Slade House David Mitchell is a literary darling, who’s won acclaim and award nominations. But when he talks about the things that shaped him as an author, he namechecks genre stalwarts like Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip Jose Farmer... and Dungeons & Dragons.
Brian Selznick, author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (basis for the movie Hugo), joins us to discuss working with Martin Scorsese, interviewing Sacha Baron Cohen, and creating his new book Wonderstruck.
Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and new novel Damned, joins us to discuss chatting with telemarketers, being appalled at Hollywood hypocrisy, and writing stories that make people faint dead away.
R. A. Salvatore, creator of the popular Dungeons & 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.
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.
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.
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 & The City, joins us to discuss Dungeons & 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.
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.
Blake Charlton, author of Spellwright, joins us to talk about fantasy, dyslexia, and medical school. Plus, Dave and John discuss magic and medicine in fiction.
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.
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.
