Science Fiction

Science Fiction

episodes

Interviews with writers of science fiction and scholars of science fiction about their new books.

Scott Alexander Howard, "The Other Valley" (Atria Books, 2024)

March 14, 2024

The Other Valley

Scott Alexander Howard
Hosted by Chris Holmes

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she'll decide who may cross her t…

Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, "The Inhumans and Other Stories: A Selection of Bengali Science Fiction" (MIT Press, 2024)

March 13, 2024

The Inhumans and Other Stories

Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Kalpavigyan—science fiction written to excite Bengali speakers about science, as well as to persuade them to evolve beyond the limitations of religion…

Marie-Helene Bertino, "Beautyland" (FSG, 2024)

February 27, 2024

Beautyland

Marie-Helene Bertino
Hosted by Chris Holmes

At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Phil…

Harry Turtledove, "Wages of Sin" (Caezik SF & Fantasy, 2024)

February 26, 2024

Wages of Sin

Harry Turtledove
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

What if HIV started spreading in the early 1500s rather than the late 1900s? Without modern medicine, anybody who catches HIV is going to die. In Wage…

Samantha Harvey, "Orbital" (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023)

January 26, 2024

Orbital

Samantha Harvey
Hosted by Chris Holmes

A slender novel of epic power, Orbital (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023) deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men hurtling through spac…

Stefano Gualeni, "The Clouds: An Experiment in Theory-Fiction" (Routledge, 2023)

January 24, 2024

The Clouds

Stefano Gualeni

On a slow autumn afternoon, an atmospheric physicist working at the Malta Weather Station receives a surprising email from a colleague working in the …

Waubgeshig Rice, "Moon of the Turning Leaves" (William Morrow, 2023)

January 16, 2024

Moon of the Turning Leaves

Waubgeshig Rice
Hosted by Gregory Soden

It’s been over a decade since a mysterious cataclysm caused a permanent blackout that toppled infrastructure and thrust the world into anarchy. Evan W…

Jarret Keene, "Hammer of the Dogs" (U Nevada Press, 2023)

December 17, 2023

Hammer of the Dogs

Jarret Keene
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Set in the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, Jarret Keene's, Hammer of the Dogs (University of Nevada Press, 2023), is a literary dystopian ad…

Proto-Science Fiction Classics: Joshua Glenn on MIT Press's "Radium Age Series"

November 18, 2023

Proto-Science Fiction Classics

Joshua Glenn
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Under the direction of founding editor Joshua Glenn, the MIT Press’s Radium Age series is reissuing notable proto–science fiction stories from the und…

Reese Hogan, "My Heart Is Human" (Space Wizard Science Fantasy, 2023)

November 9, 2023

My Heart Is Human

Reese Hogan
Listen:

My Heart Is Human (Space Wizard Science Fantasy, 2023) by Reese Hogan is about a human and robot who come to occupy the same body. The body belongs …

Mingwei Song, "Fear of Seeing: A Poetics of Chinese Science Fiction" (Columbia UP, 2023)

October 29, 2023

Fear of Seeing

Mingwei Song
Hosted by Julia Keblinska

I am talking today to Mingwei Song about his new book, Fear of Seeing: A Poetics of Chinese Science Fiction (Columbia UP, 2023). The book is a sweepi…

What Would Undo the Maxim Gun? Magic: P. Djèlí Clark and andré carrington

October 19, 2023

What Would Undo the Maxim Gun? Magic

P. Djèlí Clark and andré carrington
Hosted by Novel Dialogue
Listen:

Locus- and Nebula- award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark joins critic andré carrington (UC Riverside) and host Rebecca Ballard for a conversation about …

Jeffrey Angles, ed., "Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again: The Original Novellas by Shigeru Kayama" (U Minnesota Press, 2023)

September 21, 2023

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again

Shigeru Kayama
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

Godzilla emerged from the sea to devastate Tokyo in the now-classic 1954 film, produced by Tōhō Studios and directed by Ishirō Honda, creating a globa…

Em X. Liu, "The Death I Gave Him" (Solaris, 2023)

September 7, 2023

The Death I Gave Him

Em X. Liu
Hosted by Brenda Noiseux
Listen:

Em X. Liu’s The Death I Gave Him (Solaris, 2023) brings a science fiction twist to Shakespeare’s beloved Hamlet. Working at Elsinore Labs, Hayden Li…

Earthsea, and Other Realms: Ursula Le Guin as Social Inactivist (EF, JP, [UKL])

September 7, 2023

Earthsea, and Other Realms

John Plotz and Elizabeth Ferry
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To mark the publication of John's book Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea (My Reading), with Oxford University Press (2023), John and Elizabeth take to the a…

Samuel R. Delany, Neveryon and Beyond (JP)

August 17, 2023

Neveryon and Beyond (JP)

Samuel R. Delany
Listen:

John Plotz talked with Samuel Delany, living legend of science fiction and fantasy back in 2019. You probably know him best for breakthrough novels li…

Nick Harkaway, "Titanium Noir" (Knopf, 2023)

August 3, 2023

Titanium Noir

Nick Harkaway
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According to Merriam-Webster, noir is “crime fiction featuring hard-boiled, cynical characters and bleak, sleazy settings.” The Cambridge Dictionary s…

Arin Greenwood, "Your Robot Dog Will Die" (Soho, 2019)

July 31, 2023

Your Robot Dog Will Die

Arin Greenwood
Hosted by Kyle Johannsen
Listen:

Today I talked to Arin Greenwood about her new book Your Robot Dog Will Die (Soho, 2019). When a global genetic experiment goes awry and canines stop…

Karen Lord, "The Blue, Beautiful World" (Del Rey, 2023)

July 6, 2023

The Blue, Beautiful World

Karen Lord
Hosted by Rob Wolf
Listen:

In science fiction, aliens who come to Earth are usually scary and menacing, aspiring to destroy, conquer, or even eat mankind. But the aliens in Kare…

Tilly Bridges, "Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix" (BearManor Media, 2023)

July 4, 2023

Begin Transmission

Tilly Bridges
Hosted by Jana Byars
Listen:

In Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix (BearManor Media, 2023), trans woman and screenwriter Tilly Bridges takes you through the t…