Science Fiction

Why do Leftists always lose? A (partial) defense of Contrapoints Jun 1, 2026 1461 Get your PKD tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalt

2026 : the year World War 3 begins May 16, 2026 1967 To my Gen-X compatriots, to the Boomers and Millenials, and to Gen-Z who will have to clean up this mess we all made… …can we agree that Star Trek is the future we would all like? A future in which poverty is eradicated, disease is a mere curiosity of the past, humanity has put asideContinue reading "2026 : the year World War 3 begins"

You don’t understand science fiction Apr 26, 2026 2117 There is a single narrative technique that connects almost every multi-billion dollar science fiction franchise ever made. It is the invisible engine powering the most successful stories of the last century. And yet, if you ask ten working Hollywood screenwriters what it is, nine of them will give you a blank stare—and the tenth willContinue reading "You don’t understand science fiction

The First Dystopia Apr 14, 2026 832 We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a novel written at the beginning of the future. It’s hard to remember today, after Logan’s Run, The Handmaid’s Tale and Hunger Games made “dystopia” an entertainment genre, but when Yevgeny Zamyatin was writing in the early 1920s, it was only beginning to dawn on humanity just how bad the future might be. OrContinue reading "The First Dystopia"

Terminator 2 isn’t only the greatest action movie Apr 13, 2026 2099 Terminator is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Arnold’s physique is the star of the film The progressive decay of the Body into the Machine is his co-star With the special effects that animated the Terminator as best supporting actor Or watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfbNARASn9Y Imagine if Ron Perlman had passed his audition for Terminator? You can’t.Continue reading "Terminator 2

HG Wells vs Vladimir Lenin Apr 7, 2026 1576 The year is 1920. The Empires of Europe have spent the last half decade blowing each other up with bombs, guns and heavy artillery. As World War 1 burns itself out, men who survived the fighting begin to wonder if a better world, a world without empires and wars, is possible. These working class menContinue reading "HG Wells vs Vladimir Lenin"

A note for listeners of the Science Fiction podcast Apr 6, 2026 1262 We are in a war on podcasting. Podcasts are one of the last survivors of Web1.0, the era that gave us cool things like Wikipedia and the Blogosphere, back when “information wanted to be free”. Today information wants to generate clickthrough ad revenue. The Science Fiction podcast is hosted on damiengwalter.com on an RSS feed.Continue reading "A note for listeners of the Science Fictio

Project Hail Mary is a Male Pattern Fantasy Apr 1, 2026 1640 It's Scifi. It's Romance. It's Fantasy. It's SciMANtasy 😱 Let's see if we can make Gary an Amazon bestseller so he doesn't ask for his money back. 🔗👇 The Last Sysadmin in Sector 7 : a SCIMANTASY novel https://amzn.to/4lXiqjF # The Ultimate Male Pattern Fantasy What if the greatest science fiction dream isn't discovering alien life or saving the human race, but simply being left completely

How the Matrix reclaimed the Red Pill Feb 22, 2026 2527 The best way to understand the broken, crazed, indulgent filmography of the Wachowski’s is as a quest to make the Matrix movie the Matrix would never make. Time. Is money. And in the cold unfeeling eyes of Hollywood a “movie” is just a business strategy to convert two hours of your time into shareholder value.Continue reading "How the Matrix reclaimed the Red Pill"

Star Trek ain’t woke. It’s corporate. Jan 26, 2026 1312 Get your COMMIE TREK tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://dam

America forgot that Judge Dredd is a *satire* of fascism Jan 18, 2026 1456 Get your PKD tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalt

They want to make DUNE real Jan 11, 2026 1077 Get your CHOAM tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwa

Where did the future go? Jan 5, 2026 758 Get your PKD tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalt

Why are right-wing grifters all like Batman villains? Dec 26, 2025 1402 Get your Science Fiction tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https:/

The Avatar franchise is empty spectacle Dec 17, 2025 902 Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Become a member of the Science Fiction channel on youtube for full access to all content https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Or join for any monthly donation and all the same benefits via the website https://damiengwalter.com

The Epstein / Kubrick theory is worse than you think Dec 16, 2025 582 Watch the Dangerous Maybe deep dive on Slavoj Zizek - https://youtu.be/OXCuHZNM4zk?si=636EgXrWbcSQnTpx Get your Science Fiction tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/

Science fiction’s most terrifying prediction Dec 7, 2025 1890 Get your Science Fiction tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https:/

Plur1bus : what’s it all about? Nov 14, 2025 903 Get your Science Fiction tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https:/

The 7 scifi books that ALMOST made me a believer Oct 5, 2025 2023 Buy the books here Book One - https://amzn.to/4nTetfw Book Two - https://amzn.to/3KqhLsa Book Three - https://amzn.to/3IzCMjK Book Four - https://amzn.to/46JyjTA Book Five - https://amzn.to/42iDbh8 Book Six - https://amzn.to/3WclWKJ Book Seven - https://amzn.to/4pHYgLS Immanentize the Eschaton with a scifi tee here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction

The Alien franchise is finally dead Sep 13, 2025 1106 Get your Science Fiction tees here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com The Alien 3 script that almost got made - https://amzn.to/4gdLeS1 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction p

Frankenstein : the first myth for the age of science Sep 7, 2025 952 Read the first science fiction novel - https://amzn.to/45NQwA8 Get your Science Fiction tees here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podc

Is a World State inevitable? Damien Walter vs Feral Historian Aug 23, 2025 1117 Watch Feral's case for NO - https://youtu.be/hj_lBPRcMoU?si=KlZbmWjTNAFcARd3 Get your Psychohistory tees here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science

Psychohistory : Isaac Asimov’s greatest idea Aug 12, 2025 1442 We are in a crisis… …of crises. We are in a crisis of geopolitics as we move from a unipolar world of one global hegemon to a multipolar world of competing powers. We are in a crisis of economics as our elites hoard more and more wealth, immiserating the working and middle classes. We areContinue reading "Psychohistory : Isaac Asimov’s greatest idea"

The most HATED science fiction writer Jul 24, 2025 1841 Get your scifi tees here - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damieng

The greatest 226 minutes in scifi television Jun 30, 2025 1763 Shop the PKD Made Me Do It Collection - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays

Star Trek is propaganda Jun 12, 2025 2931 Get your Science Fiction mythos vs. logos tee here https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Follow Damien on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/dami

What are you rebelling against, Andor? May 13, 2025 6515 Shop the PKD Made Me Do It collection - https://damosays-shop.fourthwall.com Socialism and Fascism thoughts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Subscribe to t

The First Dystopia Apr 14, 2025 3300 We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a novel written at the beginning of the future. It’s hard to remember today, after Logan’s Run, The Handmaid’s Tale and Hunger Games made “dystopia” an entertainment genre, but when Yevgeny Zamyatin was writing in the early 1920s, it was only beginning to dawn on humanity just how bad the future might be. OrContinue reading "The First Dystopia"

The cyberpunk comic that kicked neoliberalism in the nuts Apr 1, 2025 1615 Shop the PKD Made Me Do It Collection - https://my-store-ef7a8e.creator-spring.com/listing/pkd-made-me-do-it Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentar

Did George Orwell see Big Elon coming? Mar 4, 2025 1843 Shop the PKD Made Me Do It Collection - https://my-store-ef7a8e.creator-spring.com/listing/pkd-made-me-do-it Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentar

The only true Philip K Dick movie Jan 22, 2025 1799 Shop the PKD Made Me Do It Collection - https://my-store-ef7a8e.creator-spring.com/listing/pkd-made-me-do-it Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentar

The Last Marxist Jan 8, 2025 8016 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

10 Science Fiction books to read in 2025 Dec 30, 2024 656 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

When HG Wells met Vladimir Lenin WITH COMMENTARY Dec 4, 2024 1965 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

Modernity is done Oct 30, 2024 728 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

Joker is a masterpiece of radical cinema Oct 8, 2024 1321 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

Megalopolis and its discontents Oct 2, 2024 829 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

50,000 Subscriber Question & Answer Sep 22, 2024 5665 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

Zardoz and the humiliation of Sean Connery Sep 18, 2024 1775 Why do we love science fiction movies? Sometimes it’s because they take us to strange new worlds. Other times they just have the best effects, the biggest explosions, or the most guns. But when science fiction movies become legendary it’s often because they tell us something deep, true and meaningful. Then there are the science fiction movies that step up to bat for legendary status take a bi

The 1970s science fiction classic that actually deserves a reboot Sep 1, 2024 1411 Watch the FULL video version on the new Science Fiction (video) Spotify channel : https://open.spotify.com/show/7lMNsoZctViqbqv8atqpK2?si=9a474bb8a9d74147 Why was the 1970s a classic era for science fiction cinema? I’m guessing many 1970s scifi movies are forgotten, by anyone who wasn’t there to see them. Dark Star. Silent Running. Rollerball! The 70s produced so much great scifi cinema it’s har

Ken MacLeod on The Culture of Iain M Banks Jul 21, 2024 6466 SF author Ken MacLeod on his lifelong friend Iain Banks. Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.c

The 3 Body Problem, Problem Apr 7, 2024 7454 Does it matter that the Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin is a work of propaganda? I think it does. But it's going to take 2 hours to explain. Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podc

Dune part 2 is the savior of science fiction Mar 10, 2024 6026 Dune is the Star Wars killer - https://youtu.be/JPOsoph3TCY Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.

Prof. Elana Gomel on Stanislaw Lem Feb 26, 2024 4706 00:00:57 Introduction 00:03:39 Professor Elana Gomel 00:09:55 Charles Dickens as scifi writer 00:14:17 Stanislaw Lem and The Other 00:18:59 Anti-Humanism 00:22:46 Lem vs the SFWA 00:26:27 Beyond Humanism 00:28:12 LEM and Posthumanism 00:33:37 Fear of the Posthuman 00:38:00 Lem's criticism of non-existant novels 00:40:41 Lem on AI 00:

The church of science fiction FANDOM Feb 14, 2024 8899 Members Only

Iain McGilchrist interview Jan 22, 2024 6851 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:50 Is Iain McGilchrist a scifi fan? 00:07:05 Iain McGilchrist's work and philosophy 00:17:34 Reason vs Rationalisation 00:22:30 Kubrick's 2001 and the hemispheres 00:27:14 Why do we take everything literally now? 00:34:41 The myths that form us 00:43:22 How do we reconnect to the mythos? 00:49:36 Campbell, Jung and the s

The 3 Stigmata of Elon Musk : review of the year in Science Fiction 2023 Dec 27, 2023 5464 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

The Verhoeven Paradox with Olga Yakimenko Dec 16, 2023 8057 Olga Yakimenko is a filmmaker who sometimes answers questions in the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction p

The Age of the Rockstar Critic Nov 11, 2023 5110 BUY MERCH https://my-store-ef7a8e.creator-spring.com Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/pod

J G Ballard vs Andreessen Horowitz Nov 1, 2023 6791 Watch J G Ballard's Towering Inferno https://youtu.be/XYjjaalZHlY Music 'Sensula' by Ralph Cree https://soundcloud.com/ralphcree/sensula The Techno-Optimist Manifesto https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon

Loki Who? Oct 20, 2023 406 PS - man with midlands accent is Alan Moore There is an ancient English ritual, performed in the grey and rainy times (which is the entire year save 2 weeks in July), when the tribes people gather around a glowing screen and politely pretend that whoever is playing Doctor Who is a great actor. They never are. But it's not their job to be. The Who actor's singular task is to depict a very particu

Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Hegelian history Oct 11, 2023 7474 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com/members/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community o

The dangerous philosophy of Ursula Le Guin Sep 17, 2023 1828 Listen to the full podcast episode by becoming a member and adding the members RSS feed to your app Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Substack - https://damien.substack.com/

The mythos of Star Trek with John Vervaeke Sep 3, 2023 9265 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

The philosophy of science fiction | Interview with Brendan Myers Aug 11, 2023 6135 Read Flight of the Siren by Brendan Myers https://amzn.to/453bTKZ Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengw

The deep meaning of Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE Aug 3, 2023 2261 Support the Ocean of Story on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/damiengwalter/the-ocean-of-story-season-1

Oppenheimer : why do we fear intelligence? Jul 24, 2023 803 Learn more about workshops and 1-2-1's https://damiengwalter.com/2023/07/24/sailing-the-ocean-of-story/ Support the Ocean of Story on kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/damiengwalter/the-ocean-of-story-season-1

In search of a Metamodern mythos Jul 16, 2023 4853 Support the Ocean of Story on Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/damiengwalter/the-ocean-of-story-season-1

The postmodern destruction of Star Trek Jul 12, 2023 1620 Support The Ocean of Story on Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/damiengwalter/the-ocean-of-story-season-1

The neo-religions of science fiction May 24, 2023 5772 Watch the Interstellar video essay https://youtu.be/6fZh-mBttMA Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwa

Philip K Dick’s handbook of narrative warfare Mar 26, 2023 1821 Philip K Dick's The Man In The High Castle is a novel about one of the most complex ideas in our world. The way stories shape perception, and the war between narratives. This long-form audio commentary builds on ideas in the video essay Lady Gaga in The Man in the High Castle. Members of the Science Fiction community can listen to the full commentary on the member RSS podcast feed. Watch the vide

The latent spaces of Neuromancer Feb 26, 2023 5337 Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Science Fiction channel for the short video essays https://youtu.be/AQG3UVaR2cw Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/

A very metamodern Batman Feb 20, 2023 3164 What would a metamodern Batman movie look like? Find out in this audio commentary to accompany the Incel Batman video essay on the Science Fiction channel. Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion Website - https://damiengwalter.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter Subscribe to the Scien

The philosophy of Video Games Feb 5, 2023 3353 Watch the video essay on the Science Fiction channel https://youtu.be/CYDpD5skkvM Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long form commentaries on these video essays https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook to continue the discussion https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/ Become a member of the Science Fiction channel on youtube f

SEASON 1 FINALE : Writing the 21st Century Myth Sep 25, 2022 4775 Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://damiengwalter.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197

What does a metamodern future look like? Aug 15, 2022 4166 We’re in a civilisational war between the pre-modern, the modern, and the post-modern. Or to give them their “culture war” names – the Reactionary, the Neoliberal…and the Woke. We need a better future for our civilisation. A future some people are starting to call the Metamodern. In this episode of the Science Fiction podcast I think about what a Metamodern future might look like. It’s a not a cy

Why ‘The Boys’ failed – thoughts on mythopathic storytelling Aug 8, 2022 2837 Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Access the full podcast archive and all my courses as a member for ANY monthly donation... Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://damiengwalter.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction commun

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman – The High Cost of Fantasy Jul 28, 2022 3378 There's a reason why Neil Gaiman is the most famous writer scifi, horror & fantasy ever made. That rockstar reputation didn't start with appearances on The Simpsons. By the age of 32, when most writers are just getting started, Gaiman had already written a masterpiece of fantasy. The 75 issues of The Sandman are a tour through the mythos of humanity, and a masters thesis on the uses, and abus

Psychohistory : we are in a Seldon Crisis Jul 10, 2022 2769 Psychohistory is among the most important ideas born in science fiction. A science that allows us to predict the future of human civilisation. It's tempting to ask...could Psychohistory be real? Algorithms can control masses of humankind. Complexity science and agent based modelling are already predicting mass human behaviour. And as we face our civilisational "Seldon Crisis" can we learn a les

The anti-human religion of Transhumanism Jun 8, 2022 5303 Transhumanism makes grand claims about the future of humankind, from genetic engineering and artificial wombs to immortality and uploading humanity to the cloud. Lead by pseudo-scientific thinkers like Ray Kurzeil, Transhumanism has become a popular ideology among Silicon Valley tech leaders including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. In recent years it has also become the focus of conspiracy theorists

The Superman archetype and American Imperialism May 21, 2022 3105 When did Superman get so "Dark"? He's as American as apple pie, coca-cola and black-ops interventions in the politics of other sovereign nations. Superman is the symbol of all that is best about the United States of America. An indefatigable powerhouse, an Apollonian sun deity, child of the gods but raised by mortal man, and the archetype of post-WW2 American self image. But as America has re-

LitFic vs SciFi – the consilience position May 8, 2022 3179 Why does science fiction not get the respect it deserves...from literary fiction? It’s the East coast vs West cost gangster rap rivalry but fiction writers (except without the drive-by shootings…that I know of?) An ancient feud between the Realists and the Fantasists. But beneath the surface of the LitFic vs SciFi argument is a more serious issue, about the power of storytelling, and the duty of

The Northman : a map of the Unfathered man (with intro) Apr 30, 2022 2786 Batman. Luke Skywalker. Conan. Paul Atreides. And now The Northman. Just a few of the Unfathered men that dominate our storytelling. Why are we obsessed with the Unfathered man? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Advanced Scifi & Fantasy Writing https://damiengwalter.com/advanced-scifi-and-fantasy/ The Rhetoric of Story https://dami

Arthur C Clarke’s forgotten masterpiece of hard SF Apr 17, 2022 3168 It's Arthur C Clarke's greatest novel and a classic of "hard" science fiction. The Fountains of Paradise is a brilliantly realized story of humankind's ascent to the stars, not on rockets, but by building the first space elevator. Clarke predicted the discovery of carbon super materials with the "diamond hyperfilament" that is strong enough to stretch 36,000km from Earth to geosynchronous orbit.

The true history of science fiction Mar 19, 2022 3835 “With Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback, H.G. Wells invented the genre of science fiction.” Tweet by @nytimesbooks, November 2021 A badly worded tweet by the New York Times revealed a deep anger at the false history of science fiction. Written out of that history were hundreds of women writers of the 1800s who created what today we call science fiction. The true history of science fic

Lord of the Rings and the fascist fantasy Mar 6, 2022 3520 Fascism lures people in with a fantasy of return to older, better times. A golden age before the modern world. Nazi Germany had the fantasy of the Third Reich and the Ubermensch. Today the Russia of Vladimir Putin has a fantasy of a Eurasian Empire and the Return of the Tsar. Critics of Lord of the Rings sometimes compare JRR Tolkien's fantasy to the fantasies of fascism. Is Lord of the Rings a f

A science fiction history of World War 3 Feb 26, 2022 2935 Humankind had it within our grasp to become a K1 civilization, the first stage of the Kardashev scale. But we allowed K1 to slip through our fingers. As the scientist Carl Sagan argued, much of 20th century history can be understood as the effort, and failure, to achieve K1. Today that failure has returned us to the threat of World War 3, as Russia invades Ukraine. How did we miss our chance at K1

Severance – what does it mean? Feb 23, 2022 1377 Severance is sophisticated science fiction for grown up audiences in the style of J G Ballard, Philip K Dick or Haruki Murakami. But what does it mean? Follow the the Science Fiction podcast https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.

An interview with Adam Roberts Feb 13, 2022 7460 “It’s trying to thread that needle between the wonder and the splendour in this mythology without being beguiled into actual fascism.” ~Adam Roberts Adam Roberts is a professor of nineteenth century literature, a prolific essayist and critic, and one of our best science fiction writers. Our interview traces a path between two powerful forces in science fiction – the mythic stories of transcendenc

The thematic genius of Iain M Banks Jan 23, 2022 2039 This episode of the Science Fiction podcast is re-published from an original video essay first published in September 2018. I spent years searching, after I first read the Culture novels of Iain M Banks, for other space opera novels that equalled them. And this is what I discovered. Nothing else in the space opera genre even comes close to the Culture. Nothing. Zip. Nada. As Theodore Sturgeon sai

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