Category Archives: Blog

How did Ursula K Le Guin become the most famous science fiction writer of her generation? I have a theory. By the 1960s science fiction had decided that the future was in space, and the Space Race sealed the deal. A generation of SF writers focussed all their attention on how space exploration would becomeContinue reading “Talking sh*t”

Last year a member of the Science Fiction community jokingly asked my opinion of Skibidi Toilet, a Gen-Alpha brainrot “kids show” on YouTube with billions of views. And by far the most watched science fiction narrative of the 21st century. “Good” and “bad” don’t have a place in critical thinking about culture. Skibidi Toilet is.Continue reading “The Toilet MEMBER PREVIEW”

Longterm members of our community know about myth, but new members might be scratching your heads. Myth is old stories about why the sun rises etc. Science fiction is the extrapolation of scientific FACT. They are NOT the same. Let’s talk. In fact that idea about myths being stories to explain the sun rising (etc)Continue reading “The myth that made Interstellar”

I am sometimes accused of “click-bait” Which is entirely false. Every video on the Science Fiction channel does exactly what it says on the tin. “But. DAMO. This picture of God Emperor Elon carrying Joe Rogan carrying infant Donald Trump fighting Skibidi Toilet’s Titan Cameraman is CLEARLY CLICKBAIT!!!” Nope. This video essay will entirely fulfillContinue reading “The Accusations Against Me”

I keep saying it. The problem is not AI, the problem is AI under Capitalism. 50 years of neoliberalism mean some basic lessons of labour have been forgotten. In volume I of Das Kapital, Marx makes a critique of the Luddites – that the workers who famously smashed the machines were confusing the means ofContinue reading “The problem is not AI”

So. Why are the fanboys enraged about Zendaya’s performance as Chani? Sean Young’s Chani in Lynch’s Dune is an archetypal “anima”. Basically, she’s the princess that the young adventurer meets on his Hero’s Journey. Zendaya’s Chani ain’t that at all. Put aside all the complex systems fiction stuff, Frank Herbert’s Dune was a bestseller becauseContinue reading “Chani vs Chani”

What is the difference between fantasy & myth? A common response to our discussions of PHM as MPF was “all fiction is fantasy”. One commenter angrily insisted that “Shakespeare is fantasy”. Incorrect. Fantasy fulfills a psychological need for power, eros, status. A lot of fiction is fantasy, but far from all. Shakespeare is the oppositeContinue reading “What is the difference between fantasy & myth?”

It’s worth noting that Project: Hail Mary is called Project: Hail Mary. After the Hail Mary (American) football pass thrown in the final seconds to a catcher a loooong way down the pitch in a desperate attempt to win the game. Which is the basic plot of Project: Hail Mary but with a starship insteadContinue reading “Is God better than the alternative”