Science fiction writer Scott Pearson talks with urban fantasy author Melissa F. Olson about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in part one of a two-part interview. Then his daughter Ella pops in for, among other things, a spoilery mini review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Segments

Intro :28

Who’s the Monster 1:30

Mary Shelley’s Complex Characters 6:20

Frankenstein: Reading and Teaching 8:27

Klinger’s Annotated Frankenstein and Multiple Texts 10:41

Mary’s Text versus Percy’s Text 13:50

Mary Wrote Frankenstein, Full Stop 16:32

Frankenstein Scholarship 17:57

Coincidence in Frankenstein 20:11

On Not Reading Mary’s Other Books 21:40

Nesting and Filtered Narratives 22:45

On Victor Being a Weasel 27:15

Mary and Percy’s Death 29:43

It’s Alive! 31:55

Victor Almost Never Learns 33:50

Sidebar: Dracula 2000 and Klinger’s Annotated Dracula 38:43

On Discovering Klinger and Collecting Frankenstein 43:44

Editing a Dream Frankenstein 45:57

Ella is SO Busy 47:45

The Star Trek Original Series Set Tour 49:22

Some Upcoming Fifth Season Shows 54:35

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 55:50

Episode 47—Part of the Family

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and his daughter, Ella, dive into Alien 3 (1992) as they continue their epic review of the entire Alien movie series. They’ve said it before and they’ll say it again, always listen to Ripley! 

Segments

Intro :28

Sequel Overview :50

You Waited Six Years for This? 2:03

On Seeing it Again 2:55

On Extended Editions 4:15

Where’d Those Eggs Come From Though? 5:05

The Nix of Hicks and Newt 6:45

Why the Y-Y? 7:28

The Autopsy and the Parasite 9:13

The Cremation and the Sermon 10:54

The Shaved Head and Ripley Power 11:54

Ripley and the Doctor: Uh, No 13:20

Sigourney and Nimoy and Doyle 15:00

Ripley’s Awake Time 15:29

Bishop Reboots 16:43

Prison Assault 17:43

Nameless Deaths 18:43

The Doctor Dies 19:34

Ripley Takes Over 20:00

Again with the Ventilation Shafts 20:30

Company’s Coming 21:00

Ripley’s Expecting 21:20

The Redemption of Charles S. Dutton 24:03

Ripley Swears Like a . . . Tailor? 26:07

Grab a Xenomorph by the Tail 27:13

The Preacher Dies 28:35

Hot Lead and Cold Water 28:55

Bishop II Arrives 29:37

With Company Like This, Who Needs Aliens 30:35

What’s Up with Bishop’s Ear 31:05

Ripley’s Sacrifice 32:11

Scott’s Alien 3 Head Canon 33:00

The Special Edition: A Different Movie 36:24

Xenomorphs and the Eighth Doctor 38:02

Other Lost Scenes 38:38

Alien 3 vs. Alien and Aliens 40:00

Episode 46—Treknology

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson welcomes astrophysicist Ethan Siegel to discuss science and Treknology, his new book about how the technology of Star Trek compares with what we have now and what we could develop in the future. Plus, Ella reacts to the surprise at the end of Star Trek: Discovery’s first season finale. 

Segments

Intro :28

What Came First, Trek or Science 1:08

When Trek Took Hold 3:00

Science as a Career 5:19

On Becoming an Astrophysicist 7:30

All the Star Trek 9:46

What Do Cosmologists Do 10:30

Popularizing Science 14:14

Space Kilts! 15:43

Carl Sagan 16:55

Writing About Science 20:17

Treknology: Holograms 24:00 

Geordi’s VISOR 27:10

Synthehol 30:05

Tech That’s Better Than Trek 33:50

Universal Translators 35:08

Replicators 37:10

The Borg…But in a Good Way 38:00

Human Life Extension 41:05

Warp Drive 45:20

FtL Communication 50:29

Emergency Medical Hologram 51:41 

Transporters Would be Nice 54:20

Phasers 54:59

Bonus: Weather Control 56:28

Ella Reacts to Discovery Finale 59:36

Episode 45—The A2s Always Were a Bit Twitchy

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and his daughter, Ella, dive into Aliens (1986) for part three of their epic review of the entire Alien movie series. Remember, always listen to Ripley! 

Segments

Intro :28

First Reactions on Second Viewing :53

It’s a Long Movie/Director’s Cut 1:15

Alien vs. Aliens 2:40

Sci-Fi Soldiers 3:40

Opening Scenes 4:26 

Blue-Collar Space Worker 6:17

We Have to Talk About Vasquez 6:45

Burke the Corporate Toady 10:50

Jonesy 11:53

Ripley and PTSD 12:21

The Quotable Aliens 13:33

Boardroom Recap 13:58

What the Audience Knows 14:47

There are Aliens in Aliens 15:20

“The A2s Always Were a Bit Twitchy” 16:25

Bishop’s Hair 17:28

“Somebody Wake Up Hicks” 18:09

James Horner/The Wrath of Khan 18:50

A Rare Sequel 21:19

Motion Trackers 22:05

Listen to Ripley! 22:35

Newt 24:03

Facehugger Scuttling 24:48

Ripley’s Deleted Daughter 25:50

Punching Company Guys 27:27

Hicks is Steve Trevor 27:50

Deleted Daughter and Newt 28:35

“It Won’t Make Any Difference” 30:33

“What the Hell Are We Supposed to Use, Harsh Language?” 31:17 

Ripley Takes Charge 32:32

“Nuke the Entire Site from Orbit. It’s the Only Way to Be Sure” 33:55

“Game Over Man” 35:20

“They Mostly Come Out at Night. Mostly” 36:05

Newt’s Bedtime/“She’s Just a Piece of Plastic” 36:30

“It Was a Bad Call, Ripley” 36:48

Bishop in a Tube 37:30

Ripley and Hicks 39:25

Burke Releases the Facehuggers 40:27

Aliens in the Ceiling 42:26

“You Want Some of This” 43:31

Burke Gets His 43:50

The Redemption of Gorman 44:35

Newt Falls 45:18

Ripley Gears Up for Newt 46:15

Newt Screams 48:04

Queen’s Chamber 48:45

Threatening the Eggs 50:00

Queen on the Elevator 52:44

Where’s Bishop? 53:37

Queen Takes Bishop 54:25

Is Ripley an Ellen? 55:53

“Get Away From Her, You Bitch” 57:05

Bishop Saves Newt 58:13

“Mommy” 58:43

Newt’s Bedtime/“Will I Dream?” 59:25

More Deleted Scenes 1:00:02

Final Thoughts 1:01:45

Episode 44—Special Order 937

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and his daughter, Ella, revisit the original Alien (1979) as they continue their epic review of the entire Alien movie series. Scott tries to live in a world where the prequels don’t exist, but Ella’s love of Walter keeps Covenant alive, making some comparing and contrasting with the classic film unavoidable!

Segments

Intro :28

Nothing Happened Before Alien :55

Opening Shots 1:30 

Real People, Real Scary 2:20

Creepy Sounds 4:24

Wakey, Wakey 5:15

Model Landing 6:15

Are There Other Aliens? 7:12

That Is NOT a Spacesuit 9:59

Don’t Stick Your Face in That Thing 10:38

Listen To Ripley, People 12:35

Introducing Sigourney Weaver 13:35

Facehugger 15:40

Chestburster 18:50

Space Monster Context 19:29

Alien as Slasher Movie 21:03

Part of the Ship or Dolly Track? 23:08

Brett and Jonesy and Dallas 24:30

Ash Freaks Out 27:37

Lambert Has a Bad Day 29:20

Watching for Decades 30:23

Okay, There Were Prequels 31:37

What Makes an Alien Movie? 36:25

Questions You Didn’t Ask, Answers You Don’t Want 38:10

Imagine a Sensible Prequel 38:56

Could You Have an Alien Film Without the Alien? 40:02

Daniels and Walter in Covenant 42:45

Run, Ripley, Run 44:04

Slasher’s Last Slash 44:51

Our Cat Cameos as Jonesy 45:48

Life Cycles and Cocoons  45:52

Episode 43—They Aren’t What We Thought They Were

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and his daughter, Ella, try to make sense of Ridley Scott’s retcons Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, as they begin an epic review of the entire Alien movie series. Plus, Scott can’t stop saying “muddled” and Ella dives into Alan Dean Foster’s Covenant novelization, comparing and contrasting with the film. Double-length episode!

Segments

Intro :28

Waiter, There’s DNA in My Soup 1:03

On Seeing Prometheus Twice 4:00

Ancient Astronauts? Seriously? 4:38

Answering Questions No One Asked 8:00

Christmas and Prometheus 8:45

Creepy David 11:15

We’re Here! 13:00

Are There Other Aliens in the Alien Movies? 14:32

Stupid Scientists 17:20

Here’s the Thing About Ridley 20:30

Space Suit? No, Those Were Skeletons! 21:25

Hey, We Found an Alien Head! 22:55

Waiter, There’s Black Goo in My Drink 24:50

Snake Monster Just Wants to Snuggle 25:47

Vickers Taking Care of Business 30:15

It’s a Squid! 32:02

Sexist Medical Pod 32:55

What is This Movie About? 34:35

Shaw Taking Care of Business 35:20

Engineer Wakes Up on the Wrong Side of the Pod 38:58

Getting That Old-Time Religion 39:32

Just Run to the Side! 42:02

David’s Head and the Squid Baby 43:35

Prometheus: Final Thoughts 45:38

Alien TED Talk 49:37

Covenant: First Thoughts 52:03

Answering Questions No One Asked, Part Deux 54:45

Engineering Xenomorphs 56:12

What is This Movie About? Part Deux 59:12

“The Crossing”: Shaw and David’s Head 1:00:55

“The Last Supper”: That’s a Franco 1:04:32

Who Loves Walter? We Do 1:07:10

Weyland and David 1:08:00

Arriving at the Engineer’s Planet 1:09:00

Xenomorph Spores? Seriously? 1:11:07

Ash, David, and the Company 1:13:06

The Creator and the Created 1:14:45 

Prequels vs. Alien/Aliens 1:15:43

David: Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs 1:16:38

Quarantine: Like That’s Going to Happen 1:17:52

Uh, What About Those Corpses? 1:20:49

Hey, Look in This Slimy Egg! 1:21:36

Colonists, Shmolonists 1:24:45

David and Walter and Daniels 1:25:55

Xenomorphs and Neomorphs 1:30:13

Back on the Ship 1:31:42

And We Thought Hairballs Were Gross 1:32:41

Covenant: Final Thoughts 1:33:40

Book Report: The Covenant Novelization 1:37:04

Changes in the Book 1:41:50

Let’s Talk More About Walter and Daniels 1:45:40

The Captain and David and Xenomorphs 1:59:35

Episode 42—The Ape is Back in Town

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and his daughter, Ella, discuss Kong: Skull Island in depth, including how it compares to earlier Kong films, its relationship with Godzilla (2014), how it holds up under repeated viewings, and differences between the film and its novelization. Double-length episode!

Segments

Intro :28

King Kong Through the Years 1:01

First Thoughts on Skull Island 5:18

Character Development: Kong v. Godzilla 6:48

Missing the Boat on Fighter Pilots 12:43

No Forced Romance, Hooray! 15:34

Kong as a Character 17:40

Respecting the Natives 19:48

Monarch and the Kaiju 21:18

Samuel L. Jackson is Angry 23:24

Hey, This Ape Ain’t So Bad 25:07

That’s a Lot of Choppers 26:04

Let’s Talk Monsters 29:22

Who is Captain Conrad? 31:05

Apocalypse Kong 32:15

The Boat that Pilots Built 34:10

What About the Female Characters? 34:57

Vietnam v. Kong 36:45

Coming Back to We’ll Meet Again 41:19

Kong and the Godzilla Template 42:08

The After Credit Scene 43:48

Kong v. Kong v. Kong v. Kong 49:18

Creating a Shared Universe 52:52

Skull Crawlers 54:34

They Sound Like Birds 55:02

John C. Reilly and the Old Flight Suit 55:40

Final Thoughts 56:44

Apocalypse Kong Redux: The Rewatches 57:10

All-Star Choppers Review 58:43

We Need a Map 1:00:47

Still a Fun Flick 1:04:12

Motion-Capture Connections 1:05:36

Thoughts on Three Viewings 1:09:26

The Novelization: Bulking up the Backstories 1:13:40

Episode 41—Midnight Mack

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson concludes his two-part in-depth interview with New York Times bestselling author David Mack. In this episode they discuss Mack’s love of the band Rush, his non-Star Trek tie-in fiction, and his original fiction, featuring his forthcoming novel The Midnight Front, the first of his Dark Arts trilogy. Double-length episode!

Segments

Intro :28

Meeting the Band 2:43

Vinyl and Tape and CDs, Oh My 6:00

Vapor Trails Redux 6:43

2113: Writing Rush 14:07

24: Rogue 24:54

Favorite Sci-Fi Books and Shows 31:15

Some NOT Sci-Fi Faves 38:40

Original Fiction: The Calling 40:40

On Writing Urban Fantasy 46:32

The Calling Gets Orphaned 48:43

The Dark Arts Series is Born 53:32

Book One: The Midnight Front 54:53

The Novelette: Hell Rode With Her 1:02:29

The Dark Arts Going Forward 1:06:55

Ella’s Dave Mack Story 1:10:24

Episode 40—Mack Trek

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson welcomes New York Times bestselling author David Mack to the show for part one of an in-depth interview. In this episode they discuss Dave’s many contributions to Star Trek across a variety of formats from TV scripts to computer games to novels. And in a new “All the Squee” segment, Ella reviews the stage play Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Plus, an aside to Cumberbatch’s turn as Hamlet. Double-length episode!

Segments

Intro :28

Just Scott and Dave, No Ella :54

Trek Writer Cage Match 1:40

Geek Gateway 4:28

Space: 1999 5:51

Almost All the Trek Mediums 8:27

Starting on TV 9:40

Breaking into Trek Print 13:10

Moving Along to Novels 18:00

Star Trek: Discovery 20:15

Pushing Daisies 24:54

Computer Games 26:19

Tech the Tech 28:36

Bringing Death to SCE 30:35

Destiny of the Borg 40:55

All the Squee: Frankenstein 42:22

Birth of the Monster 43:50

Monster Rejected 46:00

Monster Meets World 47:48

Cumberbatch v. Miller 48:34

Favorite Scene 51:43

A Monster Gone Bad 52:45

A Monster’s Christmas 54:15

How Things End 55:03

The Bride of the Monster 59:08

The Story Behind the Play 59:43

Stage Effects 1:02:16

The Creation of the Monster 1:05:01

The Play on the Movie Screen 1:07:00

The Ungrateful Family 1:08:55

Aside: Hamlet 1:10:20

Mary Shelley Invents Sci-Fi 1:13:06

Episode 39—Special Grup Edition—Dead Talking

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and his daughter discuss the brutal Walking Dead season seven premiere—definitely not for the youngest geeks in the family—and what they each did the next day to recover. 

Segments

Intro :28

First Thoughts—Salty 1:15

It’s Not About Who Died 2:32

Uncomfortably Numb 4:16

Broken Characters, Broken Viewers 6:25

The Lingering Death of Glenn 9:02

Let’s Not Forget Abraham 12:07

The Glenn Fake-Out 14:05

Earning Not Manipulating 15:40 

Throwing in the Towel? 17:28

Disturbing Precedents 18:42

Talking Dead 21:08

Neegan and Daryl 25:00

Neegan and Rick 27:15

Carl’s Hand 30:49

Recovering 36:03

What About the Baby? 38:52

Feral Daryl 42:25