David Barr Kirtley

Science fiction author and podcaster

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How Fresh Blood Will Invigorate Game of Thrones

June 1, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on the new characters that have been announced for season 3 of Game of Thrones.

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Game of Thrones Burns Brightest With Epic Battle of Blackwater

May 28, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on last night’s Game of Thrones. I actually liked this one!

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Let’s Hope Jennifer Egan’s Twitter Story Heralds the Return of Serial Fiction

May 25, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s a piece I wrote for Wired.com about Jennifer Egan and serialized fiction:

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Many Foolish Characters Mar This Week’s Game of Thrones

May 21, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on this week’s Game of Thrones:

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Roger Zelazny reads at 4th Street Fantasy Convention, 1986

May 15, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley 3 Comments

Here’s a video of my favorite author, Roger Zelazny, reading his work at a science fiction convention back in 1986. I’ve been scouring the internet for years, and this is the first video of him I’ve ever managed to come across:

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Weird Logic Abounds in This Week’s Game of Thrones

May 14, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on this week’s Game of Thrones:

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Brutal Opening Is Highlight of This Week’s Game of Thrones

May 7, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on last night’s episode of Game of Thrones:

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What’s With the Three-Eyed Raven in Nudity-Free Game of Thrones?

May 1, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on this week’s episode of Game of Thrones:

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What?!? No Dragons or Peaches in This Week’s Game of Thrones

April 24, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on this week’s episode of Game of Thrones:

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This Week on Game of Thrones: No Drowning, Urination, or Rainbows

April 16, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my latest Game of Thrones piece for Wired.com:

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This Week on Game of Thrones: 6 Weak Tweaks and a Dark Surprise

April 10, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s my commentary on Episode 2 of Game of Thrones:

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7 Key Ways Game of Thrones Deviates from George R. R. Martin’s Novels

April 2, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s a post I wrote for Wired.com about the Season 2 premiere of Game of Thrones:

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7 Burning Questions About Game of Thrones’ Second Season

April 1, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Here’s a post I wrote for Wired.com:

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Santorum

March 8, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

I’ve been alerted to the fact that the website Spreading Santorum has been knocked out of the top spot when you google the word Santorum. Glad I have a blog, so I can help make that right.

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My Short Story “Beauty” in Lightspeed Magazine, March 2012

March 1, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley 2 Comments

The March 2012 issue of Lightspeed includes my short story “Beauty,” a twisted, modern-day retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.”
 

Lightspeed Magazine cover March 2012

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Rhode Island State Representative Peter Palumbo is a Disgrace

February 27, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

WTF is wrong with Rhode Island? High school student Jessica Ahlquist shows incredible class and poise here while local students, parents, and even her state representative act like thugs and hooligans.
 

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Podcasting Tips #1: iTunes-Friendly Episode Descriptions

February 23, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley 2 Comments

I recently took over managing the feed for my Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast, and was able to rewrite the episode descriptions to make them more iTunes-friendly. iTunes is by far the most common way that people subscribe to podcasts, so it’s important to think about how your podcast is going to be displayed there. Each episode of my podcast features an interview, usually focused around the guest’s latest book, followed by a discussion between me and my co-host John Joseph Adams (and recently we’ve been having on a rotating cast of “guest geeks” to join us for the discussion). I tried to format our episode descriptions to make that information available at a glance:

Compare that to, say, the Suvudu On Air podcast:

Not that useful, right? You can actually find out who the guests are here by hovering your cursor over each episode, but I suspect that most listeners don’t have the time or patience for that.

Another thing I see a lot is that the podcast description will start out listing the names of the hosts, which means that more useful information such as the guest or topic is obscured in iTunes. Here’s an example from the Writing Excuses podcast:

Obviously I think it would be better to just put the guest or topic here, especially since the host names should already be listed at the top of the page, and in any event are somewhat redundant since they’re mostly the same from episode to episode.

Getting people to listen to any podcast in the first place is a huge hurdle, and I think descriptions that convey the relevant info as clearly and succinctly as possible can make a big difference in your number of listeners. Hope that helps.

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Read It And Weep Redux

January 21, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

   I make another appearance as a science fiction expert in Episode 125 of the Read It And Weep podcast, in which we discuss Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

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Facebook Author Page

January 21, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

I now have an author page over on Facebook. “Like” it to receive updates about my fiction, interviews, etc.

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Black Gate Interview

January 12, 2012 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

Emily Mah Tippets interviews me about writing and podcasting for Black Gate magazine:

david barr kirtley black gate interview

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Geeks Guide to the Galaxy

Geeks Guide to the Galaxy

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy is a podcast hosted by author David Barr Kirtley and produced by Lightspeed Magazine editor John Joseph Adams. The show features conversations about fantasy & science … Read more

“The Skull-Faced Boy”

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Roger Barr

My grandfather Roger Barr passed away early this morning at the age of 98. He was my mom’s father, and was my last surviving grandparent. He was being cared for by my uncle Steve (his son) and aunt Denice — both medical professionals — and was still sharp and good-humored in his final days. Yesterday […]

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David Barr Kirtley

David Barr Kirtley is an author and the host of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast on Wired.com, for which he’s interviewed well over a hundred guests, including George R. R. Martin, Richard Dawkins, Paul Krugman, Simon Pegg, Margaret Atwood, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Ursula K. Le Guin.
Content © 2022 David Barr Kirtley unless noted. Site by Sunray Computer.