Summary: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Past-Red-Catherynne-M-Valente/dp/1250301130"></a>This week, Patrick and Tracy celebrate episode 500 with <a href="https://www.catherynnemvalente.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catherynne M. Valente</a>, author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Past-Red-Catherynne-M-Valente/dp/1250301130" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Past Is Red</a>.<br> About <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Past-Red-Catherynne-M-Valente/dp/1250301130" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Past Is Red</a>: The future is blue. Endless blue…except for a few small places that float across the hot, drowned world left behind by long-gone fossil fuel-guzzlers. One of those patches is a magical place called Garbagetown.<br> Tetley Abednego is the most beloved girl in Garbagetown, but she’s the only one who knows it. She’s the only one who knows a lot of things: that Garbagetown is the most wonderful place in the world, that it’s full of hope, that you can love someone and 66% hate them all at the same time.<br> But Earth is a terrible mess, hope is a fragile thing, and a lot of people are very angry with her. Then Tetley discovers a new friend, a terrible secret, and more to her world than she ever expected.<br> About <a href="https://www.catherynnemvalente.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catherynne M. Valente</a>: Catherynne M. Valente is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of forty books of fantasy and science fiction. She lives on a small island off the coast of Maine with her partner, one medium-sized dog, one very enormous cat, a baby son slightly less enormous than the cat (for now), a red accordion, an uncompleted master’s degree, a roomful of yarn, a spinning wheel with ulterior motives, a cupboard of jam and pickles, a bookshelf full of folktales, an industrial torch, an Oxford English Dictionary, and a DSL connection.<br> This week’s picks:<br> <br> * Cat #1: <a href="https://youtu.be/HZS9M52Bd_w">For All Mankind</a><br> * Cat #2: <a href="https://youtu.be/KznMj9dATQo">The Bad Episodes of Star Trek</a><br> * Tracy: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Album-Dr-Moreau-Daryl-Gregory/dp/1250782104">The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory</a><br> * Patrick: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PDMBMQ7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Music on Vinyl</a><br> <br> Links:<br> <br> * <a href="https://twitter.com/catvalente" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Catherynne M. Valente on Twitter</a><br> * <a href="https://twitter.com/TracyATownsend" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tracy Townsend on Twitter</a><br> * <a href="https://twitter.com/atfmb" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patrick Hester on Twitter</a><br> * <a href="https://www.patreon.com/functionalnerds?ty=h" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Functional Nerds Patreon Page</a><br> <br> © 2021 Patrick Hester<br>
