TOF tackles the subject of religion, how it relates to genre, mostly movies and TV, mostly a Christian perspective. Religion is such a large topic, that it is hard to do it justice in one episode. We only have time to cover a few things.

Jerome Stueart joins Troy and David for the episode. As a first time guest, we ask Jerome his first experiences with the speculative genre, and what he fell in love with. David also asks him what was the first genre thing he fell in love with. And Troy asks Jerome what his all-time faves are, in the 6 categories we ask now, which are: Favorite genre author, novel, shorter work, movie, TV show, TV episode.

Troy does a short introduction of religion.

Some of the things covered:

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Exorcist
Deep Space 9
Mazes and Monsters
Children of Men
5th Element
Dogma
Field of Dreams
The bible as fantasy novel
Contact
The Book of Job
God Game
The Matrix
Signs
Carl Jung’s Synchronicity
Battle Star Galactica (BSG)

This is our holiday episode, and part of what is also discussed, the idea of faith and religion as vehicles of hope, compassion. social justice, and caring for the poor. That loving each other is the message. And, how religion and fantasy work so well together. How faith may give you reasons to be compassionate. The question of what if, why is this happening, closure, grief, meaning, and purpose.

TOF will hopefully return to the topic of religion, do a deeper dive, and cover other creation myths, the darker side of religion (covered briefly in this episode), Disc World, A Canticle for Leibowitz, the Sparrow, The Handmaid’s Tale, and much more.

Jerome Stueart is a gay writer and artist whose writing has appeared in F&SF, Fantasy, Tor.com, Geist, Strange Horizons, On Spec, and several Tesseracts anthologies.

In 2020 he was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award in Short Fiction. His work is often found at the intersection of science fiction, fantasy, and faith.  As co-editor of the 2015 anthology Wrestling with Gods (Tesseracts 18), he asked others to explore that same intersection.

Stueart lived for nearly a decade in the Yukon, but now lives, writes, and paints in Dayton, Ohio, as well as working in a café bakery.

Dr. Strangelove is the granddaddy of all satirical movies. A great cast contributes to the story of a bomber crew being ordered to drop the bomb on the Russians. The order did not come from the President. It came from Jack D. Ripper, the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, who exceeded his authority. He also seems to be overly concerned with bodily fluids, his essence, and fluoridation.

Peter Sellers leads a great cast. He plays three roles: Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake; President Merkin Muffley; and, Dr. Strangelove. He is wonderful in each role.

Troy Harkin and David Clink, the “Two Old Farts,” are joined by Ira Nayman, whom Troy and David refer to as The Third Fart.

Ira is the only guest who has appeared in all five season.

Ira is the second guest to have appeared in five episodes, joining Bev Vincent as part of “The Farty Five” or a proud member of “The Fart-Timer’s Club.”

When it comes to Dream Casting, and the Schrodinger’s Cast, Ira, Troy and David try to recast Peter Sellers, with the best possible alternative (Dream Cast) and an unusual, outside the box choice (Schrödinger’s Cast).

Ira Nayman writes humour under the name, Ira Nayman.

The Ugly Truth, his 8^th novel with Elsewhen Press, was published in June, 2022.

His two dozenth published short story, “Girls Rule the Steampunk World” appeared in Brave New Girls: Chronicles of Misses and Machines.

In September, 2022, Ira celebrated the 20^th anniversary of the weekly publication of Les Pages aux Folles, his web site of political and social satire.

Ira was our guest for four previous episodes:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Mystery Men
Twiddle Twaddle

This is the second of two parts that look at Superman in the movies. Troy and David look at the movies, from the George Reeves Mole Men to Zach Snyder’s Justice League.

Troy and David also do their DREAM CAST and SCHRODINGER’S CAST for Superman – the 1978 film, looking at these 6 roles:

This is the first of two parts that look at Superman in the movies. Troy and David look at the movies, from the George Reeves Mole Men to Zach Snyder’s Justice League.

Did you ever want to visit the sites in Stephen King novels? King set a number of his novels and short stories in the fictional town of Derry. Many feel that Derry is, in actuality, Bangor Maine, where Stephen has lived most of his life. Stephen King also believes that.

Troy Harkin and his wife Christie went on the SK-Tours in October of 2022. TOF welcomes the couple that run the tour, to talk about it.

Jamie Tinker and Jennifer Millar own and operate SK Tours of Maine out of Bangor. The three hour long tours are an authoritative celebration of Stephen King in general, as well as his fictional town of Derry.

Welcome to the first episode of season 5 of Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi! And what better character to launch a new season than a look at Superman?

Troy and David look at Superman, from its beginning, the comics, graphic novels, the radio show, the various TV series, and some of the merchandise. Do you remember, as a child, running around the yard in a towel / Superman cape? And how about the Commander Tom Show, where they played episodes of the old George Reeves Adventures of Superman?

Troy and David talk about Superman’s nicknames, his pets. They also talk about the number of comics Superman appeared in, and the villains he faced.

Who is your favorite Supervillain that Superman faced? Lex Luthor? Bizarro? Troy and David reveal their fave villains.

Troy does his history of Superman, not to be missed. He also recommends some graphic novels that should not be missed.

This is pt.1 of a 2-part episode. The second part (scheduled to be broadcast in four weeks, on Saturday, Nov 4, 2023), will look at the movies. In between, on Saturday, Oct 21, there will be an episode on the Stephen King Tour, a fitting October episode.

This episode, pt. 1 of Superman, is being broadcast on Saturday, October 07, 2023.

Troy and David continue their discussion on sports and games in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

This is PT.2 of a 2-part episode.

This episode is being broadcast on Saturday, July 08, 2023.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror are replete with sports and games. Rollerball and Death Race 2000; The Running Man and Field of Dreams; The Hunger Games and Ready Player One; games of chance, sports, and competitions have been a part of the genre landscape for many years. Harry Potter had Quidditch, and the Triwizard Tournament.

Troy and David have created a two-part episode, The Spec Sports Spectacular, where they look at appearances of games and sports in speculative film, TV, and books.

Remember the number of times that poker appeared in Star Trek? Is that not the final scene in the TNG series, Captain Picard finally joining the poker game that his senior officers play?

And who can forget the games played on the Battlestar Galactica?

This episode is being broadcast on Saturday, June 24, 2023.

The Thing PT. 2

Troy and David return with Carolyn Clink and Sandra Kasturi, to look at The Thing. First and foremost, the 1982 film, but also the 1951 film, and the 2011 film.

They also do a Dream Cast and Schrodinger’s Cast, of six of the main characters in the 1982 movie.

They choose another actor or actress to fill the role, one the best actor (living or dead) which is the Dream Cast, and one unusual choice, for the Schrodinger’s Cast.

This episode is being broadcast on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Carolyn Clink is a poet living in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

She won the Aurora Award for Best Poem/Song in 2022 for “Cat People Café” and in 2011 for “The ABCs of the End of the World.”

Her genre poetry publications include: Weird Tales, Analog, Imaginarium 2012: the Best Canadian Speculative Writing, Polar Starlight, Polar Borealis, On-Spec, Tesseracts, Frost Zone Zine, Eye to the Telescope, Tales of the Unanticipated, Room, and all 5 volumes of Northern Frights.

Sandra Kasturi is an award-winning poet, writer, and editor, with work appearing in many places including ON SPEC, several Tesseracts anthologies, and 80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin.

Her two poetry collections are: The Animal Bridegroom (with an introduction by Neil Gaiman) and Come Late to the Love of Birds (both from Tightrope Books).

Sandra recently won second prize in The New Quarterly’s Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest. She is also the winner of the Sunburst Award for her story “The Beautiful Gears of Dying” and ARC Magazine‘s Poem of the Year Award for “Old Men, Smoking.”

John Carpenter’s The Thing. 1982 saw a plethora of great genre films, and this one got lost in the mix. How exactly do you compete with Blade Runner; E.T.: The Extraterrestrial; Tron; and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? It did not do well at the box office. It had some poor reviews, most notably from Roger Ebert, who said, “…this material has been done before, and better…”

There have been a few films that took audiences and critics years, if not decades, to warm to, and this is one of them. It is now considered a classic of the genre, and often appears in top ten lists. It is favorably mentioned alongside Blade Runner and Alien. Its makeup effects, which at first was off-putting to some audiences and critics, were ahead of their time, and still stand up today.

This is Part 1 of a 2-Part episode.

Troy Harkin and David Clink, the Two Old Farts of this podcast, will look at the 1982 film in detail, but will also look at the 1951 film, and the 2011 prequel. There may be some discussion on the story, Who Goes There, by John W. Campbell (who has recently been cancelled), which the movies are based on. In the case of the Howard Hawks film, a much looser adaptation, whereas the John Carpenter film, starring Kurt Russell, was a much closer version.

About John W. Campbell being cancelled, here is an excerpt from an article titled: John W. Campbell Award Is Renamed After Winner Criticizes Him, published in The New York Times, August 28, 2019, and updated on Sept 1, 2019, written by Peter Libbey:

The decision to remove Campbell’s name from the award came after this year’s winner, Jeannette Ng, criticized him in her acceptance speech. “He is responsible for setting a tone for science fiction that haunts this genre to this very day,” she said. “Stale, sterile, male, white, exalting in the ambitions of imperialists, colonialists, settlers and industrialists.”

Click on this image to take you to the full article:

This episode is being broadcast on Saturday, May 27, 2023.

Troy and David are joined by two guests. Please see their bios and author photos below.

Carolyn Clink is David’s sister, and this is her first time being a guest on the TOF podcast. She lists the 1982 film, The Thing, as her favourite all-time genre movie. Being a first-time guest, Troy and David ask her about her early genre memories, and what her all-time genre faves are.

Sandra Kasturi makes her third appearance as a guest. Sandra first appeared on the Season 1 episode 13 and 14 on Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (September 2021). She next guested on Season 3 episode 2 and 3 on Folk Horror (July 2022?), which took a careful look at The Wicker Man and MidSommar. Sandra joins Bev Vincent and Ira Nayman as guests who have appeared on three different topics.

Carolyn Clink is a poet living in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

She won the Aurora Award for Best Poem/Song in 2022 for “Cat People Café” and in 2011 for “The ABCs of the End of the World.”

Her genre poetry publications include: Weird Tales, Analog, Imaginarium 2012: the Best Canadian Speculative Writing, Polar Starlight, Polar Borealis, On-Spec, Tesseracts, Frost Zone Zine, Eye to the Telescope, Tales of the Unanticipated, Room, and all 5 volumes of Northern Frights.

Sandra Kasturi is an award-winning poet, writer, and editor, with work appearing in many places including ON SPEC, several Tesseracts anthologies, and 80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin.

Her two poetry collections are: The Animal Bridegroom (with an introduction by Neil Gaiman) and Come Late to the Love of Birds (both from Tightrope Books).

Sandra recently won second prize in The New Quarterly’s Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest. She is also the winner of the Sunburst Award for her story “The Beautiful Gears of Dying” and ARC Magazine‘s Poem of the Year Award for “Old Men, Smoking.”