"On a Very Special Episode of Geek 4"

This episode of Geek 4 is a little different. Instead of an interview with someone or an audio essay by me, this week I'm presenting a conversation  between Brenton Dickieson, Emily Strand, and myself about Mary Doria Russell's 1996 debut science fiction novel, The Sparrow.

The three of us were all featured in Refuge 31's The Science Fiction Makers, and since have connected over Twitter. At some point, we decided to start a science fiction reading group and chose The Sparrow as our first novel to read and discuss.

We've already agreed to set up another of these, and we'll be talking about Russell's 1998 sequel, The Children of God as well as wrappin up any final thoughts we have on The Sparrow (like actually talking about Sandoz’s. hands!).

Goodreads.com summarizes the plot of The Sparrow thusly: "In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question what it means to be 'human'."

Or, watch the video!

You can follow Brenton on Twitter @BrentonDana and follow his blog , A Pilgrim in Narnia

 You can follow Emily on Twitter @ekcstrand and follow her website (emilystrand.com) or her blog (LiturgyandLife.com)

You can follow Michael on Twitter @mwboyce and Instagram @mwboyce and follow my website michaelwboyce.com

Episode 028: 10 Points for Emily Strand!!!

Emily Strand wears many hats:  author, teacher, scholar,  liturgist, singer-songwriter, and podcaster. She teaches comparative religions and cultural competency to nursing students at Mt. Carmel College in Ohio. She  writes and speaks on religious and spiritual themes in a wide range of popular fiction, film and television.  She was one of the talking heads (along with me) in the recent documentary, The Science Fiction Makers . She writes about pastoral liturgy and popular culture for her blog LiturgyandLife.com. She also cohosts the academic Harry Potter podcast,  Potterversity and it's her love  of Harry Potter we're going to talk about today.

 You can follow Emily on her website (emilystrand.com) or her blog (LiturgyandLife.com)

She's on Twitter @ekcstrand

You can find Potterversity on Apple Podcast and  Instagram

Emily also mentioned a Call for Papers, for a collection about Star Wars and Star Trek she’s co-editing. If you're interested in submitting a proposal, go HERE

Episode 027: Star gating with Hannah Foulger

Hannah Foulger is a writer and theatre artist with a disability, as well as an accessibility consultant. She joins me today to discuss her love of the Stargate franchise. I don't know much about Stargate -I think saw the Roland Emmerich film back in the mid 1990s ; but one of the great delights of this project is listening to people explain (with enthusiasm) why something matters to them whether I'm familiar with it or not.

Hannah started watching Stargate: Sg1 with her dad and has continued to revisit that series and followed the other shows in the franchise including Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Infinity and Stargate Origins. We discuss the tensions the show presents between the humanistic perspective of Daniel Jackson and the militarism of Jack O'Neill; the show's new colonialism" as Hannah calls it; how the show incorporates different mythologies into its narrative, and how the tone of the show has changed in later series, particularly when it comes to gender.

You can follow Hannah on Twitter @FoulgersCovfefe and on Instagram @speakstory

You can follow me on Twitter @mwboyce or Instagram @mwboyce to pass along feedback or ideas. I'd love to hear from you.

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @geek4pod and on Instagram @geek4pod