If This Goes On (Don't Panic): Science Fiction, Fantasy & Progressive Politics

In the third part of our column about the alt-right and Speculative Fiction fandom, Alan and Jordan break down a number of important concepts needed to understand the alt-right and how they view Speculative Fiction. Concepts include low time preferences, metapolitics, Archeofuturism, Faustianism, and mutant romances. we discuss the right wing and fandom and much more.

In this episode Alan reviews (books linked below): Double Edged Sword & Sorcery 1 published by Brackenbury Books 2024 The Walls of Shira Yulun by Dariel R.A. Quiogue Waste Flowers by Bryn Hammond How to Surf a Hurricane by Todd Medema published by Atmosphere Press 2025 Vigilance by Allen Stroud published by Flame Tree Press 2024 Sub-Liminal by Alastair Miles published by Shadow Dragon Press 2025 Unseen Gods by Justin Holley published by Flame Tree Press 2025

In this episode, Alan and Diane talk to writer and neuroscientist Arula Ratnakar. They discuss Phillip K. Dick, computational neursocience, hard science fiction, science and math communication, preceptions of reality, the neuroscience of neurodiversity, psychedelics, being neurodiverse in a neurotypical world, AI, Clarkesworld, evolving in public, and much more. You can find most of her fiction here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/?s=arula+ratnakar

In this episode, Alan talks to author and musician Josh Denslow. They discuss writing dialogue and movie scripts, music's influence on his writing, Marlon James, the break down of walls between speculative fiction and Literature, suprheros and comics, the importance of exploring new forms of art, Josh's novel Super Normal, living outside the US, extreme politics and family, humor in fiction, listening to music, their mutual struggle to have "favorite" bands, and Josh's new collection Magic Can't Save Us: Eighteen Tales of Likely Failure.

This time Paul Jessup tackles the politics of zombies in the classic Night of the Living Dead, as well as modern Train to Busan. He also discusses why hope is not naive and, as always, how horror can provide us with hope. Be sure to check out his new book Cancer Eats the Heart. https://firebirdcreative.myshopify.com/products/cancer-eats-the-heart