Science Fiction

Sci-fi and archaeology – “Excavating the Future” (Liverpool University Press, 2018) – Shawn Malley interview

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Shawn Malley is a Canadian professor interested in the Victorian period. We talk about his latest book that discusses the intersection between archaeology, science fiction and spectacle.

1:45 – Shawn talks about how he got into writing on science fiction. He’s a Victorianist by trade.

4:09 – Shawn talks about how he divides the book and what the three parts are about.

8:04 – We touch on steampunk and Victorian tropes.

11:00 – We discuss Superman and archaeology.

21:04 – We discuss how Shawn chose what works to research.

25:45 – Shawn talks about analyzing tv and film media.

27:45 – Shawn is also interested in the technologies used to create sci-fi film and tv and what those say about how we approach sci-fi.

45:00 – The book has about 45 stills and Shawn wanted many more.

48:29 – Shawn’s work can be found in University libraries. He has a page on Bishop’s University of Quebec.

Links of Interest

Excavating the Future https://liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/products/108267

 

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Shawn Malley

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, archaeology, babylon, iraq, smallville, Manticore, films, Stargate, Ancient Aliens, Indiana Jones, Crystal Skull, Superman, cyborgs, Battlestar Galactica, cylons, Star Trek, Transformers, District 9, ISIS

Rod Serling and his work – “Rod Serling” (University Press of Mississippi, 2018) – Nicholas Parisi interview

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Nicholas Parisi is a musician and vocalist and serves on the board of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation. He’s recently written a book analyzing almost all of Rod Serling’s work and we discuss the book and Rod Serling’s works.

1:39 – Nicholas talks about how he got into Rod Serling. He discusses many of the projects that Rod had been involved with. The book is part biography, part reference guide and part a critique of the themes that Rod explored in his work. It covers his entire writing life.

4:13 – Nicholas covers Rod’s radio work more extensively than other writers on Rod have.

5:58 – Nicholas talks about how Rod ended up in front of a screen in addition to being a writer.

6:45 – Nicholas talks about Orson Welles connection to the Twilight Zone and a myth surrounding it.

12:20 – Nicholas wants to emphasize that Rod was more than the Twilight Zone. He also mentions Rod’s attempts to put out scripts based on the Emmitt Till case.

17:16 – Rod’s daughter Anne Serling provided some support for this book.

24:43 – Nicholas’s book addresses a 1952 tv show episode that addressed racism most likely for the first time ever on television. Rod tried to push an episode addressing racism and no other researcher has talked about this episode before.

28:19 – Nicholas talks about Rod’s WWII experiences in the Philippines.

38:05 – Nicholas has a facebook for the book at facebook.com/RodSerlingDimensions

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Nicholas Parisi

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, sci-fi, rod serling, twilight zone, television, gold age, mystery, orson welles, Emmett Till, McCarthyism, racism, World War II, Philippines, US Army

Science Fiction and disaster – “The Future as Catastrophe” (Columbia University Press, 2018) – Eva Horn interview

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Eva Horn is a researcher who is interested in how various kinds of disasters are presented in literature, television, and film. We talk about her latest book on the subject.

1:28 – Eva talks about how she got into writing on this subject.

6:00 – Eva differentiates between sudden disaster and the more modern slow creeping disaster.

12:00 – Eva talks about Lord Byron’s 1816 apocalyptic poem “Darkness.”

13:40 – Eva also talks about Cormac McCarthy’s novel “The Road.” She has also looked at various blockbuster disaster movies and shows. Elysium is one film she points out as an allegory of inequality.

16:25 – Eva talks about the two movies “Minority Report” and “12 Monkeys.” She talks about the fears of being able to predict the future. She brings up the myths of Oedipus.

20:30 – Eva talks about how the book is divided up.

22:45 – People used to fear a cooling planet.

32:07 – Eva would like to see more popular interest in the old texts that discuss disaster.

33:20 – Eva loves the movie “12 Monkeys” and considers it brilliant.

34:31 – SPOILER ALERT – Eva mentions how the “12 Monkeys” ends.

35:49 – SPOILER DISCUSSION ENDS

37:10 – SPOILER ALERT – Eva discusses the setting of “The Road”

38:58 – SPOILER DISCUSSION ENDS

46:50 – Eva has an academia.edu page and a page on the University of Vienna.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Eva Horn

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Road, Cormac McCarthy, Oedipus, Sophocles, Lord Byron, Minority Report, Steven Spielberg, Vienna