Our Opinions Are Correct

People talk about "pacing" all the time when it comes to storytelling — but what does "pacing" mean? How do you make a story feel like it's moving faster or slower, and why does this matter? And how do you figure out what pace your own story needs to move at? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Floods. Sea level rise. Superstorms. Droughts. All over the planet, people are being hit by disasters caused by too much water or not enough, and it's only going to get worse. We talk about why science fiction has been focused on water disasters for over a century, from Princess of Mars to Dune and Mad Max: Fury Road. We're also joined by flood geologist Kyle House, who tells us about ancient floods -- and the recent one that inundated his neighborhood in Arizona. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

It's time to get some therapy, with some help from speculative fiction. In this special live recording from WorldCon, we talk to actor/creator Theo Germaine about fictional therapists (good and evil), and what makes a story therapeutic. Plus, we discuss their recent scary therapy movie They/Them, as well as their role in the show "Work in Progress." Can a story actually heal us? And what happens when stories hurt us instead? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

We hear a lot about redemption arcs, but what about damnation arcs, where characters go darkside? In this episode, we talk about the "villain's journey," or the tropey route followed by characters like Anakin Skywalker on his trip to Darth Vader-hood. But what happens when the script is changed, and characters hover between hero and villain? Neon Yang, author of The Genesis of Misery and the Tensorate series, joins us to talk about how to feels to turn a character bad.  Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Recently Charlie Jane came up with a new term for stories she's been enjoying: Sweetweird. What does this mean, and is it a subgenre or an aesthetic? And also, why do we enjoy inventing and debating new genre terms so much? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Plastic was once a symbol of our shiny future, and now it represents our trashed, polluted present. What's the future of this fossil-fueled polymer? We talk about what makes plastic so scary -- in science and fiction. And then we call up William Gibson, who has thought a LOT about plastic, in fiction and real life.  Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Musicals transport us to another world through song and dance — but how can we use their otherworldly power to tell stories about robots and monsters? To find out, we talk to playwrights MJ Kaufman and Reina Hardy. Plus Laser from the Doubleclicks tells us about their new musical, Teaching a Robot to Love! Topics discussed: Our formative memories with Xanadu and Can't Stop the Music The roots of musicals in comic opera and burlesque The wonder of director/choreographer Kenny Ortega MJ Kaufman and Reina Hardy talk musicals and escapism Laser explains the origins of Teaching a Robot to Love Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

In this special episode, we answer questions from our wondrous Patreon supporters. We discuss how to write convincing non-human characters, where people will live in 10,000 years, and why Dungeons & Dragons has become so popular. Plus why we love Canada! Shownotes: https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

People have been paid for labor for at least 5,000 years, but the modern 'workplace' is a pretty recent invention. We look at how science fiction  has dealt with the transformation of labor — plus we talk to Alan Henry, author of the new book Seen, Heard and Paid. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes

Cars have made our lives better in many ways, but they also kill a lot of people and damage the environment. Science fiction has worked hard to help us fall in love with the automobile, to the point where we can't imagine a future without it. Why do most of our favorite stories celebrate cars? And how can we break free from these car-centric narratives? Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com/shownotes