The jungle gym (or if you’re in the UK, the climbing frame) might seem like little more than a fun diversion for children. But the jungle gym was actually once seen as a portal to the unseen fourth dimension. Once you hear its astonishing backs

Utopia: As Seen on TV

Jun 27th, 2017 22m 24s

From Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future, to Apple's famous 1984 commercial, science fiction and advertising have had a rich history together. It turns out that using fiction to sell reality is a pretty profitable idea. But behind the cur

The Holographic Billboard

Jun 19th, 2017 18m 56s

It seems inevitable that advertisements will play a starring role in the future. Our most futuristic-looking spaces (think New York's Times Square or Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing) are those populated with enormous, LED billboard ads. In this day an

Rick and Morty: Science Fiction Gets Schwifty

Mar 16th, 2017 27m 14s

Since 2013, the Adult Swim animated sitcom "Rick and Morty" has been garnering obsessive fans and critical acclaim. But what exactly makes the show so great? And what makes this dark show so funny? Today, we'll seek to answer those questions, a

Red Pill, Blue Pill

Mar 8th, 2017 51m 35s

If you've ever questioned the very nature of reality, you're not alone. As it turns out, humans have been trying to disprove or escape reality for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. But if this world isn't real, would we even recognize what

It’s a Full “Moon” Party

Feb 7th, 2017 33m 54s

Get ready for a roundtable discussion on one of 2009's hottest sci-fi films: Duncan Jones's "Moon." Starring Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, the film confronts serious topics such as sentience, exploitation, and non-human rights with reverence and hu

“The Logs” by David Brin

Feb 1st, 2017 41m 2s

Ari reads a short story by David Brin. "The Logs" stars a young Russian girl who comes to terms with her life on an asteroid work camp. Brin's style mixes moments of levity with themes of perseverance and struggle. We are faced with the questio

What I Read in 2016

Jan 23rd, 2017 27m 19s

2016 was the year that I really began my science fiction journey, and I'm taking a survey of my most memorable science fiction moments from the last year. Today's episode is an overview of five impactful books I read in 2016. I discuss authors

Creating Comics with David Robertson

Dec 19th, 2016 49m 47s

In this episode, Ari talks science fiction, comics, and making an idea into a tangible reality with comic creator David Robertson (Fred Egg Comics). You can check out David's work here: www.fredeggcomics.com/

Asimov vs. The Robotic Uprising

Dec 5th, 2016 22m 38s

If you're fearful of the coming robot apocalypse, you're not alone. Science fiction writers for two centuries have been trying to figure out what humanity's place in the world will be when the robots have risen. You and I, right now, are in the

The Presence of God

Nov 28th, 2016 22m 50s

Science fiction asks a lot of what-ifs. But what about when it asks: what if God were real? In this episode, we'll explore a bunch of hard SF works that take religious very, very seriously. We'll discuss Arthur C. Clarke's "The Nine Billion Nam

Meet Robert Duncan Milne

Nov 18th, 2016 16m 12s

This episode of Novum makes the acquaintance of a fascinating author of science fiction: Robert Duncan Milne. Milne's vivid tales of gothic science have largely been lost and forgotten in favor of the other big names of 19th century SF, such as

Anthropomorphism Lost

Nov 13th, 2016 35m 15s

This episode of Novum examines the fear that our species will suddenly, at a moment's notice, retrogress. Is it possible that our civilization is no more than a convincing facade? What if a barbarous, animal nature lies just below? In the wake

The Pregnant Man

Oct 27th, 2016 32m 20s

This week's episode of Novum deals with an unusual consequence of the feminist utopia: male isolationism and the post-gendered, pregnant man. We'll consider what the future holds for the two-sex binary. Science fiction posits both the possibili

When the Sleeper Awakes

Oct 20th, 2016 38m 24s

This week's episode of Novum is all about the sleeper. From Sleeping Beauty to Woody Allen, we find that plenty of characters have simply slept through centuries, to find themselves, unwittingly, in the distant future. Today, stories about time

The Invasion of Earth

Oct 12th, 2016 35m 35s

Earth has been invaded countless times by aliens in film and literature for over 100 years. Often, our technology is useless against our attackers... and our finest cities are left in ruins! Why is this genre so compelling to us? I think works

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