The Scout Report -- Volume 25, Number 50

Teachers, parents, and kids, as well as anyone who enjoys learning about history, may want to check out The Past and the Curious. Launched in 2016, this entertaining and educational podcast is the brainchild of its host and producer Mick Sullivan, a musician by training who works at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, as the Manager of Youth and Family Programs. The Past and the Curious aims "to share true stories of inspiration, humor, and the incredible achievements of all types of people, many of which are sadly under-shared, and to do so in an easily accessible and diverse manner." Each approximately 30-minute episode features two stories from history that intersect thematically in some way, such as "Mechanical Monsters!" (Ep. 36), which tells the stories of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and of a chess-playing automaton that appeared to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte. In addition to history, each episode also strives to incorporate some new vocabulary for listeners. Those interested can stream episodes online at the link above, and The Past and the Curious can also be found on podcast apps such as Kids Listen, Overcast, and Spotify. [JDC]

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Readers who are fascinated by maps and the different understandings of the world that they offer (or who merely have a passing interest in them) may enjoy exploring Map Dragons. This site was created by Greg Miller and Betsy Mason, both of whom are "science journalists who love maps and the stories behind them." Here, visitors can learn about a wide variety of map-related topics and see numerous accompanying images. Some examples include an essay explaining why historical maps often feature illustrations of sea monsters and other extraneous details, a post highlighting some of "the cleverest, weirdest mapping ideas ever patented," and a discussion of why our mental maps of the world are frequently inaccurate. Prior to launching Map Dragons in November 2019, Mason and Miller co-wrote a cartography blog at Wired and later at National Geographic, and Map Dragons features some of their favorite posts from those earlier blogs as well as pieces they've written for other publications. Some articles are only excerpted on Map Dragons (with links to where the complete article can be found), but most can be read in full at the link above. In the future, they also plan to publish some Map Dragons exclusives. [JDC]

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This digital exhibition from the McGill University Library in Montreal offers visitors a look through a unique volume known as the Feather Book of Dionisio Minaggio, a work composed of "a collection of illustrations made completely of bird feathers - with a few added extras" such as the birds' beaks, claws, and skin. This curious book was created in 1618 by Dionisio Minaggio, the Duchy of Milan's chief gardener. Here, visitors can peruse all 156 of the Feather Book's plates. The first 114 plates depict various species of birds, such as shoveler ducks, Egyptian vultures, and green woodpeckers, most of which are found in the Lombardy region of Italy surrounding Milan. The remaining plates (which are also made of feathers) depict human figures and are grouped into collections of hunters, commedia dell'arte characters, musicians, and tradesmen. Each plate is accompanied by a brief description of its content and condition, and readers can click the images to view them at full resolution. Although the reasons for the Feather Book's creation are unknown, some scholars believe that it "may, in fact, represent the oldest collection of bird feathers - as bird specimens - in existence," making it scientifically as well as artistically valuable. [JDC]

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Instructors and learners who are on the lookout for free educational materials may want to check out Open SUNY Textbooks. First launched in 2012, this resource is an open-access textbook publishing initiative of the State University of New York Libraries that is managed by Milne Library Publishing at SUNY Geneseo. At the link above, readers will find (as of this write-up) approximately 40 college-level textbooks and other open education resources (OER), roughly half of which are original textbooks published by this initiative and all of which are openly licensed and available to download for free. These resources cover a broad range of disciplines, from STEM subjects like mathematics and microbiology to humanities subjects like film production and poetry. There are also resources to support general learners, such as guides on information literacy and academic writing. While visitors can browse the collection by author, subject, or SUNY affiliation, it may be more helpful to conduct a keyword search or to view all the resources on one page by clicking Browse Textbooks. In 2017, Open SUNY Textbooks was selected to partner with OpenStax (see the 3-22-2019 Scout Report), another major OER initiative. [JDC]

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Billed as "a cross between a record label and a museum," Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is a time capsule for the history of music. From 1948 to 1986, the record label Folkways Recordings released over 2,000 titles. Users can browse for recordings by genre, geography, artist, and label, as well as search with a query bar located at the top right. There are also numerous playlists, videos, podcasts, and articles that visitors can filter by genre, country, artist, or instrument (all accessible under the Explore tab). Educators may also want to check out the Learn section, where they will find more than 100 free lesson plans for a wide range of grades, all downloadable in PDF form. Since acquiring the label in 1987, the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (featured in the 11-30-1999 Scout Report) has expanded Folkways into a multimedia company. Their Smithsonian Folkways Magazine (also accessible via the Explore section) highlights artists from around the world, offering articles and audio. The magazine is published one to four times annually and focuses on themes such as migration and education. Readers can access issues of the magazine dating back to April 2009 under a dropdown menu at the bottom of the section. [AL]

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Readers who enjoy discovering new science fiction, fantasy, and other forms of speculative fiction should pay Strange Horizons a visit, where they will find a weekly digital magazine focused on speculative fiction. Founded in 2000 by Mary Anne Mohanraj, Strange Horizons is a non-profit magazine that "publish[es] fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, roundtable discussions, and art," as well as podcast recordings of each issue's original fiction and poetry. Visitors can easily access the most recent issues from the main page, and the magazine's past issues can be explored by category via the Archives section in the main menu. In addition to poetry and nonfiction selections, each issue features thoughtful reviews of three published works, such as Yoon Ha Lee's Hexarchate Stories, reviewed by Bee Gabriel, and Namwali Serpell's The Old Drift, reviewed by Sean Guynes. As of this write-up, the editor-in-chief of Strange Horizons is Vanessa Rose Phin. Those interested in speculative fiction from the international community may also want to check out Samovar, the sister publication of Strange Horizons that can be found under About. [JDC]

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What if humans were cold-blooded like reptiles? What if the Earth got too close to a black hole? What if the speed of light were only four miles per hour? These are just a few of the questions explored on What the If?, a podcast that envisions science fiction scenarios and uses real science to follow them to their logical conclusion. Launched in 2017, What the If? is hosted by Philip Shane, a documentary filmmaker who also studied astrophysics and engineering, and Matthew Stanley, a professor of the history and philosophy of science at New York University. Each episode imagines a single hypothetical change to the universe, and many episodes are just Shane and Stanley riffing together in bantering conversation about what the consequences of that change might be. The hosts are also frequently joined in their speculations by guests such as science journalist Carl Zimmer, science fiction author Paul McAuley, and theoretical physicist Sean Carroll. Episodes typically range from about 40 to 60 minutes in length. Interested readers can stream What the If? online at the link above, and they can also find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and other platforms. [JDC]

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Literature instructors, librarians, and readers looking to familiarize themselves with the science fiction canon should check out this resource provided by the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. Here, visitors will find an extensive list of books and their authors representing "the foundational and important novels of science fiction," ranging from early works of speculative fiction such as Edwin A. Abbot's Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884) to more recent publications like G. Willow Wilson's Alif the Unseen (2013) and Daryl Gregory's Afterparty (2014). Organized alphabetically by author, the list provides a brief description of the books mentioned and their significance, as well as links to where they can be purchased online. In addition to this hearty list, visitors may also want to check out James Gunn's essay "Libraries in Science Fiction," which can be found via a link in the list's introduction. Founded in 1982 by its namesake and based at the University of Kansas, the Gunn Center is renowned as one of the foremost institutions for science fiction. [JDC]

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Educators and speculative fiction aficionados who appreciate diverse representation in their literature should check out the Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Database. Here, visitors will find a thoughtfully constructed database cataloguing dozens of science fiction and fantasy books that feature queer protagonists. It includes acclaimed authors such as Octavia Butler, Seanan McGuire, and Malinda Lo, as well as up-and-coming writers. In addition to searching by various queer identities (e.g. asexual, genderfluid), the database can be filtered by numerous other factors including intersecting identities (e.g. mixed race, physically disabled), genre (e.g. space opera, epic fantasy), intended age group, and length. Also noteworthy is the collection of miscellaneous tags pointing out categories such as author of color, first in series, or self/traditionally published, as well as content tags such as "contains: world without homophobia," and "ends with queer protagonists alive." Clicking a book cover leads to a page where visitors can read a brief description of the story, see its included types of representation, and find links to reviews written by readers who (when possible) match that representation. This ongoing project was created by Sarah Waites, an avid book lover who aspires to work in the publishing industry. [JDC]

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In September 2019, the open-access peer-reviewed journal Open Library of Humanities published this special collection of academic articles discussing the depiction of energy resources in various works of science fiction and fantasy. The collection features seven scholarly essays exploring a range of futuristic fictional worlds where energy concerns loom large, "demonstrat[ing] that novel and alternative energy imaginaries - involving both 'powered-up' and 'powered-down' visions of the future - proliferate across the histories and genres of [science fiction and fantasy]." For example, one essay offers an analysis of solarpunk literature, a subgenre of science fiction "broadly characterized by imagining sustainable futures after energy transition." Another essay examines how the entanglements between food and energy systems have been explored in three works of science fiction: Robert A. Heinlein's 1966 novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Paolo Bacigalupi's 2009 novel The Windup Girl, and "the British post-apocalyptic TV show Survivors (1975-7)." All the articles in the collection are published under a Creative Commons license and can be read online and downloaded for free. This collection was edited by Dr. Graeme Macdonald, a professor at the University of Warwick, and by Dr. Caroline Edwards, a senior lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. [JDC]

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Last featured in the 1-9-2017 Scout Report, Fiction Unbound continues to offer fans of speculative fiction reviews and critical analyses of this diverse set of genres.

Fiction Unbound is a group blog dedicated to critically reviewing and analyzing books in the genre of speculative fiction. Founded in January 2015, Fiction Unbound is written by a number of speculative fiction authors and readers from Denver, Colorado. New visitors may want to start by checking out the group's introductory blog post, which one can find via an embedded link on the blog's About page. Here, readers can learn more about individual contributors and their literary tastes. The Contributors page, meanwhile, highlights each blog author's educational background and professional work. On the Blog, visitors will find reviews of new books, book and story appreciation posts, essays about television and film, and curiosities. Examples of topics include a group appreciation of Octavia Butler's story "Adulthood Rites;" a critique of overused tropes in science fiction television shows; and a review of the young adult fiction novel Illuminae.

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