New York State Drinking Testosterone 👌: Strange New Words—🥩—MEAT, MEAT, MEAT, MEAT (February’s Short Story Pick)

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Strange New Words—🥩—MEAT, MEAT, MEAT, MEAT (February’s Short Story Pick)

A hilarious look at what intelligent life looks like

Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version

February 25, 2026

Space.com's Sci-Fi Reader's Club

Letter from the Editor

Howdy sci-fi fans!

Hello sci-fi fans!

We hope you had as much fun reading this micro-story as we did. If you want to see us completely derail about this story, go watch our staff roundtable video below.

To recap, for February, we picked Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made of Meat”, where we dive into intelligent aliens, the flaws of humanity, and…gross meat?

You’ll find the story below (if you haven’t read it yet), along with the discussion questions and other science fiction recommendations. Be sure to vote for March’s story before the year is up!

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the story over on our socials @spacedotcom.

— Kenna & Ian

This Month's Short Story,

"They're Made of Meat" by Terry Bisson

In “They’re Made of Meat,” two beings discuss a newly discovered intelligent species. The catch? The species isn’t silicon-based, energy-based, or anything sleek and futuristic. It’s… meat. Thinking meat. Talking meat. Dreaming meat.

What unfolds is a rapid-fire exchange that’s funny on the surface—the universe can’t believe we’re like this — but also quietly cutting. If intelligence can come packaged in something as messy and perishable as flesh, what does that say about our assumptions of what “advanced” looks like?

Read the story here

Disclaimer: All stories linked through this club are hosted on their original publishers’ websites. We do not reproduce or host the stories ourselves. Links are provided solely for readers’ convenience and discussion purposes. Copyright and all rights remain with the original authors and publishers.

Discussion Questions

Questions to to get to the meat of the story (yeah, not sorry)

Because half the fun of reading isn't just turning the pages, it's what happens when we start talking about them. So below are a few questions to think about while you're reading the story.

What’s the most insulting part of “they’re made of meat”?
Are the aliens biased… or just practicing cosmic common sense?
You have 30 seconds to convince the alien committee that humans are worth talking to. What do you lead with: art, math, kindness, dogs, memes… or “please don’t judge us by Florida”?
Okay, fine. What should count as “intelligent life?”

We’ll be revisiting some of these questions in our end-of-month wrap-up — and we’re excited to see your answers in the comments and on socials (@spacedotcom)

Vote For Next Month's Story

Here are March's story options

Be sure to vote before the end of the month!

"We can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K Dick (inspo for "Total Recall")

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin

"I have no mouth and I must scream" by Harlan Ellison

If You Like That Story, Try This Book!

Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories

From acclaimed master of science fiction, Terry Bisson, Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories brings together his Hugo Award-winning short story with eighteen other classics

Buy your own copy here