We can't get enough science fiction! But why...? 

Science fiction isn’t just a genre, but the way we see the world and ourselves. Great science fiction is where philosophy meets spectacle, where we project our fears, fantasies, and future selves into strange new worlds to see reflections of our possibilities. 

After talking to die-hard fans, veteran writers, and creators across the sci-fi spectrum, I started noticing patterns — emotional, intellectual, even spiritual. Beneath the laser battles and alien languages, the same obsessions kept resurfacing. So I made a list — ten deep reasons we love science fiction, can't get enough, why great sci-fi keeps shaping everything from our politics to our childhood dreams.

Here's my attempt to decode why sci-fi matters more than ever, and why we love it so much: 

1. Contacting Aliens  — Sci-fi satisfies our primal curiosity: what’s out there, and how will we meet our first extraterrestrials? From Childhood’s End to Contact, the alien is both mirror and mystery.
2. Playing God — The power to create and destroy worlds. From Frankenstein to Ex Machina, sci-fi lets us tinker with life and watch the fallout.
3. Playing Politics — The safest place to hide dangerous ideas. Star Trek, Handmaid’s Tale, and District 9 use fantasy to talk politics, morality, and ideology.
4. Fetishizing Technology — We don’t just use tech; we worship it. From Metropolis to Iron Man to Tron: Ares, technology becomes both muse and mirror — sleek, sexy, and slightly sinister.
5. Joining The Tribe — Sci-fi fandom is a culture, not a hobby. Comic-Con, Worldcon, and Disney’s Star Wars lands show how outsiders find belonging in shared weirdness.
6. Becoming Creators — The dream fulfilled: Lucas, Favreau, and Filoni grew up geeking out — then built universes of their own. Sci-fi is recursive creation.
7. Feeling Nostalgic — Every fan remembers their first time — E.T., Star Wars, that dog-eared Asimov paperback. Sci-fi reconnects us to the childhood awe we lost.
8. Letting It Loose — No genre explodes bigger. Whether it’s The Expanse or Avengers: Endgame, sci-fi lets us annihilate galaxies to vent our fears.
9. Predicting the Future — The speculative engine. From Black Mirror to Minority Report, sci-fi imagines what happens if we keep doing what we’re doing — or stop.
10. Building Worlds — The ultimate sandbox. From Alien to Dune to The Matrix, sci-fi creates believable worlds that make us believe this one could be rewritten.
11. Laughing Our Asses Off (Bonus) -- From Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to The Fifth Element, great sci-fi doesn’t just imagine — it mocks. Because sometimes the only sane response to infinity is to laugh.

What do you think? Mookie can't wait to hear from you -- and welcome you onto the podcast to share your own opinions as a sci-fi writer, artist, producer, or raving fan!

Want to be on the show? Have feedback? Send Mookie a text!

Support the show