Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction is now available as a podcast! FFCSF has long offered MP3 audio files and quicktime videos of their show by direct download from the website but now you caninstantly be updated with the latests interviews with the top Science Fiction and Fantasy authors of our time.
You can search iTunes or subscribe by pasting the XML feed into your podcatcher:
http://www.fast-forward.tv/rssfeed/fastforwardpod.xml
SF has an influence in the real world. Need proof? Big Brother isn’t just an idea in an George Orwell novel. Political Science Ficion is good stuff and finally there’s someone out there proving it…
Good old Doc Brown (Professor Courtney Brown Ph.D) of Emory University in Georgia (USA) is offering a Political Science course entitled Science Fiction and Politics (Political Science 190) and he’s making the lectures available as a podcast. The spring 2006 semester has already started, but don’t worry there’s no cost to audit. SFFaudio gives it an A+!
Lectures already available include:
Class #01: Introduction and Overview |MP3|
Class #02: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #03: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (2 of 2) |MP3|
Class #04: Foundation And Empire by Isaac Asimov |MP3|
Class #05: Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov |MP3|
Class #06: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #07: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (2 of 2) |MP3|
Class #08: The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #09: The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (2 of 2) |MP3|
Class #10: The Uplift War by David Brin (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #11: The Uplift War by David Brin (2 of 2) |MP3|
Class #12: Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #13: Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear (2 of 2) |MP3|
Class #14: How to write your essays |MP3|
Class #15: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #16: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1 of 2) |MP3|
Class #17: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1 of ?)|MP3|
Class #18: ??? |Forthcoming|
Class #19: ??? |Forthcoming|
Class #20: ??? |Forthcoming|
Class #21: ??? |Forthcoming|
Forthcoming lectures will cover Neuromancer, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
Were I attending the classes in person I’d have banged my shoe on the desk and insist we talk about a Mack Reynolds novel. Maybe later in the course?
Hurry quick! Head on over to the premiere resource for Science Fiction and Fantasy OTR – The OTR Plot Spot and check out this week’s LISTENING BOOTH. There you’ll find all the three parts of The Word for World is Forest by Urusla K. LeGuin in two mp3 files. This version is terrific, it was originally produced by CBC Radio for the long running Science Fiction series Vanishing Point.
The Word for World is Forest
By Ursula K. LeGuin; Dramatized by Alberto Manguel
2 MP3 Files – Approx 90 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: CBC Radio / Vanishing Point
Broadcast: March 1989
“The seemingly simple natives of a world blanketed in forest resent the arrogance of human interlopers, and the contempt they show for the local ecology. All the natives need is a leader strong enough and clever enough to match wits with their human exploiters…. Based on a novel by Ursula K. le Guin.”
WARNING: Easily embarrassed? Take heed, there’s a stunning difference between this series and the OTR of the 1950s. First there’s the spotlight on the evils of manifest destiny, social Darwinism, ecological strip mining, genocide, rape and miscegenation. Second, there is a complete absence of censorship, The Word for World is Forest contains sounds (urination), concepts (“hygenic homsexuality”) and more even unthinkable – language straight from the book!
Saturday 18th of February 2006 sees the BBC Radio 7 doing a special broadcast in honour of Richard Matheson’s upcoming 80th birthday. Along with a specially recorded interview with the man himself is a bonus unabridged reading of Duel, his short story classic inspired by a real-life experience.
Duel
By Richard Matheson; Read by Nathan Osgood
Approx 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: February 18th 2006, repeated February 19th 2006
“A huge truck plays deadly games with an innocent motorist. “
NOTE: Those outside the UK can use the BBC7 Listen Again service to catch it for 6 days following the broadcast.
Mech Muse‘s March/April 2006 Double Issue (Issue 1) is now available! This brand new science fiction and fantasy audio download magazine contains 13 hours of content. Tracks are encoded at a high quality 160 kbps. Though we originally reported it as costing $5.00 USD per issue the price is actually $7.00 USD or $35.00 for a six issue subscription.
Stories included in the first issue are:
After A Lean Winter by David Farland
On My Way To Paradise (Part I of a serialized novel) by David Farland
The Second Rat by David Barr Kirtley
Veil Of Ignorance by David Barr Kirtley
Primary Colors by Richard Raleigh
The River Is Forever by Edmund R. Schubert
Expensive Gifts by Miles Romney
The Elf Trap by Francis Stephens
There are also a column on film and other non-fiction audio features still forthcoming.
Mech Muse guarantees access to a purchased issue for a minimum of 60 days after purchase, and a possibility after that. Also of note are the abilities to download either in a ZIP file or by RSS! Another bonus is what appears to be full downloadable cover art for each individual tale.
The Mech Muse website looks really terrific check it out HERE.
Slice Of Sci-Fi has just interviewed Chris Mack, author of a new audio drama series entitled Children of the Gods. Nope, its not a sequel to the Erik Von Daniken book Chariots Of The Gods? Instead it’s a new audio drama series podcast that reminds listeners of Battlestar Galactica. Here’s the teaser:
Our home is in ruins.
Our future is in doubt.
Humanity fights for its very survival against an enemy
it cannot defeat. We are all children of creation, but
which of us are the Children of the Gods?
You can check out the podcast HERE.