The Space Race of the 1950s and 60s was a 20 year period of competition between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union over who could conquer space first.  

It wasn’t just two idiots comparing who had the biggest rocket though: as well as driving forward technology, the space race had a profound and lasting effect on popular culture. From Literature, to TV, to Film, it fundamentally changed how the future of humanity was depicted. In this episode, we explore how the Space Race radically changed the genre of Science Fiction.