Explore the meaning of science fiction, and how it's relevant to real-life science and society. Your hosts are Annalee Newitz, a science journalist who writes science fiction, and Charlie Jane Anders, a science fiction writer who is obsessed with science. Every two weeks, we take deep dives into science fiction books, movies, television, and comics that will expand your mind -- and maybe change your life
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Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 5 days 2 hours 32 minutes
episode 18: Alien minds
It's easy to stick prosthetics on someone's face and call them an alien. But how do we represent a truly alien form of consciousness? In this episode, we talk about science fiction that succeeds (or fails) to evoke alien minds--whether they hail from...
episode 17: Democracy and its discontents
With the U.S. midterm election coming up, it's time to look at representations of democracy in science fiction. The genre is often skeptical or satirical when it comes to democracy--you can see this in everything from episodes of The Prisoner to the...
episode 16: Can we survive capitalism?
Anti-capitalism is having a moment in the West, and especially in the U.S. political scene. But science fiction has been grappling with the promises and savage realities of capitalism since its very inception. In this episode, we talk about...
episode 15: The future of the city
Cities lurk in the background of many futuristic stories, but they can also be characters in them. In this episode, we talk about how cities might evolve, and whether it's inevitable that they'll become cyber-noir dystopias. Also on our minds: Why...
episode 14: The rise of transgender science fiction
Transgender people have always been part of science fiction and fantasy, but the past few years have seen a whole new generation of trans creators bursting onto the scene. Why are so many trans people flocking to SF and what kind of stories are they...
episode 13: The Wiki-ization of television
Binge watching. Peak TV. Water-cooler shows. We have many names for it, but they all mean that we've got way too much television. There were 487 scripted shows on the air in 2017, and 2018 is just as packed. In this episode, we talk about the history...
episode 12: Why Are Utopias So Hard To Imagine?
In this episode, we look at Sense8, the globe-spanning show about mentally linked psychics from Lana and Lily Wachowski, and we celebrate its uplifting vision of people coming together and letting go of ego. But one of the most fascinating things...
episode 11: We are in the wrong timeline
We've all been feeling like something is wrong with the timeline. In this episode, we ask what alternate history, fake history, and secondary world history can teach us about the present. Does exploring the past in fiction help us learn from history...
episode 10: Deep in the darkest heart of fandom
We've all witnessed the awesome power of fandom: saving beloved TV shows from cancellation, creating beautiful fan art and fan-fiction, and creating brilliant communities. But the dark side of fandom is also powerful, and can lead to actors and...
episode 9: Episode 9: Horror of the One Percent
Rich people want to eat you. That's the literal plot in a lot of horror movies, and the subtext of many more. Inspired by The Purge saga, we're talking about movies and TV where class warfare becomes a blood-soaked battleground. From recent...