Episode 81 - Stranger in a strange land Artwork

Since the World's been Turning

This podcast series is a journey through history, one guided by the lyrics of Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire". Join us for an educational and fun exploration of the events, people, and inventions that helped to shape the modern world during the Cold War. These roughly half-hour episodes place a microscope on each of Billy Joel’s lyrics, discovering the rich detail that helps breathe life into the past. Narrated by Robin Harrison, each episode also features interviews with guest speakers, including experts in the field and friends and family of the people being discussed. Together, we’ll learn why Billy Joel wrote the lyrics he did and hopefully come to understand what he meant when he sang “We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning, since the world’s been turning.”

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Since the World's been Turning

Episode 81 - Stranger in a strange land

March 18, 2023 • NZpodz • Episode 82

In this episode, we’re seeing Earth through the eyes of a Martian named Smith, and everything looks a little bit off. Robert A. Heinlein’s seminal science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land was released on the first of June, 1961, and to this day remains an influential and pivotal work in the history of science fiction and American Literature at large.

Its story, of a human born on Mars coming back and discovering Earth for the first time, is a timeless one. It has rippled through history, making its imprint on everything from religion to the Oxford English Dictionary. But who was Robert Heinlein, the man behind this novel? How did this Democrat-turned-Republican, debatably-pro-war, ex-navy-officer become a legend in the 1960s counterculture?

Were joined by special guest Vice President of the Heinlein Society, Ken Walters