No Such Thing As a Free Lunch: Puzzle #2
"Subject of a 500-year-old purity law in Germany"
Science Fiction
Capitalism, Socialism, and Fan Complaints About the Role of Giant Eagles in "The Lord of the Rings"
Economist Bryan Caplan explains how standard socialist complaints about free markets are similar to longstanding fan claims that Tolkien's Giant Eagles didn't do enough in the war against Sauron.
The Politics of "The Last of Us"
The message of the hit new series cuts across conventional ideological lines - and features a highly skeptical view of government.
Oscar-Winning Everything Everywhere All At Once Celebrates Individualism, Free Will
In a chaotic universe full of infinite realities where all choices are relative, individualism still matters.
The Mandalorian, Troops, and the Fan-Filmification of Star Wars
Today's Star Wars fulfills the promise of the late '90s internet.
Review: Time Meddling Becomes Altruism in Amazon's The Peripheral
It's the story of a distant future where rich denizens meddle in the affairs of the past.
Is There a Future for the City of Tomorrow?
The consequences of our obsession with urban dystopias and utopias
Comic: Robert A. Heinlein in The Moon Is a Hot Babe
An aeronautical engineer considers writing a novel about a new start on the moon.
Andy Weir Is Looking Forward to the Space Boom
Weir's books take seriously the limits of human knowledge and planning when it comes to space travel.
Review: The Libertarianism of Firefly
What if our interplanetary future involved train heists, legal sex work, and a lot of running from the feds?
Review: 1947's Prelude to Space Envisioned We'd Be on Mars by Now
Reality has failed to match author Arthur C. Clarke's hopes.
The Fractal, Fractious Politics of The Expanse
Taking humanity from Earth to the stars isn't easy.
Robert Heinlein's Dream of Private Space Travel Is Coming True
A new generation of companies has made space travel affordable.
Review: Antero Alli's Low-Budget Psychedelic Naturalism
Tracer takes mind control to a new level.
The Feminist Dystopia Don't Worry Darling Isn't a Big Idea Movie. It's a Dumb Idea Movie.
A wannabe prestige picture that works better as a pulpy mind-trip.
Thoughts on the First Episode of "House of the Dragon"
It's early going. But the first episode is a promising start to HBO's prequel to the famous "Game of Thrones" series.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Era of Cultural Stagflation
On streaming and the big screen, we're paying more for less, even as new ideas seem few and far between.
David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future Is a Gross-Out Sci-Fi Film About Bodily Autonomy
Disturbing, eerie, and strangely relevant, it's a return to form for the Canadian horror master.
Review: The Second Shooter
Despite caricaturing (some) gun owners, Nick Mamatas' conspiracy-fueled science fiction novel avoids moralizing in favor of dark humor.
Romance and Sci-Fi Tangle in The Time Traveler's Wife
The latest attempt to adapt the novel comes as an HBO miniseries.
Happy Star Wars Day!
In honor of this major holiday, I post a round-up of my writings, interviews, and talks about one of the world's most popular science fiction franchises.
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds
An anthology looks back at science fiction's New Wave.
Foundation
The TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic trilogy is still fundamentally about the ways in which politics and objective truth inevitably clash.
The Matrix Resurrections Is Less a Sequel and More a Bizarre Thinkpiece About The Matrix's Legacy
It's the strangest, most meta sequel of the year.
Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock Is a Glorious Sci-Fi Vision of How To Respond to Global Warming, One Geoengineering Problem at a Time
In Stephenson's near-future novel, innovation, not legislation, is the best response to a changing climate.
Diversity Can't Save Eternals. It's a Cosmic Disaster.
Marvel's latest superhero epic is a boring movie about boring people.
Review of the New Dune Movie
It's by far the best cinematic version of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel.
The Spinning Wheel of Confusing Television Reboots Lands on 4400
Just like the characters, this short-lived sci-fi show makes a mysterious return years later.
Dune Is an Epic Love Letter to Classic Science Fiction
This is Denis Villeneuve's movie, but it's fully Frank Herbert's Dune.
We Are Satellites
Sci-fi novelist Sarah Pinsker's new book deals with the ways technology shapes how we conceive of the inner self.
La Brea Is a Sucking Sinkhole of a Sci-Fi Mystery Show
Both literally and in terms of quality
Project Hail Mary
In the new sci-fi novel, humanity manages to save itself not with social revolution but through reason, technology, and innovation.
In Army of the Dead, a Zombie Outbreak Becomes an Excuse for a Public Health Power Grab
In Zack Snyder's latest, zombies are a public health issue, much like COVID-19.
WandaVision
The show perfectly encapsulates the feelings of grief, confusion, and isolation born of the pandemic.
AMC, Amazon Offer Up Television Adaptations of Two Hot Books
Too Close and The Underground Railroad provide wildly different experiences.
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
For sci fi fans who enjoy getting lost in internet rabbit holes
The Expanse
People are people and politics is politics, no matter how far you get from planet Earth.
Debris Represents the Crumbling Leftovers of X-Files Rip-offs
Oh look, two mismatched government agents investigating alien technology.
Neutron Gun Reloaded
Gerry Reith's raw, paranoid, apocalyptic fables were shot through with distrust for just about every institution around.
Space, the Final Smuggling Frontier
In a glimpse of a gloriously rule-breaking future, contraband has boldly gone where more is sure to follow.
Hollywood Still Can't Figure Out How to Adapt The Stand
If you’re looking for a coherent, compelling version of Stephen King’s pandemic opus, keep on walking.
Trump Imitates King Joffrey From "Game of Thrones"
His angry insistence that "I'm the President of the United States!" is reminiscent of Joffrey's famous similar statement: "I am the King!"
Reviews: Love and Monsters and J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius
A good teens-and-creatures movie, and a deep dive into a glorious fake cult