Fight the Future

Fight the Future is a podcast from LoadingReadyRun starring Paul Saunders and his elder brother Daniel. They review and discuss dystopian settings for young-adult media.

List of episodes

Title	LRRcasters	Date
Fight the Future 26 - Bonus Final Episode		March 28, 2016
Fight the Future is over, and Dan and Paul look back, with bloopers, best of clips, montages, secret unheard theme music, an explanation of just what the heck Chiara says at the end of each episode, and much more! Fans, prepare to be serviced.
Fight the Future 25 - Turbo Kid	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders	February 29, 2016
It is the dark future of 1997 and nuclear war and acid rain has reduced humanity to scavengers in a toxic wasteland. The Kid and his new cyan-haired friend Apple must take on the local warlord, but how can they hope to defeat Michael Ironside? For our final dystopia ever, Dan and Paul talk about the Canadian-made Turbo Kid!
Fight the Future 24 - The 5th Wave		Feburary 15, 2016
Earth is on the ropes after four waves of catastrophes caused by unseen aliens. While her high school crush is trained for combat, teen Cassie encounters a hunky half-alien in the woods. Will love be the splashiest wave of all? Dan and Paul get the unamerican perspective from their Swiss guest, Cecile!
Fight the Future 23 - The Knife Of Never Letting Go	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders, Emilee	February 1, 2016
It seemed like a nice planet to settle on - until the pioneers found they couldn't stop broadcasting their thoughts to everyone around them. Awkward! 12-year-old Todd Hewitt's biggest problem was drowning the Noise of adult men's thoughts, until he met a mysterious girl. Now they are on the run from an unkillable preacher, and a medium-sized army. This week, Dan and Paul are joined by YA bookseller Emilee to talk about The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.
Fight the Future 22 - Knights Of Sidonia		January 18, 2016
The future in the anime series Knights of Sidonia has hot teen photosynthesis, clones, a third gender, and a cyborg bear lunch lady, but Dan and Paul still get distracted by questions like, "Why do the giant space robots have knees?"
Fight the Future 21 - Mortal Engines		January 4, 2016
The city of London has been placed on giant tractor treads, which it uses to chase after other cities in order to consume them in its giant metallic jaws. Yes, it's the most insane future Dan and Paul have ever covered, as described in Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve, Volume 1 of Predator Cities.
Fight the Future 20 - Mockingjay - Part 1 and 2		December 21, 2015
No double-dipping here: in this episode we cover both parts of the final installment of The Hunger Games! Is District 13 really so different from the Capital? Does The Hunger Games say more about war than Star Wars? Would Katniss make a good president? Plus special guest Abby reveals her tragic crush on rebellion image-maker Cressida.
Fight the Future 19 - Robot Overlords		December 8, 2015
It is easy to get a little stir crazy when the evil robot conquerers force everyone to stay inside for 3 years and a creepy dead-eyed robot child "Mediator" isn't helping. Luckily, Sean and his friends find a way to short circuit their tracking devices and head out to find Sean's missing father. Join Dan and Paul as we talk about the indie sci-fi film, Robot Overlords. Apologies for the audio quality, we will be back to our normal production values next time!
Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now		November 23, 2015
American teen Daisy has to go to live with her English relatives while black planes overhead bring tidings of nuclear war. On the bright side, her first cousin is smoking hot, and trains falcons... Dan and Paul talk about the too-close-for-comfort world of How I Live Now.
Fight the Future 17 - Ender's Game	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders, Cameron Lauder	November 9, 2015
It's a thrilling PG-13 space adventure about Ender Wiggins, a genius tween who becomes a commander! Or it's a dark dystopia with genocide, endless war, and cycles of abuse! Paul and Dan, and special Loading Ready Run guest Cam, discuss the world of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart		October 26, 2015
The good news: Superhumans exist! The bad news: They are homicidal jerks! And they've laid waste to our world. A band of puny humans, including 18-year-old David, hunt them in the city of Chicago, which has been turned to steel by one of the most powerful - and jerkiest. Dan and Paul talk about Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, joined by Dr. Jim Davies, author of "Riveted: The Science of Why Jokes Make Us Laugh, Movies Make Us Cry, and Religion Makes Us Feel One with the Universe" from Palgrave Macmillan - and an aspiring YA author.
Fight the Future 15 - Battle Royale		October 12, 2015
Who was in your class in grade 10? If you were all stuck on an island with automatic weapons and forced to fight each other to the death, who would be your allies, and who your enemies - and who would turn out to be a psycho? Dan and Paul ask each other that, and talk about the film where this scenario plays out: the bloody live action Japanese film Battle Royale. Which is actually pretty different from The Hunger Games.
Fight the Future 14 - Insurgent	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders, Katelyn	September 28, 2015
What if your post-apocalyptic world was all just a big social experiment? Join us as we once again look at a city divided in nerds, jocks, wimps, squares and stoners (aka Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation, Candor and Amity) with Volume 2 of the Divergent series: Insurgent!
Fight the Future 13 - Uglies		September 14, 2015
A land where everyone is pretty and parties all the time - sounds like a Fight the Future taping! Tally is about to turn 16, when she will become a Pretty, thanks to the radical plastic surgery her society demands. But when she makes contact with people outside the city, she learns that there's a downside, that rhymes with "brain lesions". No wait, it's just brain lesions. Dan and Paul are joined by Tally (a different one!) to talk about Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.
Fight the Future 12 - Catching Fire	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders, Cynthia	August 31, 2015
It's the Hunger Games, All Star Edition! Where the opponents are deadlier, the police state more oppressive, and the stakes...death. Yeah, there wasn't really anywhere to go from "death". In this episode, Dan and Paul are joined by Cynthia to talk about the second volume in the Hunger Games series: Catching Fire.
Fight the Future 11 - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind		August 17, 2015
The world is covered in deadly mould forests filled with giant carnivorous insects, but luckily Nausicaa has the wind to protect her! This week, Dan and Paul are joined by Ian to talk about the early Hayao Miyazaki film, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
Fight the Future 10 - Little Brother		August 3, 2015
This time Dan and Paul and guest Dustin cover our world, as depicted in Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, with all the government surveillance and anti-terrorism hysteria we've got. The difference: there's been an attack on San Francisco, and teenage crypto-geeks are on the front lines against an authoritarian crackdown.
Fight the Future 09 - The Maze Runner		July 20, 2015
Mazes are fun on long car rides! But not so much when you're trapped in one, and there are murderous cyborg spiders. Thomas and a bunch of other teenage boys look for an exit as Dan and Paul talk about the dystopic world of The Maze Runner.
Fight the Future 08 - A Boy And His Dog	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders	July 6, 2015
It was a key influence on Mad Max and the Fallout series, but this 1975 movie, about 18-year-old Vic and his telepathic dog Blood in a post-nuke landscape, doesn't look so good today. Paul and Dan struggle with the weird mysogyny of A Boy and his Dog, based on the Harlan Ellison short story of the same name, and almost lose it. A warning that the source material deals with sexual assault.
Fight the Future 07 - The Hunger Games	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders, Gaby	June 22, 2015
The dark YA dystopia that started the craze, as Katniss Everdeen fights to survive in the arena against other murderous teens, armed only with her bow. Meanwhile, love interest Peeta is armed only with his ability to disguise himself as mud. This week Dan, Paul and special guest Gaby volunteer as tribute for The Hunger Games.
Fight the Future 06 - The Tripods Saga Vol. 1		June 8, 2015
Two legs good, three legs better! What appears to be the sleepy olde English countryside is actually a future ruled over by giant metal monsters, mind-controlling the population with skull implants. Dan and Paul follow 13-year-olds Will and Henry as they set out towards the Alps, in our coverage of The White Mountains and When the Tripods Came by John Christopher.
Fight the Future 05 - City of Ember		May 25, 2015
The incandescent lightbulbs of the underground, post-apocalypse city of Ember are flickering. Can Lina and Doon find the way out in time without a giant mole and/or Bill Murray getting them? This week, Dan and Paul look at City of Ember!
Fight the Future 04 - The Giver	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders	May 11, 2015
Forget 50 Shades of Grey, in this future, everyone is literally in black and white. Maybe they shouldn't have trusted Jeff Bridges with all of the world's memories? This week Dan and Paul talk about The Giver!
Fight the Future 03 - Devil On My Back	Paul Saunders, Daniel Saunders	April 27, 2015
In a domed city after the apocalypse, a heavy backpack of knowledge that plugs into your neck socket is what separate a Lord from a slave, and whispers an endless stream of propaganda to you. But is it really so different from the devil we all carry in our pocket or purse? Yes, it can't play Angry Birds! In this episode Dan and Paul talk about the classic 80s YA novel by Monica Hughes, Devil On My Back!
Fight the Future 02 - The Host		April 13, 2015
Humanity has been taken over by glowing brain slugs who turn out to be not so bad, once you get to know them (aside from the whole controlling your body like a puppet thing). This week, Dan and Paul look at the world of Stephenie Meyer's followup to Twilight, The Host.
Fight the Future 01 - Divergent		March 30, 2015
The city of Chicago has fallen into ruin, with the survivors split up into 5 factions based on their personality. Why? Who knows? Peace probably. This week, Dan and Paul look at the world of the blockbuster movie, Divergent!