Welcome, to Jurassi... uh,... to the Bridge, where we've spared no expense to splice together our thoughts on Michael Crichton's 1990 franchise-spawning classic Jurassic Park.

Before being swallowed by that chaos, we have an amazing Science-Fiction/Science Fact: brain-computer interface tech, and the potential for helping people cope with the effects of stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. We're not quite at Neuromancer or The Matrix, but it's a start. How do we come up with all these great Sci-Fi/Fact stories, you ask? Well, like life, Kevin finds a way. Clever guy.

We also chew on what else we're Reading and Watching, wherein Lanterns are dimmed, then brightened; Sam gets cozy with Ode to the Half-Broken, Kevin finally embraces his inner romantasy fan with The Everlasting, and Tristan continues his Peter Watts bromance with Fold Catastrophes.

Then, we set phasers to fun and pop a Retinax 5 for a quick look back to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, one of the most influential, hotly debated, bridge-tastic sci-fi properties this side of the Neutral Zone. No matter if you prefer tea, coffee or Romulan Ale, we all dig going where no one has gone before. And if Trek is a little too cheesy for your liking, what better way to celebrate 60 years than with your very own official Communi-grater? Thank you Gene!

Stick around to hear trstn's pick for next month's book club... I already forgot what it is...

I think I need some ice cream.

LINK PARK:

• Michael Crichton: https://michaelcrichton.com/
• Simultaneous speech and gesture decoding for multimodal communication in paralysis: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-026-02446-2
• Le Creuset Star Trek Collection: https://www.lecreuset.ca/en_CA/star-trek-collection

Let us know if there's a book or film that you want us to review on the podcast!

Check out our new and improved website: https://talesfromthebridge.com - and let us know what you think!

Reach us on social media or email us at talesfromthebridgepodcast@gmail.com

Link tree https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebridge

This week we're delighted to welcome Jennifer DeLeskie to the Bridge to discuss her debut YA speculative novel Everclear, from Flame Arrow Publishing.

Everclear is "about a missing father, a changing body, and the buried truths of language, memory, and identity." It's a world of collapse, government overreach and corporate malfeasance, ecocide and malignant garbage. (Related: the word we were looking for is "kipple." Thanks, PKD.) But there's also hope and resistance and a rediscovery of Indigenous knowledge and values as they relate to the dominant systems of the time.

Though Everclear is her first novel, Jennifer is no stranger to deftly stringing words together, especially in service to sci-fi and other genres. Check out her origin story/short essay "Realists of a Larger Reality (Or Why I Read and Write Science Fiction)" and keep listening for her recommendations of some old-timey sexy sci-fi with plenty of "interspecies smashing."

Jennifer is also the Editor-in-Chief and Prose Editor of Quist, an online literary magazine featuring the prose and poetry of young Quebecers; she has a True Grit/Salem Witch Trials mash-up in Suffering the Other; and a short accelerationist horror story in Unréal, a bilingual anthology of Montréal speculative fiction. Plus, In a valiant effort to broaden the fanbase ofThe Epic of Gilgamesh, Jen's novelette "But Mayflies on the Water, Gazing at the Sun" appears in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. In her words: "It's a Sumerian Flood myth retelling that's supposed to be funny." Cinematic universe, anyone?

For more:

Jennifer DeLeskie: https://quietdomino.ca/biography/

Everclear: https://www.flamearrowpublishing.com/products/everclear?srsltid=AU7gw4VcnUmgxiszvxDPzQKPKXT1XtzMHU7mel65y0Xh6Mg4ej_yhFgx

Let us know if there's a book or film that you want us to review on the podcast!

Check out our new and improved website: https://talesfromthebridge.com - and let us know what you think!

Reach us on social media or email us at talesfromthebridgepodcast@gmail.com

Link tree https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebridge

This month's film of choice is Possessor, the 2020 film by Brandon Cronenberg. It's bloody. It's gory. It's psychologically compelling. Join us as we discuss the film making style, and twisted nature of this science fiction Canadian gem. And be sure to stay for the end to find out our next movie of choice.

Let us know if there's a book or film that you want us to review on the podcast!

Check out our new and improved website: https://talesfromthebridge.com - and let us know what you think!

Reach us on social media or email us at talesfromthebridgepodcast@gmail.com

Link tree https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebridge