Been There, Done That: My Four Decades of Reading About the End of Everything
Full disclosure: This post has been slowly marinading in my head since shortly after I turned sixty. Hence its timing. Anyway… Having watched human spacecraft...
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Why Every Sci-Fi Story I Love Eventually Asks “What Makes You Human?”
As I’ve been reshelfing books down in the stacks recently, I’ve found myself mulling over how every truly excellent work of science fiction I’ve read...
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Why I’ve Spent Forty Years Watching Sci-Fi Get the Future Wrong (And Why That’s Actually Perfect)
Science fiction has rarely been about predicting the future; it has mostly been a reflection of today – and that’s part of the reason I...
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From HAL to Samantha: How My Obsession with AI Characters Shows We’re Finally Ready to Embrace Digital Consciousness
I’ll never forget that first time HAL 9000’s smooth, unemotional tone sent shivers down my spine. I was about 15 years old and watching “2001:...
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The AI Villains That Shaped My Nightmares (And Why They Matter More Than Ever)
It is the use of the future in the stories of sci-fi to comment on the hopes and fears of today which I find so...
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I’m Done With Time Travel Stories (And You Should Be Too)
Time Travel Stories Are Now Junk Food For The Mind – They Taste Great Going Down, But Leave You Feeling Empty. As someone who has...
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Why Romance Keeps Ruining My Favorite Sci-Fi Movies
I have a confession to make, something that’s been bothering me for years as both a fan of science fiction and as someone who teaches...
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The Problem with Tidy Endings in Our Broken Worlds
When I walk into a theatre and see a post-apocalyptic story being told in some new form (whether it’s a blockbuster or a low-budget indie),...
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When Sci-Fi Breaks Our Hearts: Characters Who Got Screwed Over by Their Own Stories
I’ve been teaching science fiction to teens for well over a decade and I can honestly say they’re far harsher critics when it comes to...
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Why Time Travel Stories Stopped Being Fun (And Started Making Me Think Too Hard)
You know, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this subject – probably too much time as a retiree thinking about fictitious time machines....
