The Functional Nerds Podcast

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

  1. MAR 24

    Episode 698-With Tao Wong

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Tao Wong, author of The First Step. About The First Step: It is said that a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step… Long Wu Ying never expected to become a real cultivator, never dreamed of having the chance to train and develop wondrous martial arts skills and magic of his own. As a farmer’s son in a rural village, his days were spent studying, planting rice, and spending time with his friends. Fate, however, has different plans for him. Conscripted into the army and taken from everything he knows, Wu Ying’s chance observation of an incoming ambush prevents a bloody rout—and brings him to the attention of the powerful Verdant Green Waters sect, an elite school of cultivation. Invited to join the sect as a novice, Wu Ying is thrown into a world he is utterly unprepared for, one filled with demonic beasts, haughty nobles, and, most of all, the very real possibility of reaching immortality—if he’s brave enough to seize it. About Tao Wong: Tao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. When he’s not writing and working, he’s practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada. This week’s picks: Tao: The Longest Day in Chang’an (Chinese TV Show) Tracy: Takenoko (Board Game) Patrick: Paul McCartney: Man on the Run (Documentary) Links: Tao Wong on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 698-With Tao Wong appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    55 min

  2. MAR 17

    Episode 697-With John Chu

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome John Chu, author of The Subtle Art of Folding Space. About The Subtle Art of Folding Space: Ellie’s universe?and this one?is falling apart. Her ailing mother is in a coma; her sister, Chris, accuses her of being insufficiently Chinese between assassination attempts; and a shadowy cabal of engineers is trying to hijack the skunkworks, the machinery that keeps the physics of each universe working the way it’s supposed to. Daniel, Ellie’s cousin, has found an illicit device in the skunkworks?one that keeps Ellie’s comatose mother alive while also creating destabilizing bugs in the physics of this universe. It’s not a good day. If she can confront her mother’s legacy and overcome her family’s generational trauma, she just might find a way to preserve the skunkworks and reconcile with her sister…but digging into her family’s past is thornier than it seems, and the secrets she uncovers will force Ellie to choose between her family and the universe itself. About John Chu: John Chu is a microprocessor architect by day, a writer, translator, and podcast narrator by night. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming at Boston Review, Uncanny, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and Tor.com among other venues. His translations have been published or is forthcoming at Clarkesworld, The Big Book of SF and other venues. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Ignyte Awards, won the Best Short Story Hugo for “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere.” and won the Best Novelette Nebula for “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You.” His novel, The Subtle Art of Folding Space will be published by Tor in April, 2026. This week’s picks: John: Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi Tracy: Japanese Curry Blocks Patrick: The 13th Warrior Links: John Chu’s Newsletter Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 697-With John Chu appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    53 min

  3. MAR 10

    Episode 696-With Michael R. Underwood

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Michael R. Underwood, author of Menagerie of Mayhem: Volume 1. About Menagerie of Mayhem: Volume 1: Menagerie of Mayhem: Volume 1 introduces 35 new adversaries for the Daggerheart fantasy tabletop roleplaying game, including multi-phase foes like the Blood Mage and adversary groups such as the ferocious Umbral Hunting Pack and the nihilistic Congregation of the End. This is part one of a multi-part series of short adversary books. If this volume does well enough, there will be more, with the intent to have them all eventually collected in one larger book with a print edition. About Michael R. Underwood: Michael R. Underwood is an author, podcaster, and publishing professional. His series include the Ree Reyes Geekomancy books, the Stabby Award finalist Genrenauts series, and Born to the Blade. He’s been a bookseller, sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books. His writing has been a finalist for the r/Fantasy Stabby Award for Best Serialized Fiction and he was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fancast with the Skiffy & Fanty Show. He was a finalist for Best Game Master (Video Actual Play) at the New Jersey WebFest for Valloward. He was an additional designer for Darrington Press’ Daggerheart core rulebook, lead designer of the Marauders of Windfall adventure, additional designer on the Quickstart Adventure, and co-writer of the Daggerheart Homebrew Kit. He was also a game design consultant and additional writer for Candela Obscura and self-published his sci-fi comedy rpg The Only Logical Solution is Hijinx. Mike lives in Baltimore with his wife and an ever-growing library. He also loves geeking out with games and making pizzas from scratch. This week’s picks: Mike: Pistolheart Vol 1 by Carlos Cisco Tracy: Skull (Game) Patrick: Young Sherlock (Prime) Links: Michael R. Underwood on BluSky Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 696-With Michael R. Underwood appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    59 min

  4. FEB 17

    Episode 695-With Damien Ober

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Damien Ober, author of Voidverse. About Voidverse: When the Sinker was a child, all she knew was violence. To survive, she fled into the Void—a seemingly infinite nothingness where people live on “rocks,” individual lands spread out in all directions, floating in the vast empty space. Some rocks are giant magnets, others burn with eternal flame, and some are influenced by seemingly magical anomalies with such great powers that evil forces would stop at nothing to possess them. And while most are afraid of traveling through the Void, the Sinker is not. With a sword on her back, she speeds through the darkness, running from a past that is quickly gaining on her. Emery only knows the comfort of Fairviel, but when her son falls ill and the Sinker arrives on her doorstep, she ventures into the Void in search of a cure. When she returns, Fairviel is destroyed. With no home, Emery begins to sink, chasing a recurring dream that feels bigger than a dream, that feels like the key to everything. But they are not alone in the Void. Mercenaries rise and fall around them, princes and kings guard their kingdoms, and a great machine fuels its ascent by consuming all in its path. With the Void destabilizing, Emery and the Sinker find themselves at a turning point in history, a moment when everything could collapse or realign, and the only thing that may save them exists at the bottom of it all. Or so legend says… About Damien Ober: Damien Ober is a novelist and screenwriter. He was a writer for the Netflix series The OA and has written scripts and developed TV shows for Paramount+, AMC, Netflix, and Warner Brothers. His work has appeared in The Rumpus, NOON, B O D Y Literature, The Baltimore City Paper, VLAK, and port.man.teau. He was a co-winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award, was nominated for a 2012 Pushcart Prize, and his screenplay Randle Is Benign was selected for the 2013 Black List. This week’s picks: Damien: Star Trek: Ascendancy (Board Game) Tracy: Sea Salt & Paper (Game) Patrick: The Game Master’s Book of Instant Towns and Cities by Jeff Ashworth (Author), Tim Baker (Author), Matheus Graef (Illustrator), Luke Eidenschink (Illustrator) & more Links: Damien Ober on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 695-With Damien Ober appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    57 min

  5. FEB 10

    Episode 694-With Aubrey Sitterson

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Aubrey Sitterson, author of Free Planet Volume 1. About Free Planet Volume 1: In the wake of a grueling war of independence, a team of revolutionary heroes is tasked with defending their home and its uniquely potent energy source from multiple intergalactic superpowers intent on domination. But though they are each deeply committed to the dream of a free planet, they all have completely different ideas about what complete freedom actually entails. Faced with separatist movements, counterrevolutionaries, political deadlock, famine, equipment shortages, a looming trade war, violent attacks and wildly divergent ideas of how to handle each, can true freedom endure? Informed by real-world research and extensive design work, Aubrey Sitterson (The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling, No One Left to Fight) and Jed Dougherty (Savage Hearts, Worlds’ Finest) have created a comic that functions as both literature and art object, a rumination on freedom, the sacrifices it demands, the discipline it requires and the authority that must arise in its absence. About Aubrey Sitterson: Aubrey Sitterson is a Los Angeles based writer, best known for the science-fantasy action comic No One Left to Fight, co-created with Fico Ossio; The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling graphic novel, co-created with Chris Moreno; and the successfully crowdfunded BEEF BROS, co-created with Tyrell Cannon, and Stoned Master, again with Chris Moreno. He has written for all of the industry’s top publishers, including Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, BOOM!, Oni, Dynamite and Viz. This week’s picks: Aubrey: The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk Tracy: Origin Story (Game) Patrick: Falling Skies (Netflix) Links: Aubrey Sitterson on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 694-With Aubrey Sitterson appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    49 min

  6. JAN 27

    Episode 693-With Laura K. Maurer

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Laura K. Maurer, author of THE RENEGADE AND THE LODESTAR. About THE RENEGADE AND THE LODESTAR: Persephone is living a nightmare. Waking up on a cold, hard ground with air that smells like rot, the young goddess fills with horror as she remembers her sudden and unexpected demise. And now trapped in the realm of the dead, she clings to the dwindling hope of escape. Hades won’t be stopped. Vowing to find his beloved and bring her back to the surface, he and his brother search fruitlessly for the opening unseen by the living… until they find an unlikely path. And as he descends into the Underworld, he finds himself face to face with a ferocious three-headed, six-eyed beast. Learning she was betrayed and sent down below as part of a perverse plot, Persephone scrambles to test her powers as she thwarts the monster planning to make her his queen. While Hades battles seas of shades, inky dangers, and an endless labyrinth to reach the woman he can’t live without. Can Persephone and Hades survive harpies, enemies and a dark world to be reunited? About Laura K. Maurer: Laura has degrees in English and Comparative Religion from the University of Iowa. Born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, Laura is a Pilates teacher and jewelry designer who has sold literature-related jewelry in libraries and theaters throughout Southern California. She currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband and son where she teaches Pilates and writes at her local library. This week’s picks: Laura: Death By Lightning (Netflix) Tracy: A Place for All My Books (Board game) Patrick: Pathbinder Battles Miniatures (Paizo) Links: Laura K. Maurer on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 693-With Laura K. Maurer appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    55 min

  7. JAN 20

    Episode 692-With Seamus Sullivan

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Seamus Sullivan, author of Daedalus Is Dead. About Daedalus Is Dead: Daedalus of Crete is many things: The greatest architect in the world. The constructor of the Labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur. And the grieving father of Icarus, who plunged into the sea as father and son flew from the grasp of the tyrannical King Minos. Now, Daedalus seeks to reunite with Icarus in the Underworld, even as he revisits his own memories of Crete, hoping to understand what went so terribly wrong at the end of his son’s life. Daedalus will confront any terror to see Icarus again?whether it’s the cruel punishments of Tartarus, the cunning Queen Persephone, or the insatiable ghost of the Minotaur. But the truth, stalking Daedalus in the labyrinth of his own heart, might be too monstrous for him to bear. About Seamus Sullivan: Seamus Sullivan’s fiction has appeared in Terraform and his book reviews have appeared in Strange Horizons. He lives in Jersey City with his family. Deadalus is Dead is his first novel. This week’s picks: Seamus: “The Best God Damn Band in Wyoming” – No-No Boy Tracy: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix) Patrick: The Search for Planet X: Renegade Game Studio & Foxtrot Games (Board Game) Links: Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 692-With Seamus Sullivan appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    53 min

  8. JAN 13

    Episode 691-With Katie Cook

    This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Katie Cook, author of NOTHING SPECIAL. About NOTHING SPECIAL: In the grand scheme of the worlds at large, Callie thinks she’s nothing special. Sure, she’s friends with the ghost of a radish and her dad owns a magical antique shop–but she’s spent her life in the human world. Her dad won’t let her join him on his collection trips in the magical realm “for her own protection”, so she’s only caught glimpses of that world through the gates of the town where her father’s store is. On her seventeenth birthday, Callie goes home with her friend Declan to find her home in disarray and her dad missing. Signs of a struggle point to the portal to the magical realm and when there are signs, you follow them. Now it’s up to Callie, Declan, and Radish to band together and bring him home. As they face creatures good and bad, and all sorts of adventure, Callie and Declan may just find out that they are both special in their own ways after all. About Katie Cook: Katie Cook is the creator of the Nothing Special webcomic on Webtoon and the oldie-but-goodie webcomic Gronk: A Monster’s Story (which was one of the first webcomics archived by the library of congress!). She spent several years as one of the primary writers on IDW’s My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comics to the point that they made her a pony on the show (really). Then there’s all those books she has illustrated and written for a tiny franchise called “Star Wars”. Maybe it’ll take off one day. Time will tell. She has also written and drawn comics for Marvel, Disney Publishing, Boom! and many other publishers. This week’s picks: Katie: 31 Days of Drawing Things You Don’t Normally Draw: Quiznos Spongemonkeys Tracy: That’s Not a Hat (Game) Patrick: Stranger Things 5 (Netflix) Links: Katie Cook on Instagram Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 691-With Katie Cook appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

    1h 3m
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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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