Chris Beckett on American Imperialism in 'America City'

Chris Beckett on American Imperialism in 'America City'

Author: Marty Kurylowicz and Holly Carson August 27, 2026 Duration: 57:03
Chris Beckett returns to the show to talk about his book ‘America City’. Chris has written over 20 short stories and six novels, starting with The Holy Machine published in 2004 and including 'Dark Eden' for which he won the Arthur C. Clark Award in 2012. ‘America City’ describes the consequences of a refugee crisis resulting from climate change, and the slippery slope of propaganda used in service to political power. We talk about how prescient this book was, published in 2017 ju...

Ever wonder how close that far-future technology in your favorite novel really is, or what a biologist thinks about the alien ecosystems a writer dreams up? That’s the space where The Science in The Fiction lives. Hosted by Marty Kurylowicz and Holly Carson, this series bridges two worlds that often talk past each other. Each episode begins with a conversation with a science fiction author, pulling apart the big ideas and speculative concepts woven into their work. Then, they bring a scientist or expert into the studio to examine those same ideas through the lens of current research and theory. The real magic happens when these perspectives collide, creating a genuine dialogue. You’ll hear a physicist geek out over warp drive mechanics with an author who just wrote about them, or an ethicist debate artificial consciousness with the novelist who imagined it. It’s not just about fact-checking fiction; it’s about using narrative to ask better questions and using science to deepen our sense of wonder. This podcast operates on a simple, powerful belief: that science fiction can make science more compelling and accessible, and that solid science can, in turn, inspire more thoughtful and visionary stories. If you’ve ever finished a brilliant sci-fi book and immediately fallen down a research rabbit hole, this show feels built for you. Tune in for conversations that are as insightful about human creativity as they are about quantum mechanics or xenobiology, all designed to fuel your curiosity.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

The Science in The Fiction
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Edward M. Lerner on Planetary Protection in 'Life and Death on Mars' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:19
In this episode we return to the theme of Planetary Protection, continuing the conversation we started in episodes 19 and 20 where we discussed the return of samples from Asteroid Bennu to Earth in NASA’s recent OSIRIS R…