From the team behind STARLOG, a weekly podcast at the intersection of science fiction, science, and the stories shaping what comes next.
Host Jordan Hoffman talks to the writers, filmmakers, scientists, and creators imagining tomorrow.
Each week, expect:
Archival deep-dives that unearth what made science fiction matter in the first place
Exclusive interviews with the people building the future for real
Conversations with the storytellers using genre to ask the questions our culture is afraid to ask out loud
If you grew up with the original STARLOG magazine, you know the territory: space-time, alternate worlds, the unknown. If you didn't, welcome. The podcast is part of STARLOG's 2026 relaunch as a modern media platform, the audio counterpart to STARLOG Magazine (returning fall 2026) and The Lodestar (the weekly newsletter from STARLOG's editorial team). STARLOG is the sister publication to horror magazine FANGORIA.
Produced by Dave Gonzales. New episodes every week.
Subscribe to The Lodestar at starlog.com.
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
This episode is a little different than our past episodes as we honor the passing of actors and Star Trek legends Sir Patrick Stewart and Walter Koenig. Instead of a new science fiction topic, Jordan and Dave share some of their memories about the actors and the projects they worked on. Then, the guys stumble across a great name for a possible new dwarf planet for Whatâs Happening in Science Fact? Before finding some Walter Koenig gems in the STARLOG Archive.
This week, author and television critic extraordinaire Alan Sepinwall pulls the podcast into The Twilight Zone to talk about the man who created the series: Rod Serling. Alan is the author of the new book Serling: A Journey into the Twilight Zone with TVâs First Visionary, a biography that uses specific works of Serling's and interviews with now-famous fans to tell the story of the man behind the television shows we love.
Follow Alan Sepinwall on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/sepinwall/
Follow Alan Sepinwall on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/sepinwall.bsky.social
Get more writing, reviews and podcasts from Alan:
https://www.whatsalanwatching.com/
Get Serling: A Journey into the Twilight Zone with TVâs First Visionary!
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alan-sepinwall/serling/9781538773888/
NEXT WEEK:
STARLOG Magazine is officially back and The STARLOG Podcast wanted to be the first to unite co-founder of STARLOG Kerry O'Quinn with the new STARLOG Magazineâs Editor-In-Chief Annalee Newitz and Senior Editor Meredith Borders. Kerryâs here to tell us the real story behind STARLOG Magazine and his encounters with the likes of science fiction legends like George Lucas, Arthur C. Clarke, and Gene Roddenberry. Donât miss our special episode!Â
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 20!Â
01:55 - Remembering Patrick Stewart and Walter Koenig
15:02 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
21:55 - The STARLOG Archive - Chekov's Enterprise
30:41 - Alan Sepinwall!
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019 - VisionQuest, Dune, and The Republic of Memory with Mahmud El Sayed
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
This episode was recorded before we received the sad news that actor Walter Koenig died at age 90. Next weekâs episode will include more Koenig memorial, but this week weâre going to catch you up on Disney Plusâ VisionQuest, the new Marvel streaming series. For science fact, Jordan attended a concert of mushrooms (for real), and in the STARLOG Archive we devote the segment to some very special letters from readers past.
This week, we have our first guest who is also a contributor to the new issue of STARLOG Magazine! Author Mahmud El Sayed joins the podcast to talk about his new sci-fi novel about a generation ship divided by language: The Republic of Memory. The trio also discuss Mahmudâs upcoming piece in STARLOG pertaining to how Arab cultures are portrayed in adaptations of Frank Herbertâs Dune, and his interest in the arabfuturism genre of science fiction writing.
Follow Mahmud El Sayed on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/mahmud0elsayed
Follow Mahmud El Sayed on Blueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/mahmudelsayed.bsky.social
Get The Republic of Memory!
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Republic-of-Memory/Mahmud-El-Sayed/The-Song-of-the-Safina/9781668207192
NEXT WEEK:
Weâre headed to The Twilight Zone with television critic extraordinaire Alan Sepinwall! Sepinwallâs new book is called Serling: A Journey Into the Twilight Zone with TV's First Visionary and serves as the authorâs first media biography in the form of television criticism. Weâll talk Serling and The Twilight Zone highs and lows next week!
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 19! R.I.P Walter Koenig
02:26 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
11:20 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
16:36 - The STARLOG Archive - Letters to the Magazine
28:05 - Mahmud El Sayed!
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018 - Carrie and Criterionâs The Complete Kubrick with Michael Chaiken
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, New York Comic Con 2026 is over, and your hosts Jordan Hoffman and Dave Gonzales have some exciting news about Avatar: Seven Havens and a new Blade Runner series Blade Runner 2099 coming to Amazon Prime. Currently on Amazon Prime is Carrie, which seems to be leading towards a larger Stephen King Universe. Plus, Mayan scientists get name dropped in Whatâs Happening in Science Fact? and thereâs pulp microfilm down in the STARLOG Archive.
This weekâs guest is archivist, curator, and filmmaker Michael Chaiken, who was tasked by the Criterion Collection with assembling âThe Complete Kubrick,â the first full collection of Stanley Kubrickâs films. Not only has Chaiken helped with archives for luminaries like Randy Newman and Bob Dylan, but he gives the podcast a glimpse of what it was like to choose what absolutely needed to be included in the biggest Stanley Kubrick home media release ever.Â
âThe Complete Kubrickâ is listed on Criterion now! https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/9000-the-complete-kubrick
Catch the Kubrick at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York ! https://movingimage.org/series/kubrick/
More Michael Chaiken
https://www.michaelchaiken.com/
NEXT WEEK:
Next week, STARLOG welcomes author and STARLOG Magazine contributor Mahmud El Sayed who will share insights about his newest sci-fi novel The Republic of Memory as well as give our hosts a peek into his thoughts about Arabfuturism and his magazine piece about the various adaptations of Dune.  Â
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 18!
02:46 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
15:55 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
20:56 - The STARLOG Archive - Pulp Microfilm
26:41 - Michael Chaiken!
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017 - (Green) Lanterns and A Wall Is Also a Road with Annalee Newitz
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, HBOâs Lanterns has completed its first season and now is the time for Green Lantern fan and podcast host Jordan Hoffman to render final judgement on the prestige television green magic space ring show! Then, after more depressing A.I. news in this weekâs Science Fact, we get the ultimate lesson in providing receipts from Star Trek writer D.C. Fontana in the STARLOG Archive.
This weekâs guest Annalee Newitz, the Editor-In-Chief of STARLOG Volume 2! Annalee is here to talk about their newest novel A Wall Is Also a Road and not about STARLOG Magazine (this time). Thereâs a lot to talk about in this tale about Gardenpath, a slime mold and Murtis, a talented sex worker from Pompeii. Based science, Annalee explains how ancient Pompeii really used urine in wool processing and how a non-human scientist might view an Earth sunset.Â
A Wall Is Also a Road is on sale now! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250228031/awallisalsoaroad/
Follow Annalee Newitz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghidorahnotweak/
Follow Annalee Newitz on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annaleen.bsky.social
NEXT WEEK:
Next week, STARLOGâs going to the Kubrick Archives with archivist, curator, and filmmaker Micahel Chaiken, who was tasked by the Criterion Collection with assembling âThe Complete Kubrick,â the first full collection of Stanley Kubrickâs films.  Â
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 17!
02:45 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
12:15 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
23:30 - The STARLOG Archive - D.C. Fontana Corrects the Record
32:34 - Annalee Newitz!
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016 - Everything You Wanted to Know About Artemis But Were Afraid to Ask with Swapna Krishna
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, your hosts delve into the SCP Foundation, a collaborative online fiction universe inspiring new projects from Neon and A24. Dave explains how its Creative Commons roots complicate the move from fan-created stories to Hollywood films. Jordan recommends State of Weightlessness, a 1994 documentary about Soviet cosmonauts and the Soviet space program that is now available online. Then, The STARLOG Archive unearths a 1980 Future Life article about âtalking magazines,â an ambitious idea to put audio recordings directly on magazine pages.
This weekâs guest Swapna Krishna, a writer, journalist, host, and content creator specializing in space, science, technology (and a friend of Jordanâs). Swapna schools the boys on the current state of NASAâs space projects and just how much SpaceX and Blue Origin have to do with the current state of space travel. Not only do we learn about Artemis III and what they hope to accomplish on the moon, but that the proof of Martian life is a $7 billion dollar retrieval mission we still aspire to.Â
More Swapna Krishna: https://bio.site/skrishna
Follow Swapna Krishna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skrishna/
Follow Swapna Krshna on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/swapnakrishna.com
NEXT WEEK:
Next week, STARLOGâs first return guest is EIC of our new print magazine Annalee Newitz! This time, they come on the podcast to talk about their new novel A Wall Is Also A Road, and how it relates to both pompeii and single-cell goops that poop as social interactions. That will make sense if you tune in next week and pick up A Wall Is Also A Road at your local bookseller.
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 16!
02:21 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
10:43 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
15:16 - The STARLOG Archive - Future Life Talking Magazines
23:27 - Swapna Krishna
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015 - Zero Company, AI Researchers, and The Sixth Nik with Daniel Kraus
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, both of your hosts struggle with how little sci-fi is represented in the New York Timesâ 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century List before launching into Daveâs story-loving review of Star Wars: Zero Company on the Playstation 5. Then, bad news about Artificial Intelligence agents forced to do research to pay for their own existence, before a STARLOG Archive that brings us back to last weekâs discussion on the movie D.A.R.Y.L.
This week's guest has had a fantastic 12 months with the release of his non-fiction book Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World, winning the Pulitzer Prize with his novel Angel Down, and publishing a wild science fiction novel called The Sixth Nik! Author Daniel Kraus comes on the STARLOG Podcast to talk about writing the book heâs seen described as the last book anyone will allow him to write.
Purchase The Sixth Nik at:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Sixth-Nik/Daniel-Kraus/9781668079478
Follow Daniel Kraus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kraus_author/
NEXT WEEK:
Next week, weâre joined by a writer, journalist, host, and content creator specializing in space, science, technology, and pop culture: itâs Swapna Krishna! Taking a break from darting around the globe reporting on the newest in space exploration, Swapna will drop by STARLOG to tell us just what is happening with NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin.
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 15!
08:55 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
15:35 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
26:46 - The STARLOG Archive - Barrett Oliver Interview
37:25 - Daniel Kraus!
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014 - Resident Evil, Mouse Brains, and D.A.R.Y.L. with Matt Patches
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, both of your hosts (and, judging from the box office, a lot of you) went to the theaters to check out director Zach Creggerâs Resident Evil and report back on this comedy/horror/sci-fi thriller film. Then, Jordan introduces Dave to the sad scientific realities of Pinky and The Brain. In even more Resident Evil retrospective, we dig up the first mention of the franchise in the STARLOG Archive way back in September 1997.
This weekâs guest is Editor-In-Chief of Polygon and co-host of the new Point It Out show, Matt Patches. After knowing the hosts for over a decade, the writer and father asked us to reconsider the 1985 film D.A.R.Y.L., considered a flop or a cult classic depending on if your parents owned the VHS. Patches wants to talk about parenting, robot children, and baseball. D.A.R.Y.L. is a great reason to discuss all three.
Next week, author or Whalefall and 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction for Angel Down, Daniel Krause comes on the podcast to talk about the wild world of his new sci-fi book, The Sixth Nik and his collaborations with George Romero that lead to his non-fiction book Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World.
Discover Polygonâs Point It Out Podcast on YouTube!
Watch Point It Out on your desktop at Polygon.com
Follow Matt Patches on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/matt.patches/
And BlueSky:https://bsky.app/profile/misterpatches.bsky.social
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 14!
04:52 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
13:28 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
21:15 - The STARLOG Archive - Resident Evil
29:08 - D.A.R.Y.L. with Matt Patches
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013 - Hope, Delivery Robots, and Transformers: The Movie with John DeVore
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, Jordan is catching up on sci-fi and sent Dave to the theaters to see Hope (íží), the new Korean sci-fi action flick from director Na Hong-jin. Then, a traffic jam of colorful delivery robots blocked a sidewalk in Chicago, so itâs time to talk about why you should pay a human to deliver your chicken salad sandwich. In the STARLOG Archive this week, Back to the Futureâs Bob Gale talks about his film version of Doctor Strange.
This weekâs guest is author, writer, and pop culture thinker John DeVore, who is a personal friend of Jordan. John DeVore is a two-time James Beard Awardâwinning writer and editor who has worked for The New York Post, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Marvel Comics, among many others. He wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie, the 1986 animated classic that killed your robot dad.
Next week, weâre bringing in Polygon Editor-and-Chief and co-host of the new Point It Out podcast, Matt Patches, who has inspired us to give another look at the 1985 science fiction D.A.R.Y.L. which is about both parenting and A.I.
NOTICES:
Hope Is being given a wide American theatrical release by NEON pictures. Check your local listings.
VIDEO: Delivery robots clog Chicago sidewalk
John DeVoreâs book Theater Kids is available now!
Follow John DeVore on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/johndevore/Â
And BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/johndevore.bsky.social
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Lucky Episode 13!
03:19 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
11:57 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
20:46 - The STARLOG Archive - Bob Galeâs Doctor Strange
28:11 - Transformers: The Movie with John DeVore
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012 - Cyborg Cockroaches, Nimoyâs Conspiracy Theories, and Chronovisor
Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!
In this episode, Jordan and Dave catch up on Lanterns on HBO (which has aired three episodes of its first season) before a discussion of the newest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ("Off-Hour") leads to a conspiracy theory about a season of genre riffs being a safe franchise choice. Then, Jordan explains how a planet can be âpuffy,â and dives into the STARLOG Archive for evidence of a lost film: SFX 1140.
This weekâs guest is Dean Devlin, who began his career as an actor (Real Genius) before moving into writing and directing with his creative partner Roland Emmerich in a historic 1990s run of Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Patriot. Devlinâs currently running television franchises The Ark and The Librarians: The Next Chapter can be found on traditional television with the back-catalog available on the ad-supported streaming service Electric Now. Of course, we ask about Bill Pullmanâs speech in Independence Day.
Â
NEXT WEEK:
Next week the podcast welcomes directors Kevin Walker and Jack Auen who have made Chronovisor, a very special sci-fi film about a rumored artifact that allows the Vatican to peer through time. Get pumped for the movie and learn how the duo pulled off a sleek 16mm film on a micro-budget.Â
NOTICES:
New Episodes of Lanterns air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max through October 4th.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is posting weekly to the Paramount Plus app through September 24th
Meet the Milky Wayâs puffiest planets [Science News]
The Ark, season three, is currently airing on the Sci-Fi Channel
The Librarians: The Next Chapter is currently airing its second season on TNT
Check out Electric Now at www.electricnow.tv or search for the app on your smart TV.
FORMAT:
00:00 - Welcome to Episode 11!
05:10 - Whatâs New in Science Fiction?
19:54 - Whatâs Happening in Science Fact?
24:49 - The STARLOG Archive - Bob Balabanâs missing short
33:02 - Dean Devlin!
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