Writing and literature podcasts

Aliens, xenophobia, and "This world is made for monsters"

Lecture on the short story "This world is made for monsters" by M. Rickert.  Aliens: xenophobia and xenophilia, suspense and conflict in fiction, and imagery of children, animals, paradise, and hell. [10 mins]

Level 3 questions, critical thinking, and nonfiction readings

What are Level 3 questions? I discuss 3 articles that were assigned in ENG106: Binge breakers, the Wired article on The death of FOMO, and the Michael Tubbs TED talk. I also discuss why we focus on nonfiction in the course.

Storytelling, tragic flaws, Covid and zoom

Storytelling, human connection, and how Zoom is the false hero of our epic struggle against Covid-19. I discuss Timothy Caulfield's "Sound of science" and Sam Benstead's "If sex survived AIDS..." - 4.32 mins

Science fiction that is not about science: Lecture Part 3

Jerry Oltion's article "Net up/Net down" discusses how important science actually is in science fiction. I comment on his example of The Lord of the Flies.

"The Man from X": Lecture Part 2

How should we solve the problem of cheating? Science fiction should offer answers to the problems we face in society, says Jerry Oltion. In this podcast I consider how Gregor Hartmann’s story “The Man from X” tries to solve the problem of cheating.

"The Man from X": Lecture Part 1

What is satire, and how is Gregor Hartmann's short story "The Man from X" a kind of satire? What kind of science fiction is this short story? Lecture 1 for Week 3 of EAC234 (Jan 2021). Transcript available on BlackBoard.