This week's episode had everything: halftime show skepticism, aquatic conspiracy theories, holographic ethics, and a little too much time in the Wasteland. We may have skipped science again… but we made up for it with sharks and Starfleet.

Devon kicked things off with the Super Bowl halftime show — Green Day and Bad Bunny sharing the stage. The big question: was Green Day the safe choice?

Are legacy punk bands the NFL's version of comfort food? Reliable. Recognizable. Not too disruptive. Devon wrestles with whether the performance felt bold or carefully calculated — and what that says about the league's broader decision-making.

It's less about music and more about cultural positioning. When the biggest stage in America picks its soundtrack, what are they really trying to say?

Ben watched Jaws with his son, and instead of simply enjoying the terror of a seaside predator, he zeroed in on the real villain:

The mayor.

What exactly is going on with this guy?

Ben proposes several theories:

• Is the mayor the shark?

• Is the shark a metaphor?

• Is this some kind of Ice Nine Kills-style symbolic horror?

• Or… is the mayor secretly a wereshark?

The conversation spirals in the best way possible. Spoiler alert: they don't get a bigger boat.

Ben also makes a strong case that Starfleet Academy is not for everyone — but it is for him. That leads to a deep dive into holograms in Star Trek. Some holograms are "hard light" and physically interactive. The Doctor in Voyager was designed for short-term use… and then just kept going. What does that mean philosophically? Legally? Spiritually?

And somewhere in there, Ben cautiously circles around the fate of Captain Sisko.

Steven brings us back to the Wasteland with thoughts on the Fallout Season 2 finale.

Devon, generally, is not thrilled. The season lacked momentum. The pacing felt uneven. Something didn't quite land.

Steven counters with a structural theory:
The three main characters represent different player archetypes. Different play styles. Different moral approaches to the same broken world.

He also notes something important: there were a lot of Easter eggs. A LOT. For longtime game veterans, it was a treasure hunt. For casual viewers? Probably noise.

Steven's bigger hypothesis:

• Season 1: Establish the world and characters.

• Season 2: The creators indulge in their favorite corners of the setting.

• Season 3: (Hopefully) we move into entirely new territory not tied to a specific game.

If that happens, the show might finally become its own thing.

There was, once again, too much Fallout talk.

Science gets skipped.

Again.

We promise nothing for next week.

"Liar!" by Isaac Asimov
Read it here:
https://lecturia.org/en/short-stories/isaac-asimov-liar/23933/

Classic Asimov. Robots. Logic. Emotional complications. You know the drill.

"The Orchard Village Catalog" by Parker Peevyhouse
https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-orchard-village-catalog/

Reactions were mixed — but thoughtful.

Ben: Loved the realistic corporate nonsense. Found it creepy and fascinating.
Devon: Felt it might be too open-ended, but still enjoyed it.
Steven: Didn't fully "get it," but appreciated the quality of the writing.

Which, honestly, is sometimes the best kind of sci-fi discussion — confusion paired with admiration.

Between halftime show politics, aquatic conspiracies, holographic sentience, and post-apocalyptic pacing debates, this episode covered a lot of ground.

If you've got thoughts on safe Super Bowl picks, weresharks, or where Fallout should go next, we want to hear them.

And maybe next week… we'll finally talk about science.

This week's episode is a very real-life-heavy one, with winter storms, family travel chaos, sick kids, and a surprising amount of ice setting the tone. From a memorable Nashville trip and pop culture check-ins to a passionate Star Trek defense and thoughtful sci-fi discussion, we settle in for a conversational episode that leans into where everyone's headspace actually is this week.

REAL LIFE

Devon braved a winter storm while hosting family, with Nashville serving as the central meetup point. The group stayed in a four-story Airbnb packed with fun things to do, except for the roof, which was completely covered in ice. There was ice everywhere. This led to discussions about boil notices, what they actually mean, and whether a boil notice might have contributed to a house full of sick kids. Despite the chaos, Devon highlights the Grand Ole Opry and the Gaylord Resort, noting that it would be awesome to visit the resort someday without kids.

Steven revisits Cowboy Bebop, comparing the anime to the Netflix live-action adaptation and confirming once again that the live-action version was a huge miss. On the positive side, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been a solid and enjoyable watch.

Ben declares that Starfleet Academy episode 1x04 is peak Star Trek and insists that listeners should watch episode four and only episode four if nothing else. He recaps the episode, focusing on Federation and Klingon ethics around survival and why this episode delivers exactly what he wants from Star Trek. This Facebook post sparked part of the discussion:
https://www.facebook.com/28601265/posts/pfbid02D298Wi45gN3cZd8S4GMS7ypkdj7ja5zsHSQKwahiZ2eVQzyV7sApm6Fu46Z8X9fFl/?app=fbl

Ben also continues praising the Star Trek comic The Last Starship, describing it as noir, heartbreaking, and packed with big ideas, including Earth seceding from the Federation, a clone of Kirk, and a Borg Queen engineer.

FUTURE OR NOW

None this week. Too much real life. Too much talky talky.

BOOK CLUB

This week's story:
The Song of a Non-Human Intelligence
By Mical Garcia (Jan 12, 2026)
https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-song-of-a-non-human-intelligence/

The story explores communication between cetacean intelligences and the concept of hope, defined as waiting until home feels safe again. Ben and Devon both enjoyed the story, with Devon wanting more. Steven found it a bit dry but still appreciated the world-building.

Devon also discusses Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, connecting its themes to the episode's discussion of non-human intelligence.

Next week's story:
The Orchard Village Catalog
By Parker Peevyhouse

https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-orchard-village-catalog/

Steven recommends this video by Joe Scott:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1FMViCd6I4

Thanks for listening, and be sure to check out the links in the show notes for this week's stories and videos—we'll be back next episode with a new book club read and, hopefully, a little less ice.

This week we cover a little bit of everything, including a brutal browser puzzle game, new tabletop RPG pickups, meditation meetups, comic books, and a short film with a great twist.

REAL LIFE

Ben kicks things off talking about the puzzle game that has completely taken over his brain, Enclose the Horse (https://enclose.horse/). The goal is simple but cruel: build the biggest possible enclosure using limited walls, while the horse avoids water, ignores diagonal movement, and sometimes teleports through portals. Steven shares some new tabletop RPG pickups including Orbital Blues from Soul Muppet Publishing and Star Borg by JP Coovert, plus updates from his latest Mutant Crawl Classics game where he's running as Judge. Ben also talks about attending a meditation Sangha he found through Reddit, sitting silently with about twenty people and ending the night with an unexpected cookie tailgate.

FUTURE OR NOW

In Future or Now, Ben brings up an issue of Absolute Batman where Batman fights white supremacists, leading Steven to attempt a recap that goes about as smoothly as you'd expect. The conversation shifts into Superman Smashes the Klan, a graphic novel Ben highly recommends for its powerful storytelling and accessibility. The discussion touches on why Superman works so well as a symbol against hate, along with how modern comics are tackling real-world themes more directly. A related video discussion can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ5ID_k_iBA.

BOOK CLUB

For Book Club, we talk about the short film Likewise, Olive from Omeleto (https://youtu.be/lwEssWpRrxg). Both Ben and Steven enjoyed it, even though Ben didn't see the twist coming while Steven guessed it halfway through knowing it was a time travel story. Either way, the film still lands emotionally and is well worth watching.

Next week's reading is The Song of a Non-Human Intelligence by Mical Garcia, published January 12, 2026, available at Strange Horizons: https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-song-of-a-non-human-intelligence/. The story explores cetacean communication, memory, and hope carried across oceans and time.

That's it for this week. From fencing in digital horses to tabletop chaos, meditation cookies, thoughtful comics, and time travel feelings, it's a full episode.

We'll see you next week for whales, non-human intelligence, and a whole lot of hope.