Episode 515: The Line is the Reward

Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: Steven, Devon and Ben are all raring to go this episode. Steven talks about a power and internet outtage that almost kept our dear listeners from hearing his sweet, sweet voice. We end up chatting about house batteries, electric vehicles, generators, and how power flows through a power grid. Steven was also able to con his wife into playing Arcs, and she had some valid opinions. Ben says, "There are no good hands in Arcs" and he's not wrong. Ben's mom visited him for a few days (Hi Martha!) and he played tourist. They watched The Goonies in the theater, visited Hearst Castle and watched Twister. Devon was Devon, this whole time.

Future or Now

I can pay ten bucks to see Kevin Costner drink his own urine? Where do I sign up?: Scientists built real-life "stillsuit" to recycle astronaut urine on space walks. We talk about what astronauts do now on space walks, and to what extent this "stillsuit" will be helpful. Steven goes on a tangent about smells and coffee and drinking filtered urine.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/07/scientists-built-real-life-stillsuit-to-recycle-astronaut-urine-on-space-walks/

Devon's TV corner: Devon gives us a mini-review on the 4th season of The Boys. He talks about the "controversy" of the show thinly veiled attacked on the right, and how Vought = Fox News. It's silly that people didn't realize that The Boys has always been satire. Devon also watched the second season of Star Trek: Prodigy and he and Ben have thoughtful discussions about characters that Steven doesn't know. They focus on Chakotay and Robert Beltran. Steven tags onto Devon's tv reviews to give a micro-review on The Acolyte which we'll dive into more on a future episode.

Book Club

Next Week: "Clap Back" by Nalo Hopkinson

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098QNLW6D

This Week: "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker

https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/where-oaken-hearts-do-gather/

We have quite the discussion this week, mostly stemming from the format of this story. Ben had a strong reaction to the format (it disagrees with him). Steven enjoyed the mystery and parallel stories being told. Devon chimes in about folk song covers and references Metallica and Whiskey in the Jar and Mary of the Wild Moor by The Louvin Brothers. Ben is reminded of "Little Brother" by Corey Doctorow https://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

In the future we may visit some horror short stories as requested by a listener (Thanks Tom!).