Blog Archives

In Part 1, it was established that the science fiction community has a serious, half-century long problem with pedophilia that ranges from its outlying fans to its inner circle. Even two of the “Big Three” have major scandals associated with their names. Because it is estimated that 60% of child sexual abuse offenders are acquaintances, […]

SPECIAL NOTE (5/26/2016): For those visitors looking for the fully compiled edition of this post as it had been intended to appear in the Hugo Packet, download the following PDF: Safe Space as Rape Room – Banned from the Hugo Packet version- [PDF] For the full story on the exclusion of this Hugo Award-nominated work from the […]

I just had another example this past week on the importance of primary research. That is, go back to the beginning and look at the material yourself. This is the third time I can think of this happening. The first event was back in the middle 1990s. I was the Official Editor of the Robert […]

This is to announce a regular new feature here at Castalia House, which is a weekly post devoted to board-and-counter wargames. It will occasionally branch out into the discussion of computer wargames as well, but the emphasis will always be on traditional turn-based wargames. A team of five writers working under an editor – who, […]

A few years back at Pulp-fest, Rusty Burke and I were talking to author Will Murray about the generally poor movie adaptations of pulp characters. Will ended by saying, “At least with Conan, you have the greatest pulp character movie soundtrack ever.” I would have to agree. I bought the Conan the Barbarian 1982 soundtrack […]

There are a lot of people, even powerful, influential people, who seem to think that the goal of humanity is to spread itself. I want this book to make people think really hard about — Maybe there’s only one planet where humanity can do well, and we are already on it. – Kim Stanley Robinson, […]

New Mount Carmel Center was the home of the students of the seven seals, better known at the time of the Waco Siege as Branch Davidians. It served as a formidable defensive fortress during the two-months long siege and two skirmishes that ultimately left 4 federal agents and more than 80 American citizens dead. The […]

Well, the spokescientists are trying to put the freeze on innovation again: Reining in the growing power of artificial intelligence could be a matter of human survival. That sounds like over-the-top science fiction, but a growing number of ordinary computer scientists agree that AI is now unstoppable. This week, a study from the market intelligence […]

In January 1860, a cattleman was slain at a water hole in the Mojave Desert, about 180 miles east of Los Angeles. A few months later, two teamsters were attacked and died nearby. This was on a critical commerce route to Los Angeles, and the businessmen of L.A. petitioned the U.S. government to ensure the […]

The “Closing of the American West” was initially marked at about 1890 or so, when a historian noted that the U.S. Census had measured non-Native populations in pretty much all locations that had been considered “The American Desert” prior to the Civil War. It is an important idea, as the U.S. Frontier is almost entirely […]