{"podcast":{"title":"Ancient Geeks","slug":"ancient-geeks-7192842","podcast_index_feed_id":7192842,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/ancientgeeks/feed.xml","website_url":"https://ancientgeeks.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/20028807/LogoWithText1.png","author":"Ancient Geeks","episode_count":73,"summary":"Two old geeks talk about being young geeks, at a turning point in popular culture. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the threads of modern geek culture emerged and wove together. Science fiction, fantasy, comics, movies, TV shows, tabletop games, computer games, ad all their incarnations. The great SF&F writers, Star Trek, Star Wars, monster movies, D&D, Doctor Who, the Marvel and DC superheroes, 2001, Planet of the Apes, UFOs, conventions, Zork, Ultima...What was it like to experience these for the first time? Why did we love them? And how do we feel about them, decades later?","last_synced_at":"2026-06-16T02:22:55.131042+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ancient-geeks-7192842"},"episode":{"title":"Ancient Geeks episode 69: 2010 The Year We Make Contact","slug":"ancient-geeks-episode-69-2010-the-year-we-make-contact","published_at":"2026-06-01T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ancient-geeks-7192842/ancient-geeks-episode-69-2010-the-year-we-make-contact","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ancient-geeks-7192842","url":"https://ancientgeeks.podbean.com/e/ancient-geeks-episode-69-2010-the-year-we-make-contact/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/6sqi6fj8am2b3cfp/AGEp69.mp3","summary":"In an earlier episode, we said that 2001: A Space Odyssey was one of the greatest SF movies ever made. Arguably, the greatest. Also one of the greatest films, period. And then in 1984 came the sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Was it as good as the original? Definitely not. But was it a good movie? A decent sequel? Good science fiction? An effective adaptation of the book sequel that Arthur C. Clarke wrote? We'll answer all these questions, and more, in this episode. Strange happenings near Jupiter! My old buddy HAL! My old gal SAL! Roy Scheider as Heywood U. Lookatthat! Helen Mirren as the serious Soviet superior officer! Spacewalks! Aerobraking! Something wonderful that's going to happen! Say Bob Balaban three times fast! It's all here. Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact someancientgeeks@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Also, check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack! And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor","meta_description":"In an earlier episode, we said that 2001: A Space Odyssey was one of the greatest SF movies ever made. Arguably, the greatest. Also one of the greatest fi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3710,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ancient-geeks-7192842/episodes/ancient-geeks-episode-69-2010-the-year-we-make-contact/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ancient-geeks-7192842/ancient-geeks-episode-69-2010-the-year-we-make-contact.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}