decipher SciFi : the show about how and why

Stream the movie: Amazon Cowboy Bebop The Movie (aka Cowboy Bebop – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door) What: Spike, Jet and the rest try to hunt down a trenchcoated badass and need to save everybody from some nasty nanobioweapons. On Mars! Directed by:  Shinichirô Watanabe Starring: A bunch of voice talent. Recommended and Related Media Cowboy Bebop The series, generally recognized as much better than the movie, where we get to really know these characters and their arcs. Recognized as a classic of anime. Stream the whole series for free Funimation Voices from L5 This podcast by our friend Liam take a softer-science look at space settlement. Great guests on great topics. Check it out! Get the thing Patreon Show Notes Meta Cowboy Bebop the series, Yoko Kanno, style points. Space Western Shades of Firefly. Gate Disaster Shades of Seveneves and Deep Impact. Meteor impacts are becoming a recurring theme! Settling Mars Biodomes, marscrete, martian soil, regolith, constructive impacts. Terraforming. Biodomes. Weather Control China! Weather control before and after the Beijing Olympics. Cold and warm cloud seeding. Chemicals. Super-frozen, uncrystallized. water. Goodbyes It’s time to blow this cinema. Get everybody and their stuff together. Okay, 3-2-1 let’s jam. Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Deep Impact What: Morgan Freeman is president and a mountain-sized comet is heading towards earth. What do we do? Directed by: Mimi Leder Starring: Morgan Freeman, Teia Leoni, Elijah Wood Recommended and Related Media The Formation of the Moon A physics simulation showing how the impact that formed the moon could have gone. Asteroids in Resonance with Jupiter Another physics sim of two groups of asteroids in resonance with Jupiter. Death from the Skies by Phil Plait An entertaining review of the myriad ways the earth could meet its end. Read it with your eyes iTunes | Amazon Solar System Collision Calculator Old-school web 1.0 application to help visualize the scale of impacts from asteroids etc. Check it out @ Astronomy Workshop Show Notes Citizen Astronomy People. Computers. Computer vision. KIC 8462852. E.L.E. Extinction level events. Dinosaur impact. Impactor scales. Impactor Types Meteors, meteorites, meteors, comets, asteroids. Avoiding Impacts Gentle (nuclear bombs), and less gentle (gravity tug) methods of redirecting impactors. Earth Impacts Tunguska, dinosaur impact. The difference between a small number of large impacts and a large number of small ones. Humanity’s Fate Floods, atmospheric disruption, a world aflame from the heat of a million impactors. Goodbyes I’ll see you next Tuesday. Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon The Day the Earth Stood Still What: A humanoid alien visits earth and presents humanity with its options. Directed by: Robert Wise Starring:  Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Gort Featuring guest co-host Scott Wayne Indiana, creator of Lotus Dimension Recommended and Related Media Lotus Dimension Our guest co-host’s PnP RPG (think Dungeons and Dragons) which has a twist: non-violence! Characters will face all sorts of hairy situations and must solve problems by their skills and wits that do not involve bringing anyone to harm. Launching on Kickstarter as this episode is published. Pledge Kickstarter Show Notes Origins Short story “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates. Cold War paranoia. 50s. Aliens Humanoid and otherwise. Sex with aliens? Alien life form Mars, Venus, or maybe even moons of Jupiter. Period Things Everybody smokes. Letting your kid go around town with strange men. Independent women of the 50s. More smoking. Language Emray Klaatu naruat macro proval brarato lukto denso implikit yavo tarri axell plakatio baringa degas. Gort Gort’s real concerns. Who is the real master? Open source space police operating systems. Atomic Power The atomic energy scene in the 50s. Great power and great responsibility. Violence Whoever carries the biggest stick seems to be right. Goodbyes Barenga! Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Star Trek VIII: First Contact What: The enterprise does time travel and Picard intimidates the borg with his massive guns (biceps). Directed by: Jonathan Frakes Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, James Cromwell, Alfre Woodard Featuring guest co-host Jolene Creighton, managing editor at Futurism.com Recommended and Related Media Star Trek Just, all of it. Chris and Colbert really like TNG, and Jolene really likes DS9. Stream and otherwise on Amazon Futurism Jolene’s site where they post quality science news without sensational terrible headlines

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Hardcore Henry What: A first person shooter movie, basically. It’s awesome. Directed by: Ilya Naishuller Starring: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Andrei Dementiev, and a panoply of Russian stuntmen Recommended and Related Media How Hardcore Henry’s POV shots were made by Ian Failes A very thorough article all about how they pulled off the movie: headgear design, cameras, fx work, etc. Lots of cool videos! Read it @ FXGuide The Stampede by Biting Elbows Director Ila Naishuller’s first foray into POV action film – for his band, Biting Elbows. Bad Motherfucker by Biting Elbows Naishuller’s second POV action movie music video – even better than the first! Fun song too. Show Notes The movie’s history Crowdfunding.  Timur Bekmambetov.  Biting Elbows music videos. First-Person film and video games Visual language of first person shooters. Our affection for the genre and this film by extension. Filming and FX “Adventure Mask” iterative design. Camera mounting and how bets to capture first person action. VFX difficulties with Go Pros. Motion Sickness Surprising study results with old and young players. Motion sickness vs simulation sickness. Sharlto A Sharlto appreciation party. Remote surrogate body control. Horse horse, lol. Goodbyes I’m afraid I shall not be coming with. But you letting me get you this far has given an old sweat his grandest gift in all his years. Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Read the book: iTunes | Amazon Seveneves What: Breaking with the format for this episode, we’re covering a book! Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson. Here is the first paragraph: The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. It was waxing, only one day short of full. The time was 05:03:12 UTC. Later it would be designated A+0.0.0, or simply Zero. Written by: Neal Stephenson Starring: Fictional characters, in a book With guest co-host: Daniel Mann Recommended and Related Media Seveneves by Neal Stephenson This book that we’re dedicating an episode to! See above and below and then just read it. Read it with your eyes iTunes | Amazon Read it with your ears iTunes | Amazon The Day The Moon Blew Up by Bill Gates Bill Gates is a big old nerd, and perfectly qualified to makes this book sound great to folks like us.

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon The Fountain What: We loved The Fountain! Go watch it! A really pretty film with a love story spanning vast space and time. Directed by: Darren Aronofsky Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weiss, Ellen Burstyn Featuring guest co-host Daniel James Barker of Uncertainty Principle the Podcast Recommended and Related Media The Fountain Graphic Novel A really visually beautiful telling of almost the same story as the movie. Read it iTunes | Amazon Darren Aronofsky Director Commentary Aronofsky recorded his own director’s commentary, and then this other awesome guy edited it into the audio track from the movie. Get the thing David Weisbrod Uncertainty Principle the Podcast Our guest co-host’s wonder-full science podcast! Become a fan Uncertainty Principle the Podcast Show Notes Aronofsky Shooting for the moon. Making beautiful film. History Olmec, Mayans, Aztec. Murder factories. Nebulae Particularity. Stellar nurseries. Life and Death Differing viewpoints, religious and atheist. Goodbyes I finished it. Is everything all right? Yes. Everything’s all right. Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Brazil What: Brazil! 1984, but in 1984. Dystopia satire! Directed by: Terry Gilliam Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Katherine Helmond Featuring guest co-host Brandon Rollins, creator of War Co. Expandable Card Game Recommended and Related Media War Co. Expandable Card Game Our guest’s expandable sci-fi expandable card game. Instead of randomized starter decks and booster packs, the core set comes with pre-constructed starter decks, and is designed to be self-contained. Get the thing WarCo The Engineering Guy Check out his whole channel on Youtube Show Notes Sci-Fi Dystopias 1984, Brazil, Farenheit 451, etc. Why do these count as scifi? User Interfaces as analogy Thanks to Chris Noessel for pointing in the Facebook group the way the “badly designed” user interfaces are really incredibly well-designed, if the point is absurdism.

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Godzilla/Gojira (1954) What: The ancient creature Godzilla(Gojira) is awakened by a hydrogen bomb and terrorizes Japan. Then, science happens. Directed by: Ishiro Honda Starring: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada Featuring guest co-host Miles Greb, creator of the comic After the Gold Rush Recommended and Related Media Godzilla: Half Century War Miles recommended this modern Godzilla comic by James Stokoe, in particular for its art. Read it Amazon Double Blasted Radiolab episode about the luckiest/unluckiest man on earth, who survived both atomic bomb blasts over Japan in 1945. Listen Radiolab The King of the Monsters The History of Japan Podcast had this really good episode on Godzilla and his place in actual history. And this is a great show in general if you wanna learn something about Japan! Listen History of Japan Podcast After the Gold Rush Guest co-host Miles Greb makes comics! He just kickstarted the second issue of After The Gold Rush, and it was a success! This is a really great book where science is the hero. If you like our show you’re likely to like this too.

Stream The Expanse: iTunes | Amazon Language and The Expanse What: A topic-based talk about language! Language in The Expanse, in scifi, and in general. Featuring guest co-host Nick Farmer, creator of The Expanse’s Belter language Recommended and Related Media Nick Farmer Nick posts lots of linguisty stuff and occasionally shares bits from his constructed language: belter! Follow him on Twitter @NFarmerLinguist The Art of Language Invention by David J. Peterson The definitive guide to conlanging! A good read even if you don’t want to make your own languages, but are just interested in the intersection of language and fiction. Read it with your eyes iTunes | Amazon Read it with your ears iTunes | Amazon The Expanse A really impressive scifi series with really solid world-building (a big part of which is Nick’s language work). Highly recommended! Get the thing iTunes | Amazon Show Notes Conlang What are constructed languages? Who makes them? The Expanse Designing the language for the TV show. Designing a posteriori languages and a priori languages and difficulties of each. Slang A Clockwork Orange, Andrew Niccol, and other uses of slang to flesh out fictional worlds. Pidgins, Creoles What is a creole, and how did Nick approach designing one for The Expanse Goodbyes Du ferí da Belte! Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Weird Science What: A weird science magic sex genie helps two boys grow up a little bit? sorta? Directed by: John Hughes Starring: Bill Paxton, Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock Recommended and Related Media Made of the Future/Weird Science The pulp comic on which the movie was based. Read it at Mars Will Send no More Frankenstein – Episode 29 Another episode of this very show where we covered man using smagic (science magic) to create life! Except in this case man learns something about his hubris. Featuring Joe Ruppel, history nerd. Listen to it here Show Notes John Hughes And the Brat Pack. Uncle Buck and Breakfast Club. Smagic Science so unscientific, it is magic: smagic. Callbacks to pygmalion and Frankenstein. Sexism/Objectification Boy howdy. Literally using a barbie to create a living sex object. Consent. Creating sex bots. The 1950s comic on which the movie was based. Geekery What are they? what are we? Geeks? Nerds? Both? Growing Up Adolescence sucks. Being a sexually frustrated teenage boy. Fantasies and ethical concerns. Goodbyes Girls, schmirls. Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Jupiter Ascending What: Fuedalism in space with Channing Tatum as a dog-person. Directed by: The Wachowski siblings Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean Recommended and Related Media Antibodies Part 1: CRISPR by Radiolab An intro to why this gene editing technique is so interesting and important! Get the episode Radiolab A Quick Note on Jupiter Ascending’s Politics An article with some notes on the politics in Jupiter Ascending plus an argument for it as a nihilistic film. Read it This Cage is Worms Show Notes Jupiter Baby naming. Looking through a telescope with the kids and co-bff Joe. Astrology.

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Tomorrowland What: Scientific curiosity and a love of invention and a quest to save earth from pessimism and destruction. Directed by: Brad Bird Starring: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie, Raffey Cassidy Recommended and Related Media Walt Disney – The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler A portrait of what shaped Walt Disney’s wonderful imagination and how he made it reality. Read it with your ears iTunes | Amazon Read it with your eyes iTunes | Amazon A 19th Century Vision of the Year 2000 A series of images of “the future” from around the turn of the twentieth century. Hokey, but then our ideas will look the same later on! Check them out at The Public Domain Review Show Notes Brad Bird 50s and 60s techno optimism. The Iron Giant. The Incredibles. World’s Fair Stages of the worlds fair. Our tech and relationship to it. Walt Disney Futurism. Techno optimism. Shaping reality to fit his vision. Tomorrowland Disneyland. EPCOT. Disney’s vision for a designed city. A sense of wonder Childlike optimism. Positivity in the face of pessimism. Three wolf moon. Future Visions Visions of technology and the future  from different periods. Goodbyes Bollocks! Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon Serenity What: We cover the movie wrapping up the story of the crew from TV’s Firefly and have trouble remembering which is which. Directed by: Joss Whedon Starring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau Recommended and Related Media Firefly The show that made us love all of these characters. It ended too early, but at least we got the movie! Stream it iTunes | Amazon Science Fiction Film Podcast – Serenity Episode Our friends at Liberty Street Geek also covered serenity on their show. We love these guys, and this was a good episode.

Stream the movie: iTunes | Amazon The Man From Earth What: One of our favorite movies! A really interesting extended thought experiment. Directed by: Richard Schenkman Starring: David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley Featuring guest co-host Adrian Falcone, general-purpose internet nerd Recommended and Related Media Good Job Brain I really like this trivia podcast. The hosts are all great and there’s always a ton to learn. This episode in particular was good and informed our brain/memory discussion on the show. Get the episode Risk. by VSauce VSauce knocks it out of the park, as always. with this video on risk, micromorts, and microlives. Watch it on Youtube Show Notes Production Jerome Bixby’s final, lifelong work. A bittorrent success story. The Man From Earth: The Series Why this movie is the best A great mechanism for great conversation: a collection of domain experts exploring hypotheticals. Human Evolution Biological differences. Geography. Proto human language. Memory and Learning Plasticity. Long term memories. Retrospective fill-ins. Meta-memory. Immortal Biology Regeneration. Disease. Scarring and cancer. Nasty, Brutish, and Short Living through humanity’s violent past. Adjusting to the current morality. Old fashioned ways. Danger and Risk Micromorts. Judging risk and how to live life when you’re immortal. Goodbyes I’m going home to watch some Star Trek for a dose of sanity. Feedback? Please Contact Us contact@decipherscifi.com Amazon and iTunes links include our affiliate codes. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out a tiny bit, go ahead and use them to buy/stream something. Thanks!