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Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Fiction Science podcast

Why NASA is going nuclear on the moon

2026/01/30

Aerospace consultant Roger Myers explains why space nuclear power will play a big role in the competition between the U.S. and China to establish bases on the moon in the 2030s.

Pluto shines as a science-fiction star

2025/10/31

Space scientist Les Johnson tells the story behind his role in creating "Pluto," the last novel in sci-fi master Ben Bova's Grand Tour series and one of the first works of fiction to incorporate revelations from NASA's New Horizons mission.

Native American legends are woven into a UFO tale

2025/10/13

Cherokee science-fiction author Daniel H. Wilson blends ancient tales about extraterrestrials with up-to-date speculation about alien visitations in a new novel called "Hole in the Sky."

'Rocket Dreams' and rocket realities

2025/09/26

Washington Post staff writer Christian Davenport, author of "Rocket Dreams," discusses the parallel space races between America and China, and between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Thriller explores Florida's flooded future

2025/08/11

Tim Chawaga, the author of a climate-fiction thriller titled "Salvagia," weaves the implications of future sea-level rise and other high-tech twists into a Florida murder mystery.

Dinosaur facts vs. fiction in 'Jurassic World Rebirth'

2025/07/04

Tech pioneer Nathan Myhrvold and paleontologist Thomas Holtz discuss how dinosaur science has evolved over the past three decades - and do a reality check on the latest "Jurassic World" dino-movie.

How the Rubin Observatory will change astronomy

2025/06/18

Mario Juric, director of the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute, explains why astronomers are celebrating the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's "First Look" at the cosmos - and tells you how to join the party.

Get a reality check on AI hype

2025/05/19

Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, authors of "The AI Con," say the benefits of AI are being played up while the costs are being played down — and they lay out strategies for fighting the hype.

How dictators use tech in fact and fiction

2025/04/01

Science-fiction author Ray Nayler talks about his latest book, "Where the Axe Is Buried," a chilling tale of AI-powered repression and resistance that was inspired by current events as well as Nayler's familiarity with authoritarianism.

How humans will be reinvented for life in space

2025/03/08

Copies of human bodies can't be printed out, as shown in the space-based satire "Mickey 17," but biomedical researcher Christopher Mason says it should be possible to re-engineer humans to make them more suited for living in space.

Mary Roach on the science of space sex

2025/02/14

In a Valentine's Day episode, Mary Roach, the author of "Packing for Mars," brings us up to date on one of the big questions about living in space: What would zero-G sex be like?

Scientists dream up solar system adventures

2025/01/29

Planetary scientist John E. Moores and astrophysicist Jesse Rogerson weave tales about interplanetary adventures that are like nothing on Earth in a book titled "Daydreaming in the Solar System."

Will AI cross the line into personhood?

2024/11/05

Law professor James Boyle, author of "The Line: AI and the Future of Personhood," explains why he thinks intelligent machines will eventually be considered persons.

How to defend against disinformation

2024/10/22

TrueMedia.org founder Oren Etzioni and Annalee Newitz, author of "Stories Are Weapons," discuss the escalating arms race between the purveyors of political disinformation and those who are trying to defend against it.

Hard science fiction explained

2024/09/04

Allan Kaster, the editor of "The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories," traces the connections between science fiction and real-world science.