Check out this great 10 minute long documentary on Science Fiction and SF fandom done by Joe Mahoney for broadcast on CBC Radio One‘s The Current. Authors interviewed include: John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, John Clute, Robert J. Sawyer, and Margaret Atwood.
Listen to the Documentary here: 
Joe Mahoney’s Documentary
Note: To hear the documentary, click and drag the time bar to about the fifteen minute mark.
Posted by Jesse Willis
The CBC has just made a series of samples avaiable that will be sure whet your appetite for the proposed CBC Radio One series FASTER THAN LIGHT! Spanning the years 1978-1998 these samples of previous Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror stories illustrate what is possible on radio. Enjoy!
Nightfall: “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” (1983)
One of the most disturbing radio series ever produced. The show ignited complaints from many listeners that it was too frightening, prompting some stations to drop the series from their programming.
99 half-hour episodes (1980 to 1983) – Listen to Real Audio clip
Vanishing Point: “The Man Who Dreamed in Djemma El Fna” (1991)
This series specialized in experimental dramas in the genres of sci-fi, supernatural, classics, pro-environment, and spiritual journeys. Its defining characteristic is extensive “on location” sound effects, with about half the performances done in a whisper. About half the shows are done in a familiar, straight-forward, manner and the other half are dreamy psychological journeys. The series incorporated several ‘sub-series’ over the course of its long run.
205 half-hour episodes (1984 to 1991) – Listen to Real Audio clip
Alice in Cyberspace: episode 1 – “Down the Data Stream”
Twelve-year old Alice and her adventures beyond the computer monitor as she meets the White Rabbit, the Music Master, and her PET (Personal Electronics Telecommunicator). Late one night, the White Rabbit shows up on Alice’s computer as a screen saver. Next thing Alice knows, she’s tumbling down the data stream. Alice’s knowledge of history, geography, math, science, the arts and good old-fashioned common sense are put to the test. For children ages 8 and up.
Fifteen 11-minute episodes – Listen to Real Audio clip
The Skid, episode 6
John Raven, former God of Chariot Drivers and erstwhile lesser deity, is back for one last kick at the terrestrial can. In this six-part series from writer Thomas Lackey, Raven is dispatched from Heaven by his reluctant colleague The Controller to avert a Millennial disaster. It seems that downsizing fever has hit the Celestial Spheres, and since soul revenue from Earth is way down, the powers Up the Mountain are considering terminating the whole terrestrial operation as unprofitable. Raven and the Controller, fearing for their own jobs, hit upon a scheme to avert catastrophe by performing a few modest miracles for select individuals. True to form, Raven botches the job and the fun begins.
6 half-hour episodes (1998) – Listen to Real Audio clip
Johnny Chase, Secret Agent of Space: episode 2
This over-the-top sci-fi series features misfit secret agent, Johnny Chase, who confronts the various threats to our expansion through the spaceways, and is set in a future in which mankind has expanded it’s empire to 200 light years across. The first season consisted of stand-alone anthology stories. The second season was a 26-part serial that was one long 26-part story, during which the Earth’s sun gets destroyed and the remnants of humanity, aboard a rag-tag assortment of spaceships, search for a new home. The series is part spoof, part serious space opera, with rocket ships, ray guns, clones, and space battles, and sprinklings of sorcery, mysticism, and even Dracula.
Approximately 79 half-hour episodes (1978 to 1979, 1981) – Listen to Real Audio clip
The Arabian Nights: Part 1
Terrible djinnis and subtle sorcerers, wretched fisherman and haughty emperors whirl through this fantastical dramatization of the famous, magical tales of the Arabian Nights. Stories spirl into other stories in a rich weave: parables rub alongside bawdy jokes, fantasies merge into hair-raising adventures, and plots of intricate revenge meet melodies of unlikely love. The transformations are created by an astonishing collection of actors.
8 half-hour episodes (1993) – Listen to Real Audio clip
Posted by Jesse Willis
CBC Radio One‘s pop culture media show Definitely Not the Opera has just done a delightful and lighthearted interview with Robert J. Sawyer. Here’s the link: DNTO Oct 18th 2003.
And
CBC Radio One‘s science program Quirks & Quarks has also archived a panel discussion of interest, it was first broadcast March 9, 2002 and is called First Contact: What If E.T. Calls US?
Here are the links:
| Listen to MP3 of Part 1 | Listen to MP3 of Part 2 |
Posted by Jesse Willis
Alien Voices: The Invisible Man
By H.G. Wells; Performed by John de Lancie, Leonard Nimoy and a full cast
2 Cassettes or 2 CDs – Approx. 114 minutes [UNABRIDGED DRAMATIZATION]
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published: 1998
ISBN: 067158104X (Cassette); 0671581058 (CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Invisibility / Fantasy / Star Trek / Classic / Philosophy /
One of Science Fiction’s seminal works is The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. It’s premise is intriguing. What would it be like to be hidden from view? At first, there would be the advantage of watching others without being noticed. But, what would you do when the novelty wore off and the invisibility didn’t? Would you become a prisoner of your own freedom? Or perhaps a madman bent on enslaving others?The novel was written in 1897 when the world believed that science could cure all ills, but as we will glean from the story of The Invisible Man, the achievements of the human mind are worthless without a human soul to guide them. Come with us now, as Alien Voices explores the tragic life of a young scientist who seemed to be on the threshold of a brilliant future and something quite unexpected happens.
This loose adaptation of H.G. Wells‘ The Invisible Man is quite…fascinating. It has been adapted in the style of an old time radio drama, the majority of the plot is there, but it has been compressed and massaged to fit the actors and sensibilities of the Alien Voices team. Alien Voices formed in 1996 to create multi-media works of science fiction and fantasy, drawing upon the copyright expired classics and the languishing resources of the Star Trek alumni. Its three founding members are actor/director Leonard Nimoy, actor/director/writer John de Lancie, and writer/producer Nat Segaloff. de Lancie and Nimoy headline the dramas, in this case playing the title character and his university professor respectively. The rest of the cast is rounded out by: Susan Bay, Richard Doyle, Robert Ellenstein, Jerry Hardin, Marnie Mosiman, Kate Mulgrew, Ethan Phillips, Dwight Schultz and Nana Visitor.
This production is very good, the sound effects, voice talent and music are all very well done. The script is quite different from the original novel, but those modifications are very well done. The packaging is merely adequate, a traditional cd jewel case, a cardboard box and some quickie photoshop art. But most conspicuous by its absence is a cast and character list. The cast is named at the end of the program, but we are never told which actor is playing which character. It is easy to tell Ethan Phillips and Nana Visitor, but its hard to identify many of the others. Of the other actors the only one who sounded at all familiar was one who sounded like Mark Twain. A little investigation, and I determined that it was likely Jerry Hardin who played Twain in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s two part episode Time’s Arrow!
The story itself has been modified and compressed, most of the original Wells’ version of The Invisible Man remains in this production. H.G. Wells is best remembered for The War Of The Worlds, which itself was adapted very early on by Mercury Theater and Orson Welles. That adaptation and a later film version had a lasting impact upon popular culture, making the idea of “alien invasion” almost synonymous science fiction, at least to the majority who don’t read it. But science fiction isn’t always about the future, or about space travel, or aliens invading the Earth. Sometimes it is subtler, and in the case of The Invisible Man, it proves itself deeply rooted in philosophy.
Those who examine science fiction closely will see a profound connection between science and philosophy. In the case of The Invisible Man, Wells started to explore what would be necessary for invisibility to work, (for it to be rooted in science and not merely magic), AND to explore the consequences of invisibility actually working. But Wells himself was drawing upon resources of an even earlier time. In the philosopher Plato’s famous book The Republic (itself a work of proto-science fiction), we are introduced to Gyges, a shepherd who finds a magic ring which can turn him invisible. Gyges soon discovers that he can act unjustly without anyone knowing. For Plato this was a story to make us think about what being just and injust really is. For Wells and Alien Voices it is more about telling a good story. But a little philosophy does manage to sneak into the plot; For the Invisible Man, invisibility is power, and possessing that power he can do a great many things, like get revenge. But revenge is hindered by a few stumbling blocks, first he has to go out naked, his clothing isn’t invisible so he can’t wear it. He can’t eat or smoke or walk in dusty areas, all of those things make him visible. Also he can’t carry anything, so if he steals money (he can’t earn it), it appears to float about of its own accord, making people chase after him! It is almost as bad as king Midas’s dilemma, like Midas, The Invisible Man got his wish but it isn’t quite working out for him. Dust and moisture make his body visible in a ghostly way. His footprints appear in the dirt and snow. Oh yes and the small matter that the accumulated effect of these things has driven him to the edge of madness.
I liked the story, but I was constantly reminded of one glaring problem not mentioned in production. Wouldn’t an invisible man also be blind? If his corneas are absolutely transparent and his retinas are absolutely transparent, how would light be turned into mental images? The answer…. they wouldn’t be! An invisible man would be blind! For us to see the world a fraction of the light that hits our retina must be absorbed into our rods and cones, our corneas must focus the light. This issue made the whole story so implausible, in my mind it made me question whether this was science fiction at all! Thankfully I got over it. And have come to realize that even if it is flawed by this oversight, at least it demonstrates that philosophical fiction like all good science fiction is able to make us think out problems that don’t seem obvious at first. Who’d have thought invisibility would require blindness? Not me, at least not before listening to Alien Voices: The Invisible Man.
Airing on BBC7‘s wonderful program The 7th Dimension:
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
[Episode 1 of 2, rptd at midnight]
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Sean Barratt
STREAMING AUDIO – Approx. 30 Minutes – Stereo – [UNABRIDGED]
Airs: Thu 25 Sep, 18:00 – 18:30 GMT, (Repeats Friday, 26 Sep, 00:00 – 00:30 GMT)
Poe’s chilling short story about a family’s descent into madness.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
[Episode 2 of 2, rptd at midnight]
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Sean Barratt
STREAMING AUDIO – Approx. 30 Minutes – Stereo – [UNABRIDGED]
Airs: Fri 26 Sep, 18:00 – 18:30 GMT, (Repeats Sat 27 Sep 00:00 – 00:30GMT)
Poe’s chilling short story about a family’s descent into madness.
Posted by Jesse Willis
The Andromeda Strain
By Michael Crichton; Read by Chris Noth
2 Cassettes – 3 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 1993
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mystery / Disease / Disaster / Scientist / Medical /
A top secret research satellite falls to Earth near a small town in Arizona. Hours later a recovery team discovers that something has killed off the town’s entire population except for an old man and a new-born baby, statistically the most likely age groups to succumb to any normal disease. In anticipation of such an event a team of microbiologists assembles in a top-secret, underground laboratory in the Nevada desert. This laboratory was designed to handle an accidental introduction of virulent organisms into Earth’s atmosphere and ecological systems. The team begins to study the survivors and the “toxic” satellite and discovers several black/green patches of deadly bacteria that they have code-named: The Andromeda Strain.
First Published in 1969, The Andromeda Strain is one of Crichton’s best science fiction tales and a terrific scientific mystery story! As the microbiology team races against the clock, trying to figure out the toxic effect of the alien infection, the US government contemplates a nuclear cauterization of the infected crash site. But when The Andromeda Strain mutates it begins to eat through plastic lab suits and rubber gaskets protecting the scientists and the population from escaping toxins. Its a real thriller of a story, and was successfully turned into a great feature film directed by Crichton himself.
This fine novel is only available as an abridgement, and this is unfortunate. The missing portions actually improve the novel to a very large degree because the novel is written in the style of a non-fiction report of events. The original text includes, images, citations, timelines and references, their absence is a disservice to the remaining story. Chris Noth, most famous for his role on the NBC television series Law And Order, reads with a rich and compelling voice. But Noth does merely a satisfactory reading, he makes good attempts with the scientific jargon replete throughout the novel, but they are often mispronounced. Added to this is his lack of range for the voices. Given more audiobook experience Noth will probably become a good reader, in this audiobook however, his performance is merely satisfactory. All in all well worth a listen, but I sincerely hope an unabridged edition is released.