Sci-Fi

Drabblecast 231 – Trifecta XX

Feature: Whit Carlson's Trespasser by Will Ludwigsen
Feature: The Six Pieces of Everett Montrose by Jamie Killen
Feature Boll Weevil by Nathan Lee
Genre: Comedy Fantasy Horror Sci-Fi Strange

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

The six of them meet for the first time in front of the sagging clapboard house where Everett Montrose was born. All are tired, with hollows under their eyes from driving or riding buses for days. Even so, they greet each other with shy, relieved smiles. Few words are said; most seem unsure of how to speak to each other. There are some handshakes, even a quick hug or two, but these interactions are awkward and all soon turn their attention to their reason for coming here. They all carry with them small pieces of Everett Montrose, and all instinctively touch the fragments as they look to the house.

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Hearty White's Miracle Nutrition Hour
Episode Art: Brent Holmes

Twabble: “Professorplex8 continued, "Even if humans did exist that hardly supports the theory of intelligent design, does it?" ” by Steven D. Lidster

Tagged absurd, afterlife, aliens, Artist: Brent Holmes, Author: Nathan Lee, Author: Will Ludwigsen, Author:Jamie Killen, clowns, crime, death, delusions, drinking, insanity, insects, jerks, parasites, revenge, Southern, trifecta

Drabblecast 229 – Singularity Knocks

Feature: Singularity Knocks by Will Ludwigsen
Drabble: Lab Rats by Nicholas J. Carter
Genre: Comedy Sci-Fi Strange

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

“You don’t have to talk like that to us, mister,” I said. “We know town-speak just fine.”

The man with the hat put it back on his head and smiled with a hint of embarrassment. “Sorry, folks. Sometimes it helps, you know, smooth the way.”

That man with the computer was lurking by the corner of our porch, holding it up and aiming some kind of camera at the eaves. He steered a pair of laser beams from one end to the other. I figured I’d let him do what he was doing if I didn’t see any harm.

“Smooth the way for what?” I asked. I knew what was coming next, what was always coming: talk of imminent domain, of making way for progress.

“Something exciting,” he said, lifting up a foot onto the lowest step. “Opportunity of a lifetime…”

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Episode Art: Forrest Warner
Music by: The Avett Brothers

Twabble: “David wished people would stop staring. After 500 years, he still wouldn't forgive Michel for not chiseling him a robe. ” by DutchessAlyssa

Tagged afterlife, Artist: Forrest Warner, Author: Nicholas J. Carter, Author: Will Ludwigsen, computers, dimensions, existential, futuristic, jerks, rednecks, religion

Drabblecast 227 – The Star

Feature: The Star by Arthur C. Clarke
Drabble: Creator by Nathan Lee
Genre: Sci-Fi

Saturday, December 24th, 2011

It is three thousand light years to the Vatican. Once, I believed that space could have no power over faith, just as I believed that the heavens declared the glory of God’s handiwork. Now I have seen that handiwork, and my faith is sorely troubled. I stare at the crucifix that hangs on the cabin wall above the Mark VI Computer, and for the first time in my life I wonder if it is no more than an empty symbol.

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Episode Art: Adam S. Doyle

Twabble: “Joy to the World the Beast is come! It's time for reckoning. Let every heart prepare for doom and crime upon nature bring. ” by Algernon Sydney is Dead

Tagged Artist: Adam S. Doyle, Author: Arthur C. Clarke, religion, space, space opera

Drabblecast 222 – Rules for Living in a Simulation

Feature: Rules for Living in a Simulation by Aubrey Hirsch
Drabble: Duckhunt by John Murphy
Genre: Comedy Sci-Fi

Monday, November 7th, 2011

Now if we, like those characters in recent movies, discovered specific clues in the world around us suggesting that we do in fact live in a simulation, we would of course consider those clues carefully to see what they say about how we should live our lives. — Robin Hanson

Norm begins this episode of the Drabblecast with an introduction to the new and improved Drabblecast.org, and thanks the many contributors who made this possible. The Drabble by John Murphy remembers a simpler time in video games, though a time not free of consequence. The feature by Aubrey Hirsch provides, as described in the title, a didactic set of rules for living in a simulation (a universe constructed especially for us).

Episode Sponsor: You Shall Never Know Security by J.R. Hamantaschen.

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Geologic Podcast, Big Wonderful Press, Daily SF
Episode Art: Mike Dominic
Read by: George Hrab

Twabble: “Bo waded through the mangled body parts and scattered office supplies to his cubicle. He really hated Casualty Friday. ” by Steven D. Lidster

Tagged Artist: Mike Dominic, Author: Aubrey Hirsch, Author: John Murphy, computers, existential, futuristic, games

Drabblecast 220 – Trifecta XVIII

Feature: Bad Habit by Richard Weems
Feature: Tags by Andrew Gudgel
Feature A Happy Family by Nathaniel Tower
Genre: Comedy Sci-Fi Strange

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Warning: An S*Bomb. Also, sexual content. The S*Bomb was way worse though.

Another of the Drabblecast’s vaunted Trifecta series. Three short stories, each with a unique twist. The episode begins with an interview of author J.R. Hamantaschen, Norm runs fingers through his troubled mind, learning of the seeds from which his horrors spring. The theme of this Trifecta: getting the boot – stories of rejection and alienation. First up, Richard Weems’s Bad Habit, in which a nun and a naked pervert do battle (no, really). Next, author Andrew Gudgel (featured on fellow podcasts such as Escapepod) appears with Tags, as read by Kimi Alexander, a story of teenage dares in a technologically submerged world. Lastly, A Happy Family, by author, novelist Nathaniel Tower, read by Abner Senires, in which a family receives a very unexpected bundle of joy (and puzzlement).

Episode Sponsor: You Shall Never Know Security by J.R. Hamantaschen.

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Episode Art:  Liz Pennies
Read by:  Kimi Alexander and Abner Senires
Music by:   Gringo Motel

Twabble: ““We don’t allow no faster-than-light neutrinos in here,” says the bartender, with a growl. A neutrino walks into a bar. ” by Strawman

Tagged Artist: Liz Pennies, Author: Andrew Gudgel, Author: Nathaniel Tower, Author: Richard Weems, children, female narrator, futuristic, games, memories, parenting, punishment, religion, silly, surreal, teenagers, trifecta, violence

Drabblecast 219 – The Big Splash

Feature: The Big Splash by George R. Galuschak
Genre: Sci-Fi Strange

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Warning: References to sex, drugs (implied Rock n' Roll)

I passed the sign that read Warning: Shark Zone. The sun was setting,
lighting up the tops of the condos sticking out of the water. They had been
swallowed by the swollen ocean, when it spilled over, like everything else:
the skyscrapers, the cars, the fast food joints, the schools and
supermarkets and liquor stores…

Episode Sponsor: You Shall Never Know Security by J.R. Hamantaschen

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Episode Art: Jonathan Wilson

Twabble: “Please, oh please, make the barking stop. I've tried everything. Playing with it, feeding it, petting it, drowning it. ” by Sgt. Crispy

Tagged aliens, aquatic, Artist: Jonathan Wilson, Author: George R. Galuschak, existential, philosophy

Drabblecast 218 – Orange

Feature: Orange by Susan Forest
Drabble: With 90 Seconds to Go by Christopher Munroe
Genre: Action Sci-Fi

Friday, October 7th, 2011

I take time-lapse photographs of an orange. The result is always the same.
First I remove the previous orange from the spike in front of the black
velvet backdrop and replace it with a new orange. I set an incandescent
spotlight out of frame as a light source…

Episode Sponsor: You Shall Never Know Security by J.R. Hamantaschen

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Episode Art: Rodolfo Arredondo
Read by: R.E. Chambliss

Twabble: “I simply forgot, there's no sunshine when she's gone, Which is why it's hard to grow grass over this freshly turned soil. ” by J-M

Tagged apocalypse, Artist: Rodolfo Arredondo, Author: Susan Forest, mortality, space

Drabblecast 212 – Ancient Engines

Feature: Ancient Engines by Michael Swanwick
Drabble: Impulse Buy by Evan Quinlan
Genre: Sci-Fi

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

“Planning to live forever, Tiktok?”
The words cut through the bar’s chatter and gab and silenced them. The silence reached out to touch infinity and then, “I believe you’re talking to me?” a mech said…

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Episode Art:  Matt Wasiela
Read by:  Mike Boris
Music by:   Eroica Trio, Gringo Motel, 19 Action News

Tagged afterlife, Artist: Matt Waisela, Author: Michael Swanwick, cyborgs, eternity, robots

Drabblecast 211 – At the End of the Hall

Feature: At the End of the Hall by Nick Mamatas
Drabble: Mommy Issues by Rish Outfield
Genre: Drama Sci-Fi

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

My earliest fear, the one I remember anyways, was of great pulp magazine robots with hot water heater bodies and vacuum tube eyes. My brother forbade me to touch his precious magazines, so I wouldn’t. I’d stare and stare at the covers through; hourglassed damsels in diaphanous gowns draped over thick slab altars, and the robots, always the robots with their cylindrical torsos and pincer claws for hands….