Episode 18 << Click to Listen

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Eric Garcia—screenwriter/author of Repo Men and author of Anonymous Rex and Matchstick Men—joins us to discuss con men, dark comedy, and dinosaurs living among us.

Panel Topic: Total Recall / Robocop 2 / The Running Man

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Introduction

0:00 Introduction by Tor.com

0:38 Dave and John introduce the show

Interview: Eric Garcia

02:04 Interview begins

02:19 Some of Eric’s favorite authors when he was growing up

04:35 On studying under T.C. Boyle

06:19 Writing and publishing Anonymous Rex

08:48 Taking his show on the road: the songs Eric writes and performs at readings

10:10 The SyFy channel adaptation of Anonymous Rex

12:18 How the SyFy channel is like a character in a John Hughes movie

14:16 Matchstick Men and the research that went into it

17:35 Regarding the film adaptation of Matchstick Men

19:56 The short story that became The Repossession Mambo and ultimately Repo Men

28:11 The similarities in Repo Men, Robocop, The Running Man, and Total Recall

30:16 Extreme gore!

32:01 Strange material breeds strange fan mail

34:03 Eric’s recommended authors: Christopher Moore, Rudy Rucker, John Scalzi, Katherine Dunn, T.C. Boyle

35:11 What’s coming up from Eric

36:25 End of interview

Dave and John talk about dystopian satirical films

36:30 Dave and John hate on Robocop 2

47:27 Dave somehow manages to fit in a reference to King’s Quest, and discusses the general lack of police procedure in films

48:56 An upcoming Robocop reboot?

50:05 The guys try to figure out what’s actually happening in Total Recall

01:07:52 Worst one-liners ever but competently plotted: The Running Man

01:16:31 Dave reads from “Robocop: The Crisis of Subjectivity”

01:17:54 Show wrap-up

Next week: Robin Wasserman, author of Skinned

Thanks for listening!

Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.