Author Archives: Damien Walter

Brave New World vs 1984

Part Six of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth The twentieth century produced two great visions of dystopia. George Orwell’s 1984 is still the most terrifying depiction of totalitarian control ever depicted, a nightmare future of surveillance, torture and mind control. Aldous Huxley’s dystopia shows us a future of pleasure andContinue reading “Brave New World vs 1984”

The Avengers : how Marvel made our modern supergods

Part Five of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth The Disney owned Marvel franchise is the biggest and most profitable story in human history, a vast metanarrative built around the interwoven stories of a modern pantheon of supergods. How are such huge stories told? The answer lies in understanding the archetypalContinue reading “The Avengers : how Marvel made our modern supergods”

Blade Runner : what is human?

Part Four of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth Blade Runner challenges us to ask – what is human? The science fiction author Philip K Dick believed that our humanity was based not in our body, or in our mind, but in our capacity for empathy. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner isContinue reading “Blade Runner : what is human?”

Meaning vs Atheism: can science fiction bridge the gap?

Science fiction is a strange beast. A exploration of the hard edged future of science and technology, fused with the transcendent hunger for imagination and self-transformation. Can science fiction be a bridge between the two “non-overlapping magisteria” of Science and Religion?

This episode of the Science Fiction podcast is a crossover with my series commenting on the “Intellectual MMA” of YouTube philosophy. The Four Horsemen of Atheism – Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett VS The Four Horsemen of Meaning – Jordan Peterson, Jonathan Pageau, John Vervaeke and Bishop Barron. Who is who? And who won?

00:00 Science fiction bridges religion and science
01:04 What happens when Science meets Fiction?
02:21 The era of Intellectual MMA
03:43 Horsemen of Meaning vs Horsemen of Atheism
05:09 The rise of the YouTube intellectual
07:19 Which Horseman is which?
12:01 The Meaning Crisis
14:58 The problem of Self-Deception
20:52 So…who won?
22:12 We need a participatory philosophy
24:59 Religious dogma? BAD! Religious debate? GREAT!

Star Wars : beyond the hero’s journey

Part Three of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth Star Wars changed cinema forever, introducing the would to the “scifi blockbuster” that has dominated box offices for the last four decades. To create his masterpiece George Lucas employed an ancient structure of mythic storytelling discovered by Joseph Campbell – the Hero’sContinue reading “Star Wars : beyond the hero’s journey”

2001 : how Stanley Kubrick rewrote science fiction

Part Two of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth It’s more than a little ironic that the motion picture widely called the “greatest science fiction story ever told” was made by an artist who hated science fiction. Stanley Kubrick thought science fiction was a failure at myth making, and set outContinue reading “2001 : how Stanley Kubrick rewrote science fiction”

The Wheel of Time gets rolling…and nothing happens

The Wheel of Time hits streaming screens worldwide…and people everywhere fall asleep. $100M is an impressive sum of money to spend on something this boring. So, how did we get here? The answer begins with Lord of the Rings, American book pirates and the birth of Epic Fantasy…and ends with the ultimate commodification of theContinue reading “The Wheel of Time gets rolling…and nothing happens”

Frankenstein : the first science fiction novel

Part One of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: Writing the 21st century myth Two hundred years ago Western civilisation was gripped by a revolution. Science was tearing down religion, and changing how we saw reality. Religious myths had given us answers to eternal questions. Who are we? Why are we here? What does it allContinue reading “Frankenstein : the first science fiction novel”

Can Apple’s Foundation be salvaged?

The worst thing any adaptation of a science fiction classic can do is be less intelligent than the original. Apple’s FOUNDATION is dumbed down so far that readers of Isaac Asimov’s original novels can barely recognise it. But can rewrites, reshoots and some smart recasting help Apple recoup some of the $500M the show is reported to have cost?

00:00 Apple’s Foundation is dumbed down
03:48 The Science Fiction podcast with Damien Walter
05:09 $500 million is a lot of money
08:15 The most expensive flop in tv history
09:21 Could Foundation be salvaged?
10:42 Get rid of David S Goyer
11:52 The central character of Foundation is…Foundation.
14:11 Foundation is SOCIAL science fiction
16:16 The Empire is a technocracy
18:19 Hari Seldon – a prophet of science
19:34 Cast Lee Pace as Salvor Hardin
22:52 Hire science fiction writers
25:25 Culture is the intelligence of human civilisation
27:02 We are in a Seldon crisis

Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast

Join the Science Fiction community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197

Read Asimov’s original novels: https://amzn.to/31RVA7W

Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com

Enroll on Udemy:
https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95

Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV

Why do we like the Roys?

Succession season 3 reveals the thematic heart of HBOs hit show. We don’t love to hate the Roys. We like the Roys. Because the Roys are like us. “There is no line. Everything everywhere is always moving, forever. Get used to it.” HBO’s hit show Succession reveals its thematic heart with this line from LoganContinue reading “Why do we like the Roys?”

Stephen Wolfram’s challenge to science fiction

The great project of science fiction has been the translation of science and its discoveries into our shared understanding as human beings. But what happens to science fiction if and when the science itself…changes? We’re in the midst of a paradigm shift in the understanding of physics driven by computation. And at the cutting edge of this new kind of science is Stephen Wolfram. In a recent podcast interview with Lex Friedman, Wolfram wondered if science fiction was the way to understand what it would be like to be a ‘cellular automata’. Is science fiction ready to answer the challenge?

Listen to the full Lex Fridman podcast with Stephen Wolfram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-SGpEInX_c

Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com

Enroll on Udemy:
https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-science-fiction-fantasy/?referralCode=B7B13C5C3D413999ED95

Subscribe monthly via Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3pO6pPV

Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197