Generations Geek

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and cohost Ella Pearson discuss what they've been up to in 2022—spoilers: conventions and moving—and why this is the first time they've gotten around to recording an episode all year! Segments 01:55 We've Been Remiss 02:50 Star Trek: Mission Chicago 04:33 The Famous Tom Paris Plate 05:55 Meeting Trek People 09:15 Ella Moves House 09:44 San Francisco 10:53 Thrillerfest 14:38 Hello, COVID 15:25 Scott Moves House 18:27 Shore Leave featuring John Billingsley 24:57 A Moment of Silence for Dave Galanter 25:43 San Diego Comic Con 39:10 Twin Cities Con featuring Elijah Wood and Sean Astin 45:13 Interlude: Jared Padaleki 46:01 Then There's Sean Astin 49:26 Shameless Self-Promotion: Tales of the Weird World War 53:37 Final Thoughts Visit our website: GenerationsGeek.com

Science fiction writer and editor Scott Pearson and cohost Ella Pearson welcome author Jim Johnson, lifelong Star Trek fan, three-time Star Trek: Strange New Worlds winner, and project manager of the Star Trek Adventures role-playing game to talk about—you guessed it—Star Trek (and plenty of other geeky things)!

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and cohost Ella Pearson welcome author Christopher D. Abbott to discuss Sherlock Holmes on screen and in books not by Arthur Conan Doyle, including Abbott's own Watson Chronicles series of novellas. The game's afoot!

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and cohost Ella Pearson welcome astrophysicist, teacher, writer, and, last but not least, science consultant for the Star Trek Universe Erin Macdonald to talk about gravity waves, Star Trek tattoos, science consulting, and, for our older listeners, her favorite Scotch whisky.

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson and cohost Ella Pearson welcome actor Noah Averbach-Katz, Star Trek: Discovery’s Ryn the Andorian, who regales us with stories of growing up with a Trekkie mom, his (mis)adventures with Grudge the cat, working with his wife Mary “Tilly” Wiseman, and more geeky goodness.

Science fiction writer and editor Scott Pearson and cohost Ella Pearson return to the dystopian world of Katniss, discussing the second film in the four-film adaptation of the Suzanne Collins book trilogy. Hunger Games fan Ella guides her newbie dad through his first viewing of the movie, doing her best to remind him of the character names he forgets.

Ella introduces her dad to the dystopian world of Katniss through the first film adaptation of the Suzanne Collins trilogy. Although Ella has read all the books and seen all the movies multiple times, Dad-half has neither read nor watched any of them. We discuss the film and Ella fills in details from the books.

Ella puts the “geek” in “theatre geek” as she tells us about multiple visits to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London for a variety of plays by, well, Harold Pinter. Among the cavalcade of British actors of stage and screen she saw performing were Charlie “Daredevil” Cox, Martin “Watson/Bilbo” Freeman, Rupert “Lestrade” Graves, and Tom “Loki” Hiddleston! But wait, there’s more! At theatres other than the Pinter, she had a chance to see Arthur “Rory” Darvill and Hayley “Agent Carter” Atwell! Scott also chimes in with his own adventures seeing geek actors on stage.

Ella walks us through Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience, an interactive, virtual-reality version of the classic rock opera! Can an American college student survive the Martian invasion with the help of some new British friends? Tune in and find out. And look up episode 23, wherein we discussed the 1938 radio version of The War of the Worlds, the 1953 movie, the 2005 movie remake, and more, including the musical version.

Ella Skypes in from London to tell us about geeky adventures in Scotland visiting places that inspired J. K. Rowling while she was beginning the Harry Potter series. Then we get an in-depth report on the Making of Harry Potter exhibit at the Warner Bros. Studio in Watford. Finally, Ella regales us with her rather surprise trip to the theatre to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child live on stage at the historic Palace Theatre in London!

Screenwriter and producer Zack Stentz Skypes in from California while Ella Skypes in from England for the longest distance ever between two people on our podcast! We talk about his new Netflix film Rim of the World, a sci-fi action movie about a group of thirteen-year-olds during an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth, as well as touching upon his other work, including Thor and The Sarah Connor Chronicles! —June 2019

AKA "Hidden in the Shadows": We (Ella’s Skyping in from London for the whole episode!) welcome BSFA award-winning author Jaine Fenn (also Skyping in from England!) to talk about her short stories, novel series—Hidden Empire and Shadowlands—and more. Not to mention her fabulously geeky university studies of astronomy and linguistics! —May 2019

AKA "Return to Ragnarok": A lost episode! Recorded in the middle of the night after the premiere of Thor: Ragnarok, we meant to record our final thoughts after catching up on our sleep . . . but instead we returned to our Alien retrospective for our next show and then, well, kind of forgot about this recording. So we’ve finally returned to Ragnarok after rewatching it many times. —April 2019

AKA "Into the Trek Zone": Science fiction writer William Leisner returns for the second part of his visit as we chat about his books, including his original works, Star Trek stories and novels, upcoming projects, and other geeky things. Plus, Ella Skypes in with an update from across the pond in London. —February 2019

AKA "An American Geek in London": Ella Skypes in from London to tell us about her geeky adventures across the UK! First, a day trip to Oxford to see the Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth exhibit of original J.R.R. Tolkien artwork, then a weekend in Birmingham for Destination Star Trek, with tales of various Trek actors, including the Shat himself, William Shatner. Plus, Ella interviews Mo, aka @soundofcosplay, who does an amazing cosplay of Star Trek: Discovery’s Paul Stamets. —December 2018

AKA "Man on the Moon": Science fiction writer William Leisner stops by and we review the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man and compare it with a couple of classic space-program movies: The Right Stuff and Apollo 13. Part one of a two-part visit. Plus, Ella Skypes in to chat about a Doctor Who season premiere party in London! —November 2018

AKA "Old World, New Vampires": Urban fantasy author Melissa F. Olson returns for part two of a two-part interview to discuss her writings, especially her Nightshades trilogy. Because after talking about Frankenstein, you simply have to move on to vampires, the one-two punch of classic monsters! Plus, Ella tells us about her summer con adventures. —September 2018

AKA "The Doctor is the Monster": For part one of a two-part interview, urban fantasy author Melissa F. Olson drops by to discuss Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein during its 200th anniversary year. Plus, Ella and I talk about visiting the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour and then do a mini review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. —July 2018

AKA "Part of the Family": Our multipart review of the Alien series continues with David Fincher’s 1992 sequel Alien 3, where, guys, come on: Always listen to Ripley! —May 2018

AKA "Treknology ": We welcome astrophysicist Ethan Siegel, author of Treknology, which which compares various Star Trek gadgets with the technology we have right now, or may be able to achieve in the future. On his blog Starts With a Bang, Ethan explains the mysteries of the universe via astronomy and physics. —February 2018

AKA "The A2s Always Were a Bit Twitchy": Our multipart review of the Alien series continues with James Cameron’s classic 1986 sequel Aliens, where we’re strongly reminded you should always listen to Ripley. —January 2018

AKA "Special Order 937": Our multipart review of the Alien series continues with Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 original Alien, where we learn you should always listen to Ripley and observe proper quarantine protocols. —November 2017

AKA "They Aren’t What We Thought They Were": We start an epic multipart Special Grup Edition review of the entire Alien movie series! In this episode we dive into the prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as Ridley Scott retcons what he got started in Alien. —July 2017

AKA "The Ape is Back in Town": We check out the new movie Kong: Skull Island and compare it to Godzilla (2014) and previous Kong movies. Before you listen to this episode, check out Episode 7, “King Geek,” when we discussed the 1933, 1976, and 2005 King Kong movies. —June 2017

AKA "Midnight Mack": In part two of the interview, New York Times bestselling author David Mack talks about his forthcoming World War II fantasy novel The Midnight Front, the music of Rush, and more! —March 2017

AKA "Mack Trek": New York Times bestselling author David Mack comes aboard to discuss his voluminous Star Trek work in part one of an in-depth interview. Plus Ella reviews the stage play Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch in a new “All the Squee” segment. —January 2017

AKA "Dead Talking": We try to recover from the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead, a controversial and graphic episode that pushed the envelope even for a show with zombies! —November 2016

We discuss the third film in the Kelvinverse, how it stacks up against Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness (which we discussed in Episode 9, “Into Geekness”), and how much we love Jaylah—“I like the beats and shouting.” —October 2016

AKA "Bats and Supes": We take a look at Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to ponder the birth of the DC Extended Universe while we anxiously await Wonder Woman. —September 2016

AKA "Superhero League Adventure Squad": We welcome comic book artist Christopher Jones, who lives right here in our home state of Minnesota. Chris has worked for many of the major comic book publishers, including DC, Marvel, Image, Malibu, and lots more. We’ll deluge him with questions about masks and capes! —April 2016

We’re more-or-less family-friendly, but we don’t always watch family-friendly movies. In this episode, we discuss three such films, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, the R-rated Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy from Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright. Is anyone going down to the shop? —February 2016

AKA "Voyager: It’s Been 20 Years Already?!": It’s been twenty years since the debut of Star Trek: Voyager! Join us for a retrospective with our guest, New York Times bestselling author Kirsten Beyer. Since 2009, over the course of seven novels, Kirsten has been continuing the adventures of the Voyager crew after the final episode. SPECIAL UPDATE: Kirsten is now on the staff of Star Trek: Discovery and co-created Star Trek: Picard! —November 2015

AKA "Hey, Robots!": Robots . . . they can be cool, creepy, fun, and scary . . . sometimes all at the same time. We talk about robots in film and television, covering such movies as Westworld and A.I. Artificial Intelligence and shows like Almost Human and Humans. —September 2015

AKA "Again With the Jurassic": We loves us some dinosaurs, and Jurassic World is finally out! It’s the perfect time to look back at the original Jurassic Park trilogy to see how the series holds up and how the first three films compare to number four. [Insert velociraptor growl here.] —August 2015

AKA "The Spider-Men": In honor of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man entering the Marvel cinematic universe, we take a look back at a number of his previous incarnations in TV and the movies, both live action and animated. —May 2015

AKA "Gaslight Geeks": We talk with author Carrie Patel about her steampunkish first novel, The Buried Life, and other geeky things that she does, like working on computer games for Obsidian Entertainment. —March 2015

AKA "The Battle of Three Movies": Peter Jackson’s three-film version of The Hobbit has reached its end. Once again Generations Geek gets squared as we welcome back special guests Kevin Lauderdale—host of the Chronic Rift Network podcasts It Has Come to My Attention and Presenting the Transcription Theory—and his daughter Elizabeth. We’ll talk about the final movie, how it wrapped up the series, and how the movies compare with the book and the animated version. —February 2015

AKA "Art in Space [Cue Reverb]": Ron Miller, author of the new book The Art of Space, joins us to talk about the history of artists imagining space travel, working in Hollywood, Jules Verne, and many other science fictiony things, like his Hugo award–winning book, The Art of Chesley Bonestell. —January 2015

AKA "It’s All About That Cape": We welcome New York Times bestselling author Daniel Wallace to talk about his latest book, Star Wars: The Imperial Handbook, as well as his other bestselling Star Wars, Marvel, and DC titles. Superheroes, super-villians, Darth Vader…it’s all about that cape. —December 2014

We discuss our current state of geekiness, including what shows we’re watching, what books we’re reading, what movies we’re seeing, and whatever else contributes to the geekosity that fills our lives. Plus, the first Generations Geek Public Service Announcement: “Wear your seatbelts.” Totally serious, kids. —November 2014

AKA "Movie Titles that Start with X": Now that X-Men: Days of Future Past has hit the reset button in the X-Men universe, we look back on the series and discuss our favorite (and not so favorite) moments from the films. Plus, a special segment: “All the Squee” with Ella and Lydia. —October 2014

AKA "Sizzler on Comics": We welcome author, actor, geek-about-town, and comic book historian Alan “Sizzler” Kistler to talk comic books, comic book movies, and more geeky things about comic books. Plus, tales from San Diego Comic-Con 2014. —August 2014

AKA "War of the War of the Worlds": We compare and contrast three adaptations of the classic H.G. Wells novel: the 1938 radio show, the 1953 movie version, and the 2005 movie remake. We also discuss the musical version, the TV series sequel to the 1953 movie, and some versions you simply don’t want to watch. —July 2014

AKA "The Making of the Making of 2001": We welcome guest Piers Bizony, author of the new book The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and associate producer of the 2001 documentary (that’s the year it was released, really) 2001: The Making of a Myth. We discuss our love of the classic film and the colossal effort behind his definitive book of the movie masterpiece. —June 2014

AKA "S.H.I.E.L.D. Takes Over the World": As the first season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wraps up, we talk about the ever-expanding world of S.H.I.E.L.D. as seen in the Marvel movies and TV shows, covering the “Is Coulson dead or isn’t he?” question and other links between the show and movie continuity. —June 2014

AKA "St. Geek and the Dragon": We talk about some of our favorite dragons in movies and TV, covering Dragonslayer, DragonHeart, Reign of Fire, Dragon’s World, and Merlin, plus Ella’s take on which dragon would win a big dragon fight. We loves us some dragons. —May 2014

AKA "Ashes and Shadows and Monsters, Oh My!": We talk with author Ilsa J. Bick about her young adult books including the post-apocalyptic Ashes trilogy, Ashes, Shadows, and Monsters, as well as her contributions to Star Trek literature and other media-tie in books. Plus anything else geeky we can think of. —March 2014

AKA "A Geek on Mars": We interview Andy Weir, computer programmer and power-geek, about his debut novel The Martian, which began as a serial on his website and snowballed into a New York Times bestselling hardcover from Crown Publishing which has been optioned by 20th Century Fox. —March 2014

These days you can’t throw a tribble out a window without hitting a geeky TV show, and old shows are more accessible than ever thanks to Hulu and Netflix and such. We talk about our favorite geek shows that are currently on the air and give shout-outs to older shows that we’ve been watching lately. —January 2014

AKA "The Smaug Report": We talk about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with special guests Kevin Lauderdale—of the Chronic Rift Network podcasts It Has Come to My Attention and Presenting the Transcription Theory—and his daughter. We’re Generations Geek squared! —December 2013

AKA "Geeky About Gravity": We welcome back astronaut Thomas D. Jones to talk about the film Gravity and learn what the film got right and wrong about the low Earth orbit setting from someone who has actually worked in space just like in the movie. —December 2013