Welcome to Flashback, where we revisit the age of New Wave science fiction and fantasy — the stories that came after the Golden Age of Science Fiction and before cyberpunk conquered the world.

This episode we’re diving into one of the magazines that shaped me as a reader and writer, the famed Amazing Science Fiction Stories. By 1982, Amazing had been on an extended rough patch, losing readers in a shrinking market for short genre fiction. This issue highlights some of the strategies the editors tried to attract new readers — big names in the genre and classics from the past — along with some of the weaknesses that plagued the magazine, like bad art and abysmal copyediting.

So, join in as we take a trip to the early ‘80s, complete with Nazis, sequelitis, and simmering racial tensions. Sound familiar?

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