Science Fiction 101

In time-honored tradition, for our December episode we go hurtling back in time to review a science fiction magazine from the past. Get your flares, platform shoes and ghettoblasters ready as we head back to November 1974. We're picking on Analog magazine, just because we've never reviewed it before. And it's only the longest-running SF magazine in exsitence. It started in 1930 as Astounding Stories , was renamed Analog in the 1960s, and continues under that name to this day. As we join it in 1974, it's in the early years of the editorship of Ben Bova, and is beginning to modernise. If you'd like to browse through the issue with us, you can download it as a PDF from this link . Other items mentioned in this episode include: Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man (1953) Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (1974) Cinefex magazine, now legitimately on the Internet Archive Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) Star Wars: Skeleton Crew   Ted Chiang's essay on genera...

It occurred to us that although we have discussed many specific books on the show, we've never devoted an episode to the idea of the book - those papery, texty things that Stephen King has described as "uniquely portable magic". So in this episode, we address the various ways in which books can be enjoyed and consumed, and discuss ten (or eleven) questions on the subject of books. We also have a book-adjacent quiz, and our usual round up of recommendations of past, present and future SF. Some of the items mentioned on the show: First Contact/The Cult of Progress , a non-fiction book by historian David Olusoga Science fiction films scheduled for release in 2025 , nearly all based on pre-existing films, games, comics and books Nor Crystal Tears by Alan Dean Foster The original Stargate movie is thirty years old Phil guests on the podcast Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* , discussing Ray Bradbury's It Came From Outer Space The long-awaited, posthumously-published, Harlan...

It's fifty years since the TV series of Planet of the Apes debuted, enlivening the childhood of millions around the planet of the humans. Phil and Colin enjoyed the show as kids, but now undertake a celebratory rewatch, reviewing the adventures of Virdon (the blond one), Burke (the dark-haired one), and Galen (the hairy one). We also have a Planet of the Apes quiz, and our usual round up of recommendations of past, present and future SF. Some of the items mentioned on the show: Planet of the Apes TV series Den of Geek's Apes quiz The Star Trek set blueprint archive Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive ... ...which includes Rod Serling's unfilmed Planet of the Apes TV scripts R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) on stage in Portland, Oregon Article about Pierre Boulle , creator of Planet of the Apes The Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever * podcast *almost Here's the episode. Enjoy!     Podcast platforms carrying Science Fiction 101 include:   Amazon Music ...

August 2024 saw the World Science Fiction Convention, held in Glasgow, Scotland. Phil stayed at home, but intrepid traveller Colin crossed a continent and an ocean to experience his first Worldcon. Find out how he got on - and how Phil and Colin somehow managed not to meet, despite both being in England at the same time... Also in today's show, a special quiz from friend of the podcast Peter Kuskie (last seen in episode 11), and our usual round up of all good things science fictional. Among the items mentioned in this episode: The Interocitor - a new magazine with classic science fiction Galaxy Science Fiction - a new reincarnation of a classic SF magazine. First PDF issue free, later issues available for purchase 2024 Hugo Award Ceremony - as streamed live from the Worldcon... ...and the full list of Hugo nominees and winners Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees for 2024 - including the "creation" category Skynet   Find the new episode in your podcast app of choic...

The first women to appear (as "soloists") on the ballot for science fiction's Hugo Awards were Zenna Henderson and Pauline Ashwell , in 1959. (Catherine L. Moore had appeared on an earlier ballot, but for a collaboration with Henry Kuttner.) Fearing that Henderson and Ashwell might be drifting into obscurity, Colin and Phil set out to review their Hugo-nominated novelettes, both of which can be read online for free: Zenna Henderson's " Captivity " Pauline Ashwell's " Unwillingly to School " Other items mentioned on the show include: Jules Verne , covered on Emmanuel Dubois's La Fayette, We Are Here! podcast Classic of Science Fiction blog Classics of Science Fiction database of short stories etc Analysis of women and men in the Hugo Awards Shenanigans in the Hugo Award ballot , thankfully nipped in the bud! Doctor Who meets Star Trek ? If you want it, it's yours! Zenna Henderson's "People" stories are all collected i...

We're back - and it's the time to review this year's Hugo-nominated short stories! The Hugos are the awards given by members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention (whose numbers this year will include our very own Colin, who will be attending the worldcon in Glasgow). Also in today's episode, we have a quiz. Sort of. See if you can get it before Phil has a clue what's going on... And there's our usual round up of SF past, present and future. Here's some links on items included in this episode:  " Better Living Through Algorithms " - Hugo-nominated short story " The Sound of Children Screaming " - Hugo-nominated short story " The Mausoleum's Children " - Hugo-nominated short story " How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub "- Hugo-nominated short story Tom Scott's Lateral YouTube series John Wyndham's novel Chocky Star Trek: Discovery comes to an end Suno , the AI song generator that created Phil...

  We're back, with an episode about the great British SF writer John Wyndham . On many occasions we've found ourselves talking about his books - such as The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos - but now we attempt to do them justice with a closer look. Items mentioned in today's show: Amy Binns' biographical study of John Wyndham, Hidden Wyndham , is reviewed here More about the John Wyndham books we discuss: Stowaway to Mars (1936), The Day of the Triffids (1951) , The Kraken Wakes (1953) , The Chrysalids (1955) , The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) , Trouble with Lichen (1960) . Visit the real-life Triffid Alley , London Listen to the faithful 1980s BBC radio drama version of The Chrysalids , adapted by Barbara Clegg Read about the modern TV adaptation of The Midwich Cuckoos The reader's guide to The Day of the Triffids The Locus Awards finalists have been announced, as have the Hugo Award finalists ...whereas the Nebula Award winners have already be...

Time for another regular episode of the podcast, and this time we have more interview goodness from the Hugo- and Nebula - winning SF writer Robert J. Sawyer. We had so much fun talking to Rob about his new novel The Downloaded (see episode 40 ) that we decided to gather up our more general discussion into a separate segment. So here you will hear talk of Planet of the Apes , science fiction conferences, and much much more. We also have a mostly Star Trek quiz, but with a few Star Wars questions thrown in to trip Phil up. And the usual recommendations of past/present/future SF. Some of the items discussed in the episode:  Robert J. Sawyer's website, with its appropriate URL: sfwriter.com The Audible version of The Downloaded ( US - UK - Canada ) The print versions of The Downloaded ( Amazon US - Amazon UK - Amazon Canada ) Stalker (1979 film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky) based on the novel Roadside Picnic (1972) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. BBC Radio's Crowd Science...

This is a bonus episode of Science Fiction 101 , in which we abandon our quizzes and throw our past/present/future items out the window, and just give you a straightforward interview. It's all about staging a science fiction film festival! Our guest is Russ Repp, who is responsible for the mammoth, eight-week, science fiction film festival currently happening in Portland, Oregon, in the city's remarkable OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Russ talks us through the history of the festival, and lets us in on the secrets of how a sci-fi film festival is programmed. Full information on the OMSI Sci-Fi Filmfest (which continues until late May 2024) can be found here: https://omsi.edu/exhibits/sci-fi-film-fest/ And even if - like Phil - you're nowhere near Oregon, this is still a fascinating tale of how a festival is put together. Next episode, we'll be back to our usual format, but we hope you enjoy this little bonus!     As always, the episode is available now v...