Episode 678-With Jakub Szamalek

The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jakub Szamalek, author of Inner Space.

About Inner Space: When an ammonia leak threatens the astronauts on the International Space Station, NASA directs Lucy Poplasky, one of the ISS’s first female commanders, to investigate the cause. Russia has just invaded Ukraine and tensions are running high—could the leak be a brazen act of sabotage?

The Russian cosmonauts aboard deny tampering with the ship’s systems and insist on the issue stems from the American side. As levels of the poisonous gas rise, Lucy’s investigation shatters trust between the Russian and Western crews, exposing deep fissures in the partnership thousands of miles below.

Intense and unrelenting, Inner Space questions what truly draws us to the stars: the urge to explore the unknown, selfish ambition, or an instinct to run away from the entrenched troubles on Earth?

About Jakub Szamalek: Jakub Szamalek is Narrative Director at Rebel Wolves game studio. Born in Poland in 1986, he studied in the UK, at Oxford and then Cambridge, where he was a Cambridge Gates Scholar. He is an author and the writer behind the international video game bestsellers, including The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Blood of Dawnwalker. He lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, with his family. He wrote the award-winning The Hidden Web series of thrillers, which has been adapted into a major motion picture by Monolith Films, and his crime novels have been awarded the Best Polish Crime Novel and Zloty Pocisk prizes. Jakub has been named among Eastern and Central Europe’s Young Leaders by the Res Publica Foundation.

This week’s picks:

• Jakub: The Naked Gun (2025)
• Tracy: The Man Who Died Seven Times by YASUHIKO NISHIZAWA (Author), Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)
• Patrick: Pathfinder Game Night: Dawn of the Frogs

Links:

• Jakub Szamalek on Instagram
• Tracy Townsend on BluSky
• Patrick Hester on Instagram
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2025 Patrick Hester

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