Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.
Podcasting since 2020 • 169 episodes
Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Latest Episodes
#169 Hollywood necromancy: Remake (1995) by Connie Willis
Connie Willis is known for her stocked awards cabinet and for her lengthy novels in the "Oxford Time Travel" series. But this major figure of US SF has not always been concerned with exploring the past, or with doorstop-sized tomes. Remake<...
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Episode 169
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9:01
#168 Quantum uncertainty: Timescape (1980) by Gregory Benford
Time travel is, if scientists are to be believed, impossible. That has never stopped science fiction writers, who have made it one of their most frequently used and popular concepts. But if time travel is impossible, can it at least be made pla...
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Episode 168
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9:52
#167 The thing itself: science fiction and its aesthetic
Science fiction is famously difficult to define. In 1952, the writer and editor Damon Knight famously wrote that "science fiction is what we point to when we say it." But what if what we point to is just the surface, just an aesthetic, and what...
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Episode 167
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9:45
#166 Four futures: The Ace Double novels of Margaret St. Clair (1956 - 1964)
This is an exploration of four short novels by a neglected female writer of SF who sought to subvert the genre from within.One happy development in recent years is the growing awareness of the contribution of women writers to the develop...
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Episode 166
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15:02
#165 After two catastrophes: The Uncertain Midnight (1958) and The Cloud Walker (1973) by Edmund Cooper
Edmund Cooper is hardly a familiar name today, but he was once a significant presence on the British science fiction scene. For 23 years, he reviewed new SF books for The Sunday Times, and one of his short stories was adapted into the 1957 film...
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Episode 165
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10:08
