We interviewed John Scalzi, author of Old Man’s War and Ghost Brigades, as well as Tim Minear, Executive Producer and writer for Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside, Serenity, and more.

Both talk about their work, their fans, and the surprisingly large role that the Internet has played in their success. Tim Minear (whose interview starts at about 21 minutes in) also answers questions about the possibility of a second season for Firefly, and talks about his screenplay of Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

It’s a pretty heavily science-fiction-themed episode, and Helen isn’t that into science fiction, but after talking to Scalzi and Minear she says she’s changing her mind. And she loved Wonderfalls.

Take a listen and see what you think. You can listen directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking here, or you can get it (and even subscribe) via iTunes. A low-bandwidth version for dialup users is located here, and there’s an archive of past podcasts here.

If you’d like to play it directly in your browser with no messy downloading, go here and click on the gray Flash player.

Music for this episode: “Temptation” by Mobius Dick.

And, as always, the lovely and talented co-host is asking for your comments and suggestions.