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PODCAST

The Science in The Fiction

Marty Kurylowicz and Holly Carson

This is both a science and a science fiction podcast. We dig deep into the biggest ideas in science fiction, using science to elevate the conversation about sci-fi, and sci-fi to promote science education, curiosity and vision. We talk to science fiction authors about the science in their fiction, then talk to scientists about the same topic, and catalyze conversations between the two.

fiction science fiction

All Episodes

42:00

Ep 41: Benjamin Percy on Sci-Fi Fungi in 'The...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/10/24

Beginning our highly anticipated new topic of Sci-Fi Fungi, we talk to science fiction author Benjamin Percy about the second book of his Comet Cycle, 'The Unfamiliar Garden'. We discuss Ben's writing career in comic books and novels and soon TV and film, the literary treatment that space fungus gets in this book, as well as the human and emotional stakes that make it a really good story. We discuss the goodies and the baddies of the fungal world, lichenification, symbiosis, colle...

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37:37

Ep 40: Marty and Holly on Sci-Fi Fungi and The...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/10/10

Marty and Holly discuss our upcoming theme of Sci-Fi Fungi with interviews of science fiction authors Benjamin Percy and Mike Carey, along with mycologists Dr. Alex Moskaluk from the University of Guelph and Kaitlyn Kuehn (KK) from the Flora Funga Podcast. We'll be discussing space fungi from cometary debris in Ben Percy's book 'The Unfamiliar Garden', the zombie fungus Codyceps in Mike Percy's book 'The Girl With All The Gifts'. And we'll be structuring our conversations around M...

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64:00

Ep 39: Edward M. Lerner on First Contact in 'On The...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/09/26

We talk to a returning guest and friend of the show, science fiction author Edward M. Lerner, about his latest book 'On The Shoals of Space-Time', on the topic of First Contact. Ed is a fount of scientific insight and information on space science and the possibilities for extraterrestrial encounters, having written 25 books – 5 of them with the legendary author Larry Niven, of Ringworld fame – many of which explore themes First Contact with extraterrestrials, as well as future scientifi...

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68:03

Ep 38: Mark Milne on Geoengineering in 'The Ministry...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/09/12

In this episode we talk to Mark Milne as a follow-up on our interviews with science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson and glaciologist Heidi Sevestre in episodes 21 and 22, on the topic of Geoengineering as portrayed in Kim Stanley Robinson’s book 'The Ministry for the Future'. Mark speaks about a number of strategies for mitigating climate change by cooling the planet through increasing its albedo, or reflectivity. The overarching strategy that we discuss is Solar Radiation Man...

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38:34

Ep 37: Peter Watts and Justin Gregg in Conversation -...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/08/29

We continue the conversation between science fiction author Peter Watts and scientist Justin Gregg, and now they get down to the tricky business of discussing the nature of consciousness. We discuss Peter's premise of 'Blindsight – that consciousness is an illusory, unnecessary and possibly parasitic phenomenon that will get us all killed when we encounter more efficient, unconscious extra-terrestrial intelligence. Then very quickly agree that nobody knows what the hell they’re ta...

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49:29

Ep 36: Peter Watts and Justin Gregg in Conversation...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/08/15

In this episode we present a conversation between science fiction author Peter Watts and scientist Justin Gregg, following up on our individual interviews with each of them on the general theme of intelligence and consciousness. Justin Gregg is the author of 'Are Dolphins Really Smart?', '22 Fantastical Facts about Dolphins' and ‘If Nietzsche were a Narwhal - What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity’, the book we spoke to him about in episode 23. Peter Watts is the s...

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46:04

Ep 35: George Paxinos on Neuroscience and Cloning in...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/08/01

Marty and Holly talk to George Paxinos - neuroscientist, environmental activist and author of 'A River Divided', a book that explores neurological determinism - the claim that we have no free will and that our actions are entirely determined by our genetics and the neurological consequences imposed on us by the environment which shapes our brain. His book comes with a very interesting twist: the modern day cloning of Jesus of Nazareth! And not only that, but the cloning of two identical...

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64:12

Ep 34: David Brin on First Contact in 'Existence'

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/07/20

Marty and Holly speak with David Brin, science fiction icon, scientist, futurist and civilizational optimist. We discuss his particular view of first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, as portrayed in his 2012 novel 'Existence', along with his predictions about how artificial intelligence and virtual reality will change our world in the near future. We discuss the UFO phenomenon (a sophisticated form of cat lasers for us to chase) and the unspeakably rude behaviour of the...

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67:55

Ep 33: Avi Loeb on First Contact in 'Extraterrestrial'

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/07/04

We speak with Professor Avi Loeb from the Harvard Astronomy department, and he is one of the most generous, gregarious, kind and thoughtful people we’ve ever spoken with. Not only that, he embodies the spirit of true scientific inquiry and discovery that can be sadly lacking in the scientific culture of our time. Our conversation revolves around the possibility of First Contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life, based on our encounter with Oumuamua - the first extra-solar object ev...

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41:37

Ep 32: Anniversary Special - Marty and Holly on The...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/06/20

To celebrate the first anniversary of our podcast, Marty and Holly do a little retrospective to discuss their favorite books, people and interviews from the last year. We discuss some of the best science fiction books we read: 'Red Team Blues' by Cory Doctorow, 'Semiosis' by Sue Burke, 'Neverness' by David Zindell, 'Night Owls' by Stephen Gay and 'The Ministry for the Future' by Kim Stanley Robinson. We also talk about some of our favorite science books from this year: 'Plan...

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38:20

Ep 31: David Curtin on Dark Matter in 'Sunfall' (Part 2)

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/06/06

This is the second part of our interview with Dr. David Curtin, Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Particle Physics at the University of Toronto. In response to the kind of dark matter model found in Jim Al-Khalili's science fiction book 'Sunfall', David expounds upon the "significantly weirder' models of dark matter being contemplated today. Since the failure to find any dark matter candidates at the Large Hadron Collider, and the continued exclusion of WIMPs by the Cryogenic D...

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45:40

Ep 30: David Curtin on Dark Matter in 'Sunfall' (Part 1)

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/05/30

Dr. David Curtin is the Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Particle Physics at the University of Toronto, and specializes in exotic theories of dark matter that describe a "dark sector" which may include complex dark matter. These "banana-town weirdo" dark matter models include dark electrons, dark protons and dark photons that form dark atoms and possibly an entire mirror universe that exists transparently all around us. We discuss Jim Al-Khalili's book 'Sunfall' and the ...

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51:18

Ep 29: Jim Al-Khalili on Dark Matter in 'Sunfall'

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/05/16

Our theme in the next two episodes is dark matter, the kind of far-out science that is stranger than fiction and presents realms of possibility that are both more plausible and more interesting than parallel worlds or extra dimensions or even wormholes. In this episode we talk to Jim Al-Khalili, who is many things: physicist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, educator, broadcaster and all around extraordinary public intellectual who reaches millions of people around the world with his p...

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55:19

Ep 28: Edward M. Lerner on Planetary Protection in...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/05/02

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68:06

Ep 27: Peter Gorniak and Cydney Nielsen on Artificial...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/04/19

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64:15

Ep 26: Karl Schroeder on Artificial Intelligence and...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/04/04

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58:06

Ep 25: Peter Watts (Part 2) on Intelligence and...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/03/21

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51:02

Ep 24: Peter Watts on Intelligence and Consciousness...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/03/14

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58:59

Ep 23: Justin Gregg on Intelligence and Consciousness...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/02/29

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56:56

Ep 22: Heidi Sevestre on Geoengineering in Kim...

The Science in The Fiction ·

2024/02/15

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61 results

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