Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle joins us to discuss her favorite science fiction and her new podcast Reasonably Optimistic.

0:00 - Intro
1:21 - Robert Heinlein and Libertarianism
8:58 - Working in Book Publishing
10:36 - Lord of the Rings and Rendezvous with Rama
13:31 - Peter Suderman and Video Games
21:27 - Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu
24:20 - Megan's Science Fiction Novel
32:09 - The State of Book Publishing
36:13 - Explaining Science Fiction to Women
40:48 - Dune and Artificial Intelligence
54:57 - Megan's Podcast and Optimism
59:33 - Outro