Unknown Orbits

0056: Childhood Favorites

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 09:34:09 -0600

We go back to our childhoods to discuss key books that turned us into fans and shaped our future as writers. In this case, Tarzaan at the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, by Robert Heinlein.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarzan_at_the_Earth%27s_Core

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Space_Suit%E2%80%94Will_Travel

Low Orbits 09: Tomorrow is Yesterday

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 08:37:11 -0600

Check out our review of Tomorrow is Yesterday, the original Series Star Trek episode where the Enterprise travels back in time to 1967 and unnecssarily creates a time paradox.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Is_Yesterday

Low Orbits 08: Land of the Giants

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 09:01:15 -0500

This week, we review the pilot episode of Irwin Allen's Land of the Giants, a 1960s slice of sci-fi fun. A passenger rocket lands in a world where they are menaced by giants, giant cats, and giant pencils.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Giants

Low Orbits 07: The Invisible Enemy, The Outer Limits

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 08:44:27 -0500

This week we revisit a childhood favorite, The Invisible Enemy from The Outer Limits. Shark monsters living in the sands of Mars murder astronauts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Enemy_(The_Outer_Limits)

Low Orbits 06: The Gamesters of Triskelion

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 09:48:38 -0500

This week we chat about The Gamesters of Triskelion the Star Trek epsidoe we judge to be the most Shatnerific.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gamesters_of_Triskelion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelique_Pettyjohn

0055: The Country of the Kind, by Damon Knight

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 08:22:49 -0500

We discuss The Country of the Kind, by Damon Knight, where a psychopathic mutant is shunned by the human race. Then we discuss Knight's acerbic literary criticism.

LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Country_of_the_Kind

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Wonder

0054: Mars is Heaven! by Ray Bradbury

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 07:37:11 -0500

We experience Deja Vu when we review Mars is Heaven! by Ray Bradbury. The second expedition to Mars is defeated by memories. We discuss more possible plagiarism by Rod Serling. We also examine stories stranding astronauts on the red planet.

LINKS:
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Is_Heaven!

Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/Planet_Stories_Canadian_Ed._v03n12_1948-Fall/page/n57/mode/2up?view=theater

Low Orbits 05: Elegy, The Twilight Zone

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 08:49:02 -0500

This week we chat about Elegy, a Twilight Zone episode featuring astronauts forced to land on a mysterious asteroid where everyone is frozen in place in an Earth-like vintage village.

Links:

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegy_(The_Twilight_Zone)

Text of Charles Beaumont original story:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/32819/pg32819-images.html

0053: The Cold Equations, by Tom Godwin

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 09:09:10 -0500

We discuss Cold Equations, by Tom Godwin, the classic tale of brutal choices forced by the laws of physics that might have been plagiarized by John W. Campbell.

LINKS:
Link to the X Minus One radio episode (8/25/1955):
https://www.radioechoes.com/?page=play_download&mode=play&dl_mp3folder=X&dl_file=x_minus_one_1955-08-25_cold_equation.mp3&dl_series=X%20Minus%20One&dl_title=Cold%20Equation&dl_date=1955.08.25&dl_size=10.94%20MB

Precedent by Charles Gray (New Worlds #15 May 1952):
https://archive.org/details/New_Worlds_015v05_1952-05

Cory Doctorow: Cold Equations and Moral Hazard:
https://locusmag.com/2014/03/cory-doctorow-cold-equations-and-moral-hazard/

0052: Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 08:59:04 -0500

We discuss the beloved classic: Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. Scientists operate on a mentally challenged man and turn him into a genius, with tragic consequences.

Story Link:
https://archive.org/stream/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v016n04_1959-04_PDF/Fantasy__Science_Fiction_v016n04_1959-04_PDF#page/n3/mode/2up

Film Adaptation: Charly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charly_(1968_film)

0051: Killdozer, by Theodore Sturgeon

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 08:12:19 -0500

Killdozer, Theodore Sturgeon's contribution to the killer machine sub-genre is discussed, along with the infamous TV movie adaptation from the 1970s. We also discuss inanimate objects that kill from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killdozer!_(short_story)

https://youtu.be/vU73kzrhWig?si=br1fI9yduQBwe0Qk

Low Orbits 04: Mudd’s Women, Star Trek

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 08:07:51 -0500

Today we talk about the first appearance of Harcourt Fenton Mudd in Mudd's Women, where a group of women are travelling to meet, and marry, lonely dilithium miners.

Link:

Star Trek - Mudd's Women:
https://archive.org/details/star-trek-tos-original-effects/Star+Trek+TOS+-+Orginal+Effects/Season+1/Star+Trek+-+1x04+-+Mudd's+Women.avi

Low Orbits 03: The Invaders, The Twilight Zone

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 08:18:31 -0500

In The Twilight Zone second-season episode "The Invaders," an older woman living alone in a shack with no gas, electricty, or modern conveniences, finds herself fighting off the inhabitants of a spacecraft from another planet.

Link:

Twilight Zone - The Invaders:
https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/video/622077806/

Low Orbits 02: The Special One, The Outer Limits

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 09:18:36 -0500

In The Outer Limits' episode "The Special One," a father begins to suspect the motives of man who claims to be from a government program, sent to tutor their genius son.

Link:

The Outer Limits - The Special One:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6kfw6z

Low Orbits 01: The Doomsday Machine, Star Trek

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 08:38:08 -0500

The USS Enterprise encounters the wrecked USS Constellation and its distraught commodore who's determined to stop the giant planet-destroying robot ship that killed his crew.

Unknown Orbits One-year Anniversary Episode

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:31:42 -0500

52 episodes already? On this special anniversary episode, we make an attempt to define science fiction, reveal our favorite stories from the past year, and finish up with our favorite discoveries about the science fiction world.

0050:City, by Clifford D. Simak

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 07:25:13 -0500

City by Clifford D. Simak is the story of the end of the city, the abandonment of Earth by humans, and the rising hegemony of Dogs. Then we talk about early genre publishing houses.

0049: Mimsy Were the Borogroves, by Lewis Padgett

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 07:36:07 -0500

Children find a mysterious box of future toys in Henry Kuttner's and C. L. Moore's Mimsy Were the Borogoves, which have unexpected properties. Then after hating the movie it was made into, we discuss other stories with powerful objects that were gifts from aliens or that travelled through time.

0048: The Great Nebraska Sea, by Allan Danzig

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 07:56:48 -0500

The Great Nebraska Sea by Allan Danzig is a future history account of the greatest disaster to hit the United States, the forming of the Great Nebraska Sea. Millions die, but there are new opportunities for fishing and water skiing.

OO47: Exploration Team, by Murray Leinster

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 08:24:21 -0500

In Exploration Team by Murray Leinster, a squatter and government surveyer have to team up to travel across a dangerous world to look for survivors from an earlier settlement. Leinster also wrote several television novelizations, which leads us to a debate over what was the worst TV show or movie Irwin Allen ever produced.

0046: The Large Ant, by Howard Fast

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 08:59:03 -0500

What would you do if you turned around and found a fourteen-inch Zanti misfit staring at you? So would I. In Howard Fast's The Large Ant the protagonist makes the same decision, and that - of course - leads to a philosophical discussion of Mankind's place amoung intelligent species.

0045: A Can of Paint, by A.E. Van Vogt

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 12:52:08 -0500

In A Can of Paint by A. E. van Vogt, the first landing on Venus finds a simple can of paint. But is it really simple, or an advanced alien artifact? Then we touch on the writing techniques of A. E. van Vogt and others.

0044: The Silly Season, by C. M. Kornbluth

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 08:23:08 -0500

Spheres, domes and bottomless holes appear in C. M. Kornbluth's The Silly Season, but how are they connected? We discuss this memorable story from 1950, then move on to the actual newspaper silly season, secret aircraft, UAPs, and the time we embarrassed a Milwaukee Journal reporter.

0043: Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 08:19:42 -0500

Today we talk about Arthur C. Clarke and his 1953 novel Childhood's End, and how some science fiction writers helped poularize space exploration during the early U.S. space program.

0042: A Pail of Air, by Fritz Leiber

Wed, 31 May 2023 07:59:09 -0500

Fritz Leiber's A Pail of Air is a unique view of life on Earth after the end of the world. This inspires us to categorise end of the world movies, and somehow we spend a lot of time talking about Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (a.k.a. Tarzan and the Lost City).

0041: Foundation, by Isaac Asimov

Wed, 24 May 2023 08:11:34 -0500

Foundation by Isaac Asimov leads us into discussing other future histories in science fiction, then we go on to our own view of the quality and style of Asimov's writing.

0040: Costigan’s Needle, by Jerry Sohl

Wed, 17 May 2023 07:42:10 -0500

Could you rebuild civilization without tools, books, or even the fillings in your teeth? In Jerry Sohl's Costigan's Needle, a neighborhood of 400 people are thrust naked into a different Earth, one without people. We finish by discussing Jerry Sohl's scriptwriting career.

0039: The Foghorn, by Ray Bradbury

Wed, 10 May 2023 07:46:08 -0500

Did the producers of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms get inspiration from Ray Bradbury's The Foghorn? Or did the connection between the two get some help from Ray Harryhausen? After the discussion we go on to compare our favorite monster movies from the 1950s.

0038: A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

Wed, 03 May 2023 08:52:34 -0500

We discuss the Hugo Award winning novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, a huge maintream success. Then we take a quick look at High School recommended reading lists.

0037: Scanners Live in Vain, by Cordwainer Smith

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 09:58:45 -0500

Scanners Live in Vain by Cordwainer Smith is a classic story of the genre. So naturally we disagree over it, then switch things up by argueing about world-building.

0036: Tunnel Under the World, by Frederik Pohl

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 08:16:04 -0500

Feeling watched, counted, measured, tabulated and recorded? Maybe it's not the apps on your phone. Today we discuss Frederik Pohl's 1955 story "The Tunnel Under the World."

0035: The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 08:09:44 -0500

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester is featured in this episode, and then we take a personal journey into the writers and books that have inspired us.

0034: Cities in Flight, by James Blish

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 06:38:57 -0500

We discuss the four-novel series "Cities in Flight" by James Blish in which entire cities lift off into space to search for economic opportunity. Then we argue the difference between conceptual and speculative science in fiction.

0033: Tangent, by F. L. Clarke

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 09:16:35 -0500

Today we discuss the 1949 story Tangent, by the infamous F. L. Clarke, who was known as one of the worst human beings to become a science fiction writer, hated by writers and editors alike, yet somehow always managing to be at the center of the science fiction universe.

0032: Of Missing Persons, by Jack Finney

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 07:53:04 -0500

What happens to all the people who dissapear? We find out in Jack Finney's "Of Missing Persons," which then leads into a discussion of The Twilight Zone and Ray Bradbury's little-known involvement in it.

0031: The Waveries, By Frederic Brown

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 09:43:47 -0500

Invading radio waves throw the world into chaos in Frederic Brown's The Waverlies. Then we come up with our own classifications for the types of alien invasion stories and discuss examples.

0030: The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out, by Reginald Bretnor

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 09:14:04 -0600

What are they? Gnurrs! Where do they come out? The voodvork! The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out is a classic humorous science fiction story by Reginald Bretnor, and appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. We discuss this story, then do a brief survey of other notable funny SF stories.

0029: Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 08:51:05 -0600

We made each other read our guilty science fiction pleasures - swapping Magnus, Robot Fighter comic books and Hugh Walters' U.N.E.X.A. space adventure series. After making fun of both, we move on to our mutual honorable mention, kaiju movies.

0028: Born of Man and Woman, by Richard Matheson

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 08:50:33 -0600

This episode we consider Richard Matheson's Born of Man and Woman. Then after a short detour through ABC's Movie of the Week, we discuss the importantance of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

0027: Betelgeuse Bridge by William Tenn

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:11:53 -0600

This episode we talk about interstellar confidence tricksters in William Tenn's Betelgeuse Bridge, which leads us into Galaxy Magazine and the rapid growth of science fiction publishing in the 1950s.

0026: Mathematics of Magic, by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:19:20 -0600

L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt's The Mathematics of Magic has adventurer Harold Shea discovering a way to travel to the realms of fantasy using math. Following that, we argue about the difference between fantasy and science fiction.

0025: The Clutch of Morpheus, by Larry Sternig

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 08:29:02 -0600

How many podcasts are there that talk about great fiction? Today we break the mold by discussing Larry Sternig's not so great Clutch of Morpheus. Then after some memories of the Green Sheet, we see if we can fix it.

0024: Business as Usual During Alterations by Ralph Williams

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 08:49:20 -0600

Business as Usual, During Alterations by Ralph Williams deals with the unexpected arrival of matter duplicators and the economy of abundance it creates. We then come up with our own take on how such devices might be used in a story.

0023: The Roads Must Roll by Robert Heinlein

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:13:58 -0600

Robert Heinlein's The Roads Must Roll takes place in a world where roads have been replaced by giant conveyor belts, operated by a quasi-military force. We discuss this and how Heinlein's political view sometimes found their way into his stories.

0022: Nightfall by Isaac Asimov

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 07:44:24 -0600

If people had never seen the stars, how would they react when an eclipse throws their entire planet into darkness? This episode we discuss Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and early science fiction fandom.

0021: Black Destroyer by A. E. van Vogt

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 09:22:31 -0600

Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt appeared in what many consider to be the first magazine issue of science fiction's Golden age. We discuss it's relationship to the movie Alien and the Golden and Silver ages of science fiction.

0020: Deadline, by Cleve Cartmill

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 07:53:11 -0600

Did Cleve Cartmill really predict how an atomic bomb would work, or did he have help? We discuss John W. Campbell's influence on this story and the value of predictive science fiction.

Christmas 2022: Christmas on Ganymede by Isaac Asimov

Mon, 26 Dec 2022 12:43:32 -0600

For this holiday special we discuss Christmas on Ganymede by Isaac Asimov. Then we'll we compare our favorite science fiction Christmas toys, and share some memories of childhood Christmasses.

0019: Crashing Suns, by Edmond Hamilton

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 08:51:46 -0600

In 1928, six months before the discovery of Pluto, Crashing Suns by Edmond Hamilton appeared in Weird Tales magazine in a two-part serial. We discuss what makes the elements of space opera and how to define it.

0018: Things to Come

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 07:27:47 -0600

In Things to Come by H. G. Wells, twenty-six years of war featuring biplanes and plagues come to and end when science and technology show the way. We also discuss Wells' vision of the future and the 1927 movie Metropolis.

0017: Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 08:08:50 -0600

When the world is blind, seven-foot-tall killer plants are king. We discuss John Wyndham's classic novel Day of the Triffids, the various adaptations, and the best science fiction films by Hammer Film Productions.

0016: Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 13:14:47 -0600

We discuss unusual co-workers in Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith and the value of well-developed characters interacting with each other.

0015: Mother of Invention by Tom Godwin

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 08:43:34 -0600

A planet full of diamonds? What could go wrong? We discuss Mother of Invention by Tom Godwin - famously the author of The Cold Equations - and the problem-solving story.

0014: The Sci-Fi Origins of the Modern Zombie Myth

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 09:22:59 -0600

The concept of the walking undead goes back over a hundred years. But what are the origins of the modern zombie myth, and what role did science fiction play?

0013: Gernsback’s Legacy: the Science Fiction Ghetto

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 08:13:55 -0600

What was Hugo Gernsback's legacy? Did his brand of science fiction save the genre, or was Brian W. Aldiss right that he ruined it?

0012: When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 07:56:29 -0500

This week we explore When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, the best-selling novel from 1933. We go on to discuss its influence on other science fiction and the George Pal adaptation from 1951.

Halloween 22: A Walk in the Dark, by Arthur C. Clarke

Sun, 30 Oct 2022 07:55:17 -0500

In this special Halloween episode, we read an excerpt from A Walk in the Dark by Arthur C. Clarke. Followed by each of us sharing favorite scary campfire stories we were told as children.

0011: Corpus Earthling, by Louis Charbonneau

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 10:22:46 -0500

What if the voices in your head really were plotting against you? We discuss Corpus Earthling by Louis Charbonneau, where alien rocks plot to take over Earth. The novel is best known as the basis for an Outer Limits episode starring Robert Culp.

0010: Armageddon 2149 A.D., Buck Rogers

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 08:02:36 -0500

It's been 94 years since the first story featuring the character which would become known as Buck Rogers appeared. That story's influence on the popularity and acceptance of science fiction cannot be overstated.

0009: Galactic Gadgeteers

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 10:41:09 -0500

A contest to engineer the impossible is at the center of Harry Stine's Galactic Gadgeteers. Which then leads us into a discussion of military discipline, the science fiction "cozy," and the misuse of Estes Rockets.

0008: QRM Interplanetary

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 11:33:02 -0500

QRM Interplanetary by George O. Smith was his first story in the Venus Equilateral series, which was published in Astounding Science Fiction from 1942 to 1945. Venus Equilateral is a space station at one of the Venus-Sun Lagrange points, making it perfect for maintaining interplanetary communication.

0007: The Little Black Bag

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 08:54:48 -0500

What would you do if you found a bag filled with near-magical tools that could cure any ailment? We discuss Cyril M. Kornbluth's Little Black Bag and its many television adaptations.

0006: Allamagoosa

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 09:44:30 -0500

What's up, dog? Erik Frank Russell's Allamagoosa is fun service-comedy-in-space, but it's not without controversy. We also discuss the type of story where protagonists attempt to fix a small problem, but instead turn it into a bigger one.

0005: Runaway Robot

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 08:17:45 -0500

Is there any plot more universal than the companionship between a boy and his robot? This episode we discuss Lester del Rey's Runaway Robot, and the value of Scholastic Books in the pre-internet age.

0004: Who Goes There?

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 08:04:45 -0500

John W. Campbell's Who Goes There appeared in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It is generally considered to be one of the most influential stories from the 1930s, and an early example of Science Fiction Horror.

0002: A Martian Odyssey

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 13:49:56 -0500

Today we discuss A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum. First published in 1934, it was a memorable and groundbreaking story about an explorer who crashed on Mars and forced to walk across the planet to get back to his expedition.

0001: Who We Are and What We Cover

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 13:41:06 -0500

Welcome to Unknown Orbits, where two writers discuss everything Science Fiction, from Gernsback to Roddenberry. In this introductory episode we introduce ourselves and discuss why we chose to focus on the years 1926 to 1966, as well as touching on what first brought each of us to science fiction.