About this episode

The episode explores various topics including Star Wars, environmental issues, and personal experiences in nature.

This week on the podcast, we dive into a galaxy far, far away, a dangerously beautiful state park, the surprising success of four-day work weeks, and why people are wildly confused about the environmental impact of the food they eat. Then we wrap things up in the Book Club with a poetic AI encounter that left us intrigued, confused, and maybe slightly emotionally mugged in a dark alley behind a fusion restaurant. Real Life Steven and Ben both checked out The Mandalorian & Grogu together… sort of. One of us managed to participate in the review despite not fully seeing the movie, which honestly may be the most authentic Star Wars fan experience possible at this point. We talk about the surprisingly fantastic stop-motion effects, some genuinely cool CG creature work, and whether Hutts should really be speaking Basic. Steven remains unconvinced. Ben argues the movie wisely avoids dragging along the baggage from season 3 of The Mandalorian and feels more focused because of it. Meanwhile, Devon took a trip to Cossatot River State Park-Natural Area where the scenery was beautiful and the children were apparently training for a career in extreme sports. Watching kids play near dangerous…

More episodes of Science Faction Podcast

• Episode 617: More Effort than a Prompt · July 15, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Episode 616: The Existential Horror Of Being A Sentient Toy · July 8, 2026 · 51 min
• Episode 615: Spreading the Word (of Totally Local AI) · July 1, 2026 · 1h 3m
• Episode 614: Not Even the Crickets Laughed · June 24, 2026 · 1h 13m
• Episode 613: Intonation and Isolation · June 17, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Episode 612: Small Cracks, Big Problems · June 10, 2026 · 1h 4m

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