Damien Walter

The best Scifi & Fantasy of the 21st century (Part 1 of 2)

We are 21 years into the 21st century. What better time to look at the century we are living in…the century of science fiction.

A special double episode of the Science Fiction podcast. Part 1 of 2.

00:00 The science fiction century
03:07 Welcome to new listeners.
04:59 The best scifi and fantasy of the 21st century
06:46 Why science fiction and fantasy?
10:46 21 + 21 = 42
13:16 The first year of the Science Fiction podcast
15:04 Twenty-One : John Scalzi / Star Wars
23:46 A few outliers
26:55 Twenty : Beeple / Blade Runner 2049
32:29 Nineteen : Cixin Liu / Mass Effect
37:18 Eighteen : Jenova Chen / American Gods
42:00 Seventeen : Tamsyn Muir / The Handmaid’s Tale
44:40 Sixteen : Christopher Nolan / The Witcher
48:04 Fifteen : N K Jemisin / District 9
49:53 An offer you can refuse
52:48 Fourteen : Charlie Jane Anders / Harry Potter
55:31 Thirteen : Qntm / The Orville
58:31 Twelve : Hwang Dong-hyuk / Interstellar

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The Science Fiction podcast in India

The Science Fiction podcast has been hitting some highs in the podcast charts in recent weeks, including #86 and #33 in the US and UK Apple Podcast>Books chart. But we marked a first today when the Science Fiction podcast joined the Apple Podcast>Books charts in India at position number 8. Yes. 8. India is oneContinue reading “The Science Fiction podcast in India”

The Matrix and the archetypes of Carl Jung

There’s a question about The Matrix I’ve been asking myself since the franchise established itself in the collective unconscious of humanity back in the early 00s.

What is Sigmund Freud doing in these movies?

00:00 What’s Sigmund Freud doing here?
02:21 Welcome the the Science Fiction podcast
04:01 Freud vs Jung
09:05 Good vs Evil
13:00 Carl Jung’s little Red Book
16:26 The Jungian tradition in 20th century storytelling
22:21 The Matrix and the archetypes of Carl Jung
35:17 The false god of the Gnostics
37:34 The journey to the Self
39:56 A Jungian myth for the 21st century

Watch the original Matrix full movie: https://amzn.to/3GUbPRh

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Can Denis Villeneuve make a movie out of Rendezvous with Rama?

What has a superbly detailed technical description of an interstellar megastructure and no characters or story?

Denis Villeneuve’s latest film project.

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Why do we like Geralt of Rivia? The Witcher season 2

He smells terrible. He never has any money. And he’s a violent killer.

There are a lot of reasons not to like Geralt of Rivia. But we do like Geralt of Rivia.

Why is that?

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Kim Stanley Robinson | Interstellar travel is a religious fantasy

Science fiction is fighting a doctrinal war. Between those who believe that humankind’s future is still the stars, and those – like Kim Stanley Robinson – who believe interstellar travel is a fantasy of religious belief. The science is clear, travel to other stars may well be forever beyond us. So why do we keep telling this story?

A response to Kim Stanley Robinson’s interview for the Science Fiction Talks club on Clubhouse. Find his full interview here: https://www.clubhouse.com/room/xe65rroG

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The Unreal future of science fiction

I’m resisting the temptation to throw it all in and disappear down the Unreal Engine rabbit hole. Forget outer space, the future of humankind lies in the infinite exploration of inner space and the realms of the human imagination. But don’t worry….the world-building AI will always need storytellers.

00:00 The Unreal Engine rabbit hole
04:44 Humans are never going to outer space
08:23 J G Ballard’s take-down of outer space
10:12 The future of inner space
15:35 We are all science fiction creators
17:16 Even the gods of world-building still need storytellers

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The 21 most significant science fiction storytellers of the 21st century (so far)

As the first twenty one years of the twenty-first century come to a close, who are the creators of science fiction defining the century ahead? Damien Walter writes on technology, culture and science fiction for The Guardian, BBC, Independent, Wired, Buzzfeed, SFX and Aeon. He teaches The Rhetoric of Story & Writing the 21st CenturyContinue reading “The 21 most significant science fiction storytellers of the 21st century (so far)”

Lord of the Rings = 1984 + Hobbits

On the surface Lord of the Rings and 1984 look very different. But JRR Tolkien and George Orwell were men of the same generation, the same class, and the same culture, writing about the same matter – power.

00:00 Tolkien & Orwell
04:24 Surface Exterior vs Deep Interior
07:12 Symbols vs Symbols
12:14 Class & Communism
13:18 1984 is the future where Sauron won the Third Age
15:09 Meaning vs Nihilism
16:40 We would use power for good…but can we resist using our One Ring?

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Dreams are messages from the deep : meditation on Dune

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune opens with a sentence that is not in Frank Herbert’s DUNE. “Dreams are messages from the deep”. What do these words mean? And why does Denis Villeneuve choose to open his movie with them?

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Dune : the 7 levels of meaning

Part Seven of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth Dune is a phenomenon, a novel written in the 1960s that seems to become more popular with every decade. The story of Paul Atreides and the battle for Arrakis fascinates readers who follow the young hero on his journey of transformation. ButContinue reading “Dune : the 7 levels of meaning”

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”