Hi! We’re a Speculative Fiction podcast that’s here to bring you light in the darkness.
Latest episodes
I’ll Make a Spectacle of You with Beatrice Winifred Iker
by Beatrice Iker, Alan Bailey, Cat Rambo, Diane Morrison on May 12, 2026 at 1:00 pm
In this episode, Alan and Cat talk to poet, podcaster, author, and tarot reader, Beatrice Winifred Iker. They discuss religion, horror and religion, queerness, writing neurodiverse characters, Appalachia, organizing complicated plots, Mothman, perfume recommendations, and much more. You can find Beatrice and their books here: https://www.beatriceiker.com/books.
by Brandon Crilly, Alan Bailey, Cat Rambo, Diane Morrison on April 7, 2026 at 1:00 pm
In this episode, Alan talks to writer and educator Brandon Crilly. They discuss the challenges in con running, religion, alien gods, characters with major personality shifts, magic, historical cycles, Hopepunk, messages in fiction, and much more. You can find Brandon Crilly and his books here: https://brandoncrilly.com.
Speculative Whiteness Part 5: This Snowflake is an Avalanche with Dr. Jordan Caroll
by Jordan Carroll, Alan Bailey on March 16, 2026 at 1:00 pm
In the Fifth part of this column, we flip the script and discuss how writers can pursue equity in their writing, how to deal with problematic creators, and how Dr. Carroll deals with the toxicity of reading alt-right works, and authors who are examples of anti-fascist writing. You can purhase Speualtive Whiteness here: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517917081/speculative-whiteness/
Horror Bugge with Premee Mohamed
by Alan Bailey, Premee Mohamed, Cat Rambo, Diane Morrison on February 24, 2026 at 2:00 pm
In this episode, Alan talks to writer Premee Mohamed. They discuss imposter syndrome, awards, being caegorized as horror, the state of the horror genre, Stephen King, the correlation between social media and sales, quicksand, Premee’s favorite ink, audience questions, and much more. You can find Premee Mohamed and her books here: https://premeemohamed.com/author/premee/
What is Hopepunk?
The term was first coined by Alexandra Rowland as the antithesis of “grimdark,” a speculative genre featuring fatalistic nihilism and a tooth and claw environment. She wrote:
“The essence of grimdark is that everyone’s inherently sort of a bad person and does bad things, and that’s awful and disheartening and cynical. It’s looking at human nature and going, ‘The glass is half empty. Hopepunk says, ‘No, I don’t accept that. Go fuck yourself: The glass is half full.’ Yeah, we’re all a messy mix of good and bad, flaws and virtues. We’ve all been mean and petty and cruel, but (and here’s the important part) we’ve also been soft and forgiving and kind. Hopepunk says that kindness and softness doesn’t equal weakness, and that in this world of brutal cynicism and nihilism, being kind is a political act. An act of rebellion.”
She wrote more about hopepunk in a follow-up essay, “One Atom of Justice, One Molecule of Mercy, and the Empire of Unsheathed Knives and expands on the idea of kindness as a political act further in this great essay.
In essence, Hopepunk is hope, kindness, joy and love, even in the darkest moments, against all odds. It is hope and compassion as a conscious choice, no matter how much you’ve been beaten down or suffered. It’s a movement in speculative fiction, and it’s also a political movement in the real world. And we’re here for it, and we want to tell you about it.
Who we are
Alan Bailey
Alan Bailey is most notable for creating, producing, editing, and co-hosting, Alan & Jeremy VS Science Fiction. He has been an educator for most of his life, starting in the Pittsburgh City Schools and moving on to write curriculum for tech and insurance companies, post-secondary schools, and grocery chains. He is currently the bassist for garage prog band Father Flamethrower. Find him, and the podcast, on Twitter as @if_this_goes_on.
Rachel Renee
Rachel Renee, better known as @Lady_SnipeShot, is a Team Leader, co-host, and community organizer for The Gametographers. A graduate from Los Angeles Film School, she is also a screenwriter and sound editor. In 2017 Rachel was a participant in the very first Virtual Photography exhibition at PAX AU and in 2018 she hosted the Guerilla Games Anniversary Photography competition for Horizon Zero Dawn. Rachel’s current projects include a virtual photography publication featuring photographers in The Gametographers’ community and her first sci-fi pilot script, Orion.
Diane Morrison
Diane Morrison, also known as @SableAradia, is a short & long-form science fiction & fantasy writer. She does a lot of different things: she’s a podcaster, a musician, an activist, and a proud nerd who has spent many years immersed in nerdy subcultures. She was the manager for the official SFWA YouTube channel and host of The Panel and SpecWomenChat. Recently she’s discovered WorldAnvil and is quietly crawling up her own navel, creating the worlds that her reviews say she’s great at building. Find her at her website or her Patreon.
Cat Rambo
Cat Rambo is a Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer and editor. She was the President of the Science Fiction & Fantasy writers of America (SFWA) from 2015 through 2019, and co-editor of Fantasy Magazine from 2007 to 2011. She has long been an advocate for under-represented groups in the science fiction and fantasy community, and is a fixture at cons and workshops throughout North America. Find her at the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers, her website, or on Twitter.