Explore every episode of the podcast Wizards & Spaceships
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The King of Horror ft. Troy Harkin | 15 Oct 2024 | 01:05:08 | |
Happy Halloween! To celebrate all that is spooky and monstrous, we're joined by poet, novelist, and David's other podcast co-host, Troy Harkin, to talk about the master of horror himself, Stephen King. Also cocaine.
Show Notes:
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| Speculative Whiteness | 15 Sep 2024 | 00:35:46 | |
In this episode, we talk to Jordan S. Carroll about his new book, the Sad and Rabid Puppies, and how to avoid getting your sci-fi co-opted by fascists.
Show Notes:
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| In the Beginning ft. Shiraz Janjua | 15 Aug 2024 | 00:54:50 | |
How do you begin your epic sci-fi, fantasy, or horror story? How do you grab a viewer or reader’s attention, introduce your characters and world, and avoid the dreaded infodump? To discuss these questions and much more, we talk to Shiraz Janjua, host of the YouTube channel How the Novel Starts.
Show Notes:
Reading and Watching List:
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| A New World In Our Hearts | 15 Jul 2024 | 01:03:36 | |
In this episode, we interview absolute legend Ken MacLeod about utopias in science fiction. And yes, we're talking about the Culture. Of course we're talking about the Culture.
Show Notes:
The Early Days of a Better Nation
Russian Cosmism
Utopia and the Return of History
Postwar as the war generation's utopia
China 2019, just before the pandemic
Reading/Watching List
The Culture, Iain M. Banks
News From Nowhere, William Morris
Half-Earth Socialism: https://www.half.earth/
Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 by M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Green-Sky Trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov
Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis
Desert by Anonymous
The English Utopia by A.L. Morton
Utopia by Thomas More
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
Elysium (2013)
The Creator (2023)
Noon Universe by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Lenin Lives by Philip Cunliffe
Merrie England by Robert Blatchford
Ministry For the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson | |||
| You Never Get a Second Chance to Make First Contact | 15 Jun 2024 | 00:43:21 | |
In this episode, we talk about meeting sentient extraterrestrials: The challenges of communication, what first contact stories say about our own Earthbound society, and why the aliens won't return our texts.
David's recommendations:
Rachel's recommendations
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| Some People Call Me the Space Cowboy | 15 May 2024 | 00:35:28 | |
In this episode, we're talking about the Space Western! Was Firefly cancelled too soon or is it massively overrated? Why does it continue to grip the Nerd Imagination? Is it even okay to use Western elements in SFFH? Credits: Shamelessly stolen from Star Trek's "Spectre of the Gun," the Expanse Season 1 trailer, UFO Cowboy's official trailer, and Firefly's "Jayne's Town." The background music clips are "Somewhere In the Dark" and "Western Showdown" by Holizna and licensed under Creative Commons. | |||
| Where Are We, and Why Are We In This Handbasket? | 15 Apr 2024 | 00:35:27 | |
Welcome to Wizards & Spaceships, a podcast that's about both wizards and spaceships, featuring poet David L. Clink and novelist Rachel A. Rosen. In this episode, we introduce ourselves, talk about our favourite media, and explain why genre snobs need to get a lot less snobby. Do infodumps have a place in literature? Do all fantasy novels need to be a series? Grab a metaphorical drink with your newest nerdy friends and join us for our podcast launch. | |||
| The Great Hugo Awards Controversy ft. Diane Lacey | 15 Nov 2024 | 00:45:37 | |
Welcome to the first episode of Wizards & Spaceships to pass the Bechdel Test!
In 2023, the Hugo Awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, were rocked by scandal. That year, the convention was hosted in Chengdu, China, and a number of popular and acclaimed works, from R. F. Kuang's Babel to Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, were deemed ineligible...even though they had enough nominations to appear on the ballot. The controversy engulfed the world of speculative fiction, but what really happened?
In this episode, we talk to WorldCon whistleblower Diane Lacey to get her take on what went wrong, who's to blame, and what we can learn from this moving forward. | |||
| Transhumanism and AI ft. Robert J. Sawyer | 15 Apr 2025 | 01:00:03 | |
It's been an entire year of Wizards & Spaceships! Thank you for coming along with us on this wild and magical space ride.
You can't turn on the news or doomscroll social media without hearing about how AI will revolutionize everything. Unfortunately, the worst people in the world seem to be in charge of it. In this episode, we talk to sci-fi legend Robert J. Sawyer about what AI and transhumanism really mean for humanity and our planet and how we can stand up to corporate hype and greed.
Show notes:
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| TTRPG Design ft. Jesse Pohlman | 15 Mar 2025 | 00:36:31 | |
There’s a huge crossover between tabletop role-playing game players, genre fans, and genre writers, and many of us fell in love with genre fiction by playing D&D in the basement. In this episode, we're joined by author and game designer Jesse Pohlman to talk about the considerations that go into building your own TTPRG.
Show notes:
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| Toxic Schlock Syndrome ft. Shawn Whitney | 15 Feb 2025 | 00:40:41 | |
Pulp fiction is a cornerstone of the genres we love. In this episode, we talk to screenwriter, ghostwriter, and author of the new zombie novel Deads Rise, Shawn Whitney, about manly men doing manly things, the perils of writing romance, and close encounters with sexy lizard aliens.
Show notes:
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| Can*Con Can-Can ft. Ira Nayman and Shirley Meier | 15 Jan 2025 | 00:35:57 | |
Rachel and David take the show on the road to Can*Con 2024 in Ottawa. We recorded the launch of The Dance, a multiverse anthology, as well as some general table silliness.
Show notes:
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| Worldbuilding ft. Ursula Whitcher | 15 Dec 2024 | 00:30:16 | |
put notes here | |||
| The Ur-Pisode: The Queer Heart of The Epic of Gilgamesh, ft. Julian Gunn | 15 Jun 2025 | 00:54:30 | |
For 4000 years, The Epic of Gilgamesh has influenced mythology, theology, and literature, and its rediscovery in the 1850s is itself an epic tale of war, theft, and Hobby Lobby. A meditation on love and death, rage and grief, civilization and nature, starring two problematic queer frat boys, it is the foundation of so many of our stories. In this episode, we talk to poet, artist, and essayist Julian Gunn about the story that started it all. Show Notes:
If you haven't had enough problematic gays raging against the gods by the end of this episode, you might enjoy Rachel's new novel, Blight! Buy it from your favourite online bookstore or directly from the publisher. Also, voting for the Aurora Awards opens June 7th! You can vote for us. Or other people. But please vote for us. | |||
| Blight, ft. Rachel A. Rosen | 15 May 2025 | 00:49:28 | |
Break out the cake, balloons, and gigantic bone tentacles, it's season 2 of Wizards & Spaceships! Rachel has a new book out, Blight, the sequel to her first novel, Cascade. In this episode, you get a behind-the-scenes look at the newest instalment in the Sleep of Reason series. And did you know that tomorrow is Rachel's birthday? Why not celebrate by buying one or more of her books?
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| Against Hopepunk ft. Nick Mamatas | 15 Jul 2025 | 00:45:07 | |
Sci-fi and fantasy has always had an optimistic current, whether it’s utopian space-age cities or noble chosen ones vanquishing a dark lord. In recent years, with the popularity of romantasy and cozy fantasy, it’s easier than ever to immerse yourself in a more hopeful world. But what if instead we made you feel bad? In this wide-ranging conversation with multitalented author and editor Nick Mamatas, we talk about crushing your joy, corporate greed in the publishing and music production industries, and why the 80s and 90s were objectively the best time for music. Show Notes:
Have you bought Blight yet? If you like dark things, you should! "Do You Love the Colour Of the Sky?" in Trollbreath Magazine | |||
| The Science Bros Answer Your Science Questions, Part 2, ft. Rob & Jon Mound | 15 Sep 2025 | 00:48:33 | |
You guys had so many science questions that our resident scientists couldn't answer them all in just one episode! In this episode, Rob & Jon Mound tackle important questions such as time travel, the mutability or lack thereof of the laws of physics, and dragon taxonomy. Also, why we are not going to Mars.
Keep the conversation going, or ask the Science Bros more questions by joining our Discord or Facebook group! | |||
| The Science Bros Answer Your Science Questions, Part 1, ft. Rob & Jon Mound | 15 Aug 2025 | 01:01:16 | |
Suspension of disbelief is a cornerstone of speculative fiction, but as writers and fans, we often find ourselves wondering just how grounded in reality our favourite stories really are. We asked you, our listeners, for questions like:
And then we got biologist Rob Mound and geophysicist Jon Mound to answer the questions you sent. There were so many we had to split it into two parts! In this part, we look at jumping out of a spaceship without a suit (why?), octopus people (yes!), sex in space (obviously!), and more!
Keep the conversation going, or ask the Science Bros more questions by joining our Discord or Facebook group! | |||
| WITCHES! | 15 Oct 2025 | 00:47:53 | |
Happy Halloween! We're talking about WITCHES! A staple of fantasy, horror, and Broadway musicals, witches can be anything from a murderous presence in the woods to the friendly neighbourhood Wiccan who revives your dying African violet. So let's get our witch on! Show Notes:
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| Charles R. Saunders ft. Jon Tattrie | 15 Feb 2026 | 01:04:12 | |
Charles R. Saunders was a Halifax journalist and, with his Imaro novels, the founder of the "sword and soul" genre and a Black Canadian literary icon. When he died in obscurity in 2020, journalist Jon Tattrie joined fans worldwide to uncover where he was buried, commemorate his life, and bring him the prominence he deserved. For Black History Month, we're joined by Jon to tell us about Charles' remarkable career and his new biography, To Leave a Warrior Behind: The Life and Stories of Charles R. Saunders, the Man Who Rewrote Fantasy. Show Notes:
Charles R. Saunders' select biography:
Other novels
Non-fiction
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| Editing Roundtable ft. Alexandra Pierce and Josh Wilson | 15 Jan 2026 | 00:49:28 | |
Magazines and journals have been a foundational part of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror since the very beginning and provide us with the stories, art, and critical analysis that keep the genre vibrant. These collaborations are a labour of love and the lifeblood of the literary scene. With us to talk about the work of editing and producing them are two rising stars in the field, Josh Wilson, editor of The Fabulist, and Alexandra Pierce, editor of Speculative Insight. Show Notes:
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| Postcolonialism in SFFH, ft. Suzan Palumbo | 15 Dec 2025 | 00:33:53 | |
The famous introduction to Star Trek lays out the mission of the Starship Enterprise: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before! Later on, they changed it to be more inclusive—where no one has gone before. But the fundamental problem remains—if no one has gone there, what exactly are all those new civilizations? Could science fiction and fantasy have a colonialism problem? With us to discuss this thorny issue and the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers challenging Eurocentric assumptions is Suzan Palumbo, author of Countess and co-founder of the Ignyte Awards.
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| How to Write a Kick-Ass Fantasy Battle ft. Suzannah Rowntree | 15 Nov 2025 | 00:38:24 | |
Anyone who’s ever written fantasy has faced this problem: You have hit the point of conflict in a story where problems can no longer be worked out with witty retorts or a magic spell. The orcs are at the gates, the peace talks have broken down…that’s right—you’re going to have to write a battle scene. In this episode, we talk to Suzannah Rowntree, author of How to Write a Fantasy Battle: Basic Medieval and Modern Military Tactics for Authors, The Watchers of Outremer Series, and other historical fantasies, about how to get a battle right. Show Notes:
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| Amazing Stories 100th Anniversary ft. Steve Davidson, Kermit Woodall and Lloyd Penney | 15 Mar 2026 | 00:50:01 | |
We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Amazing Stories Magazine. It started way back in March or April, of 1926, depending on who you ask. With us to talk about the magazine's past, present, and maybe even the next hundred years, are its publishers and editors: Steve Davidson, Kermit Woodall and Lloyd Penney. Show notes: | |||