Science Fiction University
Episodes
29 episodes
Ep 23 The Maltese Falcon (Is Not Science Fiction)
We take a short break from Science Fiction to dive into the 1941 film noir masterpiece The Maltese Falcon, comparing and contrasting that Humphrey Bogart classic with two earlier versions, one made in 1931, and a Bette Davis comedy (?) version,...
Ep 24 We drop everything to talk about Dune 2
What the title says! Support the show at proleftpod.com and thanks!
Ep 17: Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and Neuromancer
Driftglass took Blue Gal to see Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 for her birthday. During the movie, Driftglass noticed many plot points that connect this blockbuster to William Gibson's 1984 novel, "Neuromancer." So we did...
Ep 16 Multiverses
Multiversal success and failure. Success? Star Trek TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror," and the 2017 Starz series, "Counterpart." Failure? It pains Driftglass to say it, but Robert Heinlein's "The Number of the Beast" is well...
Ep 9: Attack of the '60's
We discuss three modern productions with roots in the 1960's: Apple TV's Foundation, Denis Villeneuve's Dune, and For All Mankind (also Apple TV). More at
Episode 1: UBIK and Inception
Welcome to Science Fiction University! Our premiere episode concerns Philip K. Dick's 1969 novel UBIK, and Christopher Nolan's 2010 film "Inception." We'd love your feedback at sciencefictionuniversity.com or email the show at scien...
Ep 2 The End of Eternity and Looper
Driftglass and Blue Gal compare and contrast Isaac Asimov's 1955 book "The End of Eternity" with Rian Johnson's 2012 film, "Looper."
Ep 3 Special Stranger in a Strange Land and HBO's The Watchmen
Gods Among Us! Driftglass and Blue Gal talk about Valentine Michael Smith in Robert Heinlein's 1961 novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" and Doctor Manhattan in HBO's 2019 series "The Watchmen." Support the show on Patreon!
Ep 4 Neuromancer and 2001: A Space Odyssey
Artificial Intelligences: Driftglass and Blue Gal talk about William Gibson's 1984 novel "Neuromancer," and Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." SPOILERS as always. Support the show at our
Ep 5 How Westworld Went South
(Spoiler Alert, and we swear a little in this episode.) We've watched the first two episodes of Season 3 of HBO's Westworld and are ready to call it a #fail as narrative science fiction. But it provides a perfect example of WHY sto...
Ep 6 System Failure -- The Outsider, The Night Stalker and The Blob
HBO's 2020 series "The Outsider" meets the cult classics the 1972 made-for-TV movie/pilot for "The Night Stalker" and the 1958 Steve McQueen debut "The Blob." These science fiction stories are connected by a truth-knower untrusted by the ...
Ep 7: While You Were Sleeping: Planet of the Apes, Idiocracy, Groundhog Day
Looking at time travel stories generated by a main character waking from sleep. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com. (Episode contains spoilers and occasional swear words.)
Ep 8 Save The Timeline, Destroy the Timeline
We discuss timelines using examples from Loki, Travelers, Star Trek TOS "The City on the Edge of Forever," and 11.22.63 (Honorable mention to “All You Zombies”/”By His Bootstraps”, The End of Eternity)Support the show at
Ep 10: When Aliens Are Truly Alien
We discuss Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film, “Solaris,” and Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 film, “Arrival.” More at ScienceFictionUniversity.com. Support our ad-fre...
Ep 11 Adapting Stories to the Screen: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
We discuss what can go wrong, and right, when adapting a much-loved science fiction story to the big or big-ish screen. Examples include Foundation, Dune, and the more recent Kindred. More at ScienceFictionUniversity.com. ...
Ep 12: The Prisoner
We discuss our re-watching of Patrick McGoohan in "The Prisoner," perhaps the most influential science fiction single-season show ever. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com
Ep 13 The Forbin Project and A.I.
The 1970 film, "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and the "uh oh, we shouldn't have done that" genre of science fiction. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com .
Ep 14 Gene Roddenberry and the Good Robot
We look at a 1970's pilot, "The Questor Tapes," which was a scratchpad for the invention of the TNG character known as Data. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com.
Ep 15 When Genres Collide!
Science Fiction "versus" Fantasy – When Genres CollideRobert Heinlein’s “Glory Road”Babylon 5: The Technomages.Star WarsJohn Varley’s Wizard/Demon TrilogyThe Dragonr...
Ep 18: Fish Stories
Alternate title: 'Mother Nature, USMC'. A subgenre of science fiction in which humans try to bend nature to their will, sometimes with disastrous results. Also, an ocean creature theme. Movies discussed include&n...
Ep 19 Too Much of a Good Thing / Whither Dune?
We discuss tragic heroes and utopias in science fiction, then we turn to the possiblity of future Dune movies. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com.
Ep 20 Time Travel and Netflix's 'Bodies'
The Netflix series "Bodies" brings up all kinds of connections to time travel in science fiction. We watched the 8 part series in three days -- it's good!
Ep 21: Labor Relations and 'The Icicle Works'
We discuss the very political "The Day the Icicle Works Closed" by Frederick Pohl, and also why science fiction stories often don't stand the test of time. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com.