Alienating the Audience

Science fiction tackles the end of the world again and again, sometimes hopefully and some... more

In the film "Cabin in the Woods" the grizzly deaths of several archetypical characters are... more

The Prime Directive orders Starfleet officers to refrain from interfering in pre-warprdriv... more

In "The Last Starfighter" (1984) a young man has his sword-in-the-stone moment playing an ... more

In Naomi Alderman's "The Power" women all over the planet suddenly develop the ability to ... more

Getting thrown back to the same place in time, repeatedly, with little you can do about it... more

Star Trek's Feringi are intergalactic traders, merchants, entrepreneurs, and feckless shys... more

In "Subservience" Megan Fox plays a robot servant who goes off the rails, seduces her owne... more

Fresh after seeing "Alien: Romulus," Dickie Lynch and Heaton discuss Ripley Scott's "Alien... more

It's three centuries after the apocalypse, and a small Catholic monastery in the desert is... more

How has A. I. been portrayed through history in science fiction, and what's it going to lo... more

Anthony Burgess wrote his dystopian novel "A Clockwork Orange" in 1962, but two different ... more

The universe is really, really big. Like huge. Really really really huge. Prompting scienc... more

Drew Magary's book "The Postmortal" explores a scenario in which a vaccine is made for agi... more

Madeline Miller's "Circe" novelizes the mysterious character from the Odyssey who turns me... more

George Orwell died way back in 1950, and his estate has never allowed anyone to canonicall... more

Season Finale! In which we talk about how to use sci-fi robots for helpful psychological t... more

Star Trek Deep Space Nine's Elim Garak is a simple, unassuming character. But also a spyma... more

Is 1984 prophetic, or merely a terrifying dystopia? What makes this haunting book so engag... more

Star Trek: Picard recently wrapped up its third and final season--and the first season Hea... more

Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time" tackles multi-generational sleeper ships, uplifiti... more

In this satirical novel by Max Barry, the United States is a corporate wasteland with ruth... more

How does the multiverse shake out in science fiction? What are the tropes, and what are th... more

In "The Truman Show," Jim Carey's character is the unwitting star of a global reality tele... more

Neil Stephenson's "Snowcrash" looked at the embryonic Internet and projected a future of V... more

In this episode we talk about all the times people get tiny in science fiction, from "Hone... more

Comedian John Robertson is a regular performer, panelist, and celebrity at science fiction... more

Charlton Heston stars in "Soylent Green," a film about the terror of overpopulation, urban... more

At its height, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series accounted for fully 2% of all book sales... more