THE SCI-FI PODCAST EP 26: Coherence and an Interview With Jim Byrkit

Posted on September 29, 2016 by SciFiHost

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, 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.

In this special episode, Station! and Mattroid briefly provide comments on the thriller sci-fi/fantasy film Coherence, before interviewing the hilarious and insightful writer and director of the film, Jim Byrkit. What did you think of Coherence? What color is your glowstick? Let us know in the comments section, below. And don’t miss the epic Coherence episode of TSFP sister show Movie Stream Cast where SpaceWolf and Cody Clark review the film before Brain brings it with his typical physicist-ish-insights knowledge.

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.

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

Posted on March 25, 2016 by IcarusArts

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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.

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

Posted on November 26, 2015 by IcarusArts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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.

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!

Posted on November 17, 2015 by IcarusArts

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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