M59Programming Brainstorm

Minicon 59 (2026) will take place April 2-5, 2026, at the RadiShTree

Our Guests of Honor are

• Author: Patricia C. Wrede
• Gaming: Matt Leacock
• Featured Musicians: Graham and Becca Leathers

THE MINICON 59 PROGRAMMING BRAINSTORM WIKI page

The Brainstorming Page is OPEN FOR BUSINESS! This Wiki page is for keeping track of possible programming items for Minicon 59. Typically we only use about half of the ideas we come up with, so do not mistake this list for a preview of actual M59 programming. But if you see something here that interests you, bear in mind that you can increase the likelihood of the idea blossoming into an actual programming item by volunteering to be on it, or just by letting us know that you would love to attend it if it happens.

Contact the Programming Department

Shoot us an email at programming@minicon59.mnstf.org.

If you'd like to submit an idea for a programming item, you can either do it by email or use this nifty form.

STATUS

[Oct 28, 2025] I think I captured all the great suggestions that have come in through the Ideas Form plus things we thought of during our first Programming Committee meeting. Today I rearranged them into categories to make it easier to mix and match similar ideas. --- sharon

Minicon After Dark

We came up with a lot of ideas for discussions and meetups that need a little more intimate setting than a traditional panel. How about this? We could hold some of these in the evening in the Minicon Bar, or maybe in a nearby side room.

Author Meetup

Just an informal meetup with some of the many many authors who attend Minicon. Whether you're just getting started or are working on your 200th published book, you're welcome to join in.

Internet Nostalgia

Let's drink to those fond old Internet memories! Classic memes, platforms, interactive games. Who remembers GeoCities? Second Life? Or if you're even older, Usenet newsgroups like alt.rec.funny. Have another drink and do your best impression of the Dancing Baby!

The n Best F&SF Stories According to Us

You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's best SF+F. Bring your lists! Bring your opinions! We will craft the definitive list of the best print SF+F stories of all time (*final count TBD to avoid brawling in the aisles).

Japanese Ro Sham Bo

Rock paper scissors with combat.

UNSORTED

Trains in Science Fiction

Who doesn't love trains? Especially trains that BUILD THEIR OWN TRACK as they churn across the landscape. That's from a book by China Mieville, but it turns out to be REAL! well, sort of. Trains show up a lot in sf movies for no particular reason except that they are cool, like Back to the Future 3 and Snowpiercer and all sorts of hijinks on subway trains (Mr. Robot is just one of many).

Is That Alien on the Spectrum? (And How Would We Know?)

What might neurodivergence look like in non-human (or extraterrestrial) species?

Holidays, Rituals, and Folk Mythology

Christmas and Yule, Lussi and St. Lucia ... how did our holiday traditions evolve from earlier rites and folk beliefs?

Power Point Party Time

People give power point presentations & Q&A on fun or ridiculous topics —or a dull topic made fun, accompanied by a slide show. Subject matter can be anything like "Which of my friends would I team up with in the Apocolypse, and why," to "Everything you should know about Chumbawamba," or "Things found in the walls of our house during a remodel."

Portals and PTSD

You go through a magical doorway to a world of wonder, talking animals, and heroic adventure. Sure, there are some scary parts, but in the end you defeat the White Queen or the Wicked Witch and realize that the real treasure is the friends you made along the way. But what happens when you return home? How do you process all that, especially if you grew up during the adventure and now just a kid again and nobody believes your story? Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series takes the portal fantasy and turns it into a textbook on PTSD, broken dreams, and broken lives. Is this just part of the trend toward darker fantasy, or was Portal PTSD always lurking the background of even the classics?

READING

The Reading Gender Gap

Men are reading less fiction in general and they tend to read fewer books by women authors. Do these trends hold in fandom?

Still Worth Reading

A lot of classic books haven't aged well, for various reasons. Which classics are still worth reading? Which do you only recommend with a serious caveat? Is "period-typical" bigotry worth tolerating?

Books We Cull, Books We Keep

How do you curate your personal library? Do you keep every book you read? Do you read every book you keep?

Are the Classics Still Classics?

How relevant are the *big names* we all read *back in the day?*

What Are You Reading (non-fiction)?

Read any good biographies lately? Books on natural science? Share what non-fiction you've been reading.

Trends in Publishing

What trends are you noticing in newly published books?

Where Can I Talk about Books? (Or Comics? Or Historical Costuming?)

Where can we find groups (in-person or online) to share our knowledge and enthusiasm for our special interests?

Echoes of WWII in SF

Many classic science fiction writers were personally impacted by WWII, mentally and physically. What were the immediate and lingering impacts on their writing? Do we still see a legacy in science fiction tropes today?

WRITING

Getting Published: If I'd Known Then What I Know Now

Just got your first book or story into print? What did you learn along the way? Share the mistakes you made so we don't have to make them ourselves.

Do We Still Need Agents?

What are the alternatives to *getting an agent?* Discuss.

Mashups and Memes

So what things can be put together and what should never be put together. Shakespeare and Klingons, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, Cats and Kiss,...

You Got Your Fantasy in my Science Fiction! (And You Got Your SF in my Fantasy!)

When does crossing genres work? (And when is it just plain annoying?)

Research and World Building, or, Write the Story, Already!

How much background preparation is too much? Do you use World Building as a procrastination device?

I Won a Major Award!

Literary awards you should know about. (Lamp prize may not be available in all areas.)

When Should I (Self) Publish?

Is self-publishing just a last resort for unsellable manuscripts? Or a wise business decision? Share your insight and experience.

How to Write Elderly Characters

This is a sequel panel idea to last year's "How to Write Physically Disabled Characters" panel. Last year elderly characters were a tangent topic and all agreed it needed a separate panel given elderly protagonists are scarce. I'm willing to moderate the panel again, and so far have three panelists already lined up (two who where on last year's panel, and the third, Lisa, recruited all of last year's panelists and myself as the moderator). The three panelists are: Michael Merriam, Guy Stewart, and Lisa Freitag. All three have said they'd participate. I plan to recruit 1-2 more panelists. -- Randy Holland

On writing badly; why you should lower your standards..

Perfectionism ruins stories -- and arcane grammar rules inhibit all writers. Maybe we should just give in to bad writing, accept tropes and encourage messy creativity.

The very very basics of story telling

We love stories. We tell stories. We read stories -- But what makes for a good story? Why do many stories (Books, movies, jokes) fail? What are the elements that often go missing - or that can save your story?

Comedy writing basics

What makes something funny? How do you tell a joke? What makes a character funny? How do you add humor to stories, speeches and everyday life? Come and find out from a professional funny person, who's written jokes, plays and books...

GAMING

Writing in Online Games

How has writing for gaming evolved? Discuss the writing in games such as Horizon, Red Dead Redemption, and The Last of Us.

Sword & Shadow: Writing Combat, Craft, and Intrigue

Fantasy worlds may be full of magic, but the most memorable stories often ground themselves in authentic detail. This panel explores how authors—especially those writing historical fantasy—can bring realism to their work when crafting scenes such as sword fights, blacksmithing, military tactics, or spy craft. Led by an expert with hands-on knowledge in these fields, the session will highlight practical techniques for translating real-world skills into compelling, believable narrative moments. Attendees will leave with tools to enrich their writing with authenticity, while still leaving room for imagination and wonder.

MEDIA

Streaming Service Geekout: What to Watch Next

It's still true - we are living in the golden age of episodic television. I'm still not tired of sharing my favorites and looking for new things to watch. How about you?

This Year in Film

Open discussion about movies we've seen this past year.

Star Wars Roundup

Star Wars round-up on recent shows and games set in one of our favorite galaxies.

FANNISH

In Memoriam: Terry Garey

There will be a memorial gathering for long-time fan and celebrated poet Terry Garey. Please let us know if you would like to help with the planning and execution. We are specifically looking for volunteers to read some of Terry's poetry out loud.

History of Minicon

Minicon has a long and storied history: let's flaunt it!

History of Cats Laughing

Have Emma Bull, Steven Brust, and Adam Stemple tell stories

Zines: TNG

Wow, look at that! Fanzines are making another comeback! Let's talk about the history of self-published zines - personal or literary or ... something else?

I'm Neurodivergent and It's Awesome

What is your neurodivergent superpower? And where do you express your most badass, awesome self? Let's talk about the positives.

SCIENCE

3D Printing - From Reality to SF and Back Again

Do you have a 3D printer? What do you use it for? Artwork? Halloween masks? Undetectable plastic guns? Unsettlingly realistic 3D robots? Custom-designed transplant organs? Headsets that can communicate across time? Having trouble figuring out which of these examples are real, which are fiction, and which are currently under development? Yeah, me too. Well, okay, I guess that last one was a little bit obvious. Just trying to get you to read The Peripheral by William Gibson, a visionary sf novel that starts with an entire local economy based on 3D printing and then expands to other peripherals. This is just the beginning, people.

What Do You Do if an Asteroid is About to Hit Earth?

NASA's Center For Near Earth Object Studies has developed a series of hypothetical scenarios as a training tool for addressing the asteroid impact hazard. These can also be used as a near-future or alternate history science fiction table-top game; either by the members of a panel or by a larger audience. Okay, I REALLY want to hear more about this one! -- sharon

Engineering the Human Body for Space Travel

We have several ideas in this list already for exploring how living in space might impact the human body, maybe leading to long-term evolution in a multi-generation ship. But what if we skipped the multi-generation thing and DELIBERATELY engineered human beings for the starfaring life? This idea appeared in classic sf using unlikely surgical modifications [e.g, Scanners Live in Vain, The Ship Who Sang] but with the advent of genetic engineering - maybe it could actually become feasible. What are the possibilities? And when would this sort of thing be ethically acceptable, if ever?

Gravity and the lack of it

What does living in a no-gravity environment really do to the body? From what we know so far, in the infancy of space travel, it seems clear that even a few months or years without gravity can wreak havoc on the human body, possibly rendering them incapable of living in full gravity again. But in several classic sf stories (e.g., Delaney's "The Ballad of Beta Two") we meet people who grew up in a generation ship who have lost the distinction between arms and legs; they are as likely to grab things with their feet as their hands. Clearly, this population has adjusted and evolved to living in space and has new capabilities we can barely imagine.

The Vacuum of Space

If you step out of the airlock without a space suit will you really explode? If "in space no one can hear you scream," why is there so much NOISE in space opera?

A Clone Is Not a Duplicate (somebody tell the writers!)

Cloning and genetic engineering as a plot device vs science and reality. What have we learned from the pet-cloning industry? Besides the unsettling discovery for pet owners that cloning will not bring back their loved one (why am I suddenly thinking of 'Pet Sematary') this seems like the perfect natural experiment for studying the age-old question of "Nature vs Nurture."

Science for Supervillains

You want to take over the world. Should you get that extra degree in Biochemistry? Or will Physics help your evil schemes more? What branches of scientific knowledge make for successful supervillainy in today's universe?

Imaginary Spacecraft -- Pushing the Boundaries

Is your ship made of nuts and bolts? Circuits and Apps? Or something NASA never even dreamed?

The Physics of the Multiverse

Multiple dimensions? Infinite timelines? Are these plausible?

Red Star, Blue Star, Old Star, New Star

Supergirl parties on planets with red suns. What are some other ways astral classification can be used as a plot device?

AI ON THE MARCH

Artificial Intelligence: the New Frankenstein

The view expressed here is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Minicon Programming as a whole. -- sharon

AI is everywhere in the zeitgeist right now, mostly with people talking about its ominous implications for jobs and the economy, the creative arts, social justice, the law, privacy, and even existential questions of free will. These are all perfectly valid concerns and we should do at least one programming item that touches on all of this. But I suggest that we combine some or all of these topics into one (which may or may not reference Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: the New Prometheus)

Brainiac vs the Butlerian Jihad

Can AI be contained? The paperclip problem

How Will We Keep Out AI Content (and do we want to)?

As an editor, would you reject AI-generated stories out-of-hand? And will you always be able to tell?

Is AI Cannibalizing Journalism?

Not to mention art? Screenwriting? Coding?

What can AI do today (other than create fake art?)

Let's focus on some of the positive uses for AI, most of which are in their infancy right now but can still be helpful. Can we find some panelists who have found ways to use effectively AI in their work or at home?

Why Does Everybody Hate AI Image Generation?

But do they? The person who suggested this programming idea to me then spent the next 45 minutes gleefully sharing some of her own AI-generated images (which as they always seem to do, ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous.) At a recent Minnstf meeting the host set up a projector in a side room to show some of the results he got for "aardvarks playing poker; turtles playing poker..." and attracted a rapt audience. Apparently AI image generation is the new Internet pastime that we love to hate. Maybe we should set up a computer projector and play the game in real time.

Cyberpunk in the Age of AI

How is this genre evolving? How can cyberpunk tropes integrate (keep up with) developments in technology, especially AI?