The STARLOG Podcast

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan is catching up on sci-fi and sent Dave to the theaters to see Hope (호프), the new Korean sci-fi action flick from director Na Hong-jin. Then, a traffic jam of colorful delivery robots blocked a sidewalk in Chicago, so it’s time to talk about why you should pay a human to deliver your chicken salad sandwich. In the STARLOG Archive this week, Back to the Future’s Bob Gale talks about his film version of Doctor Strange. This week’s guest is author, writer, and pop culture thinker John DeVore, who is a personal friend of Jordan. John DeVore is a two-time James Beard Award–winning writer and editor who has worked for The New York Post, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Marvel Comics, among many others. He wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie, the 1986 animated classic that killed your robot dad. Next week, we’re bringing in Polygon Editor-and-Chief and co-host of the new Point It Out podcast, Matt Patches, who has inspired us to give another look at the 1985 science fiction D.A.R.Y.L. which is about both parenting and A.I. NOTICES: Hope Is being given a wide American theatrical release by NEON pictures. Check your local listings. VIDEO: Delivery robots clog Chicago sidewalk John DeVore’s book Theater Kids is available now! Follow John DeVore on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johndevore/  And BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/johndevore.bsky.social FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome to Lucky Episode 13! 03:19 - What’s New in Science Fiction? 11:57 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 20:46 - The STARLOG Archive - Bob Gale’s Doctor Strange 28:11 - Transformers: The Movie with John DeVore Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan is excited he got to see the Sun Ra Arkestra perform their particular brand of whacked out, mind-expanding, space-is-the-place music, which leads Dave to tell Jordan about Onslaught, a just barely sci-fi horror/action movie directed by Adam Wingard. Then, Jordan dazzles Dave with the real-life cyborg burrowing cockroaches that may one day rescue them from a collapsed STARLOG Archive. In said archive: Leonard Nimoy hosting In Search Of… introduced him to some “wild” ideas.  This week’s guests are the directors of Chronovisor, a science fiction film based on a real chronovisor conspiracy theory that got a monk excommunicated. Kevin Walker and Jack Auen tell Jordan how they found the inspiration for this unique independent film, and how they ended up shooting in Portugal and beautiful libraries even on a microbudget. Next week the podcast celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Transformers: The Movie with special guest, author, internet raconteur, and Optimus Prime mourner, John Devore.  NOTICES: SunRaArkestra.com Onslaught is currently in theaters. Remote-control robot bugs could deliver lifesaving aid to disaster victims Chronovisor - Directed by Kevin Walker and Jack Auen is in select theaters this September. While writing a monograph on historical theories of memory, Béatrice (Anne Laure Sellier), a respected academic, becomes beguiled by the allegedly true story of the Chronovisor, an occult device said to reproduce visuals from any point in history on a TV screen. Her obsession with the mysterious machine drags her from her Upper East Side apartment through the depths of New York City’s hidden libraries, to the edge of a breakthrough. Where to see CHRONOVISOR: https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/chronovisor/ FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome to Episode 12! 02:42 - What’s New in Science Fiction? 09:07 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 16:50 - The STARLOG Archive - In Search Of… 25:45 - Chronovisor with directors Kevin Walker and Jack Auen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan and Dave catch up on Lanterns on HBO (which has aired three episodes of its first season) before a discussion of the newest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ("Off-Hour") leads to a conspiracy theory about a season of genre riffs being a safe franchise choice. Then, Jordan explains how a planet can be “puffy,” and dives into the STARLOG Archive for evidence of a lost film: SFX 1140. This week’s guest is Dean Devlin, who began his career as an actor (Real Genius) before moving into writing and directing with his creative partner Roland Emmerich in a historic 1990s run of Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Patriot. Devlin’s currently running television franchises The Ark and The Librarians: The Next Chapter can be found on traditional television with the back-catalog available on the ad-supported streaming service Electric Now. Of course, we ask about Bill Pullman’s speech in Independence Day.   NEXT WEEK: Next week the podcast welcomes directors Kevin Walker and Jack Auen who have made Chronovisor, a very special sci-fi film about a rumored artifact that allows the Vatican to peer through time. Get pumped for the movie and learn how the duo pulled off a sleek 16mm film on a micro-budget.  NOTICES: New Episodes of Lanterns air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max through October 4th. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is posting weekly to the Paramount Plus app through September 24th Meet the Milky Way’s puffiest planets [Science News] The Ark, season three, is currently airing on the Sci-Fi Channel The Librarians: The Next Chapter is currently airing its second season on TNT Check out Electric Now at www.electricnow.tv or search for the app on your smart TV. FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome to Episode 11! 05:10 - What’s New in Science Fiction? 19:54 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 24:49 - The STARLOG Archive - Bob Balaban’s missing short 33:02 - Dean Devlin! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan and Dave discuss the new series on HBO based on a DC Studios property: it’s Lanterns! Jordan’s love of Green Lantern lore meets Dave’s penchant for Damon Lindelof produced television mysteries. In science fact, virtual reality appears to help people think they have wings instead of arms, allowing them to ... learn to fly? Then, into the STARLOG Archive to hear about a film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End that was never meant to be. This week’s guest is Rodney Ascher, a filmmaker and documentarian who has made films that might be found in the documentary section of your streaming service. He joins the podcast to discuss his movies Room 237 (a deep dive on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining), A Glitch in the Matrix (an investigation into if we live in a simulation), and his newest film Ghost Boy. Next week the podcast welcomes Dean Devlin, the writer and producer of sci-fi hits like Stargate and ID4: Independence Day, to answer some questions about the films of his past and newest seasons of his shows The Ark and The Librarians: The Next Chapter. RELEASE NOTICES: New Episodes of Lanterns air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max through October 4th. 25 people learned to fly with virtual wings. Here’s how the brain changed [Science News] You can stream Room 237 for free with ads on PlutoTV. Glitch in the Matrix can be rented or purchased on VOD platforms. Ghost Boy at RodneyAscher.com FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome to Episode 10! 02:13 - What’s New in Science Fiction? 16:24 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 22:20 - The STARLOG Archive - Issue 42 January 1981 29:42 - Rodney Ascher! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan and Dave discuss the new film The End of Oak Street, an Amblin-style dinosaur sci-fi movie that has a wild twist. Then, Jordan and Dave try to understand how a wave can, in certain conditions, move faster than light. For this week’s Starlog Archive, the letters section of yore has beef with Richard Donner’s 1978’s Superman  This week’s guest is a novelist, poet, playwright, and L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College: Andrea Hairston! Jordan wants to pick her brain about her new novel The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays. There’s a podcaster, a budding relationship between a woman and her employee, oh and there’s an interdimensional St. Berdoodle that’s going to help solve a local murder mystery in a small college town. Next week on the podcast, we’re joined by Rodney Ascher, a filmmaker and documentarian who has made wild rides like Room 237 (2012), The Nightmare (2015), A Glitch in the Matrix (2021), and Ghost Boy (2025). LINKS/RELEASE NOTICES: The End of Oak Street is in theaters now. Energy Can Move Faster Than The Speed of Light Thanks to Weird 'Loophole' Physicists Found Something That Can Move Faster Than Light: The Darkness Inside It AndreaHairston.com Order The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays here! FORMAT: 00:00 - The End of Oak Street 09:15 - Brief SPOILERS for The End of Oak Street 11:30 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 20:44 - The STARLOG Archive 30:34 - Andrea Hairston! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan and Dave discuss the new film One Night Only which is a rom-com on its face but might have a not-sexy sci-fi twist. Then, Jordan tells Dave about naked mole rat society scents before returning to the STARLOG Archives of the early 1980s letters pages to discuss if Jedi get Revenge (and continuing last week’s Jackboot Fandom discussion).  This week’s guest is director of such films as The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, Now You See Me, Fast X, and The Last House: Louis Leterrier! His newest film, currently streaming on Netflix, stars Wagner Moura and Greta Lee as the parents of two children trapped in a house…by the rain? Stream The Last House before listening to this interview! Next week, Andrea Hairston is a science fiction and fantasy playwright and novelist who will tell us about her newest novel The Redemption Center Is Closed On Sundays. There will be multiple dimensions, the gossip of college towns, a murder mystery, and a very special dog. LINKS/RELEASE NOTICES: One Night Only: An Honest Attempt to Understand the Ridiculous World of Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro’s New Rom-Com [Vanity Fair] Naked mole-rat queens rule their colonies with a potent odor [Science News] The Last House is currently streaming on Netflix! FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome! 02:24 - What’s Happening in Science Fiction? 10:33 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 15:15 - The STARLOG Archive 28:27 - Louis Leterrier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan and Dave have also seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day like a lot of you, since it has recorded the largest domestic box-office take ever since we recorded this episode. After some Spidey-Talk, Jordan horrifies Dave with the true story of zombie sea cucumbers. Then, in the STARLOG Archive, a passionate essay against jackboot fandom cosplay from the early 1980s. This week’s guest is Axelle Carolyn, the director of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 2 “The Griffin Incident.” Carolyn tells Jordan and Dave about the nitty gritty details of bringing the horror genre to Star Trek and where to look for spooky phantoms in the background of her episode. Make sure to have watched “The Griffin Incident,” as this conversation covers the shocking moments in the episode. Next week, Director Louis Letterrier beams aboard the STARLOG podcast to talk about his newest Netflix movie The Last House starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura as the parents of a family trapped inside. Want More? MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards. ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ 2nd Fastest Pic To Cross $1B At Global Box Office. Scientists Say They’ve Discovered ‘Little Lab Zombies’—Seemingly Immortal Tissue Taken From Sea Cucumbers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is streaming on Paramount Plus! The STARLOG Podcast is hosted by Jordan Hoffman, edited and produced by Dave Gonzales. The STARLOG Podcast Theme was composed and performed by Michael Tritter. FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome! 03:58 - Spider-Man: Brand New Day 19:21 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 24:52 - The STARLOG Archive 36:21 - Ariel Waldman! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! In this episode, Jordan and Dave are excited to finally talk about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, which has begun releasing week-to-week on Paramount Plus. The two give a review of the first wild episode of the season that involves time-travel paradoxes and Starfleet punching dinosaurs. Then, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is available in a premium IMAX 70mm format, but there (somehow) are not enough projectors to fill demand. Then, Jordan delves deep into the 1982 STARLOG Archive to unearth some remake beef started by John Carpenter’s The Thing. Explorer, researcher, and filmmaker Ariel Waldman is the host of PBS’ Life Unearthed with Ariel Waldman and joins the podcast to tell us about life that exists in some of the most extreme environments on the planet. From the unending sunshine of Antarctica to the disappearing plains of North America, Ariel Waldman is dedicated to showing you life you have never seen before. Next week, Axelle Carolyn, the director of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 2 “The Griffin Incident” joins the podcast to have a full-spoilers discussion about her episode! Want More? Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is streaming on Paramount Plus The Odyssey is still in about 25 IMAX 70mm theaters in North America. The Odyssey Can’t Be Screened in 70mm IMAX Without Huge, Ancient Projectors. Here’s What It Takes to Keep Them Running [GQ] All current episodes of Life Unearthed with Ariel Waldman can be streamed for free at PBS! The first Antarctica episode is also on Youtube The STARLOG Podcast is hosted by Jordan Hoffman, edited and produced by Dave Gonzales. The STARLOG Podcast Theme was composed and performed by Michael Tritter. FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome! 01:40 - What's happening in Science Fiction? 10:06 - What’s Happening in Science Fact? 20:17 - The STARLOG Archive 30:51 - Ariel Waldman! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! This episode, Jordan and Dave have to check up on the Buzz Aldrin life-saving pen auction before jumping into a review of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which is currently in theaters. This bombastic film has a new interpretation on Homeric myth and some fascinating developments in IMAX camera rigs that went into its production. For this week’s STARLOG Archive we dive back to issue #104 from 1986 to unearth some exclusive news about Peter Meyhew and revisit why shooting Return of the Jedi in the California Redwood Forest was particularly dangerous for his character.  Founding partner and head of production for SpectreVision, Daniel Noah joins the podcast as this week’s guest. After recounting his STARLOG magazine memories and how he and Elijah Wood formed SpectreVision, Noah explains his conversion from skeptic to experiencer and how that inspired him in life and for his newest project, the graphic novel project High Strangeness. Next week, filmmaker, scientist, and explorer Ariel Waldman talks about filming Antarctic portions of her PBS documentary series Life Unearthed on one of the least hospitable places on the planet, and how diverse life finds a way. The STARLOG Podcast is hosted by Jordan Hoffman, edited and produced by Dave Gonzales. The STARLOG Podcast Theme was composed and performed by Michael Tritter. FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome! 02:16 - What's happening in Science Fact? 04:51 - Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey  17:13 - The STARLOG Archive 26:02 - Daniel Noah! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! This episode, Jordan has heard The WOW! Signal , the new album by the band Muse, and reports back on its science-fiction themes. Then, we recount the story of the pen that saved Neil Armstong and Buzz Aldrin from being stranded on the moon (and was included in an auction of Buzz Aldrin memorabilia). In the STARLOG Archive, your hosts dig into STARLOG #31 where a notice about "four-letter-words" in Disney’s first PG rated film The Black Hole (1979) suggests a boycott.  Professor and Associate Department Head of M.I.T.'s Department of Physics, Professor Scott A. Hughes is this week's interview. Prof. Hughes tells us about the newest discoveries in our understanding of Black Holes and explains how shifts in gravitational waves can be measured using extremely precise tools like L.I.G.O. and his current project L.I.S.A.. Then, he lets us in on how he was inspired by the band Rush. Next week, Daniel Noah, producer of films like A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) and Mandy (2018), appears on the podcast to discuss experiencing paranormal phenomena and his new graphic novel series High Strangeness. Want More? The WOW! Signal by Muse is currently available wherever music is streamed and/or bought. The Sotheby’s listing for the Apollo 11 pen and broken circuit breaker switch. Disney’s The Black Hole (1979) is available to stream on Disney Plus. Hear more LIGO and LISA sounds at:Astrophysical general relativity @ MIT - Research in the group of Professor Scott A. Hughes FORMAT: 00:00 - Welcome! 03:42 - What's happening in Science Fiction? 08:57 - What's happening in Science Fact? 18:02 - The STARLOG Archive 29:37 - Professor Scott A. Hughes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast! This episode, Jordan encourages you to check out an independent sci-fi film releasing this weekend on Video On Demand: The Outer Threat.  An astrophysicist's alien discovery forces him and his family to flee their home, chased by a mysterious pursuer. In science fact, there's a new top government alien guy, and we drill back into the STARLOG Archive to unearth a very special interview with William Shatner from STARLOG #9. Astrophysicist, aerospace engineer, and science consultant for the Star Trek franchise - Dr. Erin Macdonald of Starfleet Academy is this week's special guest. Dr. Erin schools your hosts on what gravity actually is, before diving into the most difficult science explanation she had to concoct for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and her appearances (as herself!) on Star Trek: Prodigy.  Next week, Professor and Associate Department Head of M.I.T.'s Department of Physics, Professor Scott Hughes will join the podcast to talk about the sounds of black holes and the band Rush. WANT MORE? The Outer Threat is available on digital VOD Friday July 10th Harvard professor with polarizing alien theories is picked to lead Trump administration UFO council William Shatner Live Side 3: The Movie [YouTube] Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Prodigy are all streaming on Paramount Plus. FORMAT00:00 - Welcome to Episode 003!03:21 - What's Happening in Science Fiction08:37 - What's Happening in Science Fact17:09 - The STARLOG Archive - STARLOG #929:45 - Dr. Erin MacDonald! The STARLOG Podcast is hosted by Jordan Hoffman, edited and produced by Dave Gonzales. The STARLOG Podcast Theme was composed and performed by Michael Tritter. Follow STARLOG! Starlog.com @STARLOGmedia on Instagram starlogmedia.bsky.social @STARLOGmedia on YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to The STARLOG Podcast!This week, ALIENS and DINOSAURS. It's been 30 years since the Summer of ID4: Independence Day, years since SETI at Home, and mere weeks since we all got to see Steven Spielberg's newest alien movie Disclosure Day. Since Spielberg is in the air, Jordan opens up the STARLOG archive to see how the magazine covered Jurassic Park.Producer, writer, and director David Koepp joins the podcast to talk about his relationship to STARLOG Magazine, Godzilla, and how he adapted Spielberg's treatment PDF into the movie we know as Disclosure Day. Next week, Dr, Erin MacDonald, scientist and consultant for the Star Trek franchise will tell us that we can't warp through debris.WANT MORE?ID4: Independence Day is currently available to stream on Hulu and Disney Plus. Why SETI Might Have Been Missing Alien Signals at seti.orgHow They Made Jurassic Park's T-Rex - Sculpting a Full-Size Dinosaur by Stan Winston School on YouTube Disclosure Day is in theaters now!FORMAT00:00 - STARLOG is Back!04:05 - What's Happening in Science Fiction10:45 - What's Happening in Science Fact16:55 - The STARLOG Archive - STARLOG #19127:19 - David Koepp!The STARLOG Podcast is hosted by Jordan Hoffman, edited and produced by Dave Gonzales. The STARLOG Podcast Theme was composed and performed by Michael Tritter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to The STARLOG Podcast! This week, your host Jordan Hoffman is proud to introduce himself and podcasting XO Dave Gonzales, reintroduce STARLOG and begin The STARLOG Podcast. In celebration of STARLOG's 50th Anniversary in 2026, the team behind FANGORIA is bringing STARLOG through a portal to our future. Later this year, STARLOG will be available as a print magazine in bookstores, on newsstands, and at the supermarket checkout. This week, STARLOG Editor-in-Chief Annalee Newitz joins the podcast to talk about the contents of the upcoming STARLOG Magazine and how it's changed from the original publication. They also discuss founding the Gawker Media futurist blog io9, their non-fiction book Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction, and how a train can love a cat in their fiction novel The Terraformers. Next week, Disclosure Day's screenwriter David Koepp joins us to talk about aliens and Steven Spielberg. WANT MORE? Project Hail Mary is still in theaters! There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm Sci-Fi Short Film "There Is No Antimemetics Division" | DUST | Starring Jasika Nicole Robots with fingernails can grasp thin edges The Republic of Memory: A Novel By Mahmud El Sayed Buy Annalee Newitz Books including The Terraformers and the new Automatic Noodle FORMAT 00:00 - STARLOG is Back! 07:37 - What's Happening in Science Fiction 13:25 - What's Happening in Science Fact 18:01 - The STARLOG Archive 26:34 - Annalee Newitz! The STARLOG Podcast is hosted by Jordan Hoffman, edited and produced by Dave Gonzales. The STARLOG Podcast Theme was composed and performed by Michael Tritter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

STARLOG is back! Join host Jordan Hoffman and producer Dave Gonzales on a weekly journey into the vastness of space time. Each Wednesday, The STARLOG Podcast will cover the newest happenings in science fiction and science fact, delve into the 50 years of the STARLOG magazine archive, and interview a special guest from the realms of filmmaking, science, fiction, and fandom. Blast off with the STARLOG Podcast by subscribing now on your podcast device. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices