Episode 581: Fuzzy Wires, Clear Minds

Real Life:  This week's episode kicks off with Ben wondering what would happen if idioms were costumes. Imagine showing up to a party literally raining cats and dogs or dressed as the elephant in the room. (We're not sure if that's genius or horrifying.) Steven reminds everyone to say it to our faces! — meaning, drop us a comment or suggestion. Seriously. We read them. Sometimes we even respond like civilized humans. Devon went to a Halloween party with the Non-Religious Alliance of East Texas Facebook group (yes, that's a thing), rocking a DS9 uniform costume that probably had at least three pips too many. Ben got a night off parenting duties for Kids Night Out and wants to shout out Butterchurn Visualizer for turning his playlist into a full-blown psychedelic light show. Then Steven dives into a spoiler-filled review of Sinners — which Devon also saw. If you haven't watched it yet, consider this your warning: spoilers abound, and apparently so do opinions. Future or Now Devon takes us up to near space with the week's wildest headline: the object that struck a United Airlines plane wasn't space debris… it was a weather balloon. Turns out, flight 1093's busted front window was courtesy of one of humanity's oldest sky spies, not falling junk from orbit. 📰 Read more here: Ars Technica Meanwhile, Ben is fed up with the internet's ad problem — you know, those "No Adblocker Detected" pop-ups that ruin your vibe. He found a fantastic rant about how ad-driven web economics are slowly melting the internet into a soulless sludge of clickbait and autoplay. Check it out here: Maurycyz.com on Internet Ads. As for Steven, he contributed… absolutely nothing. His words, not ours. 📚 Book Club: "Planet Lion" by Catherynne M. Valente 📚 This week, the crew explored the lush and poetic alien world of Planet Lion by Catherynne M. Valente (read it here). Ben didn't love the poetic style but admits he might've shortchanged the story by listening instead of reading — multitasking strikes again. Devon really enjoyed it, especially the layered, lyrical tone. Steven appreciated how alien the alien perspective felt — not just in design, but in mindset. Next week's story: "The Game of Smash and Recovery" by Kelly Link (available here). As always — got thoughts, theories, or strong feelings about weather balloons or weird fiction? Say it to our faces! Drop a comment or join the discussion on our socials.