Echo Chamber: Group Chat on Genre

This is the group therapy session known as the Echo Chamber, where our contributors (and sometimes a guest or two) discuss anything and everything that strikes our fancy. From discussing about the very nature of science fiction and how it should be defined, to an overall look at the current offerings on television, we have frequent get-togethers to talk about things and stuffs.

If you have a comment or question, or would like to suggest a topic for a future show, send us an e-mail.

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ECHO CHAMBER: The Death of Creativity in Hollywood

Creativity is dead in Hollywood. Right?

With the apparent failure of Tomorrowland, and the boffo box office of the big franchise films like Avengers: Age of Ultron, one has to wonder if the suits in charge of the studio system are even interested in original creative endeavors anymore. Or is it so much about the box office returns now, that the story itself is a casualty?

The panel: Alley Ulrich, Sonya Rodriguez, Timothy Harvey, Christopher Jensen, Dan Handley, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: “What Is Science Fiction?” Round Two

Round two in our discussion about science fiction and what defines it.

This time, we bring in a panel of experts — Ellen Datlow, Greg Cox, John Ordover, and Dr. Aeon Skoble — in a discussion with our team about just what constitutes a “science fiction” story. The opinions vary, and the discussion gets a little intense, but it’s definitely a good conversation.

The panel: Ellen Datlow, Jennifer Wise, John Ordover, Greg Cox, Dr. Aeon Skoble, Dan Handley, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: Technology Then & Now

For our seventh episode, we discuss the resurgence of “old” technology and how temporary “new” technology can be. Digital media, storage in the cloud, and the revival of vinyl — and do you remember 8-track tapes? Cassettes? LaserDisc?

And what’s coming next?

The panel: Marie Lim, Jeff Hackworth, Dan Handley, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: STAR WARS Teaser Analysis

It’s 88 seconds.

A lot can happen in 88 seconds, and a lot does happen in the first official teaser for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which is due out in just over a year. And yet, with this teaser, while we get a lot of visual clues, we don’t get any reveals about what story is being told. How do these new characters fit into the overall mythology? Where are the original characters? How do the Sith fit in?

In our return to the Echo Chamber, we analyze the teaser and discuss our hopes and expectations, with a dash of caution, for the upcoming long-awaited return to the Star Wars universe.

The panel: Angie Fiedler Sutton, Jen Wise, Kammie Settle, Dan Handley, Timothy Harvey, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: The Wonder Woman Trick

Diane Nelson at DC Entertainment has said Wonder Woman is “tricky” when it comes to making a live-action adaptation. Since the days of Lynda Carter in her Donfeld outfit, fans have been wondering, “When will we see a Wonder Woman movie?”

The failure of David E. Kelley’s pilot for NBC just reinforced the fact that a lot of people in Hollywood just don’t get it. What is it about Wonder Woman that makes it a challenge to put her in the movies? Will Zach Snyder be able to finally deliver a version worthy of the big screen?

The panel: Heather French, Maia Ades, Marie Lim, Annaleigh Josephs, Dustin Adair, Dan Handley, Tim Harvey, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: Literature Vs. Filmed Media

The question of the day: has the growing popularity of science fiction filmed media hurt or help the quality of science fiction literature? Is literature being written with the aim of being adapted to film? Or can literature be enjoyed simply as literature? And can science fiction filmed media be literary in nature? Is the quality of one affected or impacted by the quality of the other? The gang gathers in the Echo Chamber to discuss film vs. literature.

The panel: Heather French, Marie Lim, Annaleigh Josephs, Dan Handley, Tim Harvey, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: What Is Science Fiction?

It’s a question that we rarely ask in genre communities: Just what exactly is science fiction? What defines the genre, and what stories fit into that genre?

The gang gathers in the Echo Chamber to discuss some of the finer points of literary and filmed media, how it fits into a definition of science fiction — and whether we can actually define it at all… and how does it affect our coverage of the genre? Is it ray guns? Aliens? Futuristic societies? Dark dystopias or scaly monsters? Radioactive mutations? Spaceships? Biological warfare? How do you define science fiction?

The panel: Maia Ades, Annaleigh Josephs, Marie Lim, Heather French, Dan Handley, Tim Harvey, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: Dystopia Myopia

Dystopia. We see it a lot — Divergent  is just the latest example of a story universe that has as its starting point, a disaster of some sort. Usually man-made, these global catastrophes put humanity just out of reach of civilization. Society breaks down and re-forms in ways we’d never begin to imagine outside of science fiction. And the question that starts to percolate after Divergent wasn’t quite the next iteration of The Hunger Games — when is enough enough?

The panel: Maia Ades, Marie Lim, Annaleigh Josephs, Brie Clemens, Heather French, Carolyn Wise, Dan Handley, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: Fall TV Midterm Report Card

The mid-season break is over! Shows are returning with new episodes to finish out the season, and we take a look at where things stand at this point, where things could go, and what we think might be the good, the bad, and the ugly so far. From Once Upon a Time to Dracula and everything in between on the schedule, we take a look at the fall TV season at the mid-point.

The panel: Maia Ades, Alex Callahan, Heather French, Dan Handley, Timothy Harvey, Jason Hunt

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ECHO CHAMBER: Fall TV Preview

In this part: discussing Syfy shows, Fangasm and Naked Vegas, along with the rest of the lineup: Defiance, Helix, High Moon, Warehouse 13, and Dominion. Plus: The Walking Dead, Once Upon a Time, plus all of the Oz offerings… Sleepy Hollow, Beauty and the Beast. And that’s just Part One!

In part two, we get further into our discussion of the Fall TV season, with a few tangents and digressions…  Arrow, The Flash (maybe), Beauty and the Beast, Beware the Batman, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, The Vampire Diaries, Grimm, Dracula, CGI vs. practial effects, and dystopian futures.

In part three, more on the upcoming Fall season, with discussion of Grimm, Dracula, The Tomorrow People, and of course… Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus, we get in a little discussion about Joss Whedon and his propensity to do certain evil things to fan-favorite characters.

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