The Sci-Fi Podcast – Episode 47: Aliens: Zone of Silence and The Toys that Made Us: episode 1

Welcome to The SciFi Podcast, a wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things science fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to 2018. The Sci-Fi Podcast crew has been preparing the schedule for the year and decided to start with a film review request and a trip into the mighty world of nostalgia.

Remember to check the show notes for a link to friend of the podcast Yo, Joe! Depot. As always, tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

Theme music courtesy of i hear sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of i hear sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production by Mattroid; artwork by Mattroid.

Ratings for Aliens: Zone of Silence

Mattroid – 2.5

William – 2.0

Station! – 4.5

SHOW NOTES:

Liz’s video, Tomato, Tomato, is unavailable at this time…which is too bad because the VHS is excellent.

Find Yo, Joe! and his amazing collection of vintage toys (which you can purchase!) here.

THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 31: Rogue One (2016) – LIVE!

Welcome to The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features four hosts—Mattroid, Brain, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

This episode is another LIVE! recording (sorry about the sound flubs!), where your lovable band of podcasting misfits gleefully discuss the highly anticipated, eagerly awaited, very first Star Wars anthology movie, Rogue One. The second half of the episode is a spoiler-heavy discussion, but if you’ve not yet seen the movie, you can still get a full, spoiler-free review in the first part of the show.

Did you love it? Hate it? Somewhere in the middle? Let us know!

Theme music courtesy of TMMC, which features Matt on guitar, and I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and artwork by Mattroid and SpaceWolf.

THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 25: Ghostbusters (1984) vs Ghostbusters (2016)

G v G
Welcome to
 The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, Brain, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

Who you gonna call? The question should probably best be posed differently: When you call the ghostbusters, will you use a payphone or a smartphone? In this spooky episode, Brain, Station! and Mattroid discuss the differences between the original Ghostbusters movie and the recently released, female-fronted version. Which do you prefer and why? Let us know in the comments section.

Theme music courtesy of I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and artwork by Mattroid. Additional tracks by Infectious Grooves. Check out Stewart Craig’s amazing artwork at www.stewartmortimer.deviantart.com.

THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 19: The Martian (2015)

TSFP The Martian BannerWelcome to The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

This episode we bring back our real life friend and a real life physicist, Brian “The Brain” Patchett, to get his insights on the use of science in Ridley Scott’s latest, The Martian. Just how scientifically accurate is this movie?! You’re about to find out.

Theme music courtesy of I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and artwork SpaceWolf.

THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 14: The Science of Star Wars

TSFP Science of Star Wars Hologram

Welcome to The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

This episode we bring back our real life friend and a real life physicist, Brian “The Brain” Patchett, to get his insights on the use of science (and pseudo-science) in the Star Wars saga. Brian teases lightsabers and gives us a full rundown on speeders, blasters, warp drives, deflector shields, The Death Star and more.

We also officially welcome Brain into the fold, updating his status from “special guest” to “contributor” … but contributing what, exactly? Well, besides guesting on great podcasts like this that will melt YOUR brain, OUR Brain writes incredibly-interesting essays for the site about the real science behind filmic fiction. If you haven’t read his “Brain Blogs” you are truly doing yourself a disservice. The most applicable to this week’s episode is his most recent essay, “Laser vs. Plasma, Sword Battle of Doom!,” or as Matt says “All About Lightsabers,” but they are all great.

Theme music courtesy of I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and artwork SpaceWolf.
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BRAIN BLOG: Laser vs. Plasma, Sword Battle of Doom!

Star Wars Laser Swords
Original Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

1 STARKILLER AND HIS TRUSTY LAZERSWORD

Stories abound on the internet these days about early drafts of the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas made the move from Starkiller to Skywalker, from Bogan to The Dark Side, and since when is Biggs Luke’s brother? But most importantly for this essay, he went from Lazersword to Lightsaber, (check out starwarz.com for more). Both of which are terrible misnomers, even though the latter is far cooler sounding. Unfortunately both regular light and light amplified by the stimulated emission of radiation are completely useless as a weapon, or a tool, or anything beyond a fancy colored flashlight for finding your way through a dense jungle cavern. So let’s do this . . .
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THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 12: Halloween Special

TSFP Halloween Special

Welcome to The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

On this special episode of The SciFi Podcast, we are joined by members of the TSFP family and frequent podcast guests Brain and SpaceWolf.

Theme music courtesy of I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and artwork by SpaceWolf who can be found podcasting at Movie Stream Cast and Horror Movie Podcast. You can also follow him on Twitter @IcarusArts.

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BRAIN BLOG: Time Travel and Thermodynamics

Time Travel White

1 WHERE WE’RE GOING, WE DON’T NEED ROADS . . .

Hollywood seems to be a huge fan of veering off into no-man’s land when time travel is involved. From flux capacitors to spinning egg timers on a string they would have you believe that “All of the silly details to time travel have already been accounted for, surely then you need only believe the premise of the story!” Perhaps that is indeed the case. Maybe we should believe in the science of a flux capacitor, an ancient staff, a metal box with washers glued to it, or a giant spinning EM quantum field generator. They sound science-y don’t they? I mean, the writers must have had the decency to look into these theories before taking the leap onto the silver screen. . . right?
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THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 8: Terminator Genysis (2015) and Time Travel

Terminator Genysis and Time TravelWelcome to The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

We thought it was “about time” we get to our Terminator Genysis coverage, so we brought on special guest Brian “The Brain” Patchett, our real life friend and a real life physicist, for our discussion of the the film and the themed discussion of the real science behind the filmic representation of fictional time travel.

Theme music courtesy of I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production by Solo and SpaceWolf. Art by SpaceWolf.

Show notes after the jump.
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THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 7: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase 2 including Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Ant-Man (2015)

MCU Phase 2Welcome to The SciFi Podcasta wretched hive of scum and villainy a podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things Science Fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.

On this episode of The SciFi Podcast, SpaceWolf returns for a Considering the Sequels style show to discuss the entire second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe including a feature review of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) with special guest Wildman Willis Wheeler, as well as a feature review of Ant-Man (2015)! We’ll also be bringing you more MCU mini-reviews of Iron Man 3 (2013) and Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and our Top 3 MCU film lists.

Theme music courtesy of I Hear Sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of I Hear Sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and art by SpaceWolf who can be found podcasting at Movie Stream Cast and Horror Movie Podcast. You can also follow him on Twitter @IcarusArts.

Show notes after the jump.
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