Virtual FantasyCon 2014: SFF and Politics

There is nothing more glorious than to defeat your enemy by transparent democratic process, and hear the lamentation of the other sides’ whips. Can SFF make political process dramatic and heroic, or will it always come down scheming viziers and noble warriors?
Lizzie Barrett (m), Jaine Fenn, Foz Meadows, Catherine Hill, Adrian Tchaikovsky [with interjections and digressions from Megan]

Does science fiction have a future? Virtual WFC 2013

How do our discoveries change SF, have the stories all been written, and what might it look like in a hundred years' time?  Paul McAuley, Joe Haldeman, Brian W Aldiss, Peter F Hamilton, Jaine Fenn (moderator) and Stephen Baxter discuss, featuring space jellyfish, mashed jellyfish, and killer jellyfish.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot from Voyager 1 
Credit: NASA, JPL; Digital processing: Björn Jónsson (IAAA)