In this episode, I review the recent history and current status of science fiction on television during the streaming era.

TV recommendation: The Orville

In this episode, I interview the legendary Larry Niven, author of Ringworld, The Mote in God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall, and many more.

Niven's book recommendations from his catalog:

The Seascape Tattoo (fantasy, with Steven Barnes)

Fleet of Worlds Series (with Edward Lerner)

The Goliath Stone (with Matthew Harrington)

Rainbow Mars (fantasy anthology)

In this episode, I take one more look at children's science fiction by surveying the winners of the prestigious Newbery Medal.

Book recommendation: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

Other books discussed:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
The Giver by Lois Lowry
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

In this episode, I explore sci-fi works that focus on the idea of the multiverse.

Prospective book recommendation (I'm putting it on my own list): The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

PBS Space Time on the many worlds interpretation

Other works discussed:
The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein
Sliders
Rick and Morty
DC Comics
Marvel Comics

In this episode, I give an overview of recent action movies in the sci-fi genre.

Movie recommendation: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Other movies discussed:
Tenet
Free Guy
The Matrix: Resurrections

In this episode, I bring back my cohost Greg for a conversion about how science fiction has shaped video games, and vice versa.

Classic game recommendation: Chrono Trigger

Ahoy finds the "first" video game.

I catch up on the sci-fi movies for kids that have come out in the pandemic era.

Movie recommendation: The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Background on Lightyear here and here.

Other films discussed:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Over the Moon
Flora and Ulysses
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Strange World
Lightyear

In this episode, I give an overview of the different ways that religion and religious themes are used in science fiction.

Book recommendation: Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

My review of A Case of Conscience.

Other works discussed:
Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer
A Case of Conscience by James Blish
Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer

I interview Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, Curator and Chair of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum about her new book, Space Craze: America's Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight.

Media recommendation: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

In this episode, I interview Gary Bengier, former CFO of eBay and author of Unfettered Journey, a novel about philosophy and artificial intelligence.

Gary's book recommendation:
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Complementing my Marvel catch-up, I review the new DC superhero movies that have come out since the start of the pandemic.

Movie recommendation: DC League of Super-Pets

Other movies discussed:
Wonder Woman 1984
Black Adam
Zack Snyder's Justice League
The Batman

I interview Nick Nocturne, host of the YouTube channel Night Mind about the emerging genre of unfiction and its relation to science fiction.

Nick's recommendations:
PBhere (sci-fi)
Diminish (non-sci-fi)

I interview Dr. Cameron Kunzelman of Georgia State University about science fiction in video games.

Dr. Kunzelman's game recommendations:
Bioshock
Halo
Mass Effect

Recommended reference book: https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Video-Games-Tringham/dp/148220388X

Link to the Jacob Geller video in which Dr. Kunzelman appears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPiL3-CYzWk

In the podcast's first panel interview, I speak to two Stephen King scholars, Simon Brown and Regina Hansen, about King's illustrious career and influence on science fiction.

Book and movie recommendation: The Dead Zone.

In the first of three horror-themed episodes for October, I discuss one class work that I passed over before and one new work.

Recommendation: The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

Other work discussed: Jordan Peele's Nope

Techno-thrillers are a surprisingly fuzzy category that sits at the border of sci-fi and suspense. In this episode, I give an overview of the subgenre and the different ways it can be classified.

Book recommendation: Delta-v by Daniel Suarez

Sam Boush on the categories of techno-thrillers.
My review of Delta-v.

Other books discussed:
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

As part of my catch-up series, I review the Marvel movies that have come out since the start of the pandemic.

Movie recommendation: The New Mutants.
(I really think it's underrated.)

Experimenting with a new format, my friend Greg and I have a conversation about anime and its place in the science fiction genre.

TV recommendation: Cowboy Bebop
Movie recommendation: Castle in the Sky: Laputa

I interview Dr. Paul Frommer, the creator of the Na'vi language from Avatar as well as Barsoomian from Disney's John Carter.

Prospective movie recommendation: Avatar: The Way of Water

Dr. Frommer's blog.

In this second catch-up episode, I talk about the most recent monster movies (and one novel) to come out and their place in science fiction as a whole.

Movie recommendation: Love and Monsters

My YouTube video on the physics of giant monsters.

Other works discussed:
The Color out of Space (2019)
Underwater (2020)
Godzilla vs. Kong
Jurassic World Dominion
Monster Hunter (2020)
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Science fiction frequently plays with language in different ways to explore the concepts of philosophy, culture, and cognition; and constructed languages (or conlangs) are a big part of that. In this episode, I highlight how conlangs have contributed to the genre over its history.

TV recommendation: Defiance (Kastithanu, L'Irathi, Indojisnen, and Kinuk'aaz, by David J. Peterson)

My blog posts about language in Creationism.
jan Misali's Conlang Critic playlist.

Other languages discussed:
Newspeak (Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell)
Láadan (Native Tongue, by Suzette Elgin)
Klingon (Star Trek, by Marc Okrand)
Na'vi (Avatar, by Paul Frommer)

My first episode catching up both on classic works of sci-fi that I passed over before, and new works from the past 2 years. These are "short" episodes that will continue intermittently with longer ones.

Book recommendation: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Other book discussed: Cities in Flight by James Blish

My review of A Case of Conscience by James Blish

I interview Farah Mendlesohn, a scholar of children's sci-fi and fantasy literature and author of The Intergalactic Playground.

Farah's website.

Farah's book recommendations:
The Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve
The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (free online)

Robert Silverberg is the last major author whose career stretches all the way back to the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He is an extremely prolific writer and a long-time friend of Isaac Asimov. Hear his story in this interview.

Silverberg's top picks from his catalog:
Dying Inside
Downward to the Earth
The Man in the Maze
First-Person Singularities (anthology)
Lord of Darkness (historical)
The Majipoor series (fantasy)

In the final episode of Season 1, we explore the state of the science fiction genre in the present day.

Book recommendation: The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

Worlds Without End's list of sci-fi classics
Worlds Without End's customizable list
N. K. Jemisin on the Broken Earth trilogy
Edit: corrected links.

Other books discussed:
The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

I missed a few important books in the previous episode on alternate history. Here is an overview of those works.

Recommendation: "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg" by Winston Churchill (yes, really).

Other works discussed:
The Grasshopper Lies Heavy from The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Fallen Axis from this Onion article.
The United Colonies Triumphant from The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove.
Proposed book by Abraham Lincoln from The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove, along with remarks in the Southern Victory series.
Insane alternate World War II from this XKCD comic.

Dystopian fiction has been the core of young adult sci-fi for the past 15 years. In this episode, we explore how they got their start and what makes them so popular.

Book recommendation: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My analysis of Mortal Engines.

Other books discussed:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Maximum Ride by James Patterson
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

Children's science fiction was pretty sparse historically, but it began to take off in the 1990s. In this episode, we explore how sci-fi for kids has changed and expanded over the most recent generation.

Book recommendations:
Middle grade (ages 8-12): Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Chapter books (ages 6-10): Aliens for Breakfast by Stephanie Spinner and Jonathan Etra
Picture books: How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk

Farah Mendelsohn on children's sci-fi.
1984 NYTimes article on book fairs.
Frankie Thomas on Animorphs.
K. A. Applegate on reposting her books.

Other books discussed:
My Teacher Is an Alien by Bruce Coville
Animorphs by K. A. Applegate
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Hard sci-fi stories about the exploration of our solar system became more popular beginning in the 1990s. In this episode, we explore how these ideas rose to prominence and have developed over the years. Book recommendation: The Martian by Andy Weir.

The Mundane Manifesto by Geoff Ryman et al.
Kim Stanley Robinson on the Mars Trilogy.

Other works mentioned:
The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Grand Tour Series by Ben Bova
The Expanse by James S. A. Corey
Artemis by Andy Weir
Gravity
Interstellar
Ad Astra

Movie recommendation: X-Men

Other works dicussed:
The Incredibles
The Dark Knight Trilogy
The Reckoners Series by Brandon Sanderson
Worm by John C. "Wildbow" McCrae
Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain by Richard Roberts

In the 1980s and '90s, blockbuster films became a staple of Hollywood and of science fiction, and their rise went hand in hand with the development of CGI technology. In this episode, we explore the ways CGI has contributed to sci-fi over the years.

Movie recommendation: Jurassic Park

Sheldon Hall on the origin of the term "blockbuster."
Documentary on the making of Independence Day.

Other movies discussed:
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Independence Day
Avatar

Michael Crichton was a huge influence on science fiction in the 1990s and 2000s, particularly through the many movie adaptations of his work. In this episode, I given an overview of his writings and his work in Hollywood.

Book recommendation: Sphere

Luke McKinney on "The Malcolm Fallacy"

Other works discussed:
The Andromeda Strain
Westworld
Jurassic Park
Timeline

In this episode, I interview David Brin, author of the Uplift Series, The Postman, Existence, and many more.

David Brin's website.
Advice for new writers.
Sample chapters of many of Brin's books.
Brin's recommended reading list.
Brin on Robert Heinlein.
Recommended essay: "The World, the Flesh, and the Devil" by J. D. Bernal.

After cyberpunk had its day, a more mature, less countercultural successor to it emerged, known as postcyberpunk. In this episode, we explore what makes it distinctive and how it ties in with the ideas of transhumanism.

Book recommendation: Existence by David Brin.

Other books discussed:
Permutation City by Greg Egan
The Imperial Radch/Ancillary trilogy by Ann Leckie
Accelerando by Charles Stross (free download)
Blindsight by Peter Watts

Charles Stross's "crib sheet" on Accelerando.

In the first episode of Season 3, I interview Jim Harris, the creator of the Classics of Science Fiction book recommendation aggregator, which I have referenced several times in the past.

The database and list-builder
Jim's website
Scan of the original list from 1989 (page 46)

Jim's book recommendations not from the list:
Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany
The Sea and Summer by George Turner
The Hopkins Manuscript by R. C. Sherriff

Cyberpunk has produced many offshoots over the years as new authors have applied the style to other historical eras and new technologies. In this episode, we tour the wide spread of these diverse subgenres.

Book recommendations:
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Other works mentioned: too many to name. Full list here.

Cyberpunk was the big new subgenre of sci-fi in the 80s--the combination of "lowlife and high-tech." In this episode, we explore the highlights of this subgenre.

Book recommendation: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Other works discussed:
Akira
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Matrix
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

My review of Ready Player Two.

Alternate histories, where events in the past unfolded differently, are a fairly new genre, but it's made large strides since it first became popular in the 80s. In this episode, we look at an overview of these works.

Book recommendation: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal.
My companion blog post on The Calculating Stars.

Other books discussed:
The Domination by S. M. Stirling
"The Road Not Taken", The Guns of the South and Harry Turtledove in general.
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

In this episode, I interview Annie Geever, the author of the Undead Age trilogy of zombie novels.

Annie's website.

Annie's book recommendations:
Thirteen or Black Man by Richard K. Morgan
Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder

Time travel has used in many different ways by many different writers across history. In this episode, we take a whirlwind tour of ten common time travel tropes to see how they have contributed to the genre.

Book recommendation: The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter.
TV recommendation: "Blink" from Doctor Who.

Other works mentioned: too many to name. Full list here.
PBS Space Time on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Time travel had a long history in science fiction, but it noticeably ramped up beginning in the 80s. In this episode, we explore some of the classic and iconic time travel stories of recent decades.

Book recommendation: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis.

Other works discussed:
Timescape by Gregory Benford
Eon by Greg Bear
Back to the Future
The Terminator
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

See also the Jimmy Kimmel Back to the Future sketch.

Sci-fi stories about wars and military service in the future are widespread throughout the genre. In this episode, we explore a few of the highlights from this wide field.

Book recommendation: Old Man's War by John Scalzi.
Honorable mention: Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.

Other books discussed:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

With the release of Star Wars, sci-fi became more mainstream than ever, and in its wake came many stories about a galaxy filled with many kinds of alien life. In this episode, we explore a few of these stories of galactic civilizations.

Book recommendation: A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

James W. Harris on 80s sci-fi.
Charlie Jane Anders on 80s sci-fi.
David Brin's website.

Other works discussed:
OG Star Wars
Uplift Universe by David Brin
Culture series by Iain M. Banks
Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge

Stories about the discovery of mysterious alien artifacts, and the similar challenges of first contact, became prominent in the 70s and 80s. Some of them we have discussed before, but many are new. In this episode, we see an overview of these stories.

Book recommendation: Contact by Carl Sagan

Other works discussed:
Gateway by Frederick Pohl
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Stargate
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
E.T. the Extra-terrestrial
The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doria Russell

Daniel Bensen is an author of science fiction, alternate history, and stories of speculative evolution. In this interview, we discuss his new book, Interchange, sequel to his debut novel, Junction, and other writings.

Dan's website.

Dan's book recommendations:
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Greg Egan
The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker

In the series finale, I interview Dr. Lisa Yaszek, a sci-fi historian from Georgia Tech, about where we can expect science fiction to go in the future.

Dr. Yaszek's recommendations:
Wormwood Trilogy by Tade Thompson
The Matrix
Sunspot Jungle, ed. Bill Campbell

Other works discussed:
Binti Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
"The Sixth World" by Nanobah Becker
The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley
The Universe of Xuya series by Aliette de Bodard
Unstoppable series by Charlie Jane Anders

After the New Wave era drew to a close, the older authors of the Golden Age continued to produce new works, but Arthur C. Clarke made the strongest comeback, with some of his most famous books coming from his later years. In this episode, we look at an overview of these works.

Book recommendation: Rendezvous with Rama

Other books discussed:
The Fountains of Paradise
2010: Odyssey Two
2061: Odyssey Three
3001: The Final Odyssey
The Songs of Distant Earth

By 1970, the New Wave in science fiction had made peace with a surge of new hard sci-fi works and writers. At the forefront of this trend was Larry Niven, who took a unique path in hard sci-fi by proposing new physics, but still applying it rigorously. In this episode, we explore his work.

Book recommendation: Ringworld by Larry Niven.

My blog post about Ringworld.

Other works discussed:
The Magic Goes Away
With Jerry Pournelle:
The Mote in God's Eye
The Gripping Hand
Lucifer's Hammer
Footfall

Dr. Benjamin Stevens is a professor of classical studies who researches the relationship between the ancient/classical tradition and science fiction and fantasy. In this wide-ranging interview, we discuss what makes sci-fi distinctive, classicism and modernity, ancient aliens, and more.

Dr. Steven's profile.
Classical Traditions in Science Fiction, ed. by Brett Rogers and Benjamin Stevens.

Dr. Steven's book recommendations:
The Just City/Thessaly Trilogy by Jo Walton
Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente

Children's science fiction was still an unusual and peripheral category during the New Wave, but it did produce some important new classics. In this episode, we explore the highlights of what kids were reading during this time.

Book recommendations:
For upper elementary and middle school: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
For lower elementary: The Iron Giant/The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

Farah Mendelsohn on children's sci-fi.
My post about A Wrinkle in Time and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Other books and authors mentioned:
Andre Norton
The Tripods trilogy by John Christopher
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien