The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast restores and narrates forgotten and underrated vintage science fiction short stories spanning from the 1700s through the mid-1960s. Each episode features a professionally narrated classic drawn from early speculative fiction, pioneering 19th-century tales, and the pulp magazine era that shaped modern science fiction.Released several times a week, the podcast explores timeless speculative ideas—alien encounters, artificial intelligence, time travel, dystopian futures, and the human cost of progress—through the works of legendary authors such as Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, H. G. Wells, Harlan Ellison, and many others.Now in its fourth year and with more than 560 episodes released, The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast has reached #1 on Apple Podcasts in 43 countries, reflecting a worldwide appetite for classic science fiction storytelling. Each restored short story gives modern listeners direct access to the imagination and bold ideas that shaped the genre from its earliest days through the Golden Age.Narrated by Scott Miller, each episode serves as an accessible entry point into science fiction’s rich literary history—bringing the wonders, warnings, and possibilities of vintage sci-fi to a new generation of listeners.
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Ever done anything for no particular reason at all ? Ever feel as if you were arguing with yourself? Do you sometimes get the feeling that you’re really two people who are at odds over the basic rights and wrongs of life? . . . The Parasite by Arthur C. Clarke, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
Today’s story appeared in the short lived Avon Science Fiction And Fantasy Reader. It was the second and last issue published in the ASFAFR in April 1953. We will discover this intriguing tale on page 119, The Parasite by Arthur C. Clarke…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Hallam wanted to get out of space – but even more he wanted to make a fortune first. Now he had found a way to do it – by selling – The Ultimate Vice by A. Bertram Chandler
$25 Someone, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener
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$15 Someone, SueTheLibrarian, Joannie West, Amy Özkan, Someone, Carolyn Guthleben, Patrick McLendon, Curious Jon, Buz C., Fressie, Anonymous Listener
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Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
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The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster
Episode 269
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 • Duration 01:34:18
In a future where human contact is almost eliminated by The Machine, Vashti’s tranquil, isolated life is interrupted by a plea from her son, to experience the world outside the Machine’s influence. As Vashti struggles to understand his desire to see the stars from the Earth’s surface, a profound disconnect between their realities begins to emerge. The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
Our latest 5 star review is from MaddzW via Apple Podcasts, Great Britain, “ Obsessed! My go to podcast! I enjoy the journey of discovering these stories, authors, and their backgrounds. With gripping narration and an incredible voice, I thank you for my new nightly tales!” Thank you MaddzW we appreciate your review and we are proud that our podcast is your obsession! If you haven’t already left us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts we hope you will and if you listen on Spotify could you please leave a 5 star rating? if you think we deserve it of course.
Edward Morgan Forster, born in 1879, was a renowned English author celebrated for his novels A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. His works have been adapted into well-known films, A Room with a View, which featured Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter, and Howards End, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
Science Fiction fans will perhaps remember him forever for the amazing story you are about to hear. It was the most requested story we had never narrated until today. First published in 1909 this dystopian short story explores a future society where humanity lives underground, entirely dependent on a vast, all-encompassing machine that provides for their every need, The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Ever done anything for no particular reason at all ? Ever feel as if you were arguing with yourself? Do you sometimes get the feeling that you’re really two people who are at odds over the basic rights and wrongs of life?. . . The Parasite by Arthur C. Clarke
No Shield From the Dead by Gordon R. Dickson - The Golden Age of Science Fiction
Episode 260
Sunday, August 18, 2024 • Duration 20:16
No conceivable force could penetrate Terri's shield. Yet he was defenseless. No Shield from the Dead by Gordon R. Dickson, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
We’re excited to welcome Gordon R. Dickson to our podcast for the first time today. Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1923. After his father died, he and his mother moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1937. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946.
Gordon R. Dickson wrote more than 140 short stories and over 50 novels during his career. He was highly prolific, with his works spanning various subgenres of science fiction and fantasy, including his well-known “Childe Cycle” series. Over his career, he won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards. Unfortunately for us most of his work is not in the public domain.
Let’s go back in time seventy one and a half years to the January 1953 issue of If Worlds of Science Fiction Magazine, which also showcased Time Enough at Last by Lynn Venable, and turn to page 111, No Shield from the Dead by Gordon R. Dickson…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Something went wrong… and Ed Fletcher got mixed up in the biggest thing in his life. Adjustment Team by Philip K. Dick.
️Thanks to All Our Listeners Who Bought Us a Coffee
Doorstep by Keith Laumer - Short Sci-Fi Story From the 1960s
Episode 170
Monday, January 15, 2024 • Duration 15:47
The general was bucking for his other star–and this miserable contraption bucked right back! Doorstep by Keith Laumer, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
Doorstep marks the debut of Keith Laumer on the podcast. Laumer was born in Syracuse New York in 1925. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force during World War II and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service.
He is perhaps best known for the character James Retief, a cynical spacefaring diplomat, who is based or at the very least inspired in part on Laumer’s service as a diplomat. We will meet Mr. Retief in future episodes of the podcast.
Was today’s story influenced by Laumer’s time in the military? We’ll let you decide. Let’s peruse the pages of the February 1961 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine and on page 64 we will find Doorstep by Keith Laumer…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, The fey Mr. Young continues his scholarly researches in the scientific origins of our myth and legend with this tale of an agile—and avaricious—one-man Boarding Party. Boarding Party by Robert F. Young.
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
I Bring Fresh Flowers by Robert F. Young
Episode 169
Sunday, January 14, 2024 • Duration 14:03
A touching tale of an Astronette–and why the gentle rain from Heaven has the quality of mercy. I Bring Fresh Flowers by Robert F. Young, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
Special thanks to James van Maanenberg who bought us $25 worth of coffee! “I was craving some sci-fi short stories a while ago. I searched high and low, and found very few podcasts that combined high production values and a quality selection. Here at the Lost Sci-fi Podcast, we have both! I've been a huge fan, since I discovered the channel on YouTube and I recommend it to all my friends. Thank you Scott, for the attention to detail in the production and respect paid to the source material.”
Thank you James! If you’d like to support The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast you can buy a cup of coffee, there’s a link in the description.
Robert F. Young makes his second appearance on the podcast with a beautifully written story first published in Amazing Stories Magazine in February 1964, not quite 60 years ago.
Let’s turn to page 107 for I Bring Fresh Flowers by Robert F. Young…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, The general was bucking for his other star–and this miserable contraption bucked right back! Doorstep by Keith Laumer.
She was the guardian of the worlds, but HER world was dead. The Gifts of Asti by Andre Norton, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
The first story we ever narrated by Andre Norton, All Cats Are Gray, was so popular that we decided to do another one of her stories as soon as possible.
I had never heard of the publication Fantasy Book which, like many publications of the time, didn't last long. Fantasy Book published 8 issues from 1947 thru 1951 and disappeared for more than 30 years with an issue in 1985 and another in 1986.
From Fantasy Book Volume 1 Number 3 in July, 1948 our story is found on page 8, The Gifts of Asti by Andre Norton…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A touching tale of an Astronette–and why the gentle rain from Heaven has the quality of mercy. I Bring Fresh Flowers by Robert F. Young.
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
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Jokester by Isaac Asimov - Isaac Asmiov Sci-Fi Short Story
Episode 167
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 • Duration 38:09
What really happened to the traveling salesman and the farmer’s daughter–and why? Here’s the ultimate, horrifying answer… Jokester by Isaac Asimov, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
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Castaway by Arthur C. Clarke
Episode 166
Sunday, January 7, 2024 • Duration 18:58
Caught in a storm he is thrown far from home and his very existence is in doubt. Castaway by Arthur C. Clarke, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.
In the UK in 1938 a new magazine appeared, Fantasy would publish an issue that year and two the next and then disappear. It reappeared in 1946 with 3 issues over the next two years and, poof, it was gone again, this time for good.
Our story appeared in the April 1947 issue but it was credited to Charles Willis. Almost 20 years later it reappeared in a collection of science fiction stories called Strange Signposts. You’ll find it on page 303, Castaway by Arthur C. Clarke…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, What really happened to the traveling salesman and the farmer’s daughter–and why? Here’s the ultimate, horrifying answer… Jokester by Isaac Asimov.
All Cats Are Gray by Andre Norton - Andre Norton Short Stories
Episode 165
Sunday, January 7, 2024 • Duration 23:11
An odd story, made up of oddly assorted elements that include a man, a woman, a gray cat, a treasure—and an invisible being that had to be seen to be believed. All Cats Are Gray by Andre Norton, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.
Thank you for making us one of the most popular science fiction podcasts in the world. According to Apple Podcasts we are #2 in Romania, and #3 in Portugal.
More 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts, this from NJ Short Story Fan, “Excellent Podcast. Thank you for narrating “The First Man on the Moon” - it reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode “I Shot an Arrow into the Air.” However, I think you left out the end of Alfred Coppel’s story. There is an epilogue that explains the presence of the figure as Sargon of the spacefaring Lemurians. Thank for bringing these wonderful stories from the Golden Age of Sci Fi to life. I don’t mind the ads, please keep doing what you are doing.” Thanks for your review!
Oops! Thank you for letting us know about our omission at the end of “The First Man on the Moon” NJ Short Story Fan, we also received an email from Matthew McWhorter informing us of our mistake. We will record the ending and add it to the podcast and let you know here when the correct version is available. For those of you who listen on YouTube we’re not sure what we’re going to do. If you have a suggestion please email us an scott@lostscifi.com, or comment on The First Man on the Moon.
Andre Norton makes her debut on the podcast today. Born Alice Mary Norton in Cleveland Ohio in 1912. Most of her stories appear under the pen name Andre Norton, but she also used Andrew North and Allen Weston. To say she was a pioneer for women writing science fiction would be a huge understatement. She was the first woman to be Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy, to be SFWA Grand Master, and to be inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
She chose to write most often under Andre Norton because she thought there was prejudice against female writers and most people thought she was a man.
She would write more than 30 novels and more than 50 short stories. What you are about to hear was the second short story that published more than 70 years ago. Taken at face value the author of today’s story is Andrew North, but we know better. From the pages of let’s turn to page 129, …
Happy Ending by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
Episode 164
Thursday, January 4, 2024 • Duration 42:26
A world had collapsed around this man—a world that would never shout his praises again. The burned-out cities were still and dead, the twisted bodies and twisted souls giving him their last salute in death. And now he was alone, alone surrounded by memories, alone and waiting… Happy Ending by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.
It is good to be back after a trip to the beach here in Costa Rica where we met sci-fi fans everywhere, including two young women from Canada, Adele and Paige and Erik and Pia from Germany. Welcome to the ever growing list of listeners around the world to The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
Thanks for making us one of the most listened to science fiction podcasts in the world, and thanks for making us #1 in Belgium and #2 in Hungary.
We’ve featured stories by Fredric Brown and by Mack Reynolds before but they wrote this story together. From Fantastic Universe magazine in September 1957, our story can be found on page 105, Happy Ending by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, An odd story, made up of oddly assorted elements that include a man, a woman, a black cat, a treasure—and an invisible being that had to be seen to be believed. All Cats Are Gray by Andre Norton.
️Thanks to All Our Listeners Who Bought Us a Coffee
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Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
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$200 Someone
$75 James Van Maanenberg
$50 Anonymous Listener
$25 Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener
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$5 Tif Love, Chrystene, Richard Hoffman, Anonymous Listener
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
$25 Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener
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$25 Someone, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener
$15 Every Month Someone
$15 Someone, SueTheLibrarian, Joannie West, Amy Özkan, Someone, Carolyn Guthleben, Patrick McLendon, Curious Jon, Buz C., Fressie, Anonymous Listener
$10 Anonymous Listener
$5 Every Month Eaten by a Grue
$5 TLD, David, Denis Kalinin, Timothy Buckley, Andre'a, Martin Brown, Ron McFarlan, Tif Love, Chrystene, Richard Hoffman, Anonymous Listener
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Listen without commercials and enjoyexclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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