This week's episode has a little bit of everything—local politics, a suspicious number of Star Trek–named kittens, some genuinely cool green tech, and a short story that hits you with an existential haymaker.

Devon's in a "life is… fine" zone, which is either stability or the calm before chaos—we'll let you decide. That leads into a surprisingly interesting question: does a mayor's party affiliation actually matter at the local level? Texas elections are happening right now, and it sparks a broader conversation about how much politics really trickles down into day-to-day governance. Also on the home front: kids' birthday parties, which are somehow both joyful and mildly exhausting.

Ben has fully entered his foster-dad era—but for kittens. A whole crew of them: Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, and their mom Majel. He claims he didn't name them, which statistically feels unlikely. Either way, it's a Starfleet-grade lineup. Meanwhile, Devon's household remains firmly anti-new-pet, so don't expect a crossover episode there.

We also touch on For All Mankind, and then pivot into the upcoming Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender film—specifically the leaks, early reactions, and what happens when studios lose control of the narrative before release. There's some real-world legal tension brewing there.

Steven… well, Steven exists this week. (You'll hear it.)

Devon brings in a heavy one: reports that the independent board overseeing the National Science Foundation has been abruptly dismissed, raising serious concerns about political interference in scientific research and long-term innovation. You can read more here:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/28/trump-fires-national-science-foundation-board

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-fired-national-science-foundation-board-b2965242.html

This isn't just bureaucratic reshuffling—it could have real downstream effects on funding, research priorities, and scientific independence.

Ben tries to balance things out with something genuinely cool: Mosscrete.

https://gorespyre.com/

It's a bioreceptive concrete designed to grow moss directly on buildings using nothing but rain and humidity. No irrigation, no maintenance-heavy systems—just passive, living architecture. It's one of those ideas that feels obvious in hindsight but actually takes some clever engineering to pull off.

This whole topic also dredges up a deep memory: Bill Nye's moss-and-milk experiment. If you know, you know. If you don't, you probably just learned something slightly unsettling about childhood science videos.

Steven is present in this segment as well. Technically.

Next Week:
Saint Zero of the Hollows and the Eagle Knight by V.M. Ayala

https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/saint-zero-of-the-hollows-and-the-eagle-knight/

"The only sound Zero heard in their helmet was their own hyperventilating and the gentle pings from their pegasus."

That line alone is doing a lot of work. We're excited for this one.

This Week:
Learning To Be Me by Greg Egan

http://thetafiction.com/story/learning-to-be-me/

"I was six years old when my parents told me that there was a small, dark jewel inside my skull, learning to be me."

This story landed hard for all of us. It follows a life from childhood to adulthood in a way that feels deceptively simple—until it isn't. The structure does a ton of heavy lifting, and the twist is the kind that makes you immediately want to reread it.

We get into some big ideas here, especially panpsychism—the notion that consciousness might be a fundamental property of the universe rather than something that just "emerges." It's one of those discussions that starts philosophical and ends slightly unsettling.

If you like episodes that bounce between grounded real life, big-picture science, and brain-bending fiction, this one's for you.

This week's episode leans a little more literary than usual—less breaking news, more storytelling, and a surprisingly thoughtful mix of sci-fi, horror, and real-world weirdness.

Ben kicks things off by consciously shifting gears—less doomscrolling, more reading. A noble goal, and honestly, one that might save his sanity. That theme carries through the episode more than expected.

Steven brings in the tabletop energy with Cyberpunk Red Combat Zone, diving into a recent session with Greg. Not only did he get some solid playtime in, he actually won—a rare enough event to deserve celebration. He breaks down how the game feels on the table, what works, and why it scratches that tactical cyberpunk itch without bogging players down.

Ben circles back with The Orville, speculating about a possible season 4 and reflecting on season 3's pacing issues. Longer episodes aren't always better, and the conversation drifts into something more interesting: can "pop culture" even exist in something like Star Trek? Or does referencing it break the illusion of the future? It's a surprisingly deep rabbit hole for a show that also features goo aliens and karaoke.

Devon wraps the segment with a mini review of Dust Bunny, which sounds like it refuses to sit cleanly in any genre—magical realism, horror, maybe assassins? It's got strong #Benergy. He's also been bouncing between shows lately and not finding anything that sticks, which is a feeling a lot of people are quietly having right now.

Ben taps out this week and lets the science crew cook.

Steven brings in a genuinely useful study: a clinical trial showing that specially designed music with auditory beat stimulation can significantly reduce anxiety. The standout detail? A 24-minute session hit the sweet spot—long enough to have a measurable effect, short enough to be practical. That idea of a "dosage" for music is interesting, especially if you're someone trying to manage stress without adding another hour-long routine to your day.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315225133.htm

Devon follows with something more unsettling. Modern food systems are increasingly dependent on digital approval layers—databases, logistics software, automated verification. The result? Perfectly good food can sit unused or be thrown away simply because a system won't recognize it. Not spoiled. Not unsafe. Just… digitally invisible. It's a quiet kind of fragility that doesn't show up until it really, really matters.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260403224505.htm

Next week, the crew is reading Learning to Be Me by Greg Egan, which opens with one of those classic sci-fi hooks that immediately rewires your brain: a child learning there's something inside their skull learning to become them. If you know Egan, you know this is going to get existential fast.

This week's discussion centers on Morning Shed by Namita Krishnamurthy, and it lands somewhere between horror and speculative fiction. The premise is visceral and unsettling, and the reactions reflect that. Steven really connects with the writing style—there's something about the way it unfolds that sticks. Devon appreciates it but keeps a bit of distance. Ben, as usual, digs into the meaning, questioning how literal or metaphorical the story's elements are.

It's one of those discussions where nobody's wrong, but nobody fully agrees either—which is exactly where the best conversations tend to live.

If this episode has a throughline, it's this: systems—whether they're games, shows, bodies, or entire food networks—only work as well as the assumptions behind them. And when those assumptions get weird, everything else follows.

And yeah, Steven finally got a win. That might be the biggest sci-fi moment of all.

This week's episode drifts from real-life chaos into full-on simulation theory territory—because apparently that's just how things go now.

Ben's week kicks off with a perfect storm: his mom's in town, the power steering pump dies, and suddenly he's asking the very real question—is it finally time to go electric? In the middle of all that, he stumbles across 1D Chess (https://rowan441.github.io/1dchess/chess.html), which somehow takes chess, removes a dimension, and still manages to be confusing.

Devon spent the week getting absolutely wrecked by a mystery illness that took out the whole family. Not COVID, not the flu—just one of those "you're not in control" reminders from the universe.

Steven brings the nerd balance: Star Wars: Shatterpoint with Greg, continued love for Project Hail Mary, and early buzz that Avengers: Doomsday might actually land with that Infinity War-level impact. He also highlights Vantage (https://vantage.rulepop.com/#), a sci-fi card game that plays like a choose-your-own-adventure.

Ben highlights Phyphox (https://phyphox.org/), an app that turns your phone into a portable science lab. It's one of those tools that quietly reminds you how powerful your everyday tech really is—especially when people are using it for real experiments (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47737376).

Steven brings the heavy hitter this week: scientists have successfully mapped and simulated the brain of a fruit fly—Drosophila melanogaster—and used it to control a virtual version of it. Not full human emulation, but it's a serious step in that direction. If you want to go down the rabbit hole, check out the coverage (https://www.profolus.com/topics/scientists-copied-fruit-fly-brain-put-inside-computer/, https://futurism.com/science-energy/research-fly-brain-matrix) and the demo itself (https://youtu.be/e21OUXPlnhk?si=GdB3dY-aY_12SIt9).

Devon wisely sits this one out before things get too existential.

This week's story is "Terms of Enlightenment" by Patrick Hurley (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/terms-of-enlightenment/), and the discussion goes deep.

We get into the "matrix-ness" of the story—what it means to live in a constructed reality and whether enlightenment is about escaping it or understanding it. There's a strong thread of Eastern philosophy throughout, especially when Ben dives into Zen koans and the idea that truth isn't something you're told—it's something you experience by breaking your own thinking patterns.

The conversation circles around illusion, perception, and whether "hacking reality" is just metaphor… or something closer than we think.

We're reading "Morning Shed" by Namita Krishnamurthy (https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/morning-shed/).

Every few years, the narrator's face erupts in eyes.

So… yeah. That's where we're headed next.

If nothing else, this episode makes a pretty strong case that the line between science fiction and reality is getting thinner by the week—and we're all just trying to keep up.

Special Note:
This episode fought us. Hard.
There was some extreme editing required, and yeah—you might notice a slight dip in quality. We hear it too. But we're owning it, learning from it, and making sure it doesn't happen again. Appreciate you sticking with us through the chaos.

Real Life

Ben kicks things off with a classic combo: in-laws, tacos, and just enough drama to keep things interesting. Somewhere in the middle of that, he also put together a wild Spider-Man 3 edit with a Twilight Zone twist—honestly, it's worth your time:
https://youtu.be/YDzSjRKUXuA

Steven's house has officially entered a Gravity Falls era, and it's pulling him in too. The cyphers, the hidden messages—it's that perfect blend of kid-friendly and secretly brilliant that makes you feel like you're solving puzzles alongside the show.

From there, things spiral (as they do) into TV talk. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is hitting right, but it raises a bigger question—are shows getting too dark for TV? We bounce through The Mandalorian and Grogu, try to remember what even happened in Season 3, and land hard on one standout: Maul: Shadow Lord. It's peak Star Wars animation and feels like a true evolution of what Clone Wars started. Also, For All Mankind gets some love in the mix.

Future or Now

Ben brings in a strong recommendation this week: more animated feature films—specifically Your Name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU47nhruN-Q&pp=ygUReW91ciBuYW1lIHRyYWlsZXI%3D

He walks us through the premise, the emotional weight, and why this one stands out. If you've been sleeping on animated films outside the usual Western stuff, this might be the one that pulls you in.

Steven… had something planned.
But we talked too much Star Wars.

So… NOT THIS TIME.

Book Club

Next week:
We're reading Terms of Enlightenment by Patrick Hurley:
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/terms-of-enlightenment/

If you want to read ahead and join us, now's your chance.

This week:
We dive into The O'Neill Cylinder in Geostationary Orbit Above Earth's Equator by Katlina Sommerberg:
https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/poetry/the-oneill-cylinder-in-geostationary-orbit-above-earths-equator/

This one's a little different—it's sci-fi poetry, and we go line by line trying to unpack it. What does it mean? What's it saying about humanity, space, and perspective? We don't pretend to have all the answers, but that's kind of the fun of it. It turns into a thoughtful, slightly chaotic, and genuinely interesting conversation.

If you made it this far—seriously, thank you.
And if you want more of the show (bonus episodes, Discord access, behind-the-scenes chaos), you know where to find us.