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★★★★★

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42 reviews

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I've been going to science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comic book conventions since I was 15, and I've found that while the con which takes place within the walls of a hotel or convention center is always fun, the con away from the con—which takes place when I wander off-site with friends for a meal—can often be more fun. In fact, my love of tracking down good food while traveling the world attending conventions has apparently become so well known that one blogger even dubbed me "science fiction's Anthony Bourdain." So I've decided to replicate in podcast form one of my favorite parts of any convention—good conversation with good friends over good food. During each episode, I'll share a meal with someone whose opinions I think you'll want to hear, and we'll talk about science fiction, fantasy, horror, writing, comics, movies, fandom … whatever happens to come to mind. (There'll also be food talk, of course.) Please note—this will not be a pristine studio-recorded podcast, but one which will always occur in a restaurant setting, meaning that mixed in with our conversation will be the sounds of eating and drinking and reviewing of menus and slurping and background chatter and the servers popping in … in other words, it'll be as messy as life. And I hope you'll find it as entertaining, too.

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Check latest episodes from Eating the Fantastic podcast

Episode 294: John Wiswell Has No Complaints

2026/09/28

Chow down on a chicken sandwich with John Wiswell as we discuss why his book tour's stop at the Strand was so meaningful, how publishing three novels has changed him, why he's "a character guy first" before world-building, theme, or plot, the importance of getting out of your own way, how monstrosity is nothing more than a social construct, why his writing process includes only the most skeletal of outlines, the most fun thing about writing secondary world fantasies, how our lives being finite is both terrifying and good, why the original title of The Dragon Has No Complaints only lasted three days, the techniques it took to convince readers to believe in the book's unique method of dragon flight, who he had to grow into to be able to pull off this novel, our shared love of ornate titles, how we felt about The Bear's final season, plus much more.

Episode 293: Barbara Krasnoff

2026/09/17

Treat yourself to Pad Thai with Barbara Krasnoff as we discuss how our Brooklyn childhoods molded us, which fantasy novel taught her about sex, why when she hit college her allegiance switched from poetry to science fiction, the writing workshop taught by Joanna Russ to which she was accepted (and why it never happened), how a quarter century's worth of short stories became a mosaic novel, the reason prepping her book for publication meant adding pigeons, how real-world family stories are transmuted into fantasy, why kind words from Jane Yolen were better than winning a Nebula Award, her encouraging encounter with Ben Bova on a first class flight to the UK, plus much more.

Episode 292: Worldcon Donut Divertissment

2026/09/06

Welcome to the wonderful world of Worldcon donuts, where you'll hear Caitlin Rozakis share how hanging out in the halls is often the most fun of all, Cody Goodfellow on pretending to be H. P. Lovecraft at his first Worldcon in 20 years, Nick Mamatas on his jokes being misunderstood at the 2001 Millennium PhilCon, Rosemary Claire Smith about the infamous 1983 Hugo Awards banquet crab mallet incident, Jennifer Middleton on a life-changing meeting at the 2008 Denver Worldcon, Craig Engler on how wild Worldcons used to be in days gone by (or maybe just how people wanted us to think they were), Ursula K. Le Guin's reply when Neil Rest asked if she was an anarchist, why Kevin Anderson feels Worldcon is an intimate con, Bruce Robertson on watching the Star Wars trilogy until dawn, how dim sum was the cause of Catherine Green's discovery of Worldcon (and the night she sang Weird Al Yankovic songs with Lois McMaster Bujold), Jordan Hiatt's first timer experience learning his elevator pitch needed work, how selling and publishing his first novel to Del Rey a lifetime ago brought Lawrence Watt-Evans to his first Worldcon, and more.

Episode 291: Alexander Jablokov

2026/09/02

Scarf Squid Bokkeum with Alexander Jablokov as we discuss how he came to publish a short story collection with the legendary Arkham House, what the ease with which he wrote some of his earlier stories led him to believe which he quickly learned was wrong, why writing workshops are good for surfacing rather than solving story problems, the one question every writer must ask themselves, plotters vs. pantsers (and whether one can turn into the other), the difficulty in getting writing done when life intervenes, what horseradish has to do with the publishing business, the story he believes he only sold because the editor liked spiders, the best way to believably write characters with whom you disagree, plus much more.

Episode 290: Todd Sanders

2026/08/19

Share samosas with editor/publisher/poet Todd Sanders as we discuss how his love for French Surrealist poet Robert Desnos led to the creation of Air and Nothingness Press, why he's been able to survive for 30 years when so many other presses have failed, which poet he wanted to be when he grew up, the art objects he created from from the short stories of Mary Robinette Kowal and Benjamin Rosenbaum, the reason he decided to publish an anthology of stories with obnoxiously long titles, what he's learned from using Kickstarter to fund books, a spam text I received which sparked his idea for a future anthology, plus much more.

Episode 289: Jamal Hodge

2026/08/09

Break away from StokerCon for BBQ with Jamal Hodge as we discuss how winning a Stoker Award the previous night altered his ambitions, why Linda Addison is his favorite collaborator, how most things we think of as choices aren't, why he prefers Batman to Spider-Man, the reason the environment in his stories is not your friend, the way the living are controlled by the dead, how he always starts a project thinking it's one thing only to discover it's something else, what Mega Man has to do with him becoming a better writer, his favorite short story of all time, how 1984 made him realize what writing could do, the way poetry healed him, plus much more.

Episode 288: Kate Maruyama

2026/07/24

It's time for an Italian lunch with Kate Maruyama, where we discuss the way her love for the Golden Age of Hollywood began, the bribes her mother paid her so she'd write (and the reason she stopped paying), why abandoned short stories make marvelous prompts, the most important thing to teach about writing, how to decide which of her two 2025 Hollywood novels you should read first, the beauty of the novella form, the reasons she cut 100 pages from one of her recent novels, the difficulties in writing for theme anthologies, the 350-page novel she turned into a short story (and what she learned from the process), plus much more.

Episode 287: Arley Sorg

2026/07/16

Bite into General Tso's Bok Choy with Arley Sorg as we discuss the difficulty in getting the help you need as a beginning writer when you don't know what you don't know, the serendipity that got him a job at Locus, how to inhabit the community that is while envisioning the community that could be, why an agent might prefer in-person pitches over email, the importance of doing things without an agenda, the way we learned to deal with both rejecting and being rejected, how to make sense of the myths and rumors of science fiction publishing, why he feels comfortable in his role as an agent, plus much more.

Episode 286: Somto Ihezue

2026/07/02

Savor a molcajete with the award-winning Somto Ihezue as we discuss why fireflies matter, how the social media algorithm led him to writing workshops, finding the courage required to write his award-winning story, why the literature of the fantastic is his chosen playground, how he brings the geography of his stories to life, the startling fact his first published short story was also the first he ever wrote, the way the Clarion workshop experience made his writing better, the importance of community, the way readers speak about his poetry vs. the way they speak about his prose, how his editing gigs helped make his own rejections less bothersome, plus much more.

Episode 285: Mark L. Van Name

2026/06/22

Binge on brisket with Mark L. Van Name as we discuss his first short story sale to a 1979 Clarion classmate of mine, why it sometimes takes him decades before he feels a story's ready to send out, the reason he still has a massive comic book collection (and why I don't), the comic book which helped save his life, the reason he doesn't require advances on his novels, his mixed feelings about writing workshops, the 17 minutes Harlan Ellison spent savaging one of his stories, why you have to let go of caring what readers make of your writing, how his John and Lobo series was born, the way he balanced a demanding day job with the writing life, plus much more.

Episode 284: Octothorpe's John Coxon and Alison Scott

2026/06/11

Chew on peri-peri chicken with Octothorpe's John Coxon and Alison Scott as we discuss the many first-time Eastercon attendees I encountered who were there due to their podcast, Nando's place in British culture and why it was chosen to be our venue for this episode, what they're willing to reveal about cohost Liz Batty in her absence, how the coming of COVID-19 kickstarted the creation of Octothorpe, why they didn't launch an old-school fanzine instead, how the first episode wasn't even originally intended to be the first episode, why we're still here considering 90% of podcasts don't make it past three episodes, how to comment responsibly on fandom while being a part of fandom, the reason their letters of comment section is so important, what changed about the show once they realized people were actually listening, advice for those who'd like to start podcasts of their own, plus much more.

Episode 283: John Jarrold

2026/05/27

Join John Jarrold for dinner as we discuss his first Eastercon 53 years ago, his "obsessive" love for J. R. R. Tolkien, the best commercial deal he ever did, how to dispassionately judge the writing of people you already know, his editorial encounter with Michael Caine, the bidding war over George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, how he learned to write editorial revision letters writers would understand, the ways in which working with authors of science fiction is different than in the wider world of publishing, when it's time for an author to reinvent themselves under a pseudonym, splitting one's time between the business and artistic sides of publishing, what he means when he says getting published "is the jam on the bread, it's not the bread," the sorts of submissions he's seeing too much and too little of at his agency, plus much more.

Episode 282: Charles Stross

2026/05/17

Savor Singapore Vermicelli with Charles Stross as we discuss the twelve "novel-shaped objects" he wrote before making his first professional sale, what changed in his life which meant instead of taking three years to write one novel he could write three novels in one year, why back at the beginning of his career he considered himself the "failure to launch" of the Interzone generation of writers (and how that changed), how to best take the temperature of critique group criticism, why it was time to wrap up his Laundry Files series (and who he had to become in order to be able to write that finale), the way the opening sentence of an as yet unfinished novel became the seed for a new series in progress, how his love for Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels ties into his next project, the evolving nature of convention-going for long-time attendees, and much more.

Episode 281: Paul McAuley

2026/05/07

Join Paul McAuley for a Birmingham balti as we discuss his fascination with James Joyce and how it played out (or didn't) in his own writing, why he's thrilled the first short story he sold to a pro market was never published, the reasons he loves Los Angeles, what he learned as a scientist which helped him write better science fiction, why he compared his writing style to Raymond Chandler's, the way his world-building takes place during writing and not before, whether or not his new novel should be considered science fiction, what I feel that hovel has in common with Denis Johnson's Train Dreams, our shared love of the ambiguous ending, what he learned by rereading his short fiction to assemble a career-spanning collection, and much more.

Episode 280: Considering Farah Mendlesohn

2026/04/23

Feast on a Full English breakfast with Farah Mendlesohn as we discuss whether their Hugo-nominated Heinlein book changed the conversation about that author, if there's such a thing as an inverse of The Suck Fairy, why it might be wrong to chat about The Female Man while nibbling on toast, the reason Russ's novel took so long to get published, the probable purpose of the self-critique within the book, the difficulties in communicating with cross-cultural metaphors, why The Female Man is a version of The Christmas Carol, the reason the book isn't Postmodernist but Modernist, why I failed to pick up on the novel's Jewishness, what surprised them most during their rereading of the novel, the reason Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ was so painfully hard to write, and much more.

Podcast reviews

Read Eating the Fantastic podcast reviews

5 out of 5

42 reviews

★★★★★

perry roobay 2025/09/18

Tore into Tacos

I came to this pod as I had admired the artist/author/good human from a kindred interest but didn’t know his background or art. This was wonderfully p...

★★★★★

Gwrightstuff 2022/12/30

Al Milgrom!

Excellent interview with the always fantastic Al Milgrom! He’s done it all! And he even wrestled me into submission! One of my favorite creators to ...

★★★★★

Dman6087 2022/10/29

Great fun

I love Scott’s interviews with old-timey comics creators. He was very much a part of that scene, beginning when he was a teenager in the 1970’s. He ...

★★★★★

Will_36 2021/07/10

Dive into the science fiction and fantasy community

Great conversations with people throughout the SF/F field. Scott is a fun host.

★★★★★

JayTeeBee21 2020/06/17

“Fantastic” Food for Thought

As a comic book aficionado, I relish this booster seat at the table that elevates me to the level of trusted confidante as Edelman dishes w/industry t...

★★★★★

Arconna 2020/06/06

Insightful Interviews FTW (usually with foods)

It's kinda hard to have a discussion about SF/F and writing over a meal while we're in a pandemic. And yet Scott Edelman has taken his show to (presum...

★★★★★

demonjk 2018/12/06

Deeply pleasing conversations

This show is the ultimate My Dinner With Andre for those who love the literature of the fantastic. Each episode has it’s own flavor, while being all a...

★★★★★

TheRevTim 2018/06/03

Writer in Dayton, Ohio Loves This Show

Eating the Fantastic is one of my favorite podcasts. Scott Edelman does a great job with the interviews, and I always find out something new and inter...

★★★★★

emvirginia 2018/04/18

Entertaining and Insightful! Clever Concept!

Eating the Fantastic interviews are not only casual and fun for the listener, but devlve into the kind of fascinating details readers want to know abo...

★★★★★

DaveCreek 2017/04/06

Tasty podcast!

EATING THE FANTASTIC manages to make listeners hungry for both food and literature!

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