Science Fiction

“With Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback, H.G. Wells invented the genre of science fiction.” Tweet by @nytimesbooks, November 2021 A badly worded tweet by the New York Times revealed a deep anger at the false history of science fiction. Written out of that history were hundreds of women writers of the 1800s who created what today we call science fiction. The true history of science fiction is deeper and richer than many fans and readers know. It reaches back to the Enlightenment and the collapse of belief in the Christian mythos. It is the search for a new mythos for the modern world, that continues into the 21st century. 00:00 The forgotten authors of science fiction 02:30 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 07:07 The true history of science fiction...why does it matter? 09:21 Commercial Genre vs Creative Movement 17:12 The Problem : the collapse of the Christian mythos 23:36 All science fiction is myth, not all myth is science fiction 26:38 The seeds of science fiction 29:01 The Novel Experiment 36:20 Birth of Genre 38:41 The ideological capture of science fiction by John W Campbell 43:47 The New Mythic 50:01 The process of genrefication 54:44 Writing the 21st century myth Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR Pre-1950 Utopias and Science Fiction by Women https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/_collections/utopias/utopias.html

Fascism lures people in with a fantasy of return to older, better times. A golden age before the modern world. Nazi Germany had the fantasy of the Third Reich and the Ubermensch. Today the Russia of Vladimir Putin has a fantasy of a Eurasian Empire and the Return of the Tsar. Critics of Lord of the Rings sometimes compare JRR Tolkien's fantasy to the fantasies of fascism. Is Lord of the Rings a fascist fantasy? Or did Tolkien create a mythos beyond the understanding of his critics? 00:00 An alternate history of England 03:59 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 07:17 The rise of a fascist fantasy 10:09 Is LotR a fascist fantasy? 11:54 Premodern, Modern, Postmodern 13:45 The pre-modern fantasy 17:15 The synthetic fantasy of fascism 21:51 The fascist fantasy in 2022 27:22 The Return of the King 33:22 The bit people who are angry at the title should listen to first 34:23 The modern vision of scifi 38:51 The postmodern vision of transhumanism 43:22 A mass retreat to the premodern 47:24 LotR as integrated mythos 52:33 LotR as a call for WISDOM 56:16 LotR as path into the Unreal Follow the the Science Fiction podcast https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR

Humankind had it within our grasp to become a K1 civilization, the first stage of the Kardashev scale. But we allowed K1 to slip through our fingers. As the scientist Carl Sagan argued, much of 20th century history can be understood as the effort, and failure, to achieve K1. Today that failure has returned us to the threat of World War 3, as Russia invades Ukraine. How did we miss our chance at K1? And how can we still become a K1 civilization? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR

Explore the symbolic meaning of severance and the misinterpretation of symbolic stories. Delve into the concept of severance and its effects on individuals' lives, including the feeling of playing a fake self at work. Analyze the effects of severance in the corporate world, discussing enforced behavior and specific corporate uniforms. Discover the connection between severance and the violence of work, and the choice we make to participate. Join the Science Fiction podcast for more thought-provoking discussions.

“It’s trying to thread that needle between the wonder and the splendour in this mythology without being beguiled into actual fascism.” ~Adam Roberts Adam Roberts is a professor of nineteenth century literature, a prolific essayist and critic, and one of our best science fiction writers. Our interview traces a path between two powerful forces in science fiction – the mythic stories of transcendence and self fulfilment that animate much of today’s most popular sci-fi storytelling, and the mundane and ordinary lives that ground our reality. We touch on the shifting perception of science fiction in academia, questions of worldbuilding and the endless argument to define science fiction, the new optimism of hopepunk and solarpunk, HG Wells long fascination with eugenics, the balance between stereotype and archetype in storytelling, and professor Roberts answer to the question of where science fiction began. It’s a great insight into the thinking of a great SF author. 00:00:00 A mistrust of myths 00:01:51 An interview with Adam Roberts 00:04:39 The professor's productivity tips 00:08:11 The nineteenth century and science fiction 00:11:03 Has the academic perception of science fiction shifted? 00:14:29 The worldbuilding question 00:19:16 Why do we keep arguing about the definition of science fiction? 00:23:39 We spend more money on Star Wars than space travel 00:32:12 Melding the literary and the sci-fi 00:42:49 The process of writing science fiction 00:48:03 Translating Joyce and algorithmic writing 00:59:50 Hopepunk and Solarpunk 01:11:22 The Community vs. the Individual 01:18:03 The Heroic and the Quotidian 01:28:02 A segue to Wellsian scholarship 01:35:01 Emmanuel Kant and the Fermi paradox 01:44:24 Tolkien and the English mythos 01:49:47 Stereotype vs Archetype 01:57:14 When does science fiction begin? Become a member of the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read the novels of Adam Roberts https://amzn.to/3LjUfZQ

Explore the unique brilliance of Iain M. Banks as his Culture novels create a modern mythology unmatched in space opera. This discussion dives into the importance of themes over mere concepts in science fiction, highlighting how Banks masterfully weaves profound human themes into his high-concept stories. With a focus on his novel Excession, discover how subjects like change and stasis are illustrated through powerful symbols, revealing the fragility of utopia when faced with external threats.

Solarpunk is the newest genre of science fiction, a joyous and optimistic vision of a future where humans and our technology live in balance with nature. Solarpunk is an artistic, cultural and political movement that encompasses the arts, architecture, fashion and technology. But optimistic visions of the future are never all that they seem. From HG Wells' The Shape of Things to Come, to Ursula Le Guin's Always Coming Home, one science fiction author's vision of a bright utopia is another's grim dystopia. Can Solarpunk envision a utopia for all? 00:00 Two quotes from Brave New World 01:02 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 02:33 Am I trolling the scifi community? 03:49 The pre-history of ****punk 09:33 There is no such thing as Solarpunk 12:15 What is Solarpunk? 20:14 A Solarpunk Manifesto 23:17 Solarpunk is a genre without a story 25:12 Ursula Le Guin : patron saint of Solarpunk 33:13 The moral absolutism of Those Who Walk Away From Omelas 35:53 Science Fiction and the shadow of Utopianism 39:33 Can we ever achieve a utopia? Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast Join the Science Fiction community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ Enroll on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV Read Always Coming Home by Ursula Le Guin: https://amzn.to/3nxHQqS Solarpunk's political manifesto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHI61GHNGJM

Discover the prophetic visions and career of Philip K. Dick, the author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Dive into his nine prophetic visions, including The Exit Door Leads In, Chains of Air, Web of Aether, and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Explore the concept of reality and perception and the influence of tech disruptors on our lives. Uncover the power of narrative and how Dick's science fiction stories shape our society.

We are 21 years into the 21st century. What better time to look at the century we are living in...the century of science fiction. A special double episode of the Science Fiction podcast. Part 1 of 2. 00:00 The science fiction century 03:07 Welcome to new listeners. 04:59 The best scifi and fantasy of the 21st century 06:46 Why science fiction and fantasy? 10:46 21 + 21 = 42 13:16 The first year of the Science Fiction podcast 15:04 Twenty-One : John Scalzi / Star Wars 23:46 A few outliers 26:55 Twenty : Beeple / Blade Runner 2049 32:29 Nineteen : Cixin Liu / Mass Effect 37:18 Eighteen : Jenova Chen / American Gods 42:00 Seventeen : Tamsyn Muir / The Handmaid's Tale 44:40 Sixteen : Christopher Nolan / The Witcher 48:04 Fifteen : N K Jemisin / District 9 49:53 An offer you can refuse 52:48 Fourteen : Charlie Jane Anders / Harry Potter 55:31 Thirteen : Qntm / The Orville 58:31 Twelve : Hwang Dong-hyuk / Interstellar Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast Join the Science Fiction community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ Enroll on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV

There's a question about The Matrix I've been asking myself since the franchise established itself in the collective unconscious of humanity back in the early 00s. What is Sigmund Freud doing in these movies? 00:00 What's Sigmund Freud doing here? 02:21 Welcome the the Science Fiction podcast 04:01 Freud vs Jung 09:05 Good vs Evil 13:00 Carl Jung's little Red Book 16:26 The Jungian tradition in 20th century storytelling 22:21 The Matrix and the archetypes of Carl Jung 35:17 The false god of the Gnostics 37:34 The journey to the Self 39:56 A Jungian myth for the 21st century Watch the original Matrix full movie: https://amzn.to/3GUbPRh Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast Join the Science Fiction community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ Enroll on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV