February 09, 2022

How Imaginary Worlds Teach Us to Care for This One

36 minutes

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Sørina Higgins, a professor of English literature at Signum University. We discuss how speculative fiction can teach us to take care of our planet, both ecologically and societally.

Authors and works discussed include: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, Octavia Butler's Kindred, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and superhero fiction. (**NO SPOILERS** for any works.)

Real world topics discussed include: climate change, racial and economic justice, terraforming, space colonization, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and small scale activism.

Dr. Higgins also tells us about TexMoot 2022, a speculative fiction conference that is currently seeking submissions for papers and round table discussion prompts from the general public (not just academics). Check the link below!

LINKS:

TexMoot 2022: Call for Submissions

http://texmoot.org/call-for-papers

TexMoot 2022 general info

https://signumuniversity.org/event/texmoot-2022/

https://registration.signumuniversity.org/events/texmoot-2022/

Signum University

https://signumuniversity.org/

SorinaHiggins.com

https://sorinahiggins.wordpress.com/

Daily Choices

https://sorinahiggins.wordpress.com/daily-choices/

Sørina Higgins' author page

https://amzn.to/3rEDrEY

Sørina Higgins on Twitter

https://twitter.com/SorinaHiggins

Signum University on Twitter

https://twitter.com/SignumU

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