Wizards & Spaceships

Jan 15 2025 10 ep. 44 mins 7
Wizards & Spaceships Podcast artwork

Welcome to Wizards and Spaceships, the only podcast that’s about wizards and also about spaceships. Well, probably not, but it does involve wizards, spaceships, and the things we love (and complain about) in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

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Can*Con Can-Can ft. Ira Nayman and Shirley Meier

Jan 15 2025 35 mins  
Rachel and David take the show on the road to Can*Con 2024 in Ottawa. We recorded the launch of The Dance, a multiverse anthology, as well as some general table silliness. Show notes: Buy The Dance online Can*Con Ira's website Shirley at Fantastic Fiction

Worldbuilding ft. Ursula Whitcher

Dec 15 2024 30 mins  
put notes here

The Great Hugo Awards Controversy ft. Diane Lacey

Nov 15 2024 45 mins  
Welcome to the first episode of Wizards & Spaceships to pass the Bechdel Test! In 2023, the Hugo Awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, were rocked by scandal. That year, the convention was hosted in Chengdu, China, and a number of popular and acclaimed works, from R. F. Kuang's Babel to Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, were deemed ineligible...even though they

The King of Horror ft. Troy Harkin

Oct 15 2024 65 mins  
Happy Halloween! To celebrate all that is spooky and monstrous, we're joined by poet, novelist, and David's other podcast co-host, Troy Harkin, to talk about the master of horror himself, Stephen King. Also cocaine. Show Notes: Troy's website ChiZine Publications SK Tours of Maine Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi

Speculative Whiteness

Sep 15 2024 35 mins  
In this episode, we talk to Jordan S. Carroll about his new book, the Sad and Rabid Puppies, and how to avoid getting your sci-fi co-opted by fascists. Show Notes: Jordan’s Twitter: https://x.com/JordanSCarroll/ Jordan’s Bluesky: jordanscarroll.bsky.social Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt Right by Jordan S. Carroll

In the Beginning ft. Shiraz Janjua

Aug 15 2024 54 mins  
How do you begin your epic sci-fi, fantasy, or horror story? How do you grab a viewer or reader’s attention, introduce your characters and world, and avoid the dreaded infodump? To discuss these questions and much more, we talk to Shiraz Janjua, host of the YouTube channel How the Novel Starts. Show Notes: How the Novel Starts Shiraz's website

A New World In Our Hearts

Jul 15 2024 63 mins  
In this episode, we interview absolute legend Ken MacLeod about utopias in science fiction. And yes, we're talking about the Culture. Of course we're talking about the Culture. Show Notes: The Early Days of a Better Nation Russian Cosmism Utopia and the Return of History Postwar as the war generation's utopia China 2019, just before the pandemic Reading/Watching List The Culture,

You Never Get a Second Chance to Make First Contact

Jun 15 2024 43 mins  
In this episode, we talk about meeting sentient extraterrestrials: The challenges of communication, what first contact stories say about our own Earthbound society, and why the aliens won't return our texts. David's recommendations: "Darmok" (Star Trek TNG) "The Inner Light" (Star Trek TNG) The Day the Earth Stood Still Arr

Some People Call Me the Space Cowboy

May 15 2024 35 mins  
In this episode, we're talking about the Space Western! Was Firefly cancelled too soon or is it massively overrated? Why does it continue to grip the Nerd Imagination? Is it even okay to use Western elements in SFFH?Credits: Shamelessly stolen from Star Trek's "Spectre of the Gun," the Expanse Season 1 trailer, UFO Cowboy's official trailer, and Firefly's "Jayne's Town." The backgr

Where Are We, and Why Are We In This Handbasket?

Apr 15 2024 35 mins  
Welcome to Wizards & Spaceships, a podcast that's about both wizards and spaceships, featuring poet David L. Clink and novelist Rachel A. Rosen. In this episode, we introduce ourselves, talk about our favourite media, and explain why genre snobs need to get a lot less snobby. Do infodumps have a place in literature? Do all fantasy novels need to be a series? Grab a metaphorical