News, Reviews, and Commentary on all forms of science fiction, fantasy, and horror audio. Audiobooks, audio drama, podcasts; we discuss all of it here. Mystery, crime, and noir audio are also fair game.
The Sci Phi Show, has podcast that uses the recent 100th episode of Escape Pod and its podcast of Isaac Asimov’s short story Nightfall |MP3| to talk about the philosophies of science and religion. Have a listen to it, then listen to Episode #36: |MP3| (22 minutes 17 seconds) then click on over to The Sci Phi Show forums and post your own thoughts.
Subscribers to the Sci Phi Show’s podcast can use this feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSciPhiShow
First published in 1938, Anthem by philosopher/SF author Ayn Rand is one of the world’s most famous novellas! Anthem depicts a dystopian world that will be familiar to those who’ve read George Orwell’s similiarly-themed 1984 (published a full decade later). Both tales are set far in a future in which “equality” is strictly enforced, and individual thought are banned. In the society of Anthem, even individual names are banned with the protagonist known only as “Equality 7-2521.” His story is written as though it was his forbidden diary. You’ll find the full, fascinating, novella available through LibriVox.org…
And here are Virgil Finlay’s illustrations from the June 1953 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries:
Anthem
By Ayn Rand; Read by Chere Theriot
1 Zipped Folder of MP3 Files – 2 Hours 12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox
Completed: May 2nd 2007
“A dystopic SF story taking place at some unspecified future date. Mankind has entered another dark age as a result of what Rand saw as the weaknesses of socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur, if at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the word “I” has disappeared from the language). As is common in her work, Rand draws a clear distinction between the “socialist/communal” values of equality and brotherhood and the “productive/capitalist” values of achievement and individuality. The story also parallels Stalinist Russia, which was currently going on at the time as the story was published.”
The Sci Phi Show podcast, back from a short hiatus, has an interview with SF author Kim Stanley Robinson! Cool huh? Jason, the show’s host also tells me we can expect to see interviews with Cory Doctorow and Orson Scott Card soon too! Download the show direct |MP3| or subscribe to the show via the podcast feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSciPhiShow
In what appears likely to be another series of interviews that will make another podiobook someday The Sci Phi Show podcast is following up from its “Philosophy of Science” show from last week by speaking to SFFaudio Essential winning author Bill DeSmedt. Host Jason Rennie talks with Bill about The Vurdalak Conjecture and how it plays a role in his novel, Singularity. Tied into this interview, Jason tells me, you can look for what should be a fascinating interview with physicist Lee Smolin in a couple of days. The two interviews will compliment each other as Smolin is probably going to be talking about The Trouble with Physics, his non-fiction book which is critical of string theory. I love it when a confluence of Science and Science Fiction meets in one podcast. You can download the Bill DeSmedt interview show |MP3| or subscribe to the podcast and get the whole series via this link:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSciPhiShow
The Sci Phi Show‘s latest podcast, which will be streeting very soon, will have an interview with Mike Resnick, the winningest short fiction author in Science Fiction history. Jason Rennie, the show’s host talks to Mike about his career and his recent success with Escape Pod. Resnick’s wondrously emotional prose ranges far and wide across the universe – be sure to check out our recently reviewed Kirinyaga: A Fable Of Utopia (an SFFaudio Essential) which Jason talks to Mike about. They also discuss Resnick’s thoughts on utopias in general, his overall worldview and his latest fictions for Pyr publications.
You can subscribe to the podcast feed via this link:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSciPhiShow
Look for it to show up in your podcatcher Friday or Saturday!
The Sci Phi Show podcast on epistemology and The Outer Limit (a Dimension X episode) has posted!
Subscribe to the show’s podcast feed via this link:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSciPhiShow