Androids and Assets

07/12/2021

New Emissaries of Profits! We're joined by SyFy Sistas to talk about "The Visitor". This is a tearjerking episode about Jake and Ben.

We are joined by SyFy Sistas, an incredible Star Trek podcast, to discuss Deep Space Nine’s second episode, “The Visitor”. It’s a heart wrenching episode and a great representation of family and black love. Here is a link to the wonderful interview SyFy Sistas did with Cirroc Lofton.

20/11/2021

New Emissaries of Profits! Season 4 is finally here and we get some Klingon on Klingon action when Worf goes up against the Klingon empire.

Season 4 has arrived and the Klingons are up to something. Marshall and Steve are reviewing Season 4 Episode 1, “The Way of the Warrior”.

02/11/2021

New Androids and Assets! Part 3 of our discussion of Hugo shortlisted short stories. We talk about "Mermaid Astronaut" and "Little Free Library".

Stephen and Marshall get aggressive talking about the Hugo shortlisted short stories in part three of our three part series. Today we cover “The Mermaid Astronaut” by Yoon Ha Lee and “Little Free Library” by Naomi Kritzer.

25/10/2021

New Emissaries of Profits! For Deep Space Nine completionist reasons we are talking about Star Trek Voyager this one time.

In honour of the completion of Season Three of Deep Space Nine. We are covering the space station’s guest appearance on the pilot episode of Star Trek Voyager – “Caretaker”. In this episode, Marshall and Steve talk about how Voyager contrasts with Deep Space Nine and how Voyager un-criticall...

10/10/2021

New Emissaries of Profits! We've finished season 3! "Facets" and "The Adversary" are two episodes about identity and belonging.

We finish of season 3 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with “Facets” and “The Adversary”, two episodes about identity and belonging .

03/10/2021

New Androids and Assets! We've got part one of our three part series on the Hugo Award shortlisted short stories.

We talk about "Open House on Haunted Hill" by John Wiswell and "Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" by Rae Carson.

Stephen and Marshall get serious talking about the Hugo short listed short stories in part one of our three part series. Today we cover “Open House on Haunted Hill” by John Wiswell and “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse” by Rae Carson.

14/09/2021

New Androids and Assets! We're joined by Adventures in Ideology to discuss Sigmund Brouwer's science fiction Christian propaganda, Pharaoh's Tomb, the first in the Cyberquest series.

We’re joined by the hosts of one of our favourite shows, Adventures in Ideology, to talk about the first Cyberquest story, The Pharaoh’s Tomb, by Sigmund Brouwer. It’s Christian propaganda with a thin veneer of science fiction. Like a single coat of science applied with a poor brush by an unsk...

04/09/2021

New Emissaries of Profits! It's Tain's plot to commit genocide and the opening salvos in the Dominion War. We talk about spies and hiding megaconstruction projects.

We discuss Tain’s Plot to preempt the Dominion War in Deep Space Nine episodes 20 and 21, “Improbable Cause” and “The Die is Cast”. We get into the real life failings of spies and the probability of hiding

01/09/2021

New Androids and Assets! We're joined by Peter F. Hamilton and to talk about their new novella, Light Chaser. It's a love story with a backdrop of numerous worlds across the galaxy and a hidden threat the lovers face.

Special guests and legends of Space Opera, Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell, generously took time to talk to us about their newly released novella, Light Chaser. Recommendations Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky The First Fifteen Lives of Harry Augu...

26/08/2021

New Emissaries of Profits! We're joined by Leslie Lee III of Struggle Session to talk about h***y Sisko in the mirror universe! We also speculate about mirror universe Picard. It was an all around great time.

The boys sit down with Struggle Session co-host Leslie Lee to talk about DS9 Season 3 Episode 19 “Through the Looking Glass” and reflect on the meaning of the mirror universe. Through the Looking Glass Ben is abducted from Deep Space Nine and taken to the mirror universe where he bones the count...

10/08/2021

New Emissaries of Profits. We talk about colonization and aggravating a foreign power and the shortcomings of Jungian analysis after watching the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "Visionary" and "Distant Voices".

https://buff.ly/37AFu2h

28/06/2021

We talked with author, Neil Sharpson, about his debut novel, When the Sparrow Falls. It's a dense, tightly written science fiction thriller that thinks about transhumanism, artificial intelligence and consciousness.

We are joined by Neil Sharpson author of debut novel, When the Sparrow Falls. It’s a clever and engaging science-fiction thriller looking at artificial intelligence, totalitarianism, and transhumanism available from Tor books on June 29. You can find Neil at unshavedmouse.com and on Twitter. Recom...

22/06/2021

New Androids and Assets! We're joined by Seth from the Hugos There podcast to talk about Palm Springs and what makes a life worth living. Strap in as Steve breaks out Heidegger.

Seth from Hugos There, Take Me To Your Reader, Brief & Not So Brief joins us to discuss Palm Springs. We talk about Cartesian Dualism, capitalism, and what is a life worth living. Seth hosts Hugos There, a monthly podcast talking about Hugo Award winning novels with a guest(s). It’s great. Check i...

16/05/2021

In an incredibly timely coincidence, we talk about Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba with editor Basma Ghalayini and publisher Ra Page.

We are joined by Basma Ghalayini, editor of the collection Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba, and Ra Page, the cofounder of publisher Comma Press. Palestine +100 is a collection of stories exploring how Palestine might look 100 years after the Nakba when Palestinians were displa...

11/05/2021

Disappearing planets, a fake Will Riker, and working with the Cardassians. This week has it all. And we get to talk about Steve's favourite topic: nineties war!

To Coup or not to Coup? Things get political as the news on your side Androids and Assets team talks about headlines from 1994. Reviewing Season 3 episodes 8 and 9. Meridian The crew of Deep Space Nine is exploring the Gamma Quadrant, which is totally their job, and using a little warship to do … ...

02/05/2021

Happy May Day! We read Roadside Picnic to celebrate.

For May Day we read Soviet era novel, Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It’s a bleak look at utopia, the utterly alien nature of aliens, and the insignificance of humans. We disagree about the end of the novel and leave it up to you, dear listener, to decide the true meaning.

21/03/2021

We're back in the Star Wars universe looking at banking and monetary policy. The Republic doesn't really know what it's doing and we're here to offer some advice. (Nationalize the banks!)

Return guest and guy who has seen Star Wars, Justin, joins us to review Star Wars Clone Wars the Clovis Arc. We dissect the Galactic republic’s monetary policy and why we should nationalize the banks.

28/02/2021

Everyone's favourite Gamma Quadrant villain is finally introduced properly at the end of season 2. We're talking about the Dominion!

We’ve reached the end of season 2 and that means the Dominion is a thing! We’re covering the final episode of season 2 and the first two of season three. It’s all about the Dominion and remembering where Odo came from.

21/02/2021

Join us as we explore the Expanse and take a crack at estimating the cost of the MCRN Donnager. It's not cheap to build a ship that big. Let us know how you think we did and if we lowballed the ship.

In an experimental episode Marshall and Stephen break down the cost of the destruction of the MCRN Donnager in James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse and what that can tell us about the future of naval warfare and planetary governance.

02/02/2021

Well worth the wait. We are talking about Comradery, an alternative to Patreon and OnlyFans, and the future of crowd funding.

23/01/2021

We get into Vichy France, defunding the police, bad Beck jokes and more while discussing "The Collaborator", episode 24 of Season Two of Deep Space Nine.

Vedek Bareil is running for Kai of Bajor but our favourite villain, Vedek Winn, sows doubt about his suitability and encourages Kira to look into his past. Kira discovers that the man she loves may have been responsible for the death of 43 Bajoran freedom fighters. Referenced Video What is Gold-Pres...

20/01/2021

It's Inauguration Day so we took a look in our archives to find some policy ideas for the Biden administration. Take a listen to our conversation with Corey J. White from back in July.

We had the absolute pleasure of talking to Corey J. White about his recent novel, Repo Virtual. This is a near future, cyberpunk that tackles heavy issues of our day like wealth inequality, corporate overreach, and do***ey tech-bro companies all set in a very believable world wracked by climate chan...

18/01/2021

Do you have suggestions for episodes? A favourite movie or book that is problematic? A perfect piece of media that needs dissecting to find the flaws? Something everyone loves but is actually making the world a worse place? We love to hear new ideas.

17/01/2021

17/01/2021

Animal Crossing: New Horizons took the world by storm in 2020. We discuss with games scholar Kat Barnes if the game is a tool for educating people about the evil of capitalism or a subversive pastime disguising neoliberal dangers?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons took the world by storm in 2020 and continues to be a cultural touchstone. One question that gets asked over and over is whether Tom Nook is a man of the people or an oppressive capitalist exploiting your labour? We are joined this week by Kateryna Barnes to discuss the...

17/01/2021