2025 Hugo Eligibility Post!

The podcast has now fully transitioned into Hugos There 2.0, with a new four-month cycle of (most of the time):

  • Regular Episode (award-winner or nominee discussion)
  • Zoomed Out: Author Deep Dive
  • Seth’s Picks Episode (regular episode but not necessarily an award winner)
  • Zoomed Out: Subgenre Spotlight

In 2024, the podcast produced 20 episodes, broken down into these categories:

  • Normal Episodes (6): Seth + One Guest + One Book. Some of the books were award winning SFF books, some were just books Seth wanted to cover.
    • Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, with guest Mitch Wagner (Seth’s Picks)
    • Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, with guest Peter Kuskie (Hugo-nominated novel)
    • A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle, with guest Mandy Self (Seth’s Picks / Newberry Medal-winning novel)
    • Declare, by Tim Powers, with guest Paul Williams (World Fantasy Award-winning novel)
    • Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry, with guest Amy Salley (Seth’s Picks / Pulitzer-winning novel)
    • Blindness, by José Saramago
  • “Zoomed Out” episodes (6): Talking more broadly about authors or genres
    • Patricia McKillip, Zoomed Out, with guest Dr. Audrey Isabel Taylor
    • Urban Fantasy, Zoomed Out, with guest Katherine Heasley
    • Iain M. Banks, Zoomed Out, with guest Damo MacChoilich
    • Speculative Fiction in Translation, Zoomed Out, with guest Rachel Cordasco
    • Jules Verne, Zoomed Out, with guests Emmanuel Dubois and Haley Zapal
    • Military Science Fiction, Zoomed Out, with guest William Bregnard
  • Interviews (4): Seth interviewing a guest about a project or recent experience, often touching on science fiction.
    • “Oh, I have a new limp now!”, a conversation with Michael Gabriel about the World Marathon Challenge (seven continents, seven days, seven marathons).
    • “Other people walk their dog, and I walk my book”, a conversation with JW Wartick about reading all the winners and nominees for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
    • “Why We Love Baseball,” a conversation with Joe Posnanski about his recent books covering the history of baseball and football.
    • “We’re all Superman to somebody, sometime,” a conversation with Michael Gabriel about live-action Superman, especially CW’s Superman & Lois.
  • Other Bonus Episodes (4):
    • Favorite 2023 Movies, a conversation with Seth and his son, Ethan
    • Oscars 2024 discussion with Seth, Peter Knoch, and Lori Anderson (from Hugo, Girl!)
    • Aliens (1986 film) discussion panel, with Megan Cutter, Mandy Self, and Luke Elliott
    • Vernor Vinge Tribute, a panel discussion about Vernor Vinge with Olav Rokne, Rich Horton, Russ Newcomer, and Trish E. Matson