Light On Light Through

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 121, in which I review all three seasons of The Crown. I thought they were superb.  If you'd like to read along, you can find links to my written reviews below, but I always put a little extra into the podcast. Links to my written reviews of The Crown :  Season 1 , Season 2 , Season 3 . And here's a link to Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 120, in which I review The Irishman. I thought it was fabulous, perhaps Scorsese's best.  If you'd like to read along, you can find my written review here , but I always put a little extra into the podcast.    

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 119, in which I review The Man in the High Castle - final Season 4. I thought it was the best season so far, which is high praise indeed, since I thought the first three seasons were outstanding. You can find my written reviews of all four seasons here - The Man in the High Castle on Amazon  (pilot)...  The Man in the High Castle 1.2-1.10: Timely Alterna...

Welcome to Episode 118 of  Llght   On   Light   Through , a special podcast of a reading I did of The Silk Code in May 1999 for the legendary Seeing Eye Theatre, months before the novel was published by Tor Books. The reading took place in a hotel in Pittsburgh, PA, where the Science Fiction Writers of America's yearly Nebula convention was being held (I was President of SFWA back then) and is fro...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 117, in which the notorious Captain Phil (on WUSB Radio) interviews me about my new music, latest science fiction, and Donald Trump's current assaults on democracy.  Phil also plays, at the start of the episode, two rough mixes from my forthcoming Welcome Up album of science fiction songs, to be released by Old Bear Records this Fall: "Alpha Centa...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 116, audio of my appearance on Fox Nation, in which I (a progressive) and three conservatives talk about Donald Trump and the media.  You can see the video here , and more about my book, Fake News in Real Context , here .

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 115 - a 2019 New Year's special - in which Captain Phil (on WUSB Radio) interviews me about my music, views of Donald Trump, and NASA's Ultima Thule fly-by.  Not only that - Phil plays, for the first time on any radio station, three rough mixes from my forthcoming Welcome Up album of science fiction songs, to be released by Old Bear Records this F...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 114, in which I reflect on the shuttering of The Village Voice this past September, and discuss the crucial role it played in my life as a writer. The first three articles I ever had published anywhere appeared in The Village Voice in the early 1970s.  You can read them for free at the links below: 1. A Vote for McCartney 2. Murray the K in Nostalgia's N...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 113, in which I review Making a Murderer , both seasons.  These 20 episodes should be required viewing for anyone who wants to see the reality of our justice system in America. Relevant links - 1. my blog post (written) review of the first season 2. my blog post (written) review of the second season 3. a report about my experience as jury forepers...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 112, in which I review  The Man in the High Castle  - Season 3. I thought it was the best season so far, which is high praise indeed, since I thought the first two seasons were outstanding. You can find my written reviews of all three seasons here -  The Man in the High Castle on Amazon  (pilot)...  The Man in the High Castle 1.2-1.10: Timely Alte...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 111, in which Captain Phil interviews me for a second time -- this time about Aretha Franklin, my novel Borrowed Tides , Mars, Carl Sagan, David Kyle, and sundry things.   Captain Phil is the stage name of Phil Merkel, who was filling in for the regular host of "Progressive Solutions," a radio show on WUSB Radio out of Stony Brook University.  

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 110, in which Captain Phil interviews me about my music, science fiction, political views, and everything including the kitchen sink.   Captain Phil is the stage name of Phil Merkel, who was filling in for the regular host of "Progressive Solutions," a radio show on WUSB Radio out of Stony Brook University.  Here are links relating to Justin Hayward and...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 109, in which I review all ten episodes, one by one, of Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (first season). Links mentioned in the podcast - My written reviews of each of these episodes start here .  (The link is to my review of episode 1, with links to my reviews of the other episodes at the bottom of that page.)  The podcast is based on the written...

Welcome to Episode 108 of  Llght   On   Light   Through , in which I read a new work-in-progress, "Robinson Calculator," on Hour of the Wolf on WBAI-FM Radio on November 16, 2017 at 2 o'clock in the morning.  I read about 1000 words of the story.  "Robinson Calculator" was published in 2019 -- you can read the intro  over here .

Welcome to Episode 107 of  Llght   On   Light   Through , a talk I gave at the McLuhan in New York event at Fordham University on 13 October 2017.  More about that event, including a video of the complete panel, here . More about The Omnipotent Ear here , there and everywhere .

It all started in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn Monroe walked off the set of The Misfits and began to hear a haunting song in her head, "Candle in the Wind," which wouldn't be written until 1973 ... Welcome to Episode 106 of  Llght   On   Light   Through , a reading I did of a brand new novelette, "Marilyn and Monet," at Readercon 28 in Quincy, MA on July 15, 2017. I read about 3300 words o...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 105, in which I review The Man in the High Castle  - Season 2. Other than mentioning that I think this is easily among the best science fiction television series ever made, if not the best, I'll let my podcast speak for itself ... You can find my written reviews of both seasons here -  The Man in the High Castle on Amazon  (pilot)...  The Man in t...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 104, in which I review every episode of The Affair - Season 2 - one of my all-time favorite series on any kind of television. You can find my written reviews of these episodes here -   The Affair 2.1: Advances  ...  The Affair 2.2: Loving a Writer  ...  The Affair 2.3: The Half-Wolf  ...  The Affair 2.4: Helen at Distraction  ...  The Affair 2.5:...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 103, in which I interview Linda Kaplan Thaler.  Linda and I wrote a bunch of songs in the late 1960s, including "Not Yet Ready to Say Goodbye," which appears on my 1972 Twice Upon a Rhyme  album, mentioned from time to time on this podcast. Linda went on to write the world-famous, iconic "Toys R Us" jingle in 1983 ("I Don't Wanna Grow Up, I'm a To...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 102, in which I interview John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth, about what he sees as a constructive intersection of space travel and religion.  The interview was conducted on July 30, 2015 in Senator Glenn's office at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. A transcript of this conversation wi...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 101, in which I review the pilot of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle - that is, the pilot of a series to be streamed on Amazon, based on Dick's alternate history masterpiece.  Here's my written review  of the pilot.    three time travel novels: the Sierra Waters trilogy What if the Soviet Union survived into the 21st century, and Eddie...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 100, in which I review Predestination (the movie made from Robert Heinlein's 1959 story "All You Zombies") and the first three episodes of the 12 Monkeys TV series (based on the 1995 movie).  Yes, 2015 is starting out as a great year for time travel!   Blog post reviews - Predestination   12 Monkeys TV series   Italian review , with reference to "...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 99, in which I review every episode of The Affair - Season 1 - my favorite new series on television.   You can find my written reviews of these episodes here - The Affair Premiere: Sneak Preview Review The Affair 1.2: Time Travel! The Affair 1.3: The Agent and the Sleepers   The Affair 1.4: Come Together   The Affair 1.5: Alison's Episode   The Af...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 98, in which I play, back to back, my review of Bones 100 (100th episode) as recorded in 2010 and my review of Bones 200 (200th) episode, written just a few days ago and recorded this afternoon.   It's fun to see how much and little has changed in Bones in the past five seasons.  One thing that has remained constant is the delightlful quality of t...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 97, in which I explain why, even though I usually support progressive causes, I'm against net neutrality - or the government mandating that all providers of content have equal access to the Internet.   In brief, my reasons are the First Amendment, the Utilitarian principle of the greatest good for the greatest number, and the importance of smooth...