interview Dr. Brad Klontz and Adrian Brambila, discussing their new book "Start Thinking Rich," which explores 21 harsh truths about money. They cover their personal financial journeys from humble beginnings to achieving financial freedom, emphasizing the importance of mindset and strategic spending. They also discussed the concept of retirement, advocating for a life of purpose and financial freedom rather than traditional retirement.Key Points Discussed:"Start Thinking Rich" by Dr. Brad Klontz and Adrian Brambila covers 21 harsh truths about money, aiming to shake up traditional...
2024-10-301h 11
Quit and Switch with Adrian DanielsConstraints Drive Innovation - From HR Leader to HR Founder and Podcaster - Matt Burns - #002On this first episode of Quit and Switch with Adrian Daniels, Adrian welcomes Matt Burns, ex-Head of HR at Walmart, an experienced HR executive, founder of Bento HR and host of Thinking Inside the Box podcast. We talk about: Matt’s transition from HR leader to HR founder, tips for transitioning into HR and the digital transformation space, and how constraints can drive innovation. We also discuss podcasting as a tool for building relationships in business, the impact of COVID on the workplace, and the importance of adapting to stay relevantAdrian shares his own experience of di...
2024-06-2527 min
The Bear Den#032 - Days Away From Being A Dad - Adrian MacoAdrian Maco, Matt's WATT brother joins him in the studio today to talk about being days away from being a dad. Adrian shares about being born in Peru and moving to the USA, being raised by his mom and living with sisters, and the relationship with his parents. Adrian and Matt discuss the preparation he and his wife Kim have been doing ready for their baby girl, and the excitement and fear about being new parents.
2024-04-1757 minQuit and Switch with Adrian DanielsSwitch Tips 001 - Plan your Future Careers Now before AI and Automation Takes your Current Job - Matt BurnsIn this episode snippet, Matt Burns discusses why you should start skill stacking for new careers in potentially new industries and businesses, before the risks of AI and automation takes current roles such as Bookkeeping, Manual Labour and Hospitality jobs.Listen to the full episode here: https://quitandswitchwithadriandaniels.buzzsprout.com/2208874/13085658-constraints-drive-innovation-from-hr-leader-to-hr-founder-and-podcaster-matt-burns-002Head over to https://quitandswitch.co/mattburns for the episode show notes and referencesFollow Matt on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattinvr/Listen to Matt's Podcast, Thinking Inside The Box: https://thinkinginsidethebox.buzzsprout.com/
2023-06-2405 minQuit and Switch with Adrian DanielsConstraints Drive Innovation - From HR Leader to HR Founder and Podcaster - Matt Burns - #002This week, Adrian speaks to Matt Burns. He’s an experienced and award-winning former HR executive who’s worked for some top companies including Walmart and JYSK. He led a talented global team that won the coveted “Most Innovative Use of HR Technology” in 2017 and the "Canadian HR Team of the Year" award in 2018.He’s also the founder of BentoHR, a digital transformation consultancy working at the intersection of strategy, technology, operations and human capital to accelerate value creation.Matt is also the Host and Producer of the “Thinking Insi...
2023-06-2226 min
Cut The Crap With Beth And Matt65 - Calling Out Nutrition Bullsh*t With Dr. Adrian Chavez, PhDThis week we welcome Dr. Adrian Chavez. Adrian has a PhD in Nutrition and Health Promotion. This was such an incredible conversation on many fronts and offers something for everyone!From discussing how fitness marketing often targets the most vulnerable among us to seed oils, artificial sweeteners, and how easy it can be to become paralyzed by information overload. Dr. Chavez provided an incredible amount of information and insight in an easily digestible (no pun intended) manner.Want to support our content? Join our Patreon for monthly workouts, challenges, recipes, and to become part of the Cut The...
2022-12-0957 min
Cut The Crap With Beth And Matt65 - Calling Out Nutrition Bullsh*t With Dr. Adrian Chavez, PhDThis week we welcome Dr. Adrian Chavez. Adrian has a PhD in Nutrition and Health Promotion. This was such an incredible conversation on many fronts and offers something for everyone!
From discussing how fitness marketing often targets the most vulnerable among us to seed oils, artificial sweeteners, and how easy it can be to become paralyzed by information overload. Dr. Chavez provided an incredible amount of information and insight in an easily digestible (no pun intended) manner.
Want to support our content? Join our Patreon for monthly workouts, challenges, recipes, and to become part of...
2022-12-0957 min
SIMPLE brand With Matt LylesAdrian Brady-Cesana - How Happiness as a Habit Drives Your Customer Experience and Employee ExperienceAdrian’s one of the leading voices in the Customer Experience industry. As the host of the CXChronicles podcast, he talks with customer-focused business leaders from around the world to share their perception of Adrian’s Four CX Pillars: Team, Tools, Process, and Feedback.Some of the topics we discuss include:Focusing on developing and managing the right team is foundational to your Customer Experience operationHow making “happiness as a habit” is integral to your customer experience and employee experienceThe leading principles on customer experience are the same for employee experienceBreaking down organizat...
2022-11-0252 min
Talks With Cheese15- Matt Smith- Week 1 of the NFL 2022-2023 Season Recap & In-Depth Predictions for the AFC NorthHave my buddy from IU, Matt Smith, talking with me about in-depth discussions of the NFL. We briefly touch on the majority of the games that happened during Week 1. Also we discuss our predictions about each team in the AFC North that includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, & Cincinnati Bengals.
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talks-with-cheese/id1624823146
LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jsrK4z8G3RM85BnQ0FHa7?si=da2239ad06334fab
FOLLLOW MATT:
INSTAGRAM | @ma...
2022-09-2154 min
The Aviation ShowAdrian Phillips: Rearming the RAF for the Second World WarThe 'Spitfire Summer' of 1940 is lodged in the heads of the British psyche like few other conflicts. Yet, the mix of aircraft that the RAF fielded in the early years of the Second World War were not the ones many remember, and the types that would become famous as the conflict wore on were still years away. Historian Adrian Phillips joined me to discuss the politics and battles the RAF went through, internally and externally, as they raced to modernise and figure out just what type of war they would be fighting.I found Adrian's book a...
2022-09-0842 min
Working Class AudioWCA #395 with Daniel Rowland - Rehab vs. College, MTSU, Adrian Belew, LANDR, and The ATMOS Gold RushMy guest is Daniel Rowland, Head of Strategy and Partnerships at LANDR, Co-owner of Immersive Mixers, Professor at MTSU, and audio engineer. Daniel has worked with Nine Inch Nails, Adrian Belew, Disney, Pixar, David Foster, Star Wars, Marvel, DC Comics, Denzel Curry, Netflix, Fox, Flo Rida, Seal, and Phillip Glass. In this episode, we discuss:Playing GuitarRehab vs. CollegeMTSUProduction WorkAdrian BelewNOISELANDRAI MasteringLinkedinRejection of New IdeasTime ManagementThe ATMOS GoldrushMatt's Rant: Things to Consider When Building a StudioLinks and Show NotesDaniel's SiteDaniel on Linkedin
2022-07-111h 06
The St. Joseph's Capital PodcastEpisode 18: Creating Immeasurable Returns with Multifamily Investing with Matt MartinMatt Martin is the Investor Relations Team Lead at Arrows Capital Group. His company specializes in multifamily operations. It helps newer syndicators through a variety of different services, such as KP, asset management, raising capital, and underwriting.
The team at Arrows Capital Group was focused on finding off-market deals that offer the most opportunity for their investors, as well as a chance to make a positive impact on the lives of the communities that they invest in.
This episode talks about:
Matt’s background prior to getting into real estate.
How Robert Kiyosaki’s book...
2022-06-1526 min
TTRU Fitness Podcast with Adrian ConwayRise and Pod Episode 263: Athlete to Athlete with Matt DlugosToday Adrian sits down to interview CrossFit Games hopeful Matt Dlugos of Underdog Athletics. Matt shares his athletic background, when Crossfit became more than just training for him, his move to Las Vegas to join the likes of Bethany Shadburne, Ali Scudds, Danielle Brandon, Tola Morakinyo, and Kari Pearce. Matt is preparing to throwdown at the Granite Games in just a few weeks and is hopeful to battle for a podium spot against athletes like Brent Fikowski, Chandler Smith and more.
We experienced some audio issues amidst the interview from Matt's end and have a touch of...
2022-05-2436 min
SFF AddictsFilm Club: Dune Review (with Matt Kressel, Patricia A. Jackson, Cody Sisco & More)SFF Addicts first Film Club bonus episode is here! (Adrian promised more bonus content in Episode 1, and he's finally able to make good on that promise with this two-hour beast of a panel.) Join host Adrian M. Gibson and authors Matt Kressel, Patricia A. Jackson, Cody Sisco, Tiffany Trent and Liam Quane as they discuss and review Dune: Part One, the new film adaptation of the famous Frank Herbert novel. During the panel they delve into first reactions, characters and actor portrayals, ecology and environment on Arrakis, music, costumes, cinematography and much more.
About t...
2021-11-112h 09
The Adrian Bo PodcastEpisode 90 - Adrian Bo Interviews REB Top 100 Agent, Matthew EveringhamAdrian & Matt are good mates who have a long chat about all things real estate. Matthew is professional, strategic, and continually setting high standards with record results in the local property market.Recently awarded Australia's TOP 100 AGENTS by Rate My Agent in 2020, Matthew prides himself on receiving positive real reviews from real clients which have resulted in him being awarded #37 on the REB top 100 list. Striving to exceed every client’s expectations, Matthew has the ability to tailor his service to individual clients and situations allowing him to provide the ultimate customer experience. In his 21 years as a le...
2021-05-121h 25The Adrian Bo PodcastEpisode 85 - Adrian Bo Interviews Matt Lancashire, Ray White Brisbane LegendIn this Episode Matt shares his 8 point Blueprint for SuccessHow did this 'sparkie' from 'Brissy' reach Mastery Level at his craft of real estate within a relatively short period, whole maintaining a balanced family life. Matt speaks to Adrian openly, sincerely and candidly about the penny dropping moment he decided to 'go pro' or potentially quit!!Matt's Blueprint is mind blowing given its forensic level of detail & all agents at every chapter in the career needs to listen this incredible content , tweak to suit your market & implement it like ASAP!Adrian & M...
2021-04-201h 17
Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastInterview w/ the Hugo Administrator, Will Frank, on how & why to get involved with the HugosToday Adrian is joined by Will Frank, this year's Hugo Awards Administrator, to talk all things Hugos. We discuss why you might want to nominate and vote for the Hugos, how exactly to get membership to do so (anyone can do it!), the special Video Game award, and why recent events that might have turned some people off will hopefully not be repeated this year.
I was really happy Will came on, and found it really fascinating to learn about how the Hugos actually work behind the scene, and the people like Will who actually count votes a...
2020-12-0829 min
The Open Door Real Estate PodcastHow To Find Off Market MultiFamily Deals - Adrian SalazarAdrian graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor’s in Construction Science Management and a Minor in Business Administration.
Adrian is a full-time real estate investor who currently controls over $8.8million in Multifamily assets. He is the founder of Optimum Buyers, from 2014 to 2017 has closed and funded 60+ single family deals and from 2017 to current, has closed and funded 150+ multifamily units. Primarily focusing on acquiring mismanaged, value add, off market properties in emerging markets for his holdings company.
Adrian is also the Co-Founder of Homely Escape, which is a short-term rental com...
2020-11-1655 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastAnnouncement: Spectology "series finale" and the future of the podcastSoo.... we've had a hard time keeping to a regular schedule recently, so Matt, Bee, & I (Adrian) have been discussing what we want the podcast to look like in the future.
In this episode, I just talk openly about those thoughts, our plan through the end of the year, and how the podcast might change come 2021.
I may write up a longer thing later, but right now I just wanted to get this out in audio format & solicit feedback from everyone on what you might like to see & hear, and also ask for any notes you have f...
2020-10-2313 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastDigital Book Tour: Somaiya Daud on Mirage & Court of Lions: Body doubles, court politics, and historical science fantasy.This week, Adrian is joined by Somaiya Daud to discuss her new book, Court of Lions, the 2nd in the Mirage Duology (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781250126450).
Somaiya and Adrian discuss genre mash-ups, body doubles, court politics, the legacy of French colonialism on Moroccan culture, the lack of beautiful dresses in the newest Star Wars trilogy, and how our cats are handling quarantine. I had a wonderful time talking to her and am absolutely loving Mirage, the first book in this duology, so I hope you listen, pick up her books, and enjoy!
* Mirage on bookshop: ht...
2020-09-1538 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast28.1: Do You Dream of Terra-Two pre-read w/ Bee & Estelle: Alternate History, Destiny, and Space TravelThis month Adrian is joined by Bee & Estelle to talk about Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by new British author Temi Oh (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781534437401).
Bee of course is from the Spectology podcast, where they run our Digital Book Tour. And Estelle runs the phenomenal Abolish Time zine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abolish_time/ . You can also find an interview Bee did with Estelle at their blog: https://uninterpretative.blogspot.com/2019/09/talking-about-new-society-requires.html
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? tells the story of a group of teenagers who, in an alternate history where rocketry was dev...
2020-09-091h 06Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast27.1: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull pre-read w/ Lydia: Alien invasion and a history of capitalism & colonialism.We're back? We're back. Mostly.
This month Matt is still out, and Adrian is joined by Lydia, a childhood friend of his from Homer, Alaska, to talk about the post-colonial alien invasion story The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781094081298).
It's about life on the US Virgin Islands after an alien spaceship takes up home on St. Thomas, bringing both technology and violence with them. This episode was recorded nearly a month ago, and while we hadn't finished the book then, I can report from the future that it's super-great!
Lydia and I ta...
2020-08-041h 20
Church: UnchartedAdrian Kitson // old churches, hippie camps, the titanic & cultural icebergsEpisode 3 of season 2, a conversation with Adrian Kitson about shifting the culture of a church. Edited by Becca Schubert.Connect with Adrianhttps://www.facebook.com/adrian.kitson.3https://stpetri.org.au/pastor@stpetri.org.auConnect with Matthttps://www.facebook.com/mpschuberthttps://www.rmlc.org.au/matthew.schubert@lca.org.auSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/churchuncharted)
2020-06-2431 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastDigital Book Tour: SA Jones on The Fortress, a book about restorative justice inside an all-women societyFor our fourth Digital Book Tour episode, Adrian is joined by Serje Jones, whose new book The Fortress (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781645660026) has been published by our friends at Erewhon books.
Serje & Adrian discuss restorative justice, writing trans-inclusive feminist science fiction, and feeling emotions in the body instead of in the mind. She also performs two readings from the book.
As a personal asside, I think this is the best novel I've read so far this year, and I really hope folks enjoy this episode & pick up the book. It's a startling, difficult, and radical look at another possible wo...
2020-06-2341 min
Conversations With DwyerAdrian Teacher - Apollo GhostsAdrian Teacher is a musician and songwriter out of B.C. He's in one of Dwyer's favorite bands the Apollo Ghosts and Adrian Teacher and the Subs. He joins Matt to talk about his logic behind having multiple bands, the 4 track movement and how it taught him how to write music, not having a business mind and the end of the four dude rock band era.https://apolloghosts.bandcamp.com/https://adrianteacher.bandcamp.com/https://thenameofthisbandiscool.bandcamp.com/Created, Produced and Curated by Matt DwyerConsulting Producer...
2020-06-1056 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast26.2: The True Queen post-read w/ Reading the End: Inclusion in Historical Fantasy, Comfort Reads, Sisterhood, and moreHey all, a few things: 1. This is really late. Sorry about that! It's because of: 2. The audio quality is really bad. Matt's computer essentially crashed during recording, so we had to use the back-up recording which was also screwed up by the whole situation. So it's bad, and I've done my best to make it listenable.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this episode were we talk about Zen Cho's The True Queen. It's a wonderful little book about sisterhood, magical academies, scary fairies, and issues of race & gender in Regency era England.
Please enjoy the...
2020-06-091h 53Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: Our Favorite Underrated SF Movies, with Seth Heasley of the Hugo's There podcastOnce again we're joined by Seth Heasley of the Hugo's There podcast (https://hugospodcast.com) to talk about science fiction films! This time, we're talking about our favorite SF movies we think are underrated in some way. Maybe they bombed at the box office, maybe critics hated them, or maybe they have just been forgotten and deserve another viewing.
What did we pick? You'll have to listen to find out! But it was a load of fun to have Seth back on, and you should check out his podcast (the episodes where Adrian or Matt guested are g...
2020-05-121h 04Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast26.1: The True Queen pre-read w/ Reading the End: Historical Fantasy, Trash Birds, and Chaotic Quarantine BrainAdrian + Matt are joined once again by our favorite podcast duo, Gin Jenny & Whiskey Jenny from the Reading the End blog & podcast. They've selected Zen Cho's Malaysian-inspired novel of magical Regency England, The True Queen.
This episode is extreme Chaotic Good energy. We barely talk about the book, and do our best to talk about historical fantasy, colonialism in fantasy, and other relevant themes. But let's be real, we're all over the map. Call it quarantine brain. Mostly we talk about which birds are trash birds, Gin Jenny's entente with the spiders, which is the best Pixar movie, traumatic ch...
2020-05-051h 32Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast25.2: The Tea Master & The Detective post-read w/ Julia Rios: Cozy Murder Mysteries in Space!Julia Rios of the This is Why We're Like This podcast is back for our post-read discussion of Aliette de Bodard's wonderful space murder mystery novella, The Tea Master & the Detective (https://amzn.to/3aD8cOU).
In this episode we discuss power structures within & outside of large organizations like unions or monasteries, the friendship between the main characters, and doing worldbuilding with non-Western cultures. It's a fun conversation, and we were so happy to have Julia on the podcast! If you haven't picked up this novella, I highly recommend the book as a nice corrective to our current crazy ti...
2020-04-241h 23Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: Our Favorite Aliens in Science FictionA quick bonus episode this week, with Matt & Adrian discussing their favorite Aliens in science fiction and beyond. We revisit some books we've read for the pod, talk about some classics, and hit on a few under-represented gems. We hope you like it!
A bit late, sorry about that! Quarantine time is weird. I'll try to get around to listing everything we talk about later but I want to get this out first: if there's anything in particular you'd like to get a link to, let me know at @spectologypod on twitter & I'll get it to you.
2020-04-1545 min
Jumping Off Bridges26: Jumping off Bridges Ep. 26 - Bottle Episode! Adam is back, Matt rants about Corona Virus, the boys talk about some TV shows and we basically just set up a third episode.In this episode our heroes kind of continue the conversation from last time, with Adam. Matt is in a grumpy mood, and Adrian fix's his echo.
2020-03-311h 23Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast25.1: The Tea Master & the Detective pre-read w/ Julia Rios: Domestic Cozy Detective Fiction, in Space!This month we're joined by special guest Julia Rios! Julia is a Hugo-award winning Editor & Podcaster, host of the This Is Why We're Like This podcast (which Matt has been a guest on!), and can be found at @OMGJulia on twitter. She edited the Machina Serial Box series, and her fiction has been featured in the Mexicanx anthology A Larger Reality.
We're reading The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (https://amzn.to/2Jqepmr), a Homesian mystery story told by a space ship. It's a lovely, warm, cozy, and short book at a time w...
2020-03-311h 02Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast24.2: Wittgenstein's Mistress post-read: In February reading this seemed like a good idea.This is a somewhat personal & sometimes somber episode, recorded while the world was changing rapidly around us due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. We do our best to discuss the novel, Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson, although neither of us were able to finish it due to external world circumstances. It is by far our shortest post-read ever.
We forgot to do content warnings. We have really frank discussions of grief, death, isolation, and loneliness. There is a brief mention of suicide.
While this was recorded, Adrian was in quarantine due to having had extended c...
2020-03-2447 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastThings We Like: Quarantine Edition! What to do, watch, and play while you're stuck inside.Last week, anticipating this week's shutdown of major US cities, Matt & Adrian sat down to talk about the ways we're working through our own social distancing boredom for a special edition of "things we like".
What are some of the best movies, games, and other activities to spend doing when going outside has become difficult or even dangerous? Check out this episode to find out, and of course a list of most of what we mentioned is below.
And finally, please do take this seriously! If you're not already removing yourself from public spaces and...
2020-03-1736 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast24.1: Wittgenstein's Mistress pre-read: Philosophical Science Fiction & being lonely at the end of the worldThis March, Spectology brings you a discussion on the little-known but largely influential novel by David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (https://bookshop.org/a/1159/9781564782113). Written from the perspective of the last woman on Earth, it's a sad and clever novel about loss, the Western cannon, the meaning of art, and the importance of other people in creating our identies.
In this episode, we discuss the philosophy underlying the novel. Who is Wittgenstein, and how do his ideas about the philosophy of language underly the project of this novel? How do Bertrand Russel, Kurt Gödel, & Søren Kierkegaard fit i...
2020-03-031h 06Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: 2019 Recap, Book Stats, & Reader QuestionsMatt & Adrian sit down for a chat looking back at 2019—which books ended up being our favorites, which episodes did we like, and how did we do in terms of diversity of authors, genres, and guests?
A big thanks to everyone who has stuck with us for two years now! Or who have just begun listening—we hope you'll stick around.
In addition, we were asked by a listener on Twitter (@spectologypod) to talk a bit about our favorite fantasy books, so we do that at the end. Here's a list of everything we mention (amaz...
2020-02-1136 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast22.2: A Memory Called Empire post-read: Matters of Taste, Culture Shock, and Historical WorldbuildingWell, we've finally found a book we disagree on! While Matt loved A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (https://amzn.to/2GrJJzC), Adrian was more cool on it. In this episode we discuss our disagreements, which largely come down to matters of taste in the aesthetics of stories we enjoy. We also get at some of the tough questions about empire & cultural hegemony posed by the book, and discuss wether we think the book fully explored these issues. We also talk plenty about the historical worldbuilding & other elements that we both enjoyed.
It's a different episode...
2020-01-281h 25Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: How & Why to Vote for the Hugo AwardsReally short bonus/emergency episode today. Adrian is on his own and off-script, giving you the insider scoop on how to nominate & vote in the Hugo Awards, as well as why you might want to.
Short answer: go to https://members.conzealand.nz/memberships and sign up for the "Supporting Membership". This will allow you to vote on the 2020 Hugo Awards, and nominate works for the 2021 Hugo Awards next year. For more general information, check out the Hugos website https://www.thehugoawards.org/i-want-to-vote/ which offers evergreen information on how to sign up for a membership any given year (it ch...
2020-01-2316 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast18.3: Stanley Chan discusses Chinese Science Fiction, the process of translating his novel Waste Tide, and trends in technology.Happy New Year, Spectologists!
Late in 2019, Matt sat down with Chen Qiufan / Stanley Chan, the author of Waste Tide, to discuss the book, the process of translating & editing it for an American audience, the importance of prose in genre fiction, how science fiction & startup culture interact in China, some of his favorite upcoming authors, and much much more.
The conversation took place in English, although the conversation took place while Stanley was calling from the Hong Kong airport between flights so the audio is a bit more rough than usual. However, the conversation they had sh...
2020-01-071h 03Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast21.4: Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand w/ Bee: Radical visions of Identity, Class, and GenderFor our final book in our "classics" series, we read Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, a novel by Samuel R. Delany (https://amzn.to/2tTUHL5). This episode we're joined by Bee Gabriel (@benladen on twitter & patreon.com/benladen), an old friend of the podcast & one of Adrian's favorite cultural critics.
This novel was an absolute joy to read & to talk about. Our discussion ranges the gamut, and our recording session went an hour over schedule because we all had so much we wanted to talk about! How gendered language affects the way we look at...
2019-12-291h 53Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast21.3: Ice by Anna Kavan post-read with Charlotte Geater: Experimental & Postmodern Fiction, and Death MeditationsA doozy of a book, and one where we start off the episode not agreeing on how we liked it! Charlotte Geater (@tambourine on twitter and creator of wonderful bot-based poetry) joins us again after her Rupetta episodes last December to discuss the 1960s underground classic, Ice by Anna Kavan (https://amzn.to/2PRGTth). We discuss death, addiction, patriarchy, experimental fiction, and whether there are any easy allegories in this novel (answer: no). Adrian comes to terms with not having enjoyed reading the novel—but being glad he read it.
This is a very brutal book, and if...
2019-12-241h 40Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast21.2: Childhood's End post-read w/ Seth Heasley: Religion, Psionics, and Big Ideas in Science FictionSeth Heasley of the Hugos There podcast (https://hugospodcast.com) joins us to discuss Arthur C. Clarke's 1950s classic, Childhood's End (https://amzn.to/2srqLWa).
This is a short book about big ideas, asking what would happen if aliens came to Earth and instituted a generations-long paternalistic program to get us ready for our next stage of evolution.
We discuss the book's major influence on science fiction, from Vinge, Niven, & Stephenson, to anime like Akira, to The Three-Body Problem. We dig deep into the books politics around colonialism. And we ask what it would be lik...
2019-12-171h 26Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast21.1: Classic SF pre-read: On creating cannons, and how to read problematic fiction & authors.Welcome to a very special pre-read episode. This December, Matt, Adrian, and a series of guests are reading 3 separate works of "classic" SF and talking about them & what makes them a "classic". The works will be:
* Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (https://amzn.to/35WGICa)
* Ice by Anna Kavan (https://amzn.to/33CEfes)
* Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany (https://amzn.to/2RdBTAk)
Each book (& author) has had an large influence on modern SF, and we'll talk about that in those respective episodes over the...
2019-12-031h 15Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast20.2: An Unkindness of Ghosts post-read: Slave States, Trauma, and Theocracy[A note: the content warnings at the beginning also apply to the episode as a whole. We talk about a lot of it in depth in a way that might be uncomfortable for some listeners. This episode is probably even less appropriate for younger children than normal due to that.]
We're back having read An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon (https://amzn.to/2OMpWie), and here to talk about it in depth!
We have a pretty far-ranging conversation about the ideas in the book, from how to be a friend and ally, to when v...
2019-11-261h 33Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: Fancasting Binti, Black Tom, the Culture, and Ninefox GambitJoin us as we reflect on a few of the novels we've read for the podcast so far, and imagine what they might look like as on-screen adaptations. Matt & Adrian play executive producers, coming up with concepts for the adaptations & directors, writers, and actors who might work on them.
Time stamps for each:
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Matt): 2m33s
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (Adrian): 13m05s
Player of Games (a Culture novel) by Iain M. Banks (Matt): 25m26s
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha L...
2019-11-1938 min
That Bad Review with Adrian Easdown82. Matt Bruckner on Accessibility, Sustainability & Communicating Effectively with GuestsMatt Bruckner is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for NRMA Parks and Resorts. Adrian and Matt entered the industry around the same time, both securing jobs through the Australian Tourism Park Management (ATPM). Adrian and his wife Casey moved away from ATPM and explored the holiday park industry as an independent husband and wife team, while Matt continued as an ...
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The post 82. Matt Bruckner on Accessibility, Sustainability & Communicating Effectively with Guests appeared first on Adrian Easdown.
2019-11-1000 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast19.2: Zone One post-read: Depression, Surviving the Apocalypse, and New York City in fictionComing at you in person, Matt & Adrian sat down in the same room to record an episode about Colson Whitehead's post-apocalyptic literary novel, Zone One (https://amzn.to/2MR1hZT).
We loved this book, and had in particular have a lot to say about its relationship to other apocalyptic literary fiction, the ways the novel discusses, analogizes, and interacts with depression & PTSD, and New York City in literature and reality.
Other works mentioned:
* Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
* White Noise by Don DeLillo
* Cosmopolis, dir. by David Cronenberg
* 10:04 by Ben Lerner
* California by Edan...
2019-10-291h 29Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastThings We Like October 2019: Video Games, LARPS, and MusicBuh-buh-buh-bonus!
Matt & Adrian return for another "things we like", where we talk about things we like outside of the books we're reading on the pod. Links are below, listen to the ep. to hear more about each one! If the links don't show up, they'll be on spectology.com.
Adrian's things:
- Otherworld Adventure LARP
- Gemini Man in 120fps (here's a podcast about it)
- Schitt's Creek (on Netflix)
Matt's things:
- This War of Mine (on Steam)
- R...
2019-10-2228 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast18.2: Waste Tide post-read: social class in science fiction, translation, and the problems with cyberpunkWe're back for our post-read discussion of Waste Tide by Stanley Chan / Chen Qiufan! (https://amzn.to/2njvSFr)
We had mixed but ultimately positive feelings about this book. It's been a great experience to read and talk about—rarely does a book present such a breadth of topics for us to cover. Matt read it in Chinese while Adrian read it in English, so we discuss the mechanics of the translation in depth, as well as how even small changes can have large effects on the over-all tone of the book.
However, it've also a boo...
2019-10-012h 06Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastCritical Conversations: Ning Ken's Ultra Unreal, how to define a genre, and genre gatekeepingFor today's episode, Matt & Adrian read an essay about Chinese Science Fiction by Chinese SF author Ning Ken, and talk about it. The essay, published as "Modern China is So Crazy It Needs a New Literary Genre" on LitHub (https://lithub.com/modern-china-is-so-crazy-it-needs-a-new-literary-genre/), outlines a subgenre of SF that (supposedly) doesn't exist in English, and discusses why it's so important in China.
We take the conversation far afield pretty quickly, asking what makes a genre, whether Ultra Unreal works exist in English, how relevant these works actually are in Chinese SF, and who ultimately gets to define...
2019-09-2455 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast18.1: Waste Tide pre-read: Chinese Language, Literary History, and Science FictionIt's finally happening! We're diving fully into one of Matt's areas of expertise, Chinese Literature. This month we're reading Waste Tide (https://amzn.to/2N4K80g), the first novel by Chinese science fiction author Chen Qiufan (known as Stanley Chan in English), translated by Ken Liu.
The book is new to both of us, so in addition to the usual bookfacts, this episode starts with a short introduction to the sociolinguistics of the Chinese language. From there we learn about the history of modern Chinese literature w/ a focus on how speculative fiction has been received o...
2019-09-101h 39
The Matt Corman Podcast - Kids At WorkDo you know yourself? with Adrian Stresow - Episode 4Adrian Stresow is a 21 year old full time recording artist out of Dallas Texas. Adrian has accumulated millions of plays across his music and has toured the country playing shows alongside Ryan Caraveo. He dropped out of college to pursue his passion and his been fully focused ever since. In this podcast, Matt and Adrian speak on the struggles of pursuing your passions while not seeking immediate results. You can follow Adrian @AdrianStresow Please Subscribe to our Kids At Work Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvhlWOKNiGIuP2zJo22AdxA Follow the Official Kids At Work Instagram https...
2019-09-0843 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast17.1: The Killing Moon pre-read: Worldbuilding techniques in SF & FantasyHey folks! Short description bc it's already very late & I'm trying to get this out. I may update this later w/ more info, check spectology.com in the next day or two if you'd like more links to all the other books we mention.
The book this month is The Killing Moon by NK Jemisin! It's a great book, potentially my favorite of hers. https://amzn.to/31DKqyr
Matt & I spend a very long time talking about worldbuilding, different ways of doing it, books we love that do it well, etc.. It's quite the pre-read. Al...
2019-08-131h 36Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastCritical Conversations: "Critics: Endgame" by Soraya Roberts & the purpose of criticism in a dying worldThis is the first in a new series of episodes we're calling "Critical Conversations", where we take a critical work & discuss it in-depth.
This time, Matt & Adrian discuss the article "Critics: Endgame" by Soraya Roberts & published in Longreads (https://longreads.com/2019/05/03/critics-endgame/).
Roberts asks what the purpose of pop culture criticism is in 2019, when fascism is ascendant and global warming is killing the planet, particularly criticism that is itself fandom. It's a critical essay which is critical of criticism, which ends up being a vital way for us to being talking about what we do on the p...
2019-08-0627 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast16.2: Empress of Forever post-read: Journey to the West, Redemption, and Buddhism in Science FictionThrough journeys and struggles, with the power of friendship, we did it! We recorded another episode, this time talking about Max Gladstone's latest solo novel, Empress of Forever (https://amzn.to/2ykpSOU).
We both really enjoyed this book, and were really happy to get to read a novel by a previous guest. We start the episode off with Matt explaining the ways in which the book is & is not a science fictional adaptation of the Chinese epic novel Journey to the West, and then spend a lot of time discussing redemption and forgiveness and how those two t...
2019-07-301h 46Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastThings We Like July 2019: Anime, Music, Poetry, and Cookbooks[This episode comes with a content warning for discussions of depression, suicide, and drug overdose. It's all relevant to the works & part of a good-natured conversation, but we wanted to mention that up front.]
This is an ongoing series we do every few months, going over some of the pop culture stuff we've liked recently. Some of it is SF adjacent, some of it isn't, but it's all good and enjoyable!
As always, if the links below don't show up in your podcatcher, they're all in the show notes spectology.com.
Matt's things:
2019-07-2329 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast16.1: Empress of Forever pre-read: Space Opera, Epics, & Journey to the WestWhat goes around comes around on the wheel of karma, so this month Matt & Adrian talking about the new novel from past guest Max Gladstone, Empress of Forever (https://amzn.to/2Jl9X94)!
We discuss a number of books, movies, TV shows, and RPGs in the general space opera subgenre. Here are some of the most relevant. If the links don't show up in your podcatcher, they will be available on the show notes at spectology.com.
- Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El...
2019-07-091h 09Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast15.3: Exhalation (collection) by Ted Chiang post-read: AI, Identity, & Metaphysics in Science FictionWelcome to our final episode on Ted Chiang's newest short story collection, Exhalation (https://amzn.to/2X5A0JW). Matt & Adrian start by going through all of the stories in this collection, then go really in-depth on a few specifically, just like we did with Exhalation in our last episode (https://www.spectology.com/e/152-exhalation-post-read-re-reading-stories-philosophy-of-mind-the-heat-death-of-the-universe/).
First 30 minutes: Intro, 2-3 minutes on each story, listing our favorites
29m 10s: "The Lifecycle of Software Objects": Mental & legal frameworks for how to relate to AI
1h 01m 14s: "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Fr...
2019-06-251h 52Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast15.2: "Exhalation" post-read: Re-reading stories, philosophy of mind, & the heat death of the universeThis week's minisode is an in-depth discussion of ONLY the title story from Ted Chiang's new collection, Exhalation (https://amzn.to/2RlWfVY). The story "Exhalation" is available for free online at Lightspeed magazine (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/exhalation/), so we thought we'd start with this to whet everyone's appetite, and give new readers a chance to read something by Chiang to decide whether you want to pick up the full book.
We dig apart Matt's experience of re-reading this story (something he rarely does), discuss the meaty themes the story presents, and offer a few other stories about t...
2019-06-1838 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast15.1: Exhalation by Ted Chiang, pre-read: Philosophical thought experiments & short storiesAdrian & Matt are back on their own this month, reading & talking about the short story collection Exhalation, by Ted Chiang. A wonderful collection of short fiction, we've decided to do something a little bit different from the usual.
With this episode we talk about the power of short-form fiction, why we love Chiang's work so much, and (starting at 43:25) ask each other a couple tough philosophical questions of the type Chiang's stories attempt to answer.
Books & movies mentioned include (links help support Spectology, go to spectology.com if they're not showing up):
- Exhalation, by Te...
2019-06-041h 15Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastThings We Like May 2019 (feat. Reading the End): TV Shows, Art, and FishOur guests this month, the Demographically Similar Jennys from the Reading the End Podcast & Blog, join Adrian for a round of "Things We Like" to go over some of our favorite undersung pop culture items we want to share with everyone! We are a little punchy as we're in hour 3 of recording (this was recorded after our Raven Tower post-read, which will come out next week)!
Our things are:
Gin Jenny:
- Into the Spider-Verse
- Batchelor Party & Here to Make Friends
- Genius (comic) vol. 1 & vol. 2
Whiskey Jenny:
- An...
2019-05-2128 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast14.1: The Raven Tower pre-read w/ Reading the End: Fantasy, Genre, & Gender!This month, we welcome the Demographically Similar Jennys from the wonderful & charming Reading the End Podcast to Spectology to read Ann Leckie's newest book, The Raven Tower! (https://amzn.to/2VShdjK)
The four of us discuss our past experiences reading both fantasy & science fiction, and how gender is used within those genres, as well as how it drives decisions about how to market those genres by the larger publishing industry.
We couldn't have more well-read, fun, & knowledgeable guests for this discussion, so we really hope you enjoy this ep, and check out the Jennys' podcast as well. A...
2019-05-071h 19Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast13.3 (fixed): Chris Beckett discusses his novel Dark Eden, writing for realism over role models, and how he thinks about genre.(Uploaded the wrong file earlier, if you have 2 versions of this episode, this is the correct one.)
This week we have a very special episode, as we're joined by Chris Beckett, author of April's book club selection Dark Eden. Chris was kind enough to call in from the UK to answer questions from Adrian, Matt, & Kevin (as asked by Adrian) about the book, his writing process, how he views political change, why his books don't have role models, his history with science fiction, and much more.
We hope you enjoy this episode! If you like i...
2019-04-2353 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast13.2: Dark Eden post-read w/ Kevin Kelsey: From Stories to Legends to Myths to Religion.We're once again joined by Kevin Kelsey of Heradas.com to discuss Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett (https://amzn.to/2TRcpX0). We've (re-)read this book and all loved it, and have a lot to dig into!
We talk about the political philosophy of the book. We discuss the psychological reality of the characters. Adrian rants about poverty for 5 minutes and why this book is personal for him, so that's on-brand. It's worth heeding the content warnings on this one, we talk in-depth about that stuff in the 2nd hour.
A few of the resources we m...
2019-04-162h 23Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast13.1: Dark Eden pre-read w/ Kevin Kelsey: Linguistic drift, creating myths, and rogue planets.To celebrate having been at the podcast for one full year, Matt & Adrian are joined by Kevin Kelsey of Heradas.com as we make our most self-indulgent pick yet: Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett (https://amzn.to/2TRcpX0).
Join us for a somewhat self-reflective episode on why this is one of our favorite books, and why we think everyone should read it. It has linguistics, it has sociology, it has long time scales, it has survival in a harsh world, it has society building, it has a page-turning story, and it is probably the book we've mentioned...
2019-04-021h 20Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast12.2: Semiosis post-read w/ Nate Spence: Budding Utopia or Mutualist Dystopia?Matt, Nate, & Adrian have a long, rollicking conversation about Semiosis, by Sue Burke (https://amzn.to/2JGYm6C). We all really loved the book, but also have a lot of criticism of it, and we get really in-depth on what it all means to us.
The only other books we really mention are Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovski and Dark Eden by Chris Beckett. Look for our 8.1 & 8.2 episode numbers for discussion on CoT, and look out for our episodes on Dark Eden next month!
In addition, if you want to go deeper on how ec...
2019-03-262h 09Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastThings We Like March 2019: Podcasts, TV Shows, Music, and moreThis is an ongoing series we do every few months, going over some of the pop culture stuff we've liked recently. Some of it is SF adjacent, some of it isn't, but it's all good and enjoyable!
Matt's things:
- Terrace House (Japanese reality TV, available on Netflix)
- Thunder Bay (true crime podcast)
- Universal Beings by Makaya McCraven (jazz album: check out Natalie Weiner's review)
Adrian's things:
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild (video game: check out Austin Walker's review)
- Blan...
2019-03-1934 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast12.1: Semiosis pre-read w/ Nate Spence: Alaska, Survivalism, and Ecology in Science FictionIf you like stories about Alaska, then this is the episode for you! Author, game developer, and Adrian's childhood friend Nate Spence is this month's guest, discussing the ecological survival SF novel Semiosis by Sue Burke (https://amzn.to/2TceBgh). In the novel, a small group of humans tries to colonize what seems like a wilderness planet. The novel follows their survival & evolution of their society over generations.
In this episode, we talk a lot about growing up in wilderness areas and what it's like. What's a pushki? What did Nate's dad teach him in lieu of...
2019-03-051h 19Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: 2018 In ReviewJoin us for a fun & punchy look back at Spectology's first year in books. Matt & Adrian discuss the favorite books we read in 2018, some of our favorite episodes to record, and just generally have a good time while reflecting on what a wonderful year we had together & with you all.
Major thanks goes out to everyone who has helped us so far! Our guests in 2018: Tobias, Britt, Max, Ellie, Kevin, & Charlotte. Dubby J & Noah Bradley for providing music & art to us. Seth for hosting me on his podcast. And of course anyone who has told a friend, s...
2019-02-1233 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast11.1: Brown Girl in the Ring pre-read w/ Mendez Hodes: The History of African Religion in DiasporaThis month on Spectology, we're reading Brown Girl in the Ring (https://amzn.to/2G9dqqZ) by Nalo Hopkinson, a classic of Caribbean SF & Fantasy. A young mother must outwit a warlord in post-apocalyptic Toronto in order to save her community, but to do so she'll need the help of that community & its gods.
Adrian & Matt are joined by Mendez Hodes (https://jamesmendezhodes.com), a writer & cultural consultant who works on RPGs and education curricula, who has an academic background is in African Religions. Together, they discuss how African religions found their way to the Americas through th...
2019-02-051h 33Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast10.2: Ten Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights post-read: Meditations on Death and EntropyThis week Adrian & Matt have finished this month's novel (Ten Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights) and have a whole lot to say about it! We talk about entropy, death, religion, and more. I'd write more but I'm tired so you'll just have to listen.
Some critical reviews of the novel we liked & mentioned:
* Strange Horizons (https://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/the-strange-horizons-book-club-ten-billion-days-and-one-hundred-billion-nights/)
* Complete Review (https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/trscifi/mitsuser.htm)
* Two Dudes in an Attic (https://twodudesff.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/10-billion-days-100-billion-nights/)
Anime worth checking out:
* Akira
* Ghost in the Shell
* Princess Mononoke
* The Girl Who Leapt Th...
2019-01-291h 34Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: SF Movie Adaptations w/ Seth HeasleyAdrian & Matt are joined by Seth Heasley of the Hugos There & Take Me to Your Reader podcasts to talk about our favorite SF movie adaptations. We each take turns picking one of our favorites, then talk about it as a group.
Which movies do we pick? What kinds of adaptations are our favorites? Which movies do we think are actually better than the book? You'll have to listen to find out.
Make sure to check out Seth's podcasts. A good place to start is his & Adrian's conversation on The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula...
2019-01-1559 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast10.1: Ten Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights pre-read: Disaster communities & transmission of ideas between cultures.Happy New Year! Matt & Adrian are back to talk about one of Matt's picks. Ten Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse (https://amzn.to/2Vw3CM8) is a classic of Japanese science fiction which was just recently (2011) translated and published in English. It tells an epic story that begins at the beginning of the universe and ends at its end.
This episode, Adrian & Matt discuss Japanese science fiction in various media, how Japanese & Anglo SF influenced each other, and how disasters can create communities amongst those who live through them.
Books & movies mentioned include (li...
2019-01-081h 20Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast9.2: Rupetta post-read: Academic pursuits & feminist fantasy.Happy holidays to all you spectologists! In our final episode of 2018, Adrian & Charlotte complete their discussion of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award-winning novel Rupetta by NA Sulway (https://amzn.to/2SjgX8r). This wonderful, overlooked novel has us both ruminating about our time in university, trying to dig into the meaning of a mechanical heart, and discussing how the prose & the story reinforced each other.
Please excuse the sniffles, Adrian was a bit sick & tried to edit them all out, although I'm sure I missed a few.
Charlotte can be found online at:
* @ta...
2018-12-231h 45Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast9.1: Rupetta pre-read w/ Charlotte Geater: Folk tales & feminist histories.This month, Adrian is joined by listener, poet, & publisher Charlotte Geater (@tambourine) to discuss Rupetta, by N.A. Sulway.
Rupetta is an under-appreciated historical SF novel about a clockwork woman & the human women through history who act as her caretakers. It won the James Tiptree, Jr. award in 2013, and was recently re-published in ebook format.
Charlotte & Adrian discuss the publishing history of the book, Sulway's other works, historiography, folk tales, and the metaphors by which we understand consciousness.
Works & links mentioned include:
* An interview with Sulway about one of the folk hi...
2018-12-041h 13Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast8.2: Children of Time post-read: Evolution, Language, Consciousness, and EmpathyWe've read Children of Time (https://amzn.to/2QqYKII), and boy do we have a lot to say about it! This episode we discuss the structure of the book, whether novels need strong characters, how animal consciousness might differ from our own, and how to stock a ship designed to re-seed the human race on another planet. Adrian gets to jabber on about the Baldwin Effect & octopuses, and Matt makes some sharp points about the importance of empathy. Truly this podcast represents the future liberals want.
As always, here's a list of stuff we discuss in the ep...
2018-11-271h 56Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast8.1: The Children of Time pre-read: What is "Hard" Science Fiction?This November we're reading Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Woo Adrians!
This episode we discuss what the "science" in science fiction means. What other books portray science well? What does it mean to write a book about science? Should science fiction try to be "realistic"?
In addition, we give you the book facts, and discuss a number of other works. Links are at spectology.com if they don't show up in your podcatcher:
* Blindsight by Peter Watts
* Ursula K. Le Guin
* Foreigner by CJ Cherryh
* The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
* The Sparro...
2018-11-1356 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastAnnouncements: Adrian guest hosts a podcast + our November bookTwo quick announcements today, since we weren't able to get our usual pre-read episode recorded in time.
The first is that our November book will be Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is a book neither of us has read, but won the Clarke award and has themes that we're both interested in. Should be a good time.
The second is that Adrian guest hosted on the Hugos There Podcast (https://hugospodcast.com) a few days ago to talk about Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. It was a great conversation ab...
2018-11-0603 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: Books, Ebooks, & Audio Books; or, How Aesthetics Drive Reading ChoicesIn this bonus episode we welcome Kevin Kelsey, author of the Heradas.com SF Blog & longtime listener, to discuss our reading habits.
How does reading on paper differ from reading on an e-reader? Why does one of us prefer paper for non-fiction and ebooks for fiction? Who enjoys audio books the most? Which imprint has the best physical books? When is it OK to write in a book? And why does Adrian sound like a sad Cookie Monster impersonator? We discuss all of these and more in what was a hugely fun conversation.
Many thanks...
2018-10-1654 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast7.1: The Ballad of Black Tom pre-read: Race & the History of Horror FictionFor October, Matt & Adrian are dipping their toes into the world of Horror, reading Victor LaValle's novella The Ballad of Black Tom. The Ballad of Black Tom is a retelling of one of HP Lovecraft's most egregiously racist short stories, "The Horror at Red Hook", from the perspective of a black man living in Harlem who gets wrapped up in NYC's magical underworld. It won or was short listed for a number of top SF, Horror, and Fantasy awards due to its compelling characters, comfortable prose, and ratcheting tension.
In this episode, we discuss our own histories r...
2018-10-021h 02Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastThings We Like: September 18Welcome back friends, it's been a while! Adrian & Matt are back from our break, happy to bring you our hottest takes on what we've been enjoying recently. And next week we'll have our post-read Episode for Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, so you should read that & listen to our last episode if you haven't yet.
This week we cover:
- MeasuredPolitics.org, Adrian's Political Action Committee
- Mike Boyd's YouTube channel, where he documents his process learning random skills
- Bojack Horseman, a show about a depressed actor / horse on Netflix
- The Cheese & t...
2018-09-1837 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast6.1: Ninefox Gambit pre-read w/ Ellie Bartels: Strategy War Games in Science FictionLate episode this week... but early episode this month! It's the Labor Day holiday weekend, so we wanted to post a longer episode to keep people company during all the BBQs and road trips.
This month, the book we're reading is the Locus-award winning Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee. We also have a wonderful guest. Ellie Bartels is a strategy & war game designer, and has long been book club pals with Adrian & Matt.
In this episode we discuss military science fiction, how science fiction and fantasy interact with each other, education game design, math, gen...
2018-08-301h 16Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: Things We Like This MonthAdrian & Matt are together for a short episode going over some of their favorite books, movies, video games, and podcasts of recent. We each discuss three things that we're excited to share with each other and all of you! They are:
- Making Obama, a podcast from WBEZ Chicago
- Sorry to Bother You, a movie from Boots Riley (see it in theatres!)
- Japanese Style Originator, available on Netflix
- Chrono Trigger, available on Steam, iOS, Android, etc
- The Invisible Valley by Su Wei, trans. Austin Woerner, Sma...
2018-08-1432 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast5.1: Pre-read for Gnomon, by Nick Harkaway, with guest Max GladstoneWe're back with the #content plants crave. Joining us this week is special guest Max Gladstone, SF & fantasy author extraordinaire. But he's not here to talk about his own work, the Craft Sequence, oh no. Max wanted to discuss the phenomenal, long, daunting, nuanced, and mysterious Gnomon, by estemed author in his own right Nick Harkaway.
The discussion this week is spoiler-free, and acts as an introduction to the book and the ideas in it. We had a long and wide-ranging conversation with Max about Nick Harkaway's literary background (his father is also a famous author), which o...
2018-08-071h 50Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast4.3: Matt's back for our Romie Futch wrap-up!We got your hot takes right here, folks! Matt's back for a super-quick wrap-up of our series on The New & Improved Romie Futch by Julia Elliott.
Matt reveals his favorite scenes from the book, we go down some rabbit holes talking about taxidermy and halloween costumes, and discuss about why growth as an adult is so difficult & important. We also mention the phrase "Soft Apocalypse" a bunch, which comes from the phenomenal book by that title by Will McIntosh. And manage to keep it under 30 minutes!
Next week we'll be back with another long episode, disc...
2018-07-3127 minSpectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast4.2: The New & Improved Romie Futch post-read w/ Britt O'DuffyWe're back for our post-read episode of The New and Improved Romie Futch. This time, our friend Brittney O'Duffy dropped by to give her thoughts on the novel. She and Adrian discuss education as a gateway between socio-economic class in America, the use of the male gaze in Romie Futch, marketing analytics & the surviellance state, recontextualize the "millenials are killing X" think-pieces, and much much more. Sadly, Matt couldn't be with us this time, but he and Adrian will have a short wrap-up episode next week.
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As always, we'd love to hear from you! Twe...
2018-07-241h 21Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club PodcastIn Conversation: Matt & Adrian talk "Spoilers"What is a spoiler? Why do we care about them? How do different people react to them? Do fan communities police spoilers too much? If a spoiler makes you like something more, is it really a spoiler?
This week, Matt and Adrian talk about their own reading habits and how they think about "spoilers" both in their own reading, and when interacting with others.
This episode is part of a new series we're calling "In Conversation", shorter episodes where we talk about one topic in the SFF world. Sometimes we'll have a guest, and sometimes it...
2018-07-1732 min
SpectologyIn Conversation: Matt & Adrian talk “Spoilers”What is a spoiler? Why do we care about them? How do different people react to them? Do fan communities police spoilers too much? If a spoiler makes you like something more, is it really a spoiler? This week, Matt and Adrian talk about their own reading habits and how they think about "spoilers" both in their own reading, and when interacting with others. This episode is part of a new series we're calling "In Conversation", shorter episodes where we talk about one topic in the SFF world. Sometimes we'll have a guest, an...
2018-07-1732 min
Spectology4.1: The New & Improved Romie Futch pre-readJuly's book is The New and Improved Romie Futch, by Julia Elliott. Julia is an English and Women's & Gender Studies professor at the University of South Carolina, as well as an accalimed short story writer. Her first novel, Romie Futch follows the titular character, Roman, as he goes from schlubby taxidermist in rural South Carolina to a brain-enhansed schlubby taxidermist in rural South Carolina. In this spoiler-free, pre-read episode, Adrian & Matt give you the book facts, as well as discussing rural life in modern America, how education acts as a gateway between social classes, and masculinity in...
2018-07-101h 07Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast4.1: The New & Improved Romie Futch pre-readJuly's book is The New and Improved Romie Futch, by Julia Elliott. Julia is an English and Women's & Gender Studies professor at the University of South Carolina, as well as an accalimed short story writer. Her first novel, Romie Futch follows the titular character, Roman, as he goes from schlubby taxidermist in rural South Carolina to a brain-enhansed schlubby taxidermist in rural South Carolina.
In this spoiler-free, pre-read episode, Adrian & Matt give you the book facts, as well as discussing rural life in modern America, how education acts as a gateway between social classes, and masculinity in sc...
2018-07-101h 07Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast3.2: Binti post-readWelcome to our first post-read episode this month, for the first novella in the Binti Trilogy: "Binti".
In this episode, Adrian connects his childhood growing up in rural Alaska to Binti's background, Matt talks about why he loves the moral landscape of the novella, we discuss the essence of technology, and we both answer whether we'd rather be Meduse or a shrimp-ship.
Content warning for some discussion of the violence in the book, as well as spoilers for only the first Binti novella.
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As always, we'd love to hear from you...
2018-06-121h 18Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast3.1: The Binti Trilogy pre-readA new month, a new book! Or in this case, series of books. The Binti Trilogy is a set of short novellas by Nnedi Okorafor. Together they are about the same size as a novel (and about the cost). They tell the story of a young woman in Western Africa who gets an invitation to the best university in the galaxy, and leaves everything she knows to attend. However, these aren't your typical chosen one or fish out of water school stories, and they take a lot of unexpected twists and turns along the way.
We loved th...
2018-06-051h 14Spectology: The Science Fiction Book Club Podcast2.1: The Sparrow Pre-ReadWe're excited to announce that in May, we're reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell!
In this spoiler free, pre-read episode, Adrian and Matt discuss religion in science fiction. How do different books handle religion in the future? Does science fiction have an antagonistic relationship with religion? What are some of our favorite works of SF that feature religion? There's a diversion into Adrian's fundamentalist upbringing and his path to agnosticism. And what does a prog rock album based on future Jesuits sound like?
Some of the books we talk about this episode are:
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2018-05-011h 18