Social Science Talks Science Fiction » Podcasts

In this episode, the discussion from Social SciFi Towers turns to Max Brooks’ World War Z, as well as Dan Drezner’s Theories of International Politics and Zombies. Why is it that zombies are so popular? And what use do they have in our teaching?

We first consider Drezner’s approach to the zombie apocalypse, and examine the way in which he uses zombies as a source of insecurity in order to demonstrate the tenets of various theories of International Politics. In search of the human factor, we then shuffle toward Brooks’ oral history of the zombie war and discuss its possible use in the classroom. On the way, we chew over the problem of whether theory can ever do justice to the horror of facing down a million hungry undead, the ethics involved in conducting oral history, and whether Matt will ever admit that in the cold light of the apocalypse, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s ‘World War Zee’ or ‘World War Zed’

Contributors:

Alex Hoseason
Matthew Campbell
Charlotte Botfield
Yvonne Rinkart