Arthur C Clarke’s forgotten masterpiece of hard SF

What is Solarpunk?: Solarpunk is the newest genre of science fiction, a joyous and optimistic vision of a future where humans and our technology live in balance with nature. Solarpunk is an artistic, cultural and political movement that encompasses the arts, architecture, fashion and technology. But optimistic visions of the future are never all that they seem. From HG Wells' The Shape of Things to Come, to Ursula Le Guin's Always Coming Home, one science fiction author's vision of a bright utopia is another's grim dystopia. Can Solarpunk envision a utopia for all? 00:00 Two quotes from Brave New World 01:02 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 02:33 Am I trolling the scifi community? 03:49 The pre-history of ****punk 09:33 There is no such thing as Solarpunk 12:15 What is Solarpunk? 20:14 A Solarpunk Manifesto 23:17 Solarpunk is a genre without a story 25:12 Ursula Le Guin : patron saint of Solarpunk 33:13 The moral absolutis by Science Fiction

44 min listen

The failure of Foundation is a lost opportunity for Apple: Stories that last through the ages aren't just great storytelling, they also serve the power structures of their time. Powerful people have always patronised great stories. The epic poem Beowulf, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, the plays of William Shakespeare, were all supported by powerful patrons. Now the most powerful corporation in the world has decided to patronise a $500 billion production of Isaac Asimov's Foundation saga, a story that represents the values of our technocratic elite better than any other. 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 Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 by Science Fiction

24 min listen

The true meaning of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey: It's more than a little ironic that the motion picture widely called the greatest science fiction story ever told was made by an artist who hated science fiction. Stanley Kubrick thought science fiction was a failure at myth making, and set out to make a new myth for the modern world, and the only great science fiction movie. Watch the full video essay on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NNE9vxLUGpE 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

18 min listen

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

30 min listen

The most powerful scene in scifi cinema Blade Runner’s Tears in Rain: Rick Deckard is a Replicant. And Rick Deckard is also not the hero of Blade Runner...but is the villain. But the obvious questions about Blade Runner are also the least interesting. Empathy is the core of the Blade Runner story. Why we feel it, who we feel it for, and who we choose to exclude from our empathy. Blade Runner is an empathy test...for the audience...to see if you and I are human. All too often, we fail the test. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qWpLcC7QaSA Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : 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 Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 by Science Fiction

14 min listen

Kim Stanley Robinson | Interstellar travel is a religious fantasy: Science fiction is fighting a doctrinal war. Between those who believe that humankind's future is still the stars, and those - like Kim Stanley Robinson - who believe interstellar travel is a fantasy of religious belief. The science is clear, travel to other stars may well be forever beyond us. So why do we keep telling this story? A response to Kim Stanley Robinson's interview for the Science Fiction Talks club on Clubhouse. Find his full interview here: https://www.clubhouse.com/room/xe65rroG Read The MInistry For The Future: https://amzn.to/3y5YmT3 Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast Join the Science Fiction community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com Enroll on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthl by Science Fiction

20 min listen

Severance – what does it mean?: Severance is sophisticated science fiction for grown up audiences in the style of J G Ballard, Philip K Dick or Haruki Murakami. But what does it mean? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR by Science Fiction

23 min listen

An interview with Adam Roberts: “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 S by Science Fiction

124 min listen

Thoughts after watching Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE (2021): If science fiction is a gateway to the psychedelic, then DUNE is a portal to...awakening. Frank Herbert's seminal novel and David Lynch's baroquely weird movie are both powerful works of art on the theme of human awakening. Denis Villeneuve's 2021 adaptation is a masterpiece of worldbuilding. But is it a kick in the third eye for would be seekers of truth? If the 13 year old me could see this Dune afresh, would the sleeper awaken? Discuss this podcast on the Science Fiction community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Get the Science Fiction podcast free on your choice of app : https://damiengwalter.com/podcast Join the course in Scifi and Fantasy writing on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV by Science Fiction

48 min listen

The Matrix and the archetypes of Carl Jung: There's a question about The Matrix I've been asking myself since the franchise established itself in the collective unconscious of humanity back in the early 00s. What is Sigmund Freud doing in these movies? 00:00 What's Sigmund Freud doing here? 02:21 Welcome the the Science Fiction podcast 04:01 Freud vs Jung 09:05 Good vs Evil 13:00 Carl Jung's little Red Book 16:26 The Jungian tradition in 20th century storytelling 22:21 The Matrix and the archetypes of Carl Jung 35:17 The false god of the Gnostics 37:34 The journey to the Self 39:56 A Jungian myth for the 21st century Watch the original Matrix full movie: https://amzn.to/3GUbPRh Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast Join the Science Fiction community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ Enroll o by Science Fiction

48 min listen

The prophetic visions of Philip K Dick: We are living in strange times. Politics. Society. Culture wars. Things have gone weird. We're looking for knowledge and wisdom to guide us in strange times. I can think of no better guide to the year 2022 than Philip K Dick. The author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the inspiration for Blade Runner, is best known as a science fiction writer. But after his infamous spiritual awakening and the events of 2-3-74, Philip K Dick became something more....a visionary prophet who saw our strange times coming. 00:00 Welcome to strange times 01:07 The prophetic Philip K Dick 03:45 A career of three parts 08:54 2-3-74 12:40 The films of Philip K Dick 15:24 The nine prophetic visions of Philip K Dick 15:47 NINE - The Exit Door Leads In 18:10 EIGHT - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep 21:21 SEVEN - Chains of Air, Web of Aether 24:59 SIX - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 28:12 FI by Science Fiction

52 min listen

There Is No Antimemetics Division – an interview with Qntm: It's logical that the best science fiction being written today has its origins online and in collaborative forums. There Is No Antimemetics Division began life as part of the SCP Foundation wiki, a collaborative writing project with thousands of participants. There Is No Antimemetics Division - https://amzn.to/3AcTDPx Discuss the book on the Science Fiction community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/posts/1218266291928956/ Join the course in Scifi and Fantasy writing on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95 Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV by Science Fiction

75 min listen

Arthur C Clarke’s forgotten masterpiece of hard SF: It's Arthur C Clarke's greatest novel and a classic of "hard" science fiction. The Fountains of Paradise is a brilliantly realized story of humankind's ascent to the stars, not on rockets, but by building the first space elevator. Clarke predicted the discovery of carbon super materials with the "diamond hyperfilament" that is strong enough to stretch 36,000km from Earth to geosynchronous orbit. But it's not the science that makes Arthur C Clarke's novel so great. It's the symbolism. 00:00 The Fountains of Paradise 03:50 Science Fiction Q & A 06:49 The forgotten masterpiece of Arthur C Clarke 09:49 The three stages of Clarke's career 14:07 Was Clarke a good writer? 17:04 The competent engineer 19:30 Hyperfilament 24:50 The Clark-o-verse of Low Orbit SF 27:04 Symbolism and the poetic beauty of hard SF 37:57 Could we...and should we...build a space elevator? 43:51 The Wea by Science Fiction

53 min listen

The best Scifi & Fantasy of the 21st century (Part 1 of 2): We are 21 years into the 21st century. What better time to look at the century we are living in...the century of science fiction. A special double episode of the Science Fiction podcast. Part 1 of 2. 00:00 The science fiction century 03:07 Welcome to new listeners. 04:59 The best scifi and fantasy of the 21st century 06:46 Why science fiction and fantasy? 10:46 21 + 21 = 42 13:16 The first year of the Science Fiction podcast 15:04 Twenty-One : John Scalzi / Star Wars 23:46 A few outliers 26:55 Twenty : Beeple / Blade Runner 2049 32:29 Nineteen : Cixin Liu / Mass Effect 37:18 Eighteen : Jenova Chen / American Gods 42:00 Seventeen : Tamsyn Muir / The Handmaid's Tale 44:40 Sixteen : Christopher Nolan / The Witcher 48:04 Fifteen : N K Jemisin / District 9 49:53 An offer you can refuse 52:48 Fourteen : Charlie Jane Anders / Harry Potter by Science Fiction

62 min listen

A science fiction history of World War 3: Humankind had it within our grasp to become a K1 civilization, the first stage of the Kardashev scale. But we allowed K1 to slip through our fingers. As the scientist Carl Sagan argued, much of 20th century history can be understood as the effort, and failure, to achieve K1. Today that failure has returned us to the threat of World War 3, as Russia invades Ukraine. How did we miss our chance at K1? And how can we still become a K1 civilization? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR by Science Fiction

49 min listen

LitFic vs SciFi – the consilience position: Why does science fiction not get the respect it deserves...from literary fiction? It’s the East coast vs West cost gangster rap rivalry but fiction writers (except without the drive-by shootings…that I know of?) An ancient feud between the Realists and the Fantasists. But beneath the surface of the LitFic vs SciFi argument is a more serious issue, about the power of storytelling, and the duty of storytellers. Are we just the people paid to cast shadows for your entertainment, or is it the storyteller’s job to lead you out of the cave? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://damiengwalter.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousne by Science Fiction

53 min listen

Philip K Dick’s handbook of narrative warfare: Philip K Dick's The Man In The High Castle is a novel about one of the most complex ideas in our world. The way stories shape perception, and the war between narratives. This long-form audio commentary builds on ideas in the video essay Lady Gaga in The Man in the High Castle. Members of the Science Fiction community can listen to the full commentary on the member RSS podcast feed. Watch the video essay here https://youtu.be/8pSP0iXlruI Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Substack - https://damien.substack.com/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Get all-you-can-eat by Science Fiction

30 min listen

The true history of science fiction: “With Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback, H.G. Wells invented the genre of science fiction.” Tweet by @nytimesbooks, November 2021 A badly worded tweet by the New York Times revealed a deep anger at the false history of science fiction. Written out of that history were hundreds of women writers of the 1800s who created what today we call science fiction. The true history of science fiction is deeper and richer than many fans and readers know. It reaches back to the Enlightenment and the collapse of belief in the Christian mythos. It is the search for a new mythos for the modern world, that continues into the 21st century. 00:00 The forgotten authors of science fiction 02:30 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 07:07 The true history of science fiction...why does it matter? 09:21 Commercial Genre vs Creative Movement 17:12 The Problem : the collapse of the Christian mythos 23:36 All science fiction is my by Science Fiction

64 min listen

Lord of the Rings and the fascist fantasy: Fascism lures people in with a fantasy of return to older, better times. A golden age before the modern world. Nazi Germany had the fantasy of the Third Reich and the Ubermensch. Today the Russia of Vladimir Putin has a fantasy of a Eurasian Empire and the Return of the Tsar. Critics of Lord of the Rings sometimes compare JRR Tolkien's fantasy to the fantasies of fascism. Is Lord of the Rings a fascist fantasy? Or did Tolkien create a mythos beyond the understanding of his critics? 00:00 An alternate history of England 03:59 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 07:17 The rise of a fascist fantasy 10:09 Is LotR a fascist fantasy? 11:54 Premodern, Modern, Postmodern 13:45 The pre-modern fantasy 17:15 The synthetic fantasy of fascism 21:51 The fascist fantasy in 2022 27:22 The Return of the King 33:22 The bit people who are angry at the title should listen to first 34:23 The modern by Science Fiction

59 min listen

The Superman archetype and American Imperialism: When did Superman get so "Dark"? He's as American as apple pie, coca-cola and black-ops interventions in the politics of other sovereign nations. Superman is the symbol of all that is best about the United States of America. An indefatigable powerhouse, an Apollonian sun deity, child of the gods but raised by mortal man, and the archetype of post-WW2 American self image. But as America has re-learned its own history, so Superman has changed and mutated. From shining demigod hero. To dark underworld evil. 00:00 Superman gets a ride in a London cab 00:59 Have we had enough of Dark Superman? 03:50 Content Warning 05:30 Superman is a strange hero 07:55 Superman as Apollonian archetype 11:12 A brief history of Dark Superman 15:42 THE ARCHETYPAL BEING 26:39 Shadow & Ego of Carl Jung 31:54 A shadow-work exercise 39:33 Integrating the Shadow of the Superman Follow the the by Science Fiction

52 min listen

The thematic genius of Iain M Banks: This episode of the Science Fiction podcast is re-published from an original video essay first published in September 2018. I spent years searching, after I first read the Culture novels of Iain M Banks, for other space opera novels that equalled them. And this is what I discovered. Nothing else in the space opera genre even comes close to the Culture. Nothing. Zip. Nada. As Theodore Sturgeon said, 90% of everything is crap. But as a young reader I wondered why, with all these books marketed as space opera, did none read like the Culture? The answer is – theme. Science fiction tends to obsess over concepts, but almost entirely ignore themes. Scifi is full of big ideas about the nature of reality or the physics of space travel. But scifi that deals with the basic themes of human life is a rare, rare thing. Banks was a genius at weaving high concept scifi stories together with great thematic depth. In this episode I look at the opening chapter of w by Science Fiction

34 min listen

A very metamodern Batman: What would a metamodern Batman movie look like? Find out in this audio commentary to accompany the Incel Batman video essay on the Science Fiction channel. Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction channel for the short video essays https://youtu.be/AQG3UVaR2cw Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Get all-you-can-eat audiobooks with a free month of Audible+ https://amzn.to/3Hb1R0P by Science Fiction

53 min listen

The anti-human religion of Transhumanism: Transhumanism makes grand claims about the future of humankind, from genetic engineering and artificial wombs to immortality and uploading humanity to the cloud. Lead by pseudo-scientific thinkers like Ray Kurzeil, Transhumanism has become a popular ideology among Silicon Valley tech leaders including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. In recent years it has also become the focus of conspiracy theorists from Anti-Vaxxers to Qanon, who claim the ultimate goal of the "global elite" is to turn humans into post-humans. The truth is that Transhumanism is a fantasy born in the pages of science fiction. While authors like Bruce Sterling and William Gibson warned against the terrors of Transhumanism, today's Transhumanists see it as an inevitability, and have transformed the fantasy of Transhumanism into an anti-human religion. 00:00:00 The Torment Nexus 00:01:34 Welcome to the Science Fiction podcast 00:04:06 Beyond our ape brained meat-sac by Science Fiction

88 min listen

SEASON 1 FINALE : Writing the 21st Century Myth: Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://damiengwalter.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 by Science Fiction

80 min listen

The deep meaning of Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE: Support the Ocean of Story on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/damiengwalter/the-ocean-of-story-season-1 by Science Fiction

38 min listen

What does a metamodern future look like?: We’re in a civilisational war between the pre-modern, the modern, and the post-modern. Or to give them their “culture war” names – the Reactionary, the Neoliberal…and the Woke. We need a better future for our civilisation. A future some people are starting to call the Metamodern. In this episode of the Science Fiction podcast I think about what a Metamodern future might look like. It’s a not a cyberpunk dystopia or a solarpunk utopia. Instead I think our Metamodern future might look like…a theme park. Watch my original critique of Hanzi Freinacht - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpR-TwJ-gc Read Oliver Amrowson's full question - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpR-TwJ-gc&lc=Ugx436_Gbl2ip_plwbd4AaABAg Learn more at the Metamodern Spirituality community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/metamodernspirituality Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Access the full podcast by Science Fiction

69 min listen

The Northman : a map of the Unfathered man (with intro): Batman. Luke Skywalker. Conan. Paul Atreides. And now The Northman. Just a few of the Unfathered men that dominate our storytelling. Why are we obsessed with the Unfathered man? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://damiengwalter.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR by Science Fiction

46 min listen

Psychohistory : we are in a Seldon Crisis: Psychohistory is among the most important ideas born in science fiction. A science that allows us to predict the future of human civilisation. It's tempting to ask...could Psychohistory be real? Algorithms can control masses of humankind. Complexity science and agent based modelling are already predicting mass human behaviour. And as we face our civilisational "Seldon Crisis" can we learn a less from Isaac Asimov about the future of humankind? 00:00 We are in a Seldon crisis 01:48 Isaac Asimov's Foundation 03:51 Why do civilisations collapse? 06:17 What is the Foundation saga about? 12:12 Psychohistory 17:50 The Metacrisis 26:07 Psyche & Civilisation 39:28 Resolving the Metacrisis Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https:/ by Science Fiction

46 min listen

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman – The High Cost of Fantasy: There's a reason why Neil Gaiman is the most famous writer scifi, horror & fantasy ever made. That rockstar reputation didn't start with appearances on The Simpsons. By the age of 32, when most writers are just getting started, Gaiman had already written a masterpiece of fantasy. The 75 issues of The Sandman are a tour through the mythos of humanity, and a masters thesis on the uses, and abuses, of fantasy. But the origin of The Sandman in comic books kept it a cult classic for over 30 years. Gaiman became better known for novels like American Gods and stories for children. (The Sandman is NOT for children.) Now a new Netflix adaptation, created by Neil Gaiman himself, is a chance for The Sandman to meet the mainstream. Will it succeed where previous adaptations of Gaiman have failed? I feel quietly confident the answer is yes. Audio extracts from The Sandman audiobook produced by Dirk Maggs https://amzn.to/3ox9qox Follow the t by Science Fiction

56 min listen

Why ‘The Boys’ failed – thoughts on mythopathic storytelling: Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Access the full podcast archive and all my courses as a member for ANY monthly donation... Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://damiengwalter.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 by Science Fiction

47 min listen

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Arthur C Clarke’s forgotten masterpiece of hard SF

Arthur C Clarke’s forgotten masterpiece of hard SF

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