Talking Scared

This week we’re putting the boot right into the ribs of the AI Industry, but doing it in horrific style, with Paul Tremblay and Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep.

 

It’s a story of a young gamer, tasked with piloting a man’s comatose body across the United States using AI tech. But deep inside, the man is still conscious, and what he’s experiencing is nightmarish.

 

Dark stuff, but surprisingly fun, maybe even funny. Paul and I talk about the humour and the human indignity of his story. He discusses the challenges of writing such a bodily novel, the horrific potential of endless virtual suffering, and we hear notes from the frontline of his legal case against ChatGPT.

 

Always a joy to have Paul on the show!

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:

 

The Sister’s Brothers (2011), by Patrick DeWitt

“No, Artificial Intelligence is Not Conscious” (2026), by Ted Chiang – in The Atlantic

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), by Mary Roach

The Deluge (2023), by Stephen Markley

The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread But Can't Be Computed (2019), by Christof Koch

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967), by Harlan Ellison

The Loop (2020), by Jeremy Robert Johnson

A Short Stay in Hell (2009), by Stephen L. Peck

The Flayed Man (2026), by Chloe Lauter

Tillinghast (2026), by Clare Cavenagh

Trad Wife (2026), by Sarah Langan

Babylon, South Dakota (2026), by Tom Lin

The Rouse (2026), by China Mieville

Desert Radio (2026), by Pamela Durgin

 

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Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
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Part Two of my Scaredy Boy special, in which I quiz my friends in fear, Damo, Sean and To—AKA the Scaredy Boys themselves—about what they’ve seen and suffered through in their podcasting mission to conquer horror movies.

 

We talk number one examples of dread, disgust and despair. We pick our favourite horror villains. We talk about the films we’ll never watch again and those we’re too scared to watch in the first place.

 

Consider this a viewing guide for the brave and the frightened alike.

 

Enjoy!

 

Support Talking Scared and get become a Patreon subscriber.

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
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Would you rather die or live on and on and on and on…

 

That’s one of the questions at the heart of Tom Lin’s Babylon, South Dakota. It’s a novel about a Chinese family who inherit an American farm, and whose lives are forever changed when the US military build strange missile silos on their land. It’s weird, inexplicable, deep, epic, sad and joyful and all the other things that make a good book.

 

But it’s also dark. It prompts questions that might keep you awake in the warm depths of the summer night. And Tom and I talk about all of it.

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:


The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu (2021), by Tom Lin

“On Exactitude in Science” (1947), by Jorge Luis Borges

“The Library of Babel,” (1941), by Jorge Luis Borges


Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (1990), by James Tiptree Jr.


End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse and the Unmaking of America (2026), by Chris Jennings

 

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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The first of a two-part special with the Scaredy Boys, my
brothers-in-cowardice from Down Under. Damo, Tom and Sean are famously and unashamedly terrified of horror movies, and started a podcast to face their fears. Since 2020 they’ve been watching and analysing a horror movie every week – so now they’ve probably seen more than most of us.

 

I got them onto Talking Scared to discuss their insane project, their changing attitudes to horror, and ask them some specific questions about what they’ve learned to love and fear along the way.

 

Episode Two is out next Friday, or available right now for Patreon subscribers

 

Enjoy!

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I dunno if this week’s episode is a dystopian nightmare or just a realist thriller.

 

Naomi Krtizer, multi-award winning author of sci-fi and horror, join me for a conversation about her new novella, Obstetrix. It follows the struggles of doctor, kidnapped by a cult to work as their in-house OBGYN. What follows is a balance between personal survival and the obligation to the women in her care.

 

Naomi and I talk about the state of healthcare and reproductive rights in America, which is never not a serious conversation. But we try to lighten the mood with some chat about the respite of reading (and re-reading), and the working definition of cults.

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:

 


“Monster” (2020), by Naomi Kritzer


American War (2017), Omar El Akkad


The Midnight Shift (2025), by Cheon Seon-Ran


Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy


The God of Endings (2023), by Jacqueline Holland

 

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices