What on earth does science have to do with science fiction? Is science fiction about science? Is it fiction that takes a scientific approach to fiction? Without getting into the tedium of multiple possible definitions of science fiction, Colin and Phil explore what they expect of something labelled "science fiction". What you can expect is a rambling conversation that touches on philosophy, physics, logic, time travel, and much more. We also have our usual quiz, and our dash through the past, pr...
Jul 16, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 56
Every year, we review the short stories shortlisted for the famous Hugo Awards. It's our way of keep abreast of trends in the field of science fiction without having to read a ton of longer works! All of the shortlisted stories are available online for free - for links to all of them, checkout the shownotes: https://101sf.blogspot.com/2025/06/reviewing-hugo-short-stories-episode-55.html So why not take a look at the stories for yourself, and see if you agree with Colin's and Phil's assessment? A...
Jun 12, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 55
Sometimes the podstreams just cross, and this episode is a prime example. When Colin suggested reviewing It Came From Outer Space , the classic 1953 science fiction movie created by Ray Bradbury, it was right up Phil's alley - and so this episode is also going out (slightly modified) as part of his Bradbury 100 pod! The discussion ranges from Bradbury's contribution to the screenplay to the quality of the 3D, and takes in your humble hosts' views on whether or not screen creatures should be reve...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 54
Flow (2024) is an extraordinary film - Latvia's most successul of all time, and winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Film. Colin and Phil discuss whether it counts as science fiction (of course it does!), and what makes this delightful movie tick. If you haven't seen the film, we think we give you enough of flavour of it for the discussion to make sense, and hopefully to inspire you to watch it. We also have a cat/SF quiz, and our traditional round-up of recommendations of past/present/future s...
Apr 16, 2025•55 min•Ep. 53
Discovery of a buried skull turns a London building site into a palaeontological dig. Until, in a geological layer that's five million years old, a bomb is found. Send for Professor Quatermass! Quatermass and the Pit (1967) - aka Five Million Years to Earth in the US (1968) - is the best and most successful of the British science-fiction horror film series, based in turn on a TV series from a decade before. Colin and Phil examine it from all angles to see what makes it tick. We also have a fiend...
Mar 20, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 52
We once claimed Tintin: Destination Moon was science fiction, because an animated white dog accompanied an animated human to the moon on a rocketship. Now we outrageously extend the concept as we explore the sci-fi worlds of another animated dog/human partnership: Wallace & Gromit! If you've been living in another solar system these past thirty-six years, you may not be aware of these plasticine pals, but it's our job to bring you up to date as we examine the SF chops of every one of the Wal...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 51
It's another one of our (made-up) time-honored traditions: reviewing a current science fiction magazine. We usually do this once a year, to keep on top of current SF trends - and also to compare & contrast current magazines with the SF magazines of the past. Last time, we went back 50 years to review ANALOG . This time, we're bang up-to-date (almost) with a very recent issue of the same magazine. Analog is the longest-continuously-running SF magazine, having been around under various titles ...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 50
In time-honored tradition, for our December episode we go hurtling back in time to review a science fiction magazine from the past. Get your flares, platform shoes and ghettoblasters ready as we head back to...November 1974. We're picking on Analog magazine, just because we've never reviewed it before. And it's only the longest-continuously-running SF magazine in existence. It started in 1930 as Astounding Stories , was renamed Analog in the 1960s, and continues under that name to this day. As w...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 49
It occurred to us that although we have discussed many specific books on the show, we've never devoted an episode to the idea of the book - those papery, texty things that Stephen King has described as "uniquely portable magic". So in this episode, we address the various ways in which books can be enjoyed and consumed, and discuss ten (or eleven) questions on the subject of books. We also have a book-adjacent quiz, and our usual round up of recommendations of past, present and future SF. For lin...
Nov 08, 2024•57 min•Ep. 48
It's fifty years since the TV series of Planet of the Apes debuted, enlivening the childhood of millions around the planet of the humans. Phil and Colin enjoyed the show as kids, but now undertake a celebratory rewatch, reviewing the adventures of Virdon (the blond one), Burke (the dark-haired one), and Galen (the hairy one). We also have a Planet of the Apes quiz, and our usual round up of recommendations of past, present and future SF. For full show notes, check out our blog at 101sf.blogspot....
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 47
August 2024 saw the World Science Fiction Convention, held in Glasgow, Scotland. Phil stayed at home, but intrepid traveller Colin crossed a continent and an ocean to experience his first Worldcon. Find out how he got on - and how Phil and Colin somehow managed not to meet, despite both being in England at the same time... Also in today's show, a special quiz from friend of the podcast Peter Kuskie (last seen in episode 11), and our usual round up of all good things science fictional. For more d...
Sep 11, 2024•58 min•Ep. 46
The first women to appear (as "soloists") on the ballot for science fiction's Hugo Awards were Zenna Henderson and Pauline Ashwell, in 1959. (Catherine L. Moore had appeared on an earlier ballot, but for a collaboration with Henry Kuttner.) Fearing that Henderson and Ashwell might be drifting into obscurity, Colin and Phil set out to review their Hugo-nominated novelettes: Zenna Henderson's "Captivity" - find it here: https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v014n06_1958-06_PDF/page/n...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 45
We're back - and it's the time to review this year's Hugo-nominated short stories! The Hugos are the awards given by members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention (whose numbers this year will include our very own Colin, who will be attending the worldcon in Glasgow). Also in today's episode, we have a quiz. Sort of. See if you can get it before Phil has a clue what's going on... And there's our usual round up of SF past, present and future. For the full show notes, check out our blog: ...
Jul 12, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 44
We're back, with an episode about the great British SF writer John Wyndham . On many occasions we've found ourselves talking about his books - such as The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos - but now we attempt to do them justice with a closer look. For the full show notes, visit our blog at 101sf.blogspot.com
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 43
Time for another regular episode of the podcast, and this time we have more interview goodness from the Hugo- and Nebula - winning SF writer Robert J. Sawyer . We had so much fun talking to Rob about his new novel The Downloaded (see episode 40) that we decided to gather up the more general parts of our discussion into a separate segment. So here you will hear talk of Planet of the Apes , science fiction conferences, and much much more. We also have a mostly Star Trek quiz, but with a few Star W...
May 15, 2024•52 min•Ep. 42
This is a bonus episode of Science Fiction 101 , in which we abandon our quizzes and throw our past/present/future items out the window, and just give you a straightforward interview. It's all about staging a science fiction film festival! Our guest is Russ Repp, who is responsible for the mammoth, eight-week, science fiction film festival currently happening in Portland, Oregon, in the city's remarkable OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Russ talks us through the history of the festi...
Apr 30, 2024•34 min•Ep. 41
Time for a new episode of the podcast. This time Colin and Phil meet the Hugo- and Nebula-winning author Robert J. Sawyer, to discuss his new novel The Downloaded . You may recall we reviewed the Audible Original full-cast audio version of The Downloaded a couple of episodes ago (you can find it here ). We were keen to find out how the book version differs from the audio version, so we invited Rob onto the show to discuss. And what a discussion it is! Also in this episode, we have listener respo...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 40
Are you a science fiction fan? Possibly, or why else would you be listening to this podcast? Phil and Colin ponder what it means to be a fan, and whether there are are specific rules for entry into fandom. We also have our usual quiz, and our past/present/future discussion. For full show notes, check out our website at https://101sf.blogspot.com/
Mar 21, 2024•54 min•Ep. 39
In this episode, we review The Downloaded , the new novel by multi-award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer. It's an "Audible Original", meaning that it's been published first as an audiobook - and not just any old audiobook. This has Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser as one member of a full cast. We also have a quiz and our usual run-through of recommendations of past, present and future SF. For more info, check out our shownotes at 101sf.blogspot.com...
Feb 15, 2024•47 min•Ep. 38
It's that time of year where we take a current science fiction magazine and review it from cover to cover - as something of an antidote to what we did last episode (which was to review an old magazine from the 1960s New Wave). This time we work through one of the most successful of the current magazines, the multiple award-winning Uncanny. If you want to read along with us, you can find the entire issue (no. 55) online for free at the official website, here: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/issue...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 37
It being the end of the year, Colin and Phil continue their annual tradition of travelling back in time to read an old science fiction magazine. This time, they stop off in 1968 - the height of the "new wave" in science fiction - and pick up an issue of New Worlds magazine from December 1968. If you'd like to read along, you can find a PDF of that magazine here, courtesy of the Luminist website: https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/SF/NW_1968_12.pdf And if you'd like to join in our 1960s ...
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 36
Colin and Phil review the short stories nominated for this year's Hugo Awards. As the World Science Fiction Convention is in China, this year's shortlist includes a number of Chinese stories! We also have our usual run through of past, present and future science fiction. Check out the full show notes on our blog - 101sf.blogspot.com - and check us out on Facebook .
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 35
We realised one day that we'd talked about our "desert island movies" and "desert island TV" choices, but not considered our BOOK choices. Time to rectify that oversight! We discuss four types of book: science fiction novels; science fiction short story collections/anthologies; books which are SF-adjacent in some way; and books which have nothing at all to do with SF. You're bound to recognise some of these, but we might have a few surprises or obscurities. Listen and find out! And don't forget ...
Oct 19, 2023•56 min•Ep. 34
Phil and Colin like nothing more than a compare-and-contrast, so they return to Doctor Who to review an episode typical of the modern era. How does a Hugo Award-winning episode starring David Tennant stack up against the William Hartnell original episode (reviewed last time)? We also have our usual past/present/future round-up. For the full show notes, check out our web page at 101sf.blogspot.com ....
Sep 22, 2023•58 min•Ep. 33
This year, the long-running SF series Doctor Who is sixty years old - so Colin and Phil turn back the clock and watch the very first episode of the series, from 1963: "An Unearthly Child". Phil's first proper Doctor was the third one, played by Jon Pertwee, although he has vague recollections of the second doctor (Patrick Troughton). On the other hand, like many Americans, Colin first knew of the show from the Tom Baker years. What will they make of the gruff, original Doctor portrayed by Willia...
Aug 27, 2023•1 hr
In their neverending quest to understand how past and present science fiction relate, Colin and Phil explore FUZZIES. FUZZY NATION is a novel by John Scalzi which re-boots an earlier novel by H. Beam Piper, LITTLE FUZZY. Fuzzies are cute little creatures that use tools and form extended families. They behave as if they are intelligent - so should they be legally classed as "people" or "animals"? We also have our usual run through of recommendations of past, present and future science fiction. Fu...
Jul 26, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 31
Phil and Colin dig into "Star Wars Sequel", the unfilmed 1978 script by science fiction legend Leigh Brackett which became STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. We look at what made it into the finished film and what got junked, and consider whether Star Wars creator George Lucas was keeping his screenwriter in the dark! For links to everything we discuss, check out the show notes at 101sf.blogspot.com
Jun 20, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In our last episode, we started discussing our favourite bits of science fiction TV - but feeling pushed for time, we only got halfway through our respective top tens. So this time, we continue the discussion. Will Phil's top ten go beyond the 1970s? What will be Colin's favourite SF TV show of all time? Join us and find out! Also in this episode, we have a diabolical, science fictional food quiz send in by one of our listeners. And, of course, we have our traditional run through of past, presen...
May 27, 2023•1 hr 3 min
As we enjoyed our "favourite movies" episode so much, we decided to go for a "favourite TV series" episode this time. Once again, Colin opts for a top ten, but Phil chickens out of having to come up with a ranking order, and instead opts for a chronological jaunt through his list. Which TV shows did we choose? Are there any series common to both Colin and Phil's lists? Join us, and find out! And don't forget to let us know your favourites - by leaving a comment on our blog at 101sf.blogspot.com...
Apr 25, 2023•57 min
In the two years(!) that Science Fiction 101 has been running, we've somehow managed not to ever list our favourite movies. Until now. But faced with an almost impossible task, we choose two different methods of revealing them: Colin goes for the top ten (or top nineteen...) countdown; while Phil opts for a chronological approach. Which films did we choose? Are there any films common to both Colin and Phil's lists? Join us, and find out. And do, please, let us know your favourites. You can do th...
Mar 29, 2023•54 min•Ep. 27
