Explore every episode of the podcast Hugo History
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stranger in a Strange Land | 12 Feb 2026 | 01:25:19 | |
Join us as we discuss the eighth Hugo Award winner: Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Elias Eells of Bar Cart Bookshelf, where he reviews books and makes cocktails to go with them! You can buy his book, Cocktails and Consoles, whereever books are found. He also has an amazing sounding short story, "The Peacock Wizard and the Cave of the Busty Snake Ladies," in the forthcoming collection Shatter the Sun: Queer Tales of Untold Adventure (edited by dave ring). You can follow him on Bluesky at @eliaseells.bsky.social. From about 13:11 to about 45:40, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Did you know that anyone can vote for the Hugos? Intro music by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and you'll still get extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) Some things we mention, more info about some of these in the monthly free email from Patreon: -A.K. Larkwood, The Unspoken Name | |||
| Canticle for Leibowitz | 08 Jan 2026 | 01:05:04 | |
Join us as we discuss the seventh Hugo Award winner: Robert A. Miller's Canticle for Leibowitz. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Josh Nudell, historian and speculative fiction fan. You can find Josh on Bluesky @jpnudell.bsky.social and more of his writing on his website. From about 6:19 to about 23:53, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. New intro music by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and you'll still get extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) Some things we mention, more info about some of these in the monthly free email from Patreon: The Great Gatsby | |||
| Starship Troopers | 11 Dec 2025 | 01:07:44 | |
Join us as we discuss the sixth Hugo Award winner: Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers! Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is journalist and long-time Doctor Who podcaster, Warren Frey, @freyburg.bsky.social, from Radio Free Skaro. From about 4:18 to about 27:30, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Some things mentioned in the episode:
New intro music by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and you'll still get extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) | |||
| A Case of Conscience | 13 Nov 2025 | 01:16:44 | |
Join us as we discuss the Hugo Award winner for 1959: James Blish's A Case of Conscience. You can find the book on the Internet Archive here. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Alana Vincent, a scholar who studies the portrayals of religion in literature, especially in Science Fiction and Fantasy. They are a series editor for Bloomsbury Studies in Popular Fiction and Religious Dynamics. The most recent book in the series, Sang-Keun Yoo's Speculative Orientialsm: Asian Religions in New Wave Science Fiction, came out in September 2025. You can find Alana on Bluesky at @alana-m-vincent.net. From about 5:38-27:54, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. If you'd like to support the podcast on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HugoHistory Or, you can buy me a coffee! Some things mentioned in the episode: A biography of James Blish: Imprisoned in a tesseract: the life and work of James Blish | |||
| The Big Time | 09 Oct 2025 | 00:58:43 | |
Join us as we discuss the Hugo Award winner for 1958: Fritz Lieber's The Big Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Time_(novel) You can find the whole book at The Internet Archive. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Nora Spurling of Leaf It To Us, where they take plants out of the background and talk about that fascinating group that's so essential to us as humans. In addition, Nora is also fantastic at literary analysis and a big speculative fiction fan! From about 2:53-18:41, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Some things mentioned in the episode:
I did eventually go back and find Dave.
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| Episode 3 - Double Star | 11 Sep 2025 | 00:43:33 | |
Join us as we discuss the third Hugo Award winner: Robert A Heinlein's Double Star, which won in 1956. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is David Blaeser, a Vancouver-based fiber artist who is reading his way through all the Hugo and Nebula winners. You can find him on instagram. From about 3:30 to 20:55, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Some things mentioned in the episode:
Transcripts are coming! | |||
| Episode 2 - They'd Rather Be Right | 14 Aug 2025 | 00:44:30 | |
Join us as we discuss the second Hugo Award winner: Frank Riley and Mark Clifton's They'd Rather Be Right, which is often called 'the worst book to ever win the Hugo'!! Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Rob Tomshany, @robtomshany.bsky.social, who has near encyclopedic knowledge of 50s and 60s sci fi and fantasy. From about 2:05 to 9:37, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Some things mentioned in the episode:
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| Episode 1 - The Demolished Man | 10 Jul 2025 | 00:51:14 | |
Join us as we discuss the first ever book to win a Hugo Award: Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demolished_Man Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Miles Reid-Lobatto of Casual Trek. You can find Miles on Bluesky at @milesreidlobatto.bsky.social and his podcast at @casualtrek. From about 5:45-19:00, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Some things mentioned in the episode:
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| Way Station | 14 Apr 2026 | 01:03:03 | |
Join us as we discuss the tenth Hugo Award winner: Clifford D. Simak's Way Station, also known as "Here Gather the Stars." Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Paul Weimer, who is an incredibly prolific fan writer. He writes for Nerds of a Feather and podcasts at Skiffy and Fanty. From about 5:30 to about 16:40, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Intro music by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and you'll still get extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) Some things we mention, more info about some of these in the monthly free email from Patreon: SF Signal
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| Man in the High Castle | 12 Mar 2026 | 01:06:13 | |
Join us as we discuss the ninth Hugo Award winner: Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Vancouver-based horror writer, Joseph Andre Thomas, who has most recently published a short story in the Between Doorways: explorations into liminal space, a short story collection edited by TJ Price. From about 4:50 to about 21:39, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Intro music by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and you'll still get extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) Some things we mention, more info about some of these in the monthly free email from Patreon: | |||
| Dune | 11 Jun 2026 | 01:24:59 | |
Join us as we discuss one of the Hugo Award winners for 1966 (there was a tie!): Frank Herbert's Dune. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Stephen Kotowych, who is probably best known for putting together yearly anthologies on the Year's Best Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy. The kickstarter for volume 4 closed in May, but the book should be available to non-backers in early Fall. Stephen is also a SFF writer and has published several award-winning and nominated short stories. (You can find all this info on his website.) You can find him on Bluesky at @ourmankoto.bsky.social. From about 11:54 to about 33:46, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Intro sound by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and I try to send out extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) | |||
| The Wanderer | 19 May 2026 | 01:28:04 | |
Join us as we discuss the eleventh Hugo Award winner: Fritz Lieber's The Wanderer. Host: Christine D. Baker, a historian who lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at @klaxoncomms.com on Bluesky or follow what she's reading at her website: https://klaxoncomms.com/reading/ This month's guest is Roseanna Pendlebury, who is an incredibly prolific fan writer and nominated for the Hugo for BEST Fan Writer this year. She writes for Nerds of a Feather, Ancillary Review of Books, and on her own blog. You can find her on Bluesky at @chloroformtea.bsky.social. From about 7:30 to about 37:58, Christine is recapping the book, which has A LOT of spoilers. The rest of the episode isn't spoiler free, but that section goes through the plot in detail. Intro sound by Breakz Studios! Come find us on patreon for more info: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hugohistory/posts (Sign up for the free tier and I try to send out extra details, links to references, and images of primary sources!) Corrections:
Other nominees this year:
Some things we mention:
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