1A: Why The World Is Paying Close Attention To The French Elections

Voters in France chose two political outsiders to go to a runoff to determine the next president. A centrist political novice and a far-right firebrand will face off in two weeks in what has been called the most tumultuous and unpredictable French election in recent history. A look at why the world is paying close attention to the French elections and what you need to know.

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GBBP 125: John Scalzi

This week, we welcome sci-fi writer extraordinaire John Scalzi to the show. Scalzi burst onto the speculative fiction scene in 2005 with Old Man’s War, which was nominated for a Hugo Award and kicked off a six-book series (plus related short stories set in the same universe). Two other books in that series (The Last Colony and Zoe’s Tale) were also nominated for Hugos.
Scalzi also wrote Redshirts – a ridiculously fun riff on Star Trek‘s “redshirt” trope – and won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2012! He’s a writing machine and averages about a book a year. Last month saw the release of The Collapsing Empire, which kicks off a new series in a new universe. And if you’ve read and enjoyed any of Scalzi’s work, I can guarantee you’re going to love it. It’s a hell of a ride.
On top of all the novels, he’s been even more prolific over on his website, Whatever, where he’s been writing about anything and everything for years. I highly recommend following along.
On this episode, we chat about the out-of-the-gate success The Collapsing Empire has enjoyed, TV and film rights (and adaptations in general), historical Easter eggs in his writing, the pressures and creative freedom granted by his unprecedented book deal with Tor, the little Wil Wheaton who lives in his head, the JoCo Cruise, and why it’s important for writers to commiserate and discuss the challenges they face.

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IQ2US: Long Live Walmart

Walmart has long been a target for critics of corporate expansion, but does the company really deserve the scrutiny?  Some say that the big-box retailer devastates small communities by pushing out locally-owned businesses, mistreats its workers through low pay and restrictive work hours, and forces American companies  to use cheap foreign labor to produce goods at low cost.  Others point to the fact that Walmart provides countless jobs to low-skilled American workers, sells affordable goods, has increasingly become a leader in sustainability, and attracts new consumers and businesses to its neighborhoods.  Has Walmart been good for America?

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Megahaulin: Episode 65: What’s the Scenario?

This episode Dustin and Matt review the news about Star Realms SCENARIOS! We also discuss variants and of course – QUICK HITS!

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