Home Podcasts anarchySF - an anarchist, science fiction podcast

anarchySF - an anarchist, science fiction podcast

Yanai Sened / Eden Kupermintz 31 Episodes Feb 18, 2026

The podcast companion to anarchysf.com, an archive of anarchist science fiction. Each episode analyzes one piece of science fiction media that explores themes relevant to left-wing ideology. Hosts Yanai Sened and Eden Kupermintz discuss the political and social dimensions of these works. The show aims to examine speculative fiction through an anarchist lens.

Episodes

The (State of) Exceptional Mars Express Feb 18, 2026 01:03:52 All the dweebs are going to the moon, but we're taking this baby all the way to Mars (or shall I say Marx?) with this excellent French animated sci-fi noir thriller.Some topics:- The State of Exception- Lines of Flight- Homo Sacer- The Teleology Crisis- The Inescapable Reality of Labor

Blowing Shit Up With Your Communist Mech in Lancer Feb 5, 2025 01:12:03 We talk about the tabletop RPG/War game Lancer and its unusual utopianism Some topics: - Those who Walk Away from Omelas and the structure of Dystopia/Utopia - Reimagining the French Revolution - The Role of Violence in a Communist Utopia - Permanent Revolution

Grounding ourselves in Saint of Bright Doors May 26, 2024 00:56:42 We never left, so we are not back. We just like to keep you guessing about episode times. This time we talk about the brilliant Saint of Bright Doors, a decolonial multifaceted dark fantasy novel that's quite a thinker, but also pretty accessible. Give it a read! Eden recommends playing "Laysara: Summit Kingdom", which kinda fits the theme of this episode.

Eternal Discourse War With Warhammer 40k Oct 4, 2023 01:27:01 We talk about how to critique the Fascist sentiments in Warhammer 40k, without worrying too much about the degrees of intent or satire behind it.

Acknowledging the Complexities of Humanity with Ammonite May 22, 2023 01:15:49 We talk about Ammonite, a somewhat under-the-radar excellent sci-fi book about a virus killing all the men in a far-off planet and exploring indigenous lands as a colonizer anthropologist Themes explored: - Anthrophopolitics and diversity within identity - Biopolitics and virology - "Going Native" (TM) - Some Ursula LeGuin themes Eden's ep of death-sentence about The Dawn of Everyth

Can we fix it? Maybe! Kinda! With Ixion Feb 27, 2023 01:00:38 We talk about the sci-fi strategy game Ixion and its somber adventure through space. Some topics discussed: - Shameful space - Space is silence and death - Gravestone science - Accelerating the flows - The eternal recurrence of the same - Middle management euphemisms Referenced Some More News video 'Jeff Bezons Learned Nothing in Space': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7TQFFH9gj8&ab_channel

The Potential and Limitations of Clowning on Billionaires on Space Sweepers Jan 7, 2023 00:57:13 This is an especially rambly episode of us talking about the excellent kitchen sink space romp movie Spacesweepers. Topics discussed: - Billionaires hate humanity - The limits of Villainry - What internationalism looks like - The ethics/politics distinction

Raging in alliance with The Only Harmless Great Thing Sep 26, 2022 01:09:30 We read Brooke Bolander's short and painful novelette and spoke about: - Nuclear semiotics - The uses of violence - The master's tools - Being pushed to the corner

Optimist Awakenings with Citizen Sleeper Aug 7, 2022 01:16:37 Citizen Sleeper is touching and optimistic without being saccharine and might be just what we need in these trying times. The podcast opens with us venting our feelings and thoughts about another demonstration of incredible violence from Israel against the Palestinian people. Free Palestine! Then we talk some themes. Here's what you can expect: Gaming under capitalism Vicious and virtuous cycle

Repo Virtual repossesses Cyberpunk May 9, 2022 01:03:22 We talk about Corey J White's modern vision of Cyberpunk: Repo Virtual, reimagining the genre and its radical potential. Topics discussed: - Data creep - Radical potential of games - Firearms in smart cities - Cyberpunk's questionable beginnings - Opting in / Opting out - Identity politics and data dystopia Referenced pieces: - Video discussing (among other things) how youtube manufactures identi

Spire, racialization and resistance Feb 21, 2022 01:10:44 We discussed the role-playing game Spire, with its different ways of representing oppression and the struggle against it. - Epistemic vice and epistemic resistance - Construction of knowledge and infrastructure space - Adevnturism and the challenge of struggling in a hopeless fight - Good weird and bad weird Links: Eden's podcast appearance about magical realism and much more: https://www.patreon.

The Materialist Fantasy of Mordew Jan 16, 2022 01:08:12 Mordew is a down-to-earth, complex fantasy world, and a promising beginning to a promised trilogy. We talk about: - Realist fantasy - Materialist morality - Knowledge and Protagony - Mark Fisher's Red Plenty See much more anarchist science fiction at anarchysf.com External links: Protagony, by Innuendo Studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R943_eAvnWw&t=75s&ab_channel=InnuendoStudios

Woah, the Matrix Jan 5, 2022 01:01:38 We dive deep into "The Matrix (1999)" and a little bit into the sequels. No Resurrections here as this was recorded before it came out. Topics discussed: - What is the Matrix? - Snooty philosophers vs. the Matrix - Abolishing everything - The Messiah Complex - Do we want to escape to the Desert of the Real? - Fighting together Editing took a while, so references to current events are referring to

Kurt Vonnegut Wrote Some Pretty Good Books Aug 29, 2021 00:54:51 We talk about a medley of Kurt Vonnegut books, how they play around with cynicism and sentimentalism, how they're anarchist and humble and absurdist. Near the end Eden mentions this paper by David Graeber and David Wengrow: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62756/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_Graeber%2C%20D_Farewell%20to%20childhood_Graeber_Farewell%20to%20childh

Dishonored, not Resentful Jun 30, 2021 00:59:41 We talk about the video game franchise Dishonored. Topics discussed: - The means of magical production - Sociological storytelling - Resentiment - Hypocritical opiate (of the masses) - What good is an individual? - What to do after a revolution

Oval - Is Reciprocity in Our Nature? Mar 25, 2021 01:11:24 We had a great time talking about Oval, by Elvia Wilk. It's a complicated little story about being an artist in Berlin and watching as the world around you burns, or turns. Discussions: - Leftism's "call to action" - Reciprocity vs. Transactions - The Relationship Between Hi-Tech and Art - How Tech Falls Apart - Human Nature and Economics References: "Hauntology" is discussed in Derrida's "Spectre

Elysium, design fiction and fake scarcity Feb 16, 2021 01:11:54 We talk about a cool little action movie that didn't do well in theatres but has its own little place in our hearts with its scathing critiques of bad environmentalism, bad identity politics, and bad cyberpunk.  Paper on design fiction (though it doesn't use the term): https://www.hellofosta.com/writing/the-future-mundane

An Unkindness of Ghosts and the Love of Saying No Jan 2, 2021 01:16:43 We talk about the Rivers Solomon's thought provoking and gut punching "An Unkindness of Ghosts". But we promise there are no spooks! Some rough discussion topics though (Body manipulation, sexual assault and rape). Topics discussed: - The pneumatics of power - The revolutionary potential of food - Afropessimism - Racialization - Midwives - Gendered Racism External reading referenced: - Article abo

Aniara also Carries Ruin Within Dec 9, 2020 01:10:20 We talk about the incredible film adaptation to the early 20th century epic poem Aniara. Pretty depressing stuff, but we refuse to be doomers. Discussion topics: - Why are the people who cause calamity in charge of fixing it? - Why do we obey? - Why do we work? - How do temporary hierarchies become permanent? - Opium for the masses - The complicity of scientists  Lindsey Ellis video essay on

Annihilation, Discussions of Bodies Being Morphed Nov 21, 2020 01:00:43 We talk about Jeff Vandermeer's New-Weird book - Annihilation, a book about climate horror and accepting uncomfortable changes. Issues discussed: - The horror of climate change - Unintelligible politics - The failure of facts and logic - Doing better than Lovecraftian racism - Becoming other - Permeable boundaries

Moon, Exploitation and Opportunity Oct 17, 2020 00:55:50 We talk about the excellent solitary space adventure that is Moon (2009). Topics discussed: - How exploitation is marketed to white men - Foucault's "Care of the self" - How space capitalism is an especially risky form of exploitation - How space can be an opportunity to organize - The race between capitalist exploitation and worker organization - Capitalism's obvious failures Links: Innuendo Stud

Too Like the Lightning, and Enlightenment Sep 26, 2020 01:06:54 We talk about Ada Palmer's "Too Like the Lightning", how it portrays the enlightenment, gender, politics, all the goodness. It's a challenging read, but it delivers on its promises Themes discussed: - How the social contract makes a new person - What was the Enlightenment? - Confusing gender roles - Fabricating consent - Ideology

Shadowrun; Acceleration and Mosaics Sep 5, 2020 00:53:23 We talk about the pen and paper role playing game Shadowrun, focusing on the themes it allows its players and storytellers to explore. Shadowrun is a troperific mix of sci-fi and fantasy that takes everything that's wrong about the world and blows it up at the same time. Subjects discussed: - Accelerationism and the Frankfurt school's influence on it - Reclaiming Cybernetics - Meaning in postmoder

Random Acts of Senseless Violence - The center cannot hold Jul 26, 2020 00:51:36 We talk about Jack Womack's "Random acts of senseless violence" - a "minute into the future" dystopia told from the perspective of a 12 year old girl. It's gritty and depressing, just our speed. Topics include: - How this is a horror story for the Bourgeois - The atomization of daily life - Hobbesian themes - Derrida and the duality between center and periphery - The merits of a political book wit

Splendor, Misery, Time and Resistance May 27, 2020 00:55:07 We talk about a Sci-fi album by the band Clipping - Splendor and Misery. The album is a prime example of Afro-Futurism, dealing with such topics as time, space, bodies, space travel, slavery, and much more that we couldn't cover. The discussed album: https://clppng.bandcamp.com/album/splendor-misery Topics discussed: - Queer time and its relevance to race theory - Space, resistance and the body -

The Telling, Colonialism and the Center May 14, 2020 00:55:12 We discuss one of science fiction's titans: Ursula K. Le Guin, in one of her slightly less read books: The Telling, offering a radical perspective on religion, colonialism and reason. Some themes: - Center-based vs. non-center-based epistemology - Decolonialism - Non-ideal anthropology - Multiple views on religion - Ways of life as resistance Audio on my (Yanai's) side is a bit rough due to a reco

Frostpunk and Snowpiercer, Leviathan and red plenty Apr 22, 2020 01:06:59 Listen people, we're mad about capitalism. We discuss the game Frostpunk and the movie Snow Piercer, two critiques of capitalism in frozen worlds. Themes discussed: - Hobbes' Leviathan - Mark Fisher's "Abandon hope, summer is coming" http://k-punk.org/abandon-hope-summer-is-coming/ - The revolt of nature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectic_of_Enlightenment - Inherent conflict - Religion and so

Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, Sex, Drugs and Knowledge Apr 10, 2020 00:55:29 We discuss Philip K. Dick's "Flow My Tears the Policeman Said".  Some themes discussed: - Kant's metaphysics in Philip K. Dick's writing -  Power's will to knowledge - Radical embodiment - The danger and potential of drugs - The transparency of police - Self identity as a source of stability

Akira, Violence and Friendship Mar 8, 2020 00:53:01 We discuss 1988 Anime masterpiece "Akira" Some themes discussed: - Deleuze and Foucault's ideas of societies of discipline and societies of control - Hannah Arendt's approach to violence, and violence in leftist ideology - The rise and fall of capitalist Japan - Science as Pandora's box - Radical friendship Catherine M. Valente's Radiance: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N03G440/ref=dp-kindle-redire

The Girl in The Road, Infrastructure and Standpoints Feb 27, 2020 00:51:17 We Discuss Monica Byrne's "The Girl in The Road" Themes Discussed: - Franz Fanon's phenomenology and race theory - The Infrastructure Space - Standpoint theory - Byrne's unusual approach to writing an audience-insert character - Embodied writing Links: Fanon's "Black Skins, White Masks": https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003OYIKUG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Extrastatecraft (on infra

Disco Elysium, Ghosts and Angels Feb 4, 2020 01:01:43 For our podcast premiere we discussed the ZA/UM movement's game: Disco Elysium. Themes discussed: - Mourning and Walter Benjamin's angel of history - Radical friendship - The Cartesian experiment and the cop within your head - An anarchist love letter to communism - Hauntology Links: Derrida's "Specters of Marx": https://books.google.com/books/about/Specters_of_Marx.html?id=sEENbAP5FZsC Dark Cryst

anarchySF - an anarchist, science fiction podcast

Episodes

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