Dr. Shaun Duke, Professional Nerd

Editor. Writer. Professor. Host.

SF and Food: The Future Shall Be Fed

When I think about representations of food in science fiction, I’m struck by the fact that a lot of science fiction simply washes over the issue of production and distribution. Food is almost always “around” in SF literature. After all, most SF characters have to eat something from time to time (though they never poop). […]

Teaching Against the Mainstream

I just turned in my book list for the courses I will be teaching in the Spring. Both are composition courses, so their default texts aren’t particularly interesting outside of an academic interest, but one of those courses (ENC 1102) is a research writing course, which means I get to teach some literature! Every time […]

Life Log #01: My Back Isn’t Broken and Media Consumed

Currently Reading:  IT by Stephen King (pg. 380 of 1184) Currently Watching:  Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 1) Mood:  Pleasantly Unperturbed I had an appointment with a physical therapist today — the first of two. For the past two weeks, I’ve been out of commission from some sort of exercise-induced back injury. Nothing serious. Just a little localized […]

Five Faves: 80s Science Fiction Movies

The 80s were great. Great music. Great movies. Great books. Great fashion. Yeah, I said it. Fashion. I love 80s fashion, and I don’t care what you think about that! Anywho. For today’s Five Faves post, I thought I’d take a stab at listing 80s science fiction movies. I know that the second I click the […]

Thoughts on Years of Reading (Mostly) Women

Back in 2015, roughly 92% of the works I read were by women. This was mostly intentional, as The Skiffy and Fanty Show hosted a women-centric (and non-binary friendly) theme throughout 2015. In 2016, the numbers were less skewed, with 61% of works by women. Including my teaching numbers into this list is a bit too complicated, so […]

Why I Will Never Give Up My Terrible Movies

Bad movies. Some of us love to hate them. Some of us just hate them. And then there are people like me. I have a fondness for a few films that practically everyone would agree are terrible. My seemingly illogical love of 1988’s absurd McDonald’s-funded E.T. rip-off, Mac & Me, has earned me a rotating sequence […]