Utopian Horizons

A host of fantastic guests join the show to talk about utopian and dystopian places in videogames. We've got Rosie from Diane on Dark Souls, Lana Polansky on Space Funeral, Cameron Kunzelman on State of Decay, Jon Bailes on Persona 5, Trevor Strunk on Mega Man and me talking about Final Fantasy VII.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Email: utopianhorizonspod [at] gmail dot com

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Jon Bailes, author of the book Ideology and the Virtual City, joins the podcast to talk about the pop-cultural phenomenon that is GTA 5. We discuss whether GTA thinks of its representation of neoliberal capitalism as dystopian, the vital role cynicism plays in the game, and the significance of GTA's position as a consumer product to its cowardly satire.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Email: utopianhorizonspod [at] gmail dot com

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

I return to Economic Science Fictions to look at its first essay on the relationship between economics and science fiction and how the two can benefit from each other.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

email: utopianhorizonspod [at] gmail.com

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Marianne Kac-Vergne joins the podcast to talk about two visions of the future from the early 90s in Demolition Man and Predator 2. We discuss the films' representations of race, masculinity and the End of History in a world where every restaurant is a Pizza Hut.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Economic Science Fictions is a collection of essays merging the worlds of economics and science fiction to ask "how we might harness the power of the utopian imagination to revitalise economic thinking".

I start a journey through the book with an introduction that lays the groundwork on why those two worlds should be combined and what vital questions this union can help us address.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Cartoonist Stuart McMillen joins the podcast to talk about "the Leonardo Da Vinci of the twentieth century", the fascinating Buckminster Fuller. We discuss his utopian world view, his penchant for creating new terminology, his designs and inventions, both functional and fantastic.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Aaron Bastani joins the podcast to discuss his new book, Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto. We touch on automation, gene editing, free energy, and the trajectories the surprising progress of these new technologies could lead us on.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Twitter: @utopianhorizons

Support: patreon.com/utopianhorizons

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Ibtisam Ahmed joins the podcast to help guide us through Begum Rokeya's short story Sultana's Dream and the utopia it depicts called Ladyland. We discuss Rokeya's valuable approach to utopia, colonialism, technology and lots more.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Siobhan Carroll joins the podcast to introduce us to the idea of atopia, guiding us through modern globalised spaces, natural environments hostile to humanity and the connections between them. We discuss The Martian and Gravity as explorations of atopic space and as responses to contemporary anxieties about globalisation.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.

Diletta De Cristofaro joins me to talk about David Mitchell's 2004 novel Cloud Atlas. We talk about the relationship of utopia and dystopia to the idea of the apocalypse, the significance of Cloud Atlas' structure and how an apocalyptic understanding of time can be used as a tool by the powerful.

Utopian Horizons is a podcast about utopia. Each episode covers a different utopia, dystopia, utopian thinker, or utopian movement, asking what they can tell us about ourselves, our society, and our future.

Music: The Fiction of Utopian Studies/The Road To Oceania by The Fucked Up Beat.