Fiction Science

Stephen Tibbitts, the co-founder and CEO of Zeva Aero, talks about his company's plans to create a flying machine that looks like a cross between a helicopter and a UFO.

Science-fiction author Harry Turtledove delves into "Three MIles Down," his novel about Watergate, a real-life spy thriller ... and don't forget the aliens!

Ryan Britt, the author of "Phasers on Stun," discusses how the Star Trek saga influenced the course of science fiction and space exploration - including the roles of space billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

Comedian Tim Barnes, the creator of a new Comedy Central animated series called "Maurice on Mars," discusses his show about a struggling barista on the Red Planet and touches upon the controversies surrounding race and science fiction.

Michael Rogers, a futurist who advises startups and Fortune 500 companies, uses a sci-fi novel titled "Email From the Future" to point to technologies and trends that could solve the climate crisis and end wealth inequality.

Brian Greene, a theoretical physicist at Columbia University, delves into the physics of parallel universes - a plot point featured in a Marvel superhero movie titled "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

Bangladeshi author Saad Z. Hossain talks about the mythical and modern influences that go into his science fiction tales - including his latest novel, "Kundo Wakes Up," which works the godly powers of AI agents and djinns into the plot. 

German filmmaker Rudolph Herzog talks about "Last Exit: Space" - a quirky documentary that focuses on space settlement efforts (and features his father, Werner Herzog, as narrator).

Geophysicist Mika McKinnon talks about her efforts to add a smidgen of scientific plausibility to "Moonfall," a big-budget disaster movie about the moon falling out of orbit and wreaking havoc on Earth.

Benjamin Percy, author of "The Unfamiliar Garden," talks about his Seattle-centric, science-centric update of the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" plotline - plus, how writing for comic books made him a better novelist.

Amy Mainzer, the science adviser for "Don't Look Up," talks about the real-life astronomy behind the movie's fictional killer comet. 

Award-winning science-fiction writer Cat Rambo talks about their new novel, "You Sexy Thing," a tale about space pirates, a sentient starship and gourmet mercenaries that's been called a cross between "Farscape" and "The Great British Baking Show."

Science-fiction writer Neal Stephenson discusses his new climate-change thriller, "Termination Shock," and the status of the metaverse - a concept he came up with nearly 30 years ago.

Allen Institute neuroscientist Christof Koch talks about his quest to understand the nature of consciousness, his magic mushroom experience and his role in the documentary film "Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness."

Jeffrey Kluger, editor at large for Time magazine and author of the sci-fi novel "Holdout," talks about the fact and the fiction surrounding commercial spaceflight and NASA exploration.

Damian Duffy and John Jennings talk about how they transformed Octavia E. Butler's prescient science-fiction tale, "Parable of the Sower," into a graphic novel.

Radio astronomer Heino Falcke, one of the leaders of the Event Horizon Telescope project, discusses how the first image of a black hole's shadow was captured - and why it's so intriguing.

Veteran production designer Scott Chambliss says he took a page from SpaceX's playbook when he created the look of the multi-generational spaceship for the movie "Voyagers."

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku talks about his latest book, "The God Equation," and explains how we might be able to use the theory of everything to escape the eventual death of our own universe.

Nathaniel Rich, the author of "Second Nature: Scenes From a World Remade," lays out his vision of a post-natural world.

In her debut novel, "Machinehood," S.B. Divya foresees a future where we merge with the machines through AI, nanotech pills and robotic implants. Would she want to be part of that future? Get the answer in this episode of Fiction Science, co-hosted by Alan Boyle and Dominica Phetteplace.

Science journalist/author Annalee Newitz discusses her new book, "Four Lost Cities," and the evolution of past and present urban centers with Fiction Science hosts Alan Boyle and Dominica Phetteplace.

Penn State climatologist Michael Mann, the outspoken author of "The New Climate War," talks about what Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and the rest of us can do to help the world avert the coming climate catastrophe.

A new movie titled "Greenland" calls attention to potential threats from comets and asteroids. Visual effects supervisor Marc Massicotte and Danica Remy, president of the B612 Foundation, discuss the science behind the spectacle.

Science-fiction author Ted Chiang delves into thought experiments on artificial intelligence and time travel - and talks about how his involvement in the movie "Arrival" changed his life.