Unknown Orbits

Foundation by Isaac Asimov leads us into discussing other future histories in science fiction, then we go on to our own view of the quality and style of Asimov's writing.

Could you rebuild civilization without tools, books, or even the fillings in your teeth? In Jerry Sohl's Costigan's Needle, a neighborhood of 400 people are thrust naked into a different Earth, one without people. We finish by discussing Jerry Sohl's scriptwriting career.

Did the producers of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms get inspiration from Ray Bradbury's The Foghorn? Or did the connection between the two get some help from Ray Harryhausen? After the discussion we go on to compare our favorite monster movies from the 1950s. 

We discuss the Hugo Award winning novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, a huge maintream success. Then we take a quick look at High School recommended reading lists.

Scanners Live in Vain by Cordwainer Smith is a classic story of the genre. So naturally we disagree over it, then switch things up by argueing about world-building.

Feeling watched, counted, measured, tabulated and recorded? Maybe it's not the apps on your phone. Today we discuss Frederik Pohl's 1955 story "The Tunnel Under the World." 

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester is featured in this episode, and then we take a personal journey into the writers and books that have inspired us.

We discuss the four-novel series "Cities in Flight" by James Blish in which entire cities lift off into space to search for economic opportunity. Then we argue the difference between conceptual and speculative science in fiction.

Today we discuss the 1949 story Tangent, by the infamous F. L. Clarke, who was known as one of the worst human beings to become a science fiction writer, hated by writers and editors alike, yet somehow always managing to be at the center of the science fiction universe.

What happens to all the people who dissapear? We find out in Jack Finney's "Of Missing Persons," which then leads into a discussion of The Twilight Zone and Ray Bradbury's little-known involvement in it.

Invading radio waves throw the world into chaos in Frederic Brown's The Waverlies. Then we come up with our own classifications for the types of alien invasion stories and discuss examples.

What are they? Gnurrs! Where do they come out? The voodvork! The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out is a classic humorous science fiction story by Reginald Bretnor, and appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. We discuss this story, then do a brief survey of other notable funny SF stories.

We made each other read our guilty science fiction pleasures - swapping Magnus, Robot Fighter comic books and Hugh Walters' U.N.E.X.A. space adventure series. After making fun of both, we move on to our mutual honorable mention, kaiju movies.

This episode we consider Richard Matheson's Born of Man and Woman. Then after a short detour through ABC's Movie of the Week, we discuss the importantance of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

This episode we talk about interstellar confidence tricksters in William Tenn's Betelgeuse Bridge, which leads us into Galaxy Magazine and the rapid growth of science fiction publishing in the 1950s.

L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt's The Mathematics of Magic has adventurer Harold Shea discovering a way to travel to the realms of fantasy using math. Following that, we argue about the difference between fantasy and science fiction.

How many podcasts are there that talk about great fiction? Today we break the mold by discussing Larry Sternig's not so great Clutch of Morpheus. Then after some memories of the Green Sheet, we see if we can fix it.

Business as Usual, During Alterations by Ralph Williams deals with the unexpected arrival of matter duplicators and the economy of abundance it creates. We then come up with our own take on how such devices might be used in a story.

Robert Heinlein's The Roads Must Roll takes place in a world where roads have been replaced by giant conveyor belts, operated by a quasi-military force. We discuss this and how Heinlein's political view sometimes found their way into his stories.

If people had never seen the stars, how would they react when an eclipse throws their entire planet into darkness? This episode we discuss Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and early science fiction fandom.

Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt appeared in what many consider to be the first magazine issue of science fiction's Golden age. We discuss it's relationship to the movie Alien and the Golden and Silver ages of science fiction.

Did Cleve Cartmill really predict how an atomic bomb would work, or did he have help? We discuss John W. Campbell's influence on this story and the value of predictive science fiction.

For this holiday special we discuss Christmas on Ganymede by Isaac Asimov. Then we'll we compare our favorite science fiction Christmas toys, and share some memories of childhood Christmasses.

In 1928, six months before the discovery of Pluto, Crashing Suns by Edmond Hamilton appeared in Weird Tales magazine in a two-part serial. We discuss what makes the elements of space opera and how to define it.

In Things to Come by H. G. Wells, twenty-six years of war featuring biplanes and plagues come to and end when science and technology show the way. We also discuss Wells' vision of the future and the 1927 movie Metropolis.