The Functional Nerds Podcast

The Functional Nerds
  • 4.8 (51)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

The weekly podcast from author/blogger Patrick Hester and author/teacher Tracy Townsend

  1. 2d ago

    Episode 708-With Sam J. Miller

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Sam J. Miller, author of Red Star Hustle. About Red Star Hustle: Aran, a happy-go-lucky high-class escort, is on the run after he’s framed for the assassination of his famous filmmaker client. The last thing he needs is to fall for the studly and noble clone of a murderous puppet monarch while he’s trying to stay one step ahead of an ace bounty hunter, who is trying to keep a fatal secret from her toxic boss/mom, which means she can’t stop to worry about a little thing like whether her target might actually be innocent. Set within a universe of epic mech battles, and billions of human-made wormholes that make traveling to a distant star as easy as walking through a door or scheduling car service. About Sam J. Miller: Sam J. Miller‘s books have been called “must reads” and “bests of the year” by USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, and O: The Oprah Magazine, among others, and have been translated into nine languages. They’ve also been banned in Florida, and stolen by AI. His work has won the Nebula, Locus, and Shirley Jackson Awards. He’s also the last in a long line of butchers. Sam lives in New York City. This week’s picks: Sam: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Tracy: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite Patrick: Song Sung Blue (Netflix) Patrick: Kinder Marinades Links: Sam J. Miller on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 708-With Sam J. Miller appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    43 min

  2. Jun 16

    Episode 707-With William Bernhardt

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome William Bernhardt, author of The Superman Wars. About The Superman Wars: Almost everyone knows about the man from Krypton who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent working with the fearless Lois Lane, fights for the vulnerable and the oppressed. But few know the truth about this indelible character’s creation. From mobster tactics to decades-long courtroom drama, a beloved American myth was born, betrayed, and eventually reclaimed—almost eighty years after the character first appeared. New witnesses, unpublished manuscripts, personal letters, and more reveal the complex and dramatic history of Superman and his creator, Jerry Siegel. This is a David and Goliath clash with twists, turns, and devastating upheavals. An underdog tale of a creator who fought for his rights and finally found redemption in his battle for truth, justice, and the American Way. A story that has never been fully told… Until now. About William Bernhardt: William Bernhardt is the author of over sixty books, including the Daniel Pike legal thriller series (#1 best-selling novel The Last Chance Lawyer). His previous works include the bestselling Ben Kincaid series, the historical novels Challengers of the Dust and The Florentine Poet, three books of poetry, and the Red Sneaker books on fiction writing. In addition, Bernhardt founded WriterCon Programs to mentor aspiring writers. WriterCon hosts an annual writers conference, an annual cruise, small-group writing retreats, a magazine, plus free bi-weekly e-newsletters and podcasts. More than three dozen of Bernhardt’s students have subsequently published with major houses. He is also the president/owner of Bernhardt Books, which publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. This week’s picks: William: 7 Wonders Dice (Game) Tracy: Resident Alien (Comics) Patrick: Pathfinder Quest (Board Game) Links: William Bernhardt on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 707-With William Bernhardt appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    1h 2m

  3. Jun 9

    Episode 706-With Peter Orullian

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Peter Orullian, author of SONGS OF THE DEAD. About SONGS OF THE DEAD: When Jack Solomon, a struggling musician who works in London’s West End, is killed, he awakens to a new reality in which light and music are used to create magic and where living eras of the past sprawl beneath modern London, layer upon layer, all the way back to recorded history. Jack also soon discovers that many of those who reside in the stratums of London’s past have grown angry with the present world, and that their anger is being channeled by a powerful society of light-and-music-based magic wielders who can cross the realms between life and death, between the present and the past. A past where the dead are sowing revolution against the living, and all of history is at stake. About Peter Orullian: Peter Orullian is an American fantasy author, composer, and performer. As a musician, he has toured internationally—fronting various rock and metal bands—written and released multiple albums, and recently founded his own symphonic rock group, Symphony North, which focuses on building trans-media properties to combine music and narrative. The first of these, entitled The Bell Ringer, was recently released as a full concept album, and will embark on a US tour in holiday of 2026. The novelization of The Bell Ringer will release in tandem with the tour. As an author, Orullian has also novelized chart-topping concept albums for Grammy Award–winning metal giant Dream Theater. In 2012, he was shortlisted for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award. He has written numerous short stories as well as several other novels, including The Vault of Heaven, all of which use music as a driving force for worldbuilding and magical systems. Since 2018, he has been collaborating with Brandon Sanderson on developing and writing The Strata Wars series. This week’s picks: Peter #1: Sevendust: One (Album) Peter #2: Summer of Night by Dan Simmons Peter #3: Symphony North albums Tracy: Daredevil Season 1 (2015 – Netflix/Disney+) Patrick: Black Clover (Crunchyroll) Links: Peter Orullian on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 706-With Peter Orullian appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    44 min

  4. Jun 2

    Episode 705-With J.P. Lacrampe

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome J.P. Lacrampe, author of Valet. About Valet: Cy wants nothing more than to be useful, raise his utility score, and receive the next update for his operating system. But that’s easier said than done when he’s tasked with helping his owner’s thirty-five-year-old son “get out of his funk.” Grayson is nothing like his go-getter, CEO sister Charlotte. He didn’t inherit the family robotics company when their dad passed last year, he doesn’t have a master’s degree, and he just can’t seem to figure out the San Francisco dating scene. He’d rather eat synthesized mozzarella sticks and make pottery at his studio, Kilning Time. When Grayson learns of Charlotte’s plan to sell the company to a tech conglomerate, he panics. It’s not just the family business at stake, it’s all the technology—like Cy—their dad invented over the years. So he does what anyone would do: he steals the flash drive with his father’s most important work stored on it and plans a corporate takeover. If only he knew what that meant. To make matters worse, a fellow VALET deserts his owner and asks Cy to help him hightail it out of town, Grayson’s first real date—and her dog—keeping showing up at inopportune times, and the behemoth tech company wants this deal closed yesterday. Grayson, Cy, and their trusty golden retriever, Sasha III, must go on the lam until they figure out exactly what to do, and whom to trust. About J.P. Lacrampe: J.P. Lacrampe received his MFA in creative writing from Saint Mary’s College. His short fiction has been published by Glimmer Train, McSweeney’s, Instant City, and in Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit. He is a professor at Santa Clara University & SJSU, where he teaches courses in composition, fiction, and screenwriting. This week’s picks: J.P. #1: Disney’s Aladdin (1992) J.P. #2: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak J.P. #2: Deer seen swimming in San Francisco Bay far from shore Tracy: Corn on the cob Patrick #1: Witch Hat Atelier (Crunchyroll) Patrick #2: The Home Depot Hot Dog Cart Links: J.P. Lacrampe on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 705-With J.P. Lacrampe appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    47 min

  5. May 26

    Episode 704-With Seanan McGuire

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Seanan McGuire, author of STRIXHAVEN: OMENS OF CHAOS. About STRIXHAVEN: OMENS OF CHAOS: Eula Blue was supposed to be a mage. That was before the war came—before the fight for the Multiverse devastated Eula’s home, and with it her hopes for a magical education. But the destruction of the war also brought something new: the ability to travel to other planes. And when Eula receives an invitation to study magic at a distant school called Strixhaven, she leaps to take it. To make it through their first semester, they’ll have to fight for their place in this new world—or else they’ll be dead before their final exams. About Seanan McGuire: Seanan McGuire lives and works in Washington State, where she shares her somewhat idiosyncratic home with her collection of books, creepy dolls, and enormous blue cats. When not writing–which is fairly rare–she enjoys travel, and can regularly be found any place where there are cornfields, haunted houses, or frogs. A Campbell, Hugo, and Nebula Award-winning author, Seanan’s first book (Rosemary and Rue, the beginning of the October Daye series) was released in 2009, with more than twenty books across various series following since. Seanan doesn’t sleep much. This week’s picks: Seanan: How to Survive Camping: The Man With No Shadow by Bonnie Quinn Tracy: Aye, Dark Overlord! (Game) Patrick: 3D Printed Life Tracker/HP Counter Links: Seanan McGuire on BluSky Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 704-With Seanan McGuire appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    42 min

  6. May 19

    Episode 703-With Naomi Kritzer

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Naomi Kritzer, author of Obstetrix. About Obstetrix: Doctor Liz has just been acquitted for performing the last abortion in North Dakota when she’s kidnapped. They’re not just any kidnappers, but a fundamentalist cult, deep in the rural west, without respect for law or decency, and in desperate need of an OB/GYN. Guarded, isolated, without access to the outside world, Liz nevertheless is treated with respect as the only doctor on the compound, but she is very aware of what happened to the last obstetrician they kidnapped. She must escape, and bring help to the girls trapped at the compound, if it’s the last thing she does. About Naomi Kritzer: NAOMI KRITZER has been re-reading favorite books since childhood, and probably still has passages from A Wrinkle in Time memorized. She writes for both adults and teens, including Catfishing on CatNet and Chaos on CatNet from Tor Teen and Liberty’s Daughter from Fairwood Press. Her writing has won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Edgar Award, the Locus Award, and the Minnesota Book Award. Naomi lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her family and three cats. The number of cats is subject to change without notice. This week’s picks: Naomi #1: Schmigadoon! (AppleTV) Naomi #2: A Dubious Clamor by Marissa Lingen Naomi #3: The Mirror Realm Cycle Series by Ariel Kaplan Tracy: Invincible (comics) Patrick: The Apothecary Diaries (Crunchyroll) Links: Naomi Kritzer on BluSky Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 703-With Naomi Kritzer appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    53 min

  7. May 12

    Episode 702-With Amal El-Mohtar

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Amal El-Mohtar, author of Seasons of Glass and Iron. About Seasons of Glass and Iron: Full of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth, Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories is a collection of acclaimed and awarded work from Amal El-Mohtar. With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose. Full of Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Hugo Award-winning and nominated stories, Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories includes “Seasons of Glass and Iron,” “The Green Book,” “Madeleine,” “The Lonely Sea in the Sky,” “And Their Lips Rang with the Sun,” “The Truth About Owls,” “A Hollow Play,” “Anabasis,” “To Follow the Waves,” “John Hollowback and the Witch,” “Florilegia, or, Some Lies About Flowers,” “Pockets,” and more. About Amal El-Mohtar: Amal El-Mohtar is an award-winning writer of fiction, poetry, and criticism. Her stories and poems have appeared in magazines including Tor.com, Fireside Fiction, Lightspeed, Uncanny, Strange Horizons, Apex, Stone Telling, and Mythic Delirium; anthologies including The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories (2017), The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales (2016), Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories (2014), and The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities (2011); and in her own collection, The Honey Month (2010). She is co-author, with Max Gladstone, of the multiple award-winning This is How You Lose the Time War. Her articles and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, NPR Books and on Tor.com. She has been the New York Times’s science fiction and fantasy columnist since February 2018, and she is represented by DongWon Song of HMLA. This week’s picks: Amal #1: Clues by Sam – Puzzles Amal #2: Heated Rivalry (HBO) Amal #3: Goin for a Walk Amal #4: Time of Iron book series by Sarah Rees Brennan Tracy: A Short History of Stupid by Bernard Keane & Helen Razer Patrick: Marty, Life Is Short (Netflix) Links: Amal El-Mohtar’s Newsletter Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 702-With Amal El-Mohtar appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    51 min

  8. May 5

    Episode 701-With Anton Hur

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Anton Hur, translator of If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Cho-yeop. About If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Cho-yeop: An elderly woman stranded in a defunct space station recounts her life story to a visitor as she waits for a vessel that may never arrive. A man comes across a company called Emotional Solids that sells emotions as material products—love as a piece of chocolate, sadness as a smooth stone, anger as a glass paperweight—and tries to understand why people would want to purchase any negative emotions. When an enigmatic artist reveals long-forgotten messages from beyond through her wildly original paintings portraying a planet from a time long before humanity formed, a team of researchers investigate if this planet truly existed and if so, how did this artist know of it? After a pregnant woman’s estranged mother dies suddenly, her avatar disappears from the library of lost souls where the digital minds of the deceased are stored—and the woman is forced, for the first time, to endeavor to understand her mother. In a future utopian society where gene selection has been made uniform and all those with imperfections are cast aside, one woman seeks the truth about the history of her isolated world. And when a young woman undertakes a never-before-accomplished journey through a wormhole, she must reckon with the legacy of her aunt, who vanished mysteriously days before she was meant to begin the same pilgrimage. About Anton Hur: A translator and author working in Seoul. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, and raised in British Hong Kong, Ethiopia, and Thailand, but mostly in Korea. Author of Toward Eternity (HarperVia) and No One Told Me Not To (Across Books). Repped by Safae El-Ouahabi at RCW. This week’s picks: Anton: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw Tracy: Milk Oolong Full-Leaf Tea Patrick: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Netflix) Links: Anton Hur on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 701-With Anton Hur appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    51 min
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4.8
out of 5
51 Ratings

About

The weekly podcast from author/blogger Patrick Hester and author/teacher Tracy Townsend

Information

  • Creator
    The Functional Nerds
  • Years Active
    2010 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2010 - 2024 Patrick Hester
  • Show Website
    The Functional Nerds Podcast

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