Geek's Guide to the Galaxy

Ian McDonald, author of The Dervish House and Planesrunner, joins us to discuss the future of the developing world, why Northern Ireland is a post-colonial issue, and what Elmo smells like on the inside. Guest geek: Matt London

Brian Selznick, author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, joins us to discuss working with Martin Scorsese, interviewing Sacha Baron Cohen, and creating his new picture book Wonderstruck. Guest geek: Matt London

Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and the new novel Damned, joins us discuss chatting with telemarketers, being appalled at Hollywood hypocrisy, and writing stories that make people faint dead away. Guest geek: Grady Hendrix

R. A. Salvatore, creator of the popular Dungeons and Dragons character Drizzt Do'Urden, joins us to discuss breaking into novel writing, bullying, and why a city of evil elves is a lot like Middle School. Guest geek: James L. Sutter

Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians and The Magician King, joins us to discuss goofing on Narnia, reviewing for Time, and rebelling against your parents when you're 35. Guest geek: Douglas E. Cohen

Neal Stephenson, author of Snow Crash and Reamde, joins us to discuss farming gold, learning Western martial arts, and changing the world through science fiction. Guest geek: Keith Burgun

Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, joins us to discuss working with Dave McKean, being friends with Douglas Adams, and whether or not a human can mate with a chimp.

Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files and The Codex Alera series, joins us to discuss really bad ideas, tabletop gaming, and finding out that your dad is Rambo.

Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, basis of the hit HBO series True Blood, joins us to discuss wrapping up the series, her oddest fans, and whether or not vampires poop.

China Miéville, author of Perdido Street Station and The City and The City, joins us to discuss Dungeons and Dragons, international relations, and his recent science fiction novel Embassytown.

Eoin Colfer, author of And Another Thing, book six in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, joins us to discuss working in the universe created by Douglas Adams. Guest geek: Christie Yant

Daniel H. Wilson, author of Robopocalypse, joins us to discuss super intelligent AIs, working with Steven Spielberg, and how to survive a robot uprising.

Genevieve Valentine, author of Mechanique, joins us to discuss Steampunk, circus performers, period costumes, and really, really bad movies.

Simon Pegg, star of Shaun of the Dead and Star Trek, joins us to discuss his new memoir, his upcoming films, and the interpersonal dynamics of killing your zombie stepdad.

Ken Denmead, editor of Wired's Geek Dad blog, joins us to discuss Nerf weaponry, the balloon boy hoax, and how to raise the next generation of mad scientists.

Ellen Kushner, fantasy author and radio personality, joins us to discuss the Borderland shared-world anthology series and whether or not your cell phone will work on the outskirts of Faerie.

Mary Roach, author of the popular science books Stiff, Bonk, Spook, and Packing for Mars, joins us to discuss explosive flatus, brawling in zero-g, and why aging deaf-mute eunuchs make the best astronauts.

Daniel Abraham, author of the new epic fantasy novel The Dragon's Path, joins us to discuss the advantages of pseudonyms, the economics of fantasy kingdoms, and writing the graphic novel adaptation of George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

Alan Dean Foster, author of Predators I Have Known, joins us to talk about meeting George Lucas, fixing bad movie scripts, and playing hide-and-seek with deadly otters.

Cameron Stracher, media lawyer and author of the dystopian YA novel The Water Wars, joins us to talk about water scarcity, trademarking the word "superhero," and why he gets paid to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to discuss life in the universe, death in outer space, and why Titanic pissed him off.

Chris Roberson—writer of Superman: Grounded and I, Zombie—joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to talk about comic books, writing the Man of Steel, and Lex Luthor's hair.

Jennifer Ouellette, author of The Calculus Diaries and The Physics of the Buffyverse, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to discuss cocktail party physics and being a science consultant to Hollywood.

Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to talk about his new book The Lost Gate, comic books, and how working in theatre made him a better writer.

Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to talk about literal and metaphorical monsters, and growing up transgender.

Ron Gilbert, creator of The Secret of Monkey Island video game, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to talk about the Monkey Island series, fantasy marauding game Deathspank, and parodies of adventure games.

Greg Bear, Hugo and Nebula award winning author of Hull Zero Three, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to talk about his novels, working with Neal Stephenson, and the Fermi paradox.

Robert Kirkman, author of The Walking Dead, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to talk about zombies, comics, and AMC's The Walking Dead television series.

Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to discuss time travel and parallel universes. Plus, what's the best time travel story ever?

Catherynne M. Valente, author of Palimpsest (a finalist for the Hugo Award), joins us this week on io9's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast to discuss mythpunk, sexually-transmitted cities, Prester John, and pulp era visions of Mars and Venus.

It's the first installment of io9 sponsored podcast Geek's Guide to the Galaxy. In this episode, George R.R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire, talks about his books and the HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones.

Nnedi Okorafor, author of Zahrah the Windseeker and The Shadow Speaker, joins us to talk about Africa as it’s represented in science fiction and fantasy.

Eli Kintisch, author of the nonfiction book Hack the Planet, joins us to discuss some of the ambitious and risky geoengineering schemes that are being proposed to address climate change

Robin Wasserman, author of the young adult science fiction novel Frozen (previously titled Skinned), joins us to discuss hacking Harvard, working in publishing, and writing about the future.

Eric Garcia, author of Matchstick Men and Repo Men, joins us to discuss con men, dark comedy, and dinosaurs living among us.

Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling Temeraire series (optioned by Peter Jackson.), joins us to discuss history, movies, and the Organization for Transformative Works.

Jonathan Coulton, the geek troubadour behind the album Best. Concert. Ever, joins us to discuss building an online following, working with Valve software, and how you ruined everything.

Dan Carlin, host of the Hardcore History podcast, joins us to discuss the history of the future, the origins of the centaur legend, and what the Black Death can teach us about postapocalyptic fiction.

Holly Black, author of White Cat and The Spiderwick Chronicles, joins us to discuss scary trees, mobster magicians, and why unicorns are awesome.

John Langan, author of House of Windows, joins us to discuss Henry James, being a professor, and reading comic books in math class.

Corey Olsen, host of the popular podcast The Tolkien Professor, joins us to discuss hobbits, elves, and balrogs.

Alexandre Philippe, director of the documentary The People vs. George Lucas, joins us to discuss Jar Jar Binks, movie merchandising, and death threats from Star Wars fans.

Tom Rogers, author of Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics, joins us to discuss leaping hulks, giant ants, and why shooting down alien spaceships is harder than it looks.

Carrie Vaughn, author of the Kitty Norville urban fantasy series, joins us to discuss strong heroines and werewolf-related romance.

Blake Charlton, author of Spellwright, joins us to talk about fantasy, dyslexia, and medical school.

Steve Eley, founder of the Escape Pod podcast, joins us to talk about the internet's most popular science fiction podcast and the promising future of audio fiction in this rerun of episode 7 of The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.

Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker, joins us to talk about Steampunk, theology, and Seattle's Underground in this rerun of episode 6 of The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.

Brian Dunning, host of the Skeptoid podcast, joins us to discuss critical thinking and its application in everything from alien abductions to medicine in the movies.

Marjorie M. Liu, writer of Dark Wolverine and the Dirk and Steele novels, stops by to talk about writing for comics and blending romance and SF in this rerun of Episode Four of The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.

P. W. Singer, author of Wired for War, discusses robots in the military and the intersection between video games and war in this rerun of Episode Three of The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.