Science Fiction University
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Ep 29 Propaganda!
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A dive into propaganda in science fiction, particularly those instances where aliens take over the world to the advantage of the privileged. What?Li...
Ep 28 Apple TV's 'Dark Matter' and the Multiverse
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Diving into Apple TV's new series "Dark Matter," based on Blake Crouch's bestselling novel. We'll explore how the show tackle...
Andy Weir's Hopeful, Hard SF
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Science Fiction University, we dive into the works of Andy Weir, the author behind the hit novels The Martian and Project Hail Mary...
The Day The Earth Stood Still
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and the 1940 short story that inspired it, sort of. More at https://www.sciencefictionuniver...
Episode 25 | 3 Body Problem
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about the new Apple TV series "3 Body Problem," which we highly recommend. We also relate it to lots of other science fiction work...
Ep 24 We drop everything to talk about Dune 2
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What the title says! Support the show at proleftpod.com and thanks! Support the show
Ep 23 The Maltese Falcon (Is Not Science Fiction)
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We take a short break from Science Fiction to dive into the 1941 film noir masterpiece The Maltese Falcon, comparing and contrasting that Humphrey Bog...
Ep 22: How Did You Fall In Love With Science Fiction?
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Driftglass and Blue Gal share their stories of falling in love with SF. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com. Support the show
Ep 21: Labor Relations and 'The Icicle Works'
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss the very political "The Day the Icicle Works Closed" by Frederick Pohl, and also why science fiction stories often don't sta...
Ep 20 Time Travel and Netflix's 'Bodies'
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Netflix series "Bodies" brings up all kinds of connections to time travel in science fiction. We watched the 8 part series in three da...
Ep 19 Too Much of a Good Thing / Whither Dune?
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss tragic heroes and utopias in science fiction, then we turn to the possiblity of future Dune movies. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com....
Ep 18: Fish Stories
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alternate title: 'Mother Nature, USMC'. A subgenre of science fiction in which humans try to bend nature to their will, sometimes with d...
Ep 17: Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and Neuromancer
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Driftglass took Blue Gal to see Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 for her birthday. During the movie, Driftglass noticed many plot points th...
Ep 16 Multiverses
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Multiversal success and failure. Success? Star Trek TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror," and the 2017 Starz series, "Counterpart." ...
Ep 15 When Genres Collide!
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Science Fiction "versus" Fantasy – When Genres CollideRobert Heinlein’s “Glory Road”Babylon 5: The Technomages.Star WarsJohn Varle...
Ep 14 Gene Roddenberry and the Good Robot
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Ep 13 The Forbin Project and A.I.
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 1970 film, "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and the "uh oh, we shouldn't have done that" genre of science fiction. More...
Ep 12: The Prisoner
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss our re-watching of Patrick McGoohan in "The Prisoner," perhaps the most influential science fiction single-season show ever. Mo...
Ep 11 Adapting Stories to the Screen: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Foundatio...
Ep 10: When Aliens Are Truly Alien
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film, “Solaris,” and Denis Villene...
Ep 9: Attack of the '60's
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss three modern productions with roots in the 1960's: Apple TV's Foundation, Denis Villeneuve's Dune, and For All Mankind (al...
Ep 8 Save The Timeline, Destroy the Timeline
25 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss timelines using examples from Loki, Travelers, Star Trek TOS "The City on the Edge of Forever," and 11.22.63 (Honorable mention...
Ep 7: While You Were Sleeping: Planet of the Apes, Idiocracy, Groundhog Day
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Looking at time travel stories generated by a main character waking from sleep. More at sciencefictionuniversity.com. (Episode contains spoilers a...
Ep 6 System Failure -- The Outsider, The Night Stalker and The Blob
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
HBO's 2020 series "The Outsider" meets the cult classics the 1972 made-for-TV movie/pilot for "The Night Stalker" and the 195...
Ep 5 How Westworld Went South
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
(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 ...
Ep 4 Neuromancer and 2001: A Space Odyssey
21 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial Intelligences: Driftglass and Blue Gal talk about William Gibson's 1984 novel "Neuromancer," and Stanley Kubrick's 19...
Ep 3 Special Stranger in a Strange Land and HBO's The Watchmen
01 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Gods Among Us! Driftglass and Blue Gal talk about Valentine Michael Smith in Robert Heinlein's 1961 novel "Stranger in a Strange Land"...
Ep 2 The End of Eternity and Looper
07 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Driftglass and Blue Gal compare and contrast Isaac Asimov's 1955 book "The End of Eternity" with Rian Johnson's 2012 film, "L...
Episode 1: UBIK and Inception
30 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Science Fiction University! Our premiere episode concerns Philip K. Dick's 1969 novel UBIK, and Christopher Nolan's 2010 film &...