Social Science Talks Science Fiction » Podcasts

‘In the grim darkness of the far future…’   This month, we try and take on the Warhammer universe by reading the Eisenhorn Trilogy, by Dan Abnett. Does knowledge require […]

‘It was a bright cold morning in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen…’ After much pressure, and the election of Donald Trump, we finally get round to covering 1984 […]

“I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for […]

The Babylon Project was a dream given form… It’s a new year, and carrying through on a resolution that we’ve had since we started the podcast, we got together to […]

So long, and thanks for all the fish! As we wind down for Christmas, we crank up the improbability drive to a level where it produces, fully formed, and episode […]

“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in […]

Following the 50th Anniversary and the recent film Star Trek: Beyond, we sit down at Social Sci-Fi towers to discuss what we love and hate about the Star Trek franchise. […]

“The Fremen were supreme in that quality the ancients called “spannungsbogen” — which is the self-imposed delay between desire for a thing and the act of reaching out to grasp […]

It’s conference season once again, and Matthew got the long train to Edinburgh in order to talk to Professor Penny Fielding about spies and genre fiction. It’s a great follow up […]

After a film night at Social Science Towers, Alex, Matt, Jess and Bleddyn discuss the beginning of the large-scale disaster film, Independence Day. Join us as we discuss 90s pop […]

“We did not ask if he had seen any monsters, for monsters have ceased to be news. There is never any shortage of horrible creatures who prey on human beings, […]

“Word spread because word will spread. Stories and secrets fight, stories win, shed new secrets, which new stories fight, and on.”   This month we discuss Embassytown, by China Miéville. […]

What would you do if your actions would change the course of history? Lydia, Charlotte, Sorana and Jess take the spotlight on the podcast this month in this episode, recorded […]

Common misconception that; that fun is relaxing. If it is, you’re not doing it right. Would you like to play a game? This month, we read the Player of Games, […]

We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread […]

I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them […]

It’s been a rough month here at Social Science Towers, and we were unable to record a new episode. Luckily for you, we have an interview with friend of the […]

“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as […]

Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon. That’s always been the difference between us, Daniel. Today, we deal with Watchmen, because Matt had the bright idea of doing […]

It’s conference season, and we dispatched our one-man-army Matt to interview a series of scholars studying science fiction at the British International Studies Association 2015 conference in London. This time […]

I have thus endeavoured to preserve the truth of the elementary principles of human nature, while I have not scrupled to innovate upon their combinations. Today we discuss Mary Shelley’s […]

Even if this is something that isn’t saying ‘this is how you need to change your thinking about international politics’, it gives you a place to stand to begin to […]

Come on you apes, do you want to live forever? Continuing his march through the hostile environment of BISA 2015, Matt tracks down Malte Riemann, Senior Lecturer at Sandhurst to […]

The biggest power a superhero has is to go beyond their society. It’s conference season, and we dispatched our one-man-army Matt to interview a series of scholars studying science fiction […]

We talk Agent Carter today, a recent TV spin-off of Captain America that has made waves for making feminist science fiction possible in a commercial setting. Spies, explosions and fabulous […]

In this episode, the discussion from Social SciFi Towers turns to Max Brooks’ World War Z, as well as Dan Drezner’s Theories of International Politics and Zombies. Why is it […]

The Social Science Talks team discusses Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? today, as well as the film adaptation, Blade Runner. While the film is well known for setting the […]

“Students will say ‘I don’t know whether I’m reading a novel or a piece of theory.’ And I’ll say ‘Exactly, that’s the point.” We caught Patrick Thaddeus Jackson as he […]

In this episode, we discuss Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. What would society look like if we considered order the highest value to strive for? Treading the line between […]