The Skiffy And Fanty Show Full Experience

Lost family, fabulous worldbuilding, and salamanders, oh my! Shaun Duke and Daniel Haeusser are joined by the wondrous P. Djèlí Clark for a fabulous interview about Abeni’s Song! Together, they discuss Clark’s turn to middle grade fantasy, his approach to worldbuilding, the complexities in using historical analogs, and so much more! Thanks for listening. We […]

Cults, pontificating academics, and not eidetic memory, oh my! Shaun Duke, Daniel Haeusser, and Julia Rios join forces to take down The Da Vinci Code (2006). Together, they untangle the film’s nonsensical plot, question whether Langdon knows what words mean, get deep into religious folklore, and so much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you […]

Internet shenanigans, bad companies, and library problems, oh my! Shaun Duke and Trish Matson join forces to discuss the encroaching influence of private equity on publishing and books, the future of libraries and problems that face them, the state of short fiction in SFF, and more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode! […]

Pop stars, embargoes, and first contact, oh my! Shaun Duke and Brandon O’Brien are joined by the wonderful Karen Lord to discuss her latest novel, The Blue, Beautiful World. Together, they explore the novel’s treatment of violence and culture, alien conspiracies and colonialism, Shakespeare and the art of writing, and so much more! Thanks for […]

Screaming ants, screaming humans, and swamps, oh my! Shaun Duke, Becca Evans, and Daniel Haeusser join forces to take down Empire of the Ants (1977). Together, they ponder the logistics of managing a human ant colony, why ants scream like that, who deserves to die first, and the intricate world of alcoholic beverages, objectifying Gerard […]

Grief, alligators, and brooms, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink are joined again by the wonderful Eden Royce to discuss her latest novel, Conjure Island! Together, they explore Eden’s approach to writing novels for kids, the task of developing magic and magic schools from a different cultural tradition, themes of grief and discovery, and […]

Award shenanigans, venture capitalists, and bad film execs, oh my! Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, Daniel Haeusser, and Trish Matson join forces to discuss the Hugo Award nominees, some happenings in Hollywood that you already know about, and even some worrisome activity in the publishing landscape. Plus, we tell some jokes and have a few giggles. […]

Museums, heists, and nightmare gods, oh my! Shaun Duke and Trish Matson are joined by the brilliant Wole Talabi to discuss his novel, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon! Together, they discuss Wole’s approach to storytelling, just what a heist in a famous museum means, the task of writing gods with complex views of […]

Weird accents, human ranch dressing, and eyeballs, oh my! Shaun Duke, Alex Acks, and Becca Evans join forces to take down Gods of Egypt (2016). Together, they get thirsty over Gerard Butler, discuss Egyptian mythology and bodily fluids, and generally have a merry time trying to make sense of this ridiculous movie. Thanks for listening. […]

Conventions, conventions, conventions, oh my! Shaun Duke and Trish Matson join forces to discuss a listener question about the future of conventions. Together, they explore how conventions have changed, how conventions might survive in the future, what troubles conventions now face, and more! Plus, there’s a little bit of love for libraries, books, and more […]

Toadalingus, torture devices, and jerk brothers, oh my! Shaun Duke, Alex Acks, and Daniel Haeusser join forces to take down The Brothers Grimm (2005). Together, they try to figure out why there’s so much bestiality in this darn film, how the film’s plot works, what Matt Damon was doing, the film’s Italian stereotypes and torture […]

Movie scores, weird doctors, and Douen, oh my! Shaun Duke is joined the profoundly wonderful Shakirah Bourne to talk about her new middle grade novel, Nightmare Island! Together, they discuss Shakirah’s approach to writing scary stories, incorporating history and folklore in Nightmare Island, and exploring the role of music and sound in our understanding of […]

Ventilated dates, juiced-up gaming, and Keith David, oh my! Shaun Duke and Brandon O’Brien join forces again w/ special guest and Michi Trota for a discussion of the second season of Leverage: Redemption. Together, they tackle the show’s approach to continuing its story, how it imagines problem solving in a complicated world, why Keith David […]

Crispy heroes, violators, and nipple chains, oh my! Shaun Duke, Alex Acks, and Becca Evans join forces to take down Spawn (1997), a film that could be charitably called “a movie capable of causing amnesia.” Together, two of them try to make sense of the film’s plot and casting choices, uncover the names of Violator’s […]

Bizarre aliens, complicated families, and AI therapy, oh my! Shaun Duke is joined by longtime collaborator and repeat interviewee, Stina Leicht. Why? Because Stina has a new book called Loki’s Ring from Saga Press featuring artificial general intelligences, weird alien stuff, delightful familial relationships, and spaceships! Together, Shaun and Stina discuss the book’s hopeful perspective, […]

Needles, choreographed dances, and superhero flies, oh my! Shaun Duke and David Annandale wander to yet another part of the world to talk about S.S. Rajamouli’s 2012 epic, Eega. Together, they examine the film’s premise, Rajamouli’s approach to special effects, what it means to make a superhero movie that defies expectation, and so much more. […]

Weird romances, France propaganda, and Gerard Butler’s careless whisper, oh my! Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, and Trish Matson join forces to tackle a time travel “classic” — Timeline! Together, they try to make sense of its plot, make fun of its treatment of medieval France, fawn over Gerard Butler, and get lost in thought about […]

Dungeons, Worldcon, and Afterlives, Oh My! Shaun Duke, Brandon O’Brien, Paul Weimer, and Trish Matson join forces again for our 2nd S&F Clacks show (now fashionably late). In this live show, they discussed the D&D Creators Summit and the future of the game, the Chengdu Worldcon and the Hugo Awards, and some somber news from […]

Mass surveillance, dystopian industries, and music, oh my! Shaun Duke and Brandon O’Brien are joined by our friend and wicked good author, Iori Kusano, to discuss their new novella, Hybrid Heart! Together, they tackle Japan’s Idol industry, our very real fears (and very current future) of mass surveillance by corporations, and much more! Thanks for […]

Quirky westerns, earthquake dads, and airplane shenanigans, oh my! Shaun Duke and Brandon O’Brien join forces w/ special guest and world-renowned Quantum Leap expert Marshall Ryan Maresca for an in-depth discussion of the first season of the NEW Quantum Leap (2022-2023). Together, they discuss how the show approaches the story left by its predecessor, how […]