30 min listen
An interview with Adam Roberts
FromScience Fiction
ratings:
Length:
124 minutes
Released:
Feb 13, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
“It’s trying to thread that needle between the wonder and the splendour in this mythology without being beguiled into actual fascism.” ~Adam Roberts
Adam Roberts is a professor of nineteenth century literature, a prolific essayist and critic, and one of our best science fiction writers. Our interview traces a path between two powerful forces in science fiction – the mythic stories of transcendence and self fulfilment that animate much of today’s most popular sci-fi storytelling, and the mundane and ordinary lives that ground our reality.
We touch on the shifting perception of science fiction in academia, questions of worldbuilding and the endless argument to define science fiction, the new optimism of hopepunk and solarpunk, HG Wells long fascination with eugenics, the balance between stereotype and archetype in storytelling, and professor Roberts answer to the question of where science fiction began. It’s a great insight into the thinking of a great SF author.
00:00:00 A mistrust of myths
00:01:51 An interview with Adam Roberts
00:04:39 The professor's productivity tips
00:08:11 The nineteenth century and science fiction
00:11:03 Has the academic perception of science fiction shifted?
00:14:29 The worldbuilding question
00:19:16 Why do we keep arguing about the definition of science fiction?
00:23:39 We spend more money on Star Wars than space travel
00:32:12 Melding the literary and the sci-fi
00:42:49 The process of writing science fiction
00:48:03 Translating Joyce and algorithmic writing
00:59:50 Hopepunk and Solarpunk
01:11:22 The Community vs. the Individual
01:18:03 The Heroic and the Quotidian
01:28:02 A segue to Wellsian scholarship
01:35:01 Emmanuel Kant and the Fermi paradox
01:44:24 Tolkien and the English mythos
01:49:47 Stereotype vs Archetype
01:57:14 When does science fiction begin?
Become a member of the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com
Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197
Read the novels of Adam Roberts https://amzn.to/3LjUfZQ
Adam Roberts is a professor of nineteenth century literature, a prolific essayist and critic, and one of our best science fiction writers. Our interview traces a path between two powerful forces in science fiction – the mythic stories of transcendence and self fulfilment that animate much of today’s most popular sci-fi storytelling, and the mundane and ordinary lives that ground our reality.
We touch on the shifting perception of science fiction in academia, questions of worldbuilding and the endless argument to define science fiction, the new optimism of hopepunk and solarpunk, HG Wells long fascination with eugenics, the balance between stereotype and archetype in storytelling, and professor Roberts answer to the question of where science fiction began. It’s a great insight into the thinking of a great SF author.
00:00:00 A mistrust of myths
00:01:51 An interview with Adam Roberts
00:04:39 The professor's productivity tips
00:08:11 The nineteenth century and science fiction
00:11:03 Has the academic perception of science fiction shifted?
00:14:29 The worldbuilding question
00:19:16 Why do we keep arguing about the definition of science fiction?
00:23:39 We spend more money on Star Wars than space travel
00:32:12 Melding the literary and the sci-fi
00:42:49 The process of writing science fiction
00:48:03 Translating Joyce and algorithmic writing
00:59:50 Hopepunk and Solarpunk
01:11:22 The Community vs. the Individual
01:18:03 The Heroic and the Quotidian
01:28:02 A segue to Wellsian scholarship
01:35:01 Emmanuel Kant and the Fermi paradox
01:44:24 Tolkien and the English mythos
01:49:47 Stereotype vs Archetype
01:57:14 When does science fiction begin?
Become a member of the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com
Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197
Read the novels of Adam Roberts https://amzn.to/3LjUfZQ
Released:
Feb 13, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (50)
What is science fiction?: Look at a list of the 20th century's most important artistic and cultural movements and you won't find science fiction listed. Why not? We need a better definition of science fiction to help reclaim it...from itself. Follow the full course in Advanced Scifi and Fantasy : https://damiengwalter.com Enroll on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV by Science Fiction