Alienating the Audience

We'll probably get to Mars a lot sooner if people think they can make a buck off of it. Andrew Mayne, author of the book "How to Make Money on Mars" joins the show to discuss what feasible, if not lucrative, private Mars missions might look like.

AJ West and science consultant Mika McKinnon ("Stargate Atlantis" and "Stargate Universe") join the program to pitch Stargate as bingable show, and suss out its themes and triumphs.

In a special just-for-kicks live episode, Star Trek consultants Dr. Erin Macdonald and Dr. Mohamed Noor return to the show to play Starfleet Draft Picks: If you could staff a new vessel with characters from any Star Trek series, who would you select?

Andrew Maynard is a scientist, professor, and expert in nanotechnology. He joins the show to answer: how likely is it that microscopic robots will go awry and turn the world into gray goo? What cool inventions are on the horizon? And finally, what are the good and bad portrayals of nanotechnology in science fiction?

"The Day of the Triffids," by John Wyndham, arguably kicked off the modern zombie genre, in which protagonists flee shambling cannibals in an urban wasteland. Josh Jennings joins Heaton to review the book, and ask: what is so fascinating about zombies on a primal level?

Hugh Howey is the author of "Wool," the New York Times bestselling thriller set in a massive post-apocalyptic bunker. He joins the show to talk about his book, the nature of existential threats, and why optimists are the ultimate heretics.

Why is Darth Vader "Lawful Evil" or Ramsay Bolton "Chaotic Evil"? Captains Kirk and Picard are both good, but only one of them is "Neutral." The D&D Alignment System comprehensively explains the moral temperaments of any scifi character you can lob at it! New York comedians (and long-time D&D veterans) Chris Scott and Nick Sperdute join to explain.

What would first contact with an alien civilization look like? Could we handle it? If we could, would it even be possible to communicate with a vastly different (or superior) intelligence? Peter Boghossian, Professor of Philosophy at Portland State University, joins to geek out about aliens and science fiction.

Brian Dunning, host of the Skeptoid Podcast, joins Heaton to talk about all things time travel--the best films, TV shows and books, plus how to get around pesky time travel paradoxes, if we should try to go back and kill Hitler, and the most interesting period of history to return to as a tourist.

Dr. Eric Spana (Duke University biology professor and delightful nerd) joins Heaton to discuss how genetics works in various scifi and fantasy realms: from recessive wizarding genes in Harry Potter, to the midichlorians of Star Wars, to super power mutations in the world of X-Men.