Slice of SciFi
Encyclopedia
Slice of SciFi is a podcast
and website and part of the FarPoint Media Network that looks into the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. It was the winner of the "Top Rated Podcast Award" at the Podcast Awards
in 2005 .
The show was also honored with the prestigious Parsec Award for Best News Podcast in 2008.
Started in early 2005 as a response to the reaction of Star Trek fans over the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise
, the Slice of Sci-Fi Podcast has grown to encompass a broader range of topics. Hosts Michael R. Mennenga
, Summer Brooks, Brian Brown, Tim Adamec, Sam Roberts, and Bret Filipek try to make their podcast both fun and informative, two characteristics they feel have not been brought together in other efforts.
The hosts of the show have interviewed such people as Samuel L. Jackson
, Manny Coto
, Claudia Black
, Walter Koenig
, Wil Wheaton
, Bruce Campbell
, Ted V. Mikels
, Dean Haglund
, Chase Masterson
, Peter Mayhew
, Lake Bell
, Peter S. Beagle
, Jim Butcher
, Amanda Tapping
, Michael Stackpole and more.
Slice of Sci-Fi is also heard each week on XM Satellite Radio
, Sirius Satellite Radio
, as well as several cell phone networks across the globe.
Slice of Sci-Fi has been announced Site of the week by SCI FI Weekly on November 22, 2006 and the AMC Site of the Week in March 2008.
is a host of the show, its Engineering Chief at the DracoVista Studios in Arizona and a published author of fantasy novels who began writing in the late 1980s. In 1996 he turned his attention to writing for the Internet. In 1998 he joined a developing writing community and was soon asked to become part of the staff. He has received recognition from Writer's Digest
and Forbes Publishing for his first book, Zac and the Valley of the Dragons. His next book, Mistress of the Dragon, was released in 2001. Mennenga followed that in 2002 with The Valley of the Dragons: Dragon's Fire and Wizard's Flame, which was re-released as Dragon's Fire, Wizard's Flame in 2003.
He is a member of The Arizona Authors Association and Toastmasters International.
She is an avid reader and writer of sci-fi and fantasy with a few publishing credits to her name, and she desires to write and produce a TV series or miniseries that leaves a mark on people. She also co-hosts The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas, which is a podcast
the specializes in reviewing older scifi books and TV shows, focusing on how they have held up over the years.
Brooks spent many years as a computer specialist for Unix
servers for various large corporations, and competing in amateur full contact kickboxing
. She is now a licensed massage therapist with her own private practice.
Brian has been a regular voice on Slice of SciFi since show #90 and the Slice voice mail show from show #87. He took over co-hosting duties after Evo Terra left the show. Brian now can be heard every week lending his insights, ideas and vast array of voice impressions to the news stories and interviews done on the show.
In addition to his Slice of SciFi duties Brian has expanded voice acting skills to a wide variety of projects including audio dramas, other podcasts and many voice projects needing his talents.
Tim continues to contribute his particular brand of snark each week on Slice of SciFi. As a side note, his father has a PhD in Curmudgeon.
Michael is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in journalism. He’s had a wide and varied career that has included stops as a sports writer/editor, tech supporting, running a software distribution company and delivering live golf scores and data. He also currently works for the state of Tennessee.
to Canada
and the U.S.
to Germany
. Several staff field reporters and journalist
s contribute stories each week to the show and the website
. Fans also participate and are encouraged to do so by sending in stories and updates to the news director.
and education
for the hearing impaired and had his MA
in Audiology
from Western Illinois University
. Murphy first reviewed Lisa Lee and Tee Morris's Morevi on the Dragonpage's forum and soon became the "official" book reviewer for the Dragon Page podcast. Later he co-hosted the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas show with Summer Brooks. He also frequently appeared on the Wingin' It
podcast.
Joe was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma
, a rare form of cancer. in late 2006; he died on April 1, 2007.
was an original co-host of the show. He is co-writer of the Podcasting For Dummies manual, co-creator of Podiobooks.com and co-creator of The Dragon Page Cover to Cover and Wingin' It
podcasts. Evo served as co-host of Slice of SciFi up through show 111.
for the show's parent company, Farpoint Media.
An alum of George Washington University
, Sam has spent the last four decades writing spiritual self-help articles and political blogs. He also has over twenty years experience in writing news and radio script and hosted his own talk-teaching radio program in Pennsylvania between 1995 through 1998.
Sam was responsible for managing, editing and producing the news for the Slice of SciFi Website and the FarPoint Media company webpage and writing the show's scripts for each week's Sirius/XM Satellite radio and internet podcasting program.
Sam went into full retirement on November 11, 2011 after serving as news director from the inception of Slice of SciFi and 3 years as a news consultant.
of the Slice of SciFi, and several other Farpoint Media website. She is a civil engineer
and software developer from Bavaria
, Germany
. She spends her workdays designing and specifying software applications.
Hofmann had joined the team upon request and was responsible for the entire look of the Slice of Sci-Fi Website and was lovingly referred to as the "Web-Queen" during her tenure with the company.
podcast, and is currently the host of the MegaPodzilla podcast.
In September 2008, Krazy Joe moved back to his hometown of Springfield, PA. He still continues to call the voicemail show.
Despite no longer being in-studio, Krazy Joe continues to make his presence felt on the show through his periodic "Punched in the Junk" segment.
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
and website and part of the FarPoint Media Network that looks into the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. It was the winner of the "Top Rated Podcast Award" at the Podcast Awards
Podcast Awards
The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known as the Podcast Awards, are an annual set of awards given to the best podcasts as voted by the people...
in 2005 .
The show was also honored with the prestigious Parsec Award for Best News Podcast in 2008.
Started in early 2005 as a response to the reaction of Star Trek fans over the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, the Slice of Sci-Fi Podcast has grown to encompass a broader range of topics. Hosts Michael R. Mennenga
Michael R. Mennenga
Michael R. Mennenga founded FarPoint Media in early 2006 and currently serves as its President, COO, and primary audio engineer. In addition, Michael is a co-host of the “Slice of SciFi” and “The Dragon Page Cover to Cover” podcasts, and contributor to many other Farpoint Programs.Michael’s...
, Summer Brooks, Brian Brown, Tim Adamec, Sam Roberts, and Bret Filipek try to make their podcast both fun and informative, two characteristics they feel have not been brought together in other efforts.
The hosts of the show have interviewed such people as Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, Manny Coto
Manny Coto
Manny Coto is an American writer, director and producer of films and television programs.Coto was the executive producer and showrunner of Star Trek: Enterprise in its final season, and executive producer of four seasons of 24...
, Claudia Black
Claudia Black
Claudia Lee Black is an Australian actress and voice actor, known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in the science fiction television series Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series, the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins and...
, Walter Koenig
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in Babylon 5. He wrote the script for the 2008 science fiction legal thriller InAlienable.-Early life:...
, Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
, Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
, Ted V. Mikels
Ted V. Mikels
Ted V. Mikels is an American filmmaker of independent cult films. Mikels was also known for his home life, as he once lived with a harem in a Glendale, California castle that contained secret passageways....
, Dean Haglund
Dean Haglund
Dean Haglund is a Canadian actor known for the role of Richard "Ringo" Langly, one of the Lone Gunmen on The X-Files. Haglund is also a stand-up comedian, specializing in improvisational comedy In addition to The X-Files, he played the voice of Sid in Tom Sawyer, Haglund also portrayed Langly in...
, Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson, born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an American actress and singer.-Career:...
, Peter Mayhew
Peter Mayhew
Peter Mayhew is an English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was tall.-Career:...
, Lake Bell
Lake Bell
-Early life:Bell was born in New York City, the daughter of Robin Bell, owner of the design firm Robin Bell Design, Inc. in New York, and Harvey Siegel. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Protestant, and Bell has stated that she was raised in a "comically dysfunctional family".Bell attended The...
, Peter S. Beagle
Peter S. Beagle
Peter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".-Career:Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art &...
, Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher is a New York Times Best Selling author most known for his contemporary fantasy book series The Dresden Files. He also wrote the Codex Alera series. Butcher grew up as the only son of his parents, and has two older sisters. He currently lives in Independence with his wife, Shannon K...
, Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis...
, Michael Stackpole and more.
Slice of Sci-Fi is also heard each week on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
, Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
, as well as several cell phone networks across the globe.
Slice of Sci-Fi has been announced Site of the week by SCI FI Weekly on November 22, 2006 and the AMC Site of the Week in March 2008.
Michael R. Mennenga
Michael R. MennengaMichael R. Mennenga
Michael R. Mennenga founded FarPoint Media in early 2006 and currently serves as its President, COO, and primary audio engineer. In addition, Michael is a co-host of the “Slice of SciFi” and “The Dragon Page Cover to Cover” podcasts, and contributor to many other Farpoint Programs.Michael’s...
is a host of the show, its Engineering Chief at the DracoVista Studios in Arizona and a published author of fantasy novels who began writing in the late 1980s. In 1996 he turned his attention to writing for the Internet. In 1998 he joined a developing writing community and was soon asked to become part of the staff. He has received recognition from Writer's Digest
Writer's Digest
Writer's Digest is an American magazine devoted to both beginning and established writers, offering interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles....
and Forbes Publishing for his first book, Zac and the Valley of the Dragons. His next book, Mistress of the Dragon, was released in 2001. Mennenga followed that in 2002 with The Valley of the Dragons: Dragon's Fire and Wizard's Flame, which was re-released as Dragon's Fire, Wizard's Flame in 2003.
He is a member of The Arizona Authors Association and Toastmasters International.
Summer Brooks
Summer Brooks is one of the co-hosts of the Slice of SciFi show. She is also co-producer and is responsible for booking guest appearances.She is an avid reader and writer of sci-fi and fantasy with a few publishing credits to her name, and she desires to write and produce a TV series or miniseries that leaves a mark on people. She also co-hosts The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas, which is a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
the specializes in reviewing older scifi books and TV shows, focusing on how they have held up over the years.
Brooks spent many years as a computer specialist for Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
servers for various large corporations, and competing in amateur full contact kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
. She is now a licensed massage therapist with her own private practice.
Brian Brown
Brian Brown began with the Farpoint Media family of podcasters as a recurring co-host and reviewer for The Dragon Page Cover 2 Cover podcast. He started becoming a regular on Michael and Evo's Wingin' It! starting on episode #86. He also was guest and then became co-host for The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninja podcast after Joe Murphy became ill.Brian has been a regular voice on Slice of SciFi since show #90 and the Slice voice mail show from show #87. He took over co-hosting duties after Evo Terra left the show. Brian now can be heard every week lending his insights, ideas and vast array of voice impressions to the news stories and interviews done on the show.
In addition to his Slice of SciFi duties Brian has expanded voice acting skills to a wide variety of projects including audio dramas, other podcasts and many voice projects needing his talents.
Tim Adamec
Tim Adamec joined the Farpoint Media family as a reviewer for The Dragon Page Cover 2 Cover podcast. He soon became a frequent voice, known for his snarky and sarcastic comments starting on Michael and Evo's Wingin' It! at show #89, Slice voice mail show #88 and the Slice of Sci-Fi main show later.Tim continues to contribute his particular brand of snark each week on Slice of SciFi. As a side note, his father has a PhD in Curmudgeon.
Michael Hickerson
Michael worked as a journalist for Slice of SciFi and eventually earned the title of Assistant Editor, before taking on the Director's position in November 2008.Michael is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in journalism. He’s had a wide and varied career that has included stops as a sports writer/editor, tech supporting, running a software distribution company and delivering live golf scores and data. He also currently works for the state of Tennessee.
The Slice of Sci-Fi News Team
Like all successful news and entertainment venues there are a whole team of people behind the scenes responsible for that success. Slice of Sci-Fi has a news team scattered all over the globe from the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Several staff field reporters and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s contribute stories each week to the show and the website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. Fans also participate and are encouraged to do so by sending in stories and updates to the news director.
Joe Murphy
Joe Murphy was a reviewer on the show. He studied computer scienceComputer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
for the hearing impaired and had his MA
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Audiology
Audiology
Audiology is the branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Its practitioners, who treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage are audiologists. Employing various testing strategies Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , -logia) is...
from Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...
. Murphy first reviewed Lisa Lee and Tee Morris's Morevi on the Dragonpage's forum and soon became the "official" book reviewer for the Dragon Page podcast. Later he co-hosted the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas show with Summer Brooks. He also frequently appeared on the Wingin' It
Wingin' It
Wingin' It is a Canadian teen sitcom airing on Family; the series is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Family. It stars Demetrius Joyette and Dylan Everett. It also includes guest-stars from other Family Channel shows such as The Latest Buzz...
podcast.
Joe was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma
Leiomyosarcoma
Leiomyosarcoma , aka LMS, is a malignant cancer of smooth muscle....
, a rare form of cancer. in late 2006; he died on April 1, 2007.
Evo Terra
Evo TerraEvo Terra
Evo Terra is an American podcaster, writer and businessman based in Arizona.Evo Terra founded Podiobooks.com in 2004, an audiobook service that uses podcasting technology to distribute serialized versions of novels, non-fiction books, anthologies and short story collections.In 2005, Terra was a...
was an original co-host of the show. He is co-writer of the Podcasting For Dummies manual, co-creator of Podiobooks.com and co-creator of The Dragon Page Cover to Cover and Wingin' It
Wingin' It
Wingin' It is a Canadian teen sitcom airing on Family; the series is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Family. It stars Demetrius Joyette and Dylan Everett. It also includes guest-stars from other Family Channel shows such as The Latest Buzz...
podcasts. Evo served as co-host of Slice of SciFi up through show 111.
Samuel K. Sloan
A veteran of radio broadcasting, Samuel K. Sloan was a co-producer for Slice of SciFi and the Executive News DirectorNews Director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
for the show's parent company, Farpoint Media.
An alum of George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, Sam has spent the last four decades writing spiritual self-help articles and political blogs. He also has over twenty years experience in writing news and radio script and hosted his own talk-teaching radio program in Pennsylvania between 1995 through 1998.
Sam was responsible for managing, editing and producing the news for the Slice of SciFi Website and the FarPoint Media company webpage and writing the show's scripts for each week's Sirius/XM Satellite radio and internet podcasting program.
Sam went into full retirement on November 11, 2011 after serving as news director from the inception of Slice of SciFi and 3 years as a news consultant.
Nina Hofmann
Nina Hofmann was the WebmasterWebmaster
A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...
of the Slice of SciFi, and several other Farpoint Media website. She is a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and software developer from Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. She spends her workdays designing and specifying software applications.
Hofmann had joined the team upon request and was responsible for the entire look of the Slice of Sci-Fi Website and was lovingly referred to as the "Web-Queen" during her tenure with the company.
"Krazy Joe" Fiore
"Krazy Joe" Fiore joined the cast of Slice of Sci-Fi in October 2007 after moving to Phoenix from the Philadelphia area. Prior to that, he had been a regular caller to the voicemail show. Krazy Joe was known for his love of bad movies, and his catchphrase, "I'm gonna punch him in the junk!". He also frequently appeared on the Wingin' ItWingin' It
Wingin' It is a Canadian teen sitcom airing on Family; the series is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Family. It stars Demetrius Joyette and Dylan Everett. It also includes guest-stars from other Family Channel shows such as The Latest Buzz...
podcast, and is currently the host of the MegaPodzilla podcast.
In September 2008, Krazy Joe moved back to his hometown of Springfield, PA. He still continues to call the voicemail show.
Despite no longer being in-studio, Krazy Joe continues to make his presence felt on the show through his periodic "Punched in the Junk" segment.
Show Elements
While the exact structure will vary from episode to episode, each show generally contains the following elements:- News - a sample of science fiction and fantasy related news stories not posted on the Slice of Scifi website.
- TV Talk - Discussion science fiction shows currently running on television.
- Junk Punch by Krazy Joe - Krazy Joe's mighty fist of justice targets those in Hollywood who make bad decisions.
- Movie Talk - Discussion of recent and soon to be released theatrical sci-fi and fantasy movies.
- Interview - The hosts will conduct an interview with a personality from the world of science fiction/fantasy movies and television.
- Slice of Trivia Segment - a sampling of snippets from scifi and other related genre flicks designed to stump the show's hosts as they try to guess the name or source of the trivia clip.
- Podcast Endorsements - Break segments where other Farpoint Media podcasts are promoted.
- Future Talk - Tidbits of information on what's coming up down the road in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy universe.
- Website News Teasers - short headlines from news stories on the Slice of SciFi Website not covered on the radio/podcast show, designed to increase traffic to the show's webpage.