Our Opinions Are Correct

Oct 31 2024 182 ep. 44 mins 3.8k
Our Opinions Are Correct Podcast artwork

Explore the meaning of science fiction, and how it's relevant to real-life science and society. Your hosts are Annalee Newitz, a science journalist who writes science fiction, and Charlie Jane Anders, a science fiction writer who is obsessed with science. Every two weeks, we take deep dives into science fiction books, movies, television, and comics that will expand your mind -- and maybe change your life

  TV & Film  Society & Culture
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10 Years After "Over the Garden Wall"

Oct 31 2024 48 mins  
We're taking a cozy, autumnal trip back in time to "peak television," when animation was truly feral and we had shows like "Over the Garden Wall." We'll talk about this otherworldly tale of singing frogs, sibling rivalry, and nice witches, as well as the ways that animation has changed since the mid-teens. Plus we talk to Michele Tracy Berger, author of the new horror story collect

Every Town Deserves a Library (with Ken Liu)

Oct 16 2024 47 mins  
Science fiction and fantasy are full of wondrous libraries containing everything from powerful artifacts to some dang good reads. How does the idealized view of libraries in speculative fiction compare with the real-life libraries, which are under attack by would-be censors and culture warriors? Also, we talk to award-winning author Ken Liu about his brand new translation of the cl

How to Raise the Stakes without Ruining Your Story

Oct 03 2024 50 mins  
It's time for some writing advice! We talk about how to raise the stakes in a story without wrecking it. What exactly do we mean by "stakes," anyway, and does raising them always involve some kind of plot twist? Later in the episode we talk to the creators and musicians behind the blog Women of Noise to learn more about the women who rule electronic music, and why there is an overl

Science Fiction is a normalization machine (with Rob Cameron)

Sep 19 2024 48 mins  
Science fiction is great at helping people get used to strange concepts — or people — and making us see them as more "normal." But what does "normal" mean, and is it always a good thing? Later in the episode, we talk to Rob Cameron, author of the new novel Daydreamer, about writing neurodivergent characters.

When Fiction Becomes a Microaggression (with Evelyn Douek)

Sep 05 2024 47 mins  
When someone disrespects you in a subtle way, with plausible deniability, it can do just as much damage as overt bigotry. So we're talking about microaggressions — what they are, and how science fiction explores them but also perpetuates them. And later in the episode, we talk to Stanford professor Evelyn Douek about what's next for content moderation on the internet.

Encore Episode: Nationalism is science fiction, with Wajahat Ali

Aug 21 2024 42 mins  
In one of our favorite episodes from 2021, we talked to TV news commentator and author (and scifi fan!) Wajahat Ali about nationalism in science fiction. It's feeling relevant again. We'll be back in your feeds with brand-new episodes starting in two weeks!

Our Advice Is Correct

Aug 08 2024 37 mins  
Dearest Listeners, you asked us for advice, and now we've got the definitive answers! From writing and relationship questions, to concerns about the best way to alter the timeline, we tackle it all.

Dinosaurs and Furries, with Riley Black

Jul 25 2024 57 mins  
We're learning so much about dinosaurs lately — there are incredible new species, discoveries about how they had sex, and more detailed evidence about what happened during their final days on Earth. To find out more, we talk to Riley Black, author of the award-winning book The Last Days of the Dinosaurs. Riley also tells us about being a furry, and dispels some common misconcepti

Immigration law in space, with Victor Manibo

Jul 11 2024 44 mins  
What is the point of absurdist storytelling in a world that feels absurd? We talk about science fiction that gets silly, satirical, and weird -- and why we need it desperately. From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to The Onion, we analyze absurdism as readers and writers. Then we're joined by Victor Manibo, author of the brilliant new novel Escape Velocity, who tells us about

Secrets of the Planet of the Apes with Josh Friedman

Jun 27 2024 54 mins  
The Planet of the Apes franchise spans decades and formats: it started as a French novel in 1963, and then jumped the Atlantic to become a long-running series of movies, TV shows, a cartoon, and even videogames. We talk about the politics of the story, and why some versions succeed while others fail. Then we're joined by Josh Friedman, who wrote Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a