Alienating the Audience

Fresh after seeing "Alien: Romulus," Dickie Lynch and Heaton discuss Ripley Scott's "Alien" franchise: the creepy aesthetics of H. R. Geiger, the deepest fears of the movie, the alien seeding of "Prometheus," and the most recent installment as a best-of.

It's three centuries after the apocalypse, and a small Catholic monastery in the desert is collecting and safeguarding whatever pre-calamite artifacts it can, to preserve knowledge until civilization gets going again. Brian Brushwood joins to discuss this post-apocalyptic "Jesuits in space" novel.

How has A. I. been portrayed through history in science fiction, and what's it going to look like as it keeps getting better? Stone Lynch and J. C. Campbell join to discuss.

Anthony Burgess wrote his dystopian novel "A Clockwork Orange" in 1962, but two different versions appeared on either side of the Atlantic. The American version stops at chapter twenty, whereas the British version has an extra twenty-first chapter, which totally changes the book. Brian Brushwood joins to discuss.

The universe is really, really big. Like huge. Really really really huge. Prompting science fiction to come up with workarounds so everyone isn't stuck on the same boring 'ol planet.

Dickie Lynch rejoins to discuss.

Drew Magary's book "The Postmortal" explores a scenario in which a vaccine is made for aging. Whatever age you take it at, you are paused there indefinitely. How does that effect marriage, retirement, and society as a whole? Josh Jennings and Ashland Viscosi return to discuss.

Madeline Miller's "Circe" novelizes the mysterious character from the Odyssey who turns men into swine, but also helps Odysseus get home. The book shows the feckless, narcissistic nature of the Greek pantheon, what is the true nature of self, and the divine patriarchy.

Alexandra August and Isabella Reinhardt join to discuss.

George Orwell died way back in 1950, and his estate has never allowed anyone to canonically (or legally) contribute to the immense worldbuilding of "1984"... Until now.

Sandra Newman recently wrote "Julia," the official sequel to 1984, which happens conterminously with its events, but from the perspective of Winston's paramour, Julia.

Josh Jennings joins to discuss.

Season Finale! In which we talk about how to use sci-fi robots for helpful psychological thought experiments.

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Star Trek Deep Space Nine's Elim Garak is a simple, unassuming character. But also a spymaster. Why is he so beguiling, and what's his character arc? Andrew Young joins to discuss.