Science Fiction Fandom
The Future is Now
SCIENCE FICTION FANDOM is a series of TV shows showing activities at various Science Fiction Conventions (Cons) that have taken place in the Boston, Massachusetts, USA area. The show was created for, and originally broadcast on Malden Access TV, but is available for broadcast on other cable access stations. The shows below are in Real Player format. A broadband connection is needed to view them.
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48. January 2010
Welcome
To The Dollhouse
Discussion panel at ARISIA 2010. Description from the program
book: "Did "Dollhouse" improve in its second
season before being canceled? Why has this been such a hard sell
for audiences that loved Joss Whedon's earlier show, "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer?" Should people be able to give up
responsibility for their actions by renting their bodies
out?" Panel members: Misty Pendragon, Howard G. Beatman,
Mark L. Amidon, Brenna Levitin & Eric "In The
Elevator" Zuckerman.
Also
available as a mp3 audio file.
49. March 2010
Keynote
Speech at Boskone 47 .. Tom Shippey
Description from the pocket program: “Our Special Guest
looks back on 50 rewarding years of being a SF fan, and 40 much
less rewarding years of being a professor of English, and asks:
what created SF? And what made it so different, and so
fascinating? It’s no good asking the professors. SF has
produced a string of visions, shared and developed by a host of
authors, but some of these are now running out of conviction
(like NASA). What could give SF a boost? Are we looking at
‘Day Million’ or ‘The Dying Earth’?”
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
Added a YouTube version - January 2011
50. April 2010
The
Ethics Of First Contact
Description from the Boskone 47 pocket program: "First
Contact between humans and aliens is one of the lasting tropes of
SF. "Lasers first" or "We come in Peace"?
Sometimes the advanced aliens contact us primitive humans, and
sometimes space-faring humans are doing the contacting. But once
contact has happened, what is the moral dimension? Should an
advanced race always hide itself from markedly less advanced
races for fear of stunting their natural growth? Can it ever be
moral to leave individuals in primitive poverty simply in hopes
that their descendants might one day develop their own culture?
Is the Prime Directive nothing but heartless selfishness? Can
advanced peoples colonize a planet inhabited by primitives and
live in peace with them? Is there any right answer here?
Are there any useful object lessons from Terran history?"
Panel members: Walter H. Hunt (m), Allen M. Steele, Vernor Vinge
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
51. May 2010
The
Best Science Fiction Of 2009
Description from the ARISIA 2010 program schedule.
"What's outstanding in SF this year? Discuss the books and
short fiction you're likely to hear about as nominations for
Hugos and other awards for 2009 are made. What might you miss
without the recommendations from our panelists?" Panel
members: Gardner
Dozois, James L.
Cambias, Alexander
Jablokov, Candra Gill
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
52. June 2010
Live
at the Sci Fi Saturday Night Podcast
From the Brighton / Allston Hellmouth studios outside of
Boston, MA the May 22, 2010 episode of Sci Fi Saturday
Night with special guest Michael Dougherty, Producer
/ Director of the upcoming Firefly universe fan film BROWNCOATS REDEMPTION.
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
53. July 2010
Fangs
For The Memories
Panel discussion at ARISIA 2010. Description from the program
guide ...What makes "True Blood" distinctive among
movies and TV shows about vampires? Is it just an "alternate
lifestyle?" Can't we all just get along? And why are
vampires so hot right now? Is this the best of the best, or do
they have some toothy competition? Panel members: Karen
Purcell DVM, Misty
Pendragon, Susan
Hanniford Crowley (m), Mark
L. Amidon, Aimee
Bouchard
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
54. August 2010
My
Fandom’s Not Dead Yet!
Panel discussion at ARISIA 2010. Description from the program
guide … Face it – your show’s canceled and
it’s not coming back. There’s not going to be a sequel
to that movie. It’s dead, Jim! So how do you keep the fandom
alive? Does the release of new merchandise and the re-issued
super collector’s edition DVD mean there’s still hope
for more? Would you accept comic book, novels, or a
“Battlestar Galactica” – style
“reimagining” instead? Does it ever become time to just
move on? (Heresy!) Panel members: Daniel Miller, Victoria
Janssen, Cynthia A. Shettle, Melissa Honig, and James Zavaglia.
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
55. September 2010
Bad
Science on TV
At BOSKONE 47 panelists Jordin T. Kare, Chad Orzel discuss
how TV and the movies do such a bad (and occasionally a somewhat
better) job with representing science and what it can and can not
do.
Also
available as a mp3 audio file
56. January 2011
STEAMPUNK: What it is, What it isn't
Panel discussion at ARISIA 2010. Panel members:
Nightwing Whitehead, Barbara Pugliese, Raven Stern, Mario
DiGacomo, Stormwolf
As you can see this episode is on YouTube. Currently there is no
Real Player version.
56a
Things Everyone Loves (But I Don't)
Bonus audio only episode from ARISIA
2011. Description from the pocket program guide:
"Ah, "Star Wars," "E.T.," "Lord of
the Rings," "Blade Runner," "Star
Trek"—all so beloved, how can anyone not like them?
This is a panel for people who haven't hopped on the bandwagon
for these or other popular films. Find out why, and discover why
you're not alone" (the discussion did not confine itself to
films) Panel members: Karl G.
Heinemann (m), Daniel M.
Kimmel, Jennifer
Pelland, Steve E.
Popkes, Elayna
Jade Smolowitz
56b
Nikolai Tesla: The Man and The Myth
Another bonus audio only episode from ARISIA
2011. Description from the pocket program guide:
The genius "mad scientist" inventor and electrical
engineer who brought us alternating current, powerful 3-phase
electrical motors, dazzling lightning shows with his Tesla coil,
and even a particle beam weapon. Come hear about Nikola Tesla,
his life, and his inventions. Mario
Di Giacomo, Jeff
Hecht, John
Monahan (m), Percival
57. March 2011 FRINGE
Panel discussion at BOSKONE 48 on the TV show FRINGE.
Panel members: Bob Devney, Jim Mann, Laurie Mann, and Dan Kimmel.
RSS feed for mp3 audio files only
For more information on the BOSKONE science
fiction convention click
here.
For more information on the NOREASCON4
convention click
here
For more information on UNITED FAN CON click here
For more information on ARISIA '07 click here
For more information on Pi-Con click here
If you are a fan of Farscape or Firefly
/ Serenity you may enjoy listening to the
podcasts:
The ScapeCast: http://www.scapecast.org
The Signal: http://www.serenityfirefly.com
For more information on the show, SCIENCE FICTION FANDOM, contact the producer, Richard Amirault ( ramirault_at_verizon_dot_net )
