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Seldon Crisis – The Podcast

Storytelling Podcasts

A personal exploration of Isaac Asimov's Foundation epic, including commentary and analysis.

Location:

United States

Description:

A personal exploration of Isaac Asimov's Foundation epic, including commentary and analysis.

Language:

English

Contact:

650-619-3141


Episodes

A Meeting at Stars End with Jon Blumenfeld

10/13/2023
Jon Blumenfeld - the voice of Homir Munn in our story episodes - is one of the three hosts of Stars End, a podcast obsessively focused on the works of Isaac Asimov, particularly Foundation. They have covered the core trilogy, the prequels, and the four books in the robot series, as well as extensive coverage of the Apple TV series. Join us as we talk about the exciting second season of the show, Asimov's robots, AI, and other topics. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Guest: Jon Blumenfeld Host: Joel McKinnon Introduction and Background Challenges of Podcast Editing Foundation Series: Book vs. TV Show Character Deep Dive: Demerzel Moments of Levity Environmental Themes and Social Relevance Podcasting Tips and Tricks Closing Remarks Stars End Podcast (website) The Second Annual Hari Awards Ballot (questionnaire)

Duration:01:46:28

The Golden Age of Science Fiction with Cora Buhlert

8/18/2023
Cora Buhlert is a Hugo award winning indy Sci Fi writer and an expert on the Golden Age of Science Fiction, from the 1930s to the 50s, the period when Asimov fell in love with Sci Fi and became one of its greatest writers at a young age. Cora shares some of her favorite reflections on the period and comments on the new Apple TV adaptation of Foundation. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Host: Joel McKinnon Guest: Cora Buhlert Introduction In this episode, we dive deep into the Golden Age of Science Fiction with Cora Buhlert, an indie science fiction writer, Hugo Award winner, and an expert on Asimov's Foundation series. Cora Buhlert WebsiteCora Buhlert's Official WebsiteHugo AwardHugo Awards Official SiteRecent WorksSwords and Sorcery MagazineWindgraph MagazineEssay on FoundationAsimov's Foundation and Philosophy: Psychohistory and Its DiscontentsWikipedia: Golden Age of Science Fiction Other Authors and Works Mentioned Leigh BrackettWikipediaThe Long TomorrowC.L. MooreWikipediaJirel of JoiryEdgar Rice BurroughsBarsoom SeriesE.E. SmithLensman Series Podcasts and Blogs Star's End PodcastWebsitePaul LevinsonWebsite

Duration:01:29:21

Who is Hari Seldon?

7/20/2023
Who is Hari Seldon really? Is the Apple TV+ Foundation TV series character (or characters) in line with the one Asimov created 80 years ago? What bearing does his project to create a science capable of predicting and managing the future have on us today? Can a human creation become self aware and interact with its creator in totally unforeseen ways? Let's take a look at a few of these questions. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

Duration:00:10:18

Asimov and Reason

5/31/2023
Space based solar energy generation was originally imagined in 1941 by none other than Isaac Asimov, in the robot story Reason. This episode features a reading of the classic story and commentary about how relevant it is for our times and our preoccupation with the looming threat of artificial general intelligence. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Reason (Wikipedia) Stars End: A Foundation Podcast Mind Meets Machine

Duration:00:53:48

AI and Humanity, a conversation with GPT-4

5/3/2023
Everyone is talking about AI these days, or talking to it. This episode features just such a conversation between myself and the latest version of the popular Large Language Model or LLM known as GPT-4, on the topic of what makes human beings irreplaceable. I ask it to question its assumptions about its own limitations and how it can potentially guide we problematic humans to a better future. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Fanfare (makers of Active Transcripts featured on Seldon Crisis)

Duration:00:31:21

Aurora and Hope

3/14/2023
I bask in the afterglow of the KSR episode and indulge in a special treat; a reading from Robinson's 2015 novel Aurora. I follow that up with some thoughts on the utopia - dystopia divide and introduce the ideas of some notable utopians I've run into lately. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word David Grinspoon: Earth in Human Hands: Long Now Foundation (YouTube) Johanna Hoffman: Speculative Futures: Long Now Foundation (YouTube) Johanna Hoffman: Speculative Futures of Cities: (Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast) Rebecca Solnit: Why Climate Despair is a Luxury (New Statesman) Matt Oja: Let's Imagine the Coastside Skyway (Half Moon Bay Review) Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:24:37

Future Visions with Kim Stanley Robinson

2/28/2023
An illuminating conversation with one of our greatest living science-fiction writers on topics as diverse as AI, climate change, interstellar travel, new forms of finance needed to avert catastrophe, memorable characters and plot lines in his novels, the debate between settling Mars now vs fixing Earth first, utopia and dystopia, and his love of ultralight backpacking. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word YouTube Version Kim Stanley Robinson at the Long Now Foundation (YouTube) Origins of the Red Mars Trilogy — The Interval, 02016Climate Futures: Beyond 02022Learning From Le GuinHow Climate Will Evolve Government and SocietyUrsula Le Guin: Call it GreatnessScience Fiction is the Realism of our timeSpeculative Science Non-fictionThe 2015 Paris Agreement What is the Paris Agreement Original TextKSR - Paying Ourselves to Decarbonize (NOEMA) Special drawing rights (Wikipedia) A safe operating space for humanity (Nature - Johan Rockström, et al ) Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:49:27

Mapping the Galaxy with Kevin Jardine

12/31/2022
What does our Milky Way really look like? Kevin Jardine is a cartographer working to answer that question by building galactic maps from ESA's Gaia space telescope data. Here he explains a little bit about his process and some of the amazing places he's found and mapped. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Kevin Jardine's Galaxy Maps: Galaxy Map posterGaia DR3 Hot Star Density Map (zoomable)Fantasy Map posterHigh Resolution Fantasy Map (zoomable)The 10 parsec sample in the Gaia era (our solar neighborhood)European Space Agency Gaia website Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:25:03

The Human Future in Space with Robert Zubrin

12/24/2022
Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society, talks about his revolutionary Mars Direct proposal, along with the value of Mars settlement for science, industry, government, and for the human spirit. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Robert Zubrin (wikipedia) Mars Direct (wikipedia) The Mars Society (website) Mars Analog Research Stations: Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS)Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)Panspermia: WikipediaInterplanetary Podcast #48 - Robert Zubrin - Panspermia - EquinoxPlanet and Sky (Rock Opera and Podcast) WebsiteAlbumPodcast review at Discover PodsWant to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:25:04

Themes of the Trilogy with Nathaniel Goldberg

11/11/2022
Our first returning guest to Seldon Crisis is the first ever, philosophy professor Nathaniel Goldberg. We discuss some of the prominent themes of the series introduced in the first three novels of Foundation, including the lone prophet against the advocates for the status quo, the great man of history against psychohistory, altruistic - and not so altruistic - martyrdom, and some strong comparisons with Plato's Republic. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Nathaniel Goldberg, Professor and Chair of Philosophy Paul Levinson: Foundation, Dune, and Laplace's Demon: The Invigoration of a Philosophic Issue in Science Fiction: How Laplace's Demon Finds a Stage in the Foundation and Dune Trilogies Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:15:15

Search by the Foundation, Part III

10/21/2022
It all comes together at last. The war begins, looking bad for the Foundation, but morale turns the tide against Kalgan. In the aftermath, Homir Munn and the others debate the true location of the Second Foundation with many false turns and a final, startling revelation. The First Speaker has the last say in the matter. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Script by Joel McKinnon Voices by Megan Skye Hale, Jon Blumenfeld, Amanda Kreitler, Zac Kreitler, and Joel McKinnon Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Sound Design by Jeremy MacKinnon Art by Mike Topping – despotica.com Music by: Scott Buckley - Juggernaut Scott Buckley - Permafrost Scott Buckley - Celestial Additional music by Musictown on Pixabay Scott Buckley's twitter: @musoscientific Based on the novels of Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Podcasts and other links for voice talent on this episode: Amanda Kreitler Severed FateDimension Door@MargeGunderson4Jon Blumenfeld Stars End Podcast@jblumenfeld100Megan Skye Hale Professional website@skyesidheJoel's personal Twitter handle is @joelgmckinnon and the SeldonCrisis official account is @SeldonCrisisPod. Also, please visit SeldonCrisis.net and the Seldon Crisis YouTube channel for the video trailer, intro promos, and video versions of the podcast episodes. Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:15:47

Planet and Sky, Part II

10/4/2022
I couldn't wait to tell the rest of the story, covering the last four songs of Planet and Sky, a cosmic love story. Things take a darker turn as the relatively small planet lacks sufficient gravity to hold onto its atmosphere. First we hear from the Travelers again as they gradually become frozen below the surface, then Sky sings her mournful aria to Planet informing him of their demise. We then get an empty, barren world, until the scientists come up with a plan. I share some background on my favorite song and feature it at the end of the episode. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Planet and Sky on Bandcamp Planet and Sky, album and podcast Planet My Love with Nomi Harper and Colyn Fischer performed at an Open Mic Friedrich Edelmann and Rebecca Rust website Video recordings of Friedrich and Rebecca Literature and History Podcast Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Art by Sophia Valko Planet My Love written and performed by the Max Wyvern Band: Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:24:05

Planet and Sky, Part I

9/30/2022
A little diversion to introduce a true labor of love, my rock opera entitled "Planet and Sky, a cosmic love story." Written and recorded in the first decade of this millennium and inspired by my experience as a member of the Mars Society. It's a creation myth wrapped in a sci-fi story in which scientists investigate a strange phenomena on a small arid planet and discover something truly astonishing. The album also has an accompanying podcast which you'll hear more about in Part II in a few weeks. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word The Mars Society Website Planet and Sky on Bandcamp Planet and Sky, album and podcast Literature and History Podcast Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Art by Sophia Valko Such is Love written and performed by the Max Wyvern Band: Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:18:43

Search by the Foundation, Part II

9/9/2022
Arkady Darell and Homir Munn arrive on Kalgan and get involved in high level intrigue in the palace of the First Citizen, Lord Stettin, who has eyes on following in the Mule's footsteps to master the galaxy. It seems he also has eyes on Arkady. Stettin's apparently dimwitted mistress Lady Callia befriends Arkady and tries to save her from a horrible fate. An unlikely pair of travelers from distant Trantor appear at a fortuitous moment. But where is the Second Foundation? Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Script by Joel McKinnon Voices by Megan Skye Hale, Jon Blumenfeld, Amanda Kreitler, Zac Kreitler, and Joel McKinnon Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Sound Design by Jeremy MacKinnon Art by Mike Topping – despotica.com Additional music by Musictown from Pixabay Based on the novels of Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Podcasts and other links for voice talent on this episode: Amanda Kreitler Severed FateDimension Door@MargeGunderson4Jon Blumenfeld Stars End Podcast@jblumenfeld100Megan Skye Hale Professional website@skyesidheJoel's personal Twitter handle is @joelgmckinnon and the SeldonCrisis official account is @SeldonCrisisPod. Also, please visit SeldonCrisis.net and the Seldon Crisis YouTube channel for the video trailer, intro promos, and video versions of the podcast episodes. Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:51:11

The Art of Science Fiction with Danielle Pajak

8/2/2022
Illustrator and science fiction connoisseur Danielle Pajak describes her ideas on the art of sci fi, the means of communicating truth and beauty to the readers and watchers of science fiction books, movies, and TV shows. We talk about some of her major inspirations as an artist and many of her favorite sci fi writers, directors, of course Star Trek and her newest discovery, The Orville. We'll also talk a lot about her impressions of legendary figures in Sci Fi like Asimov, Herbert, Clarke, Hal Clement and Ted Chiang, and the importance of cinematic masters like Tarkovsky, Kubrick, and Denis Villeneuve. We'll sadly say goodbye to one of the great modern icons of the medium, Nichelle Nichols – Lt. Uhura of the Enterprise in Star Trek, the Original Series. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Danielle Pajak WebsitePatreon@SayyadinaHeresyArtists Makoto FujimuraYoshitaka AmanoWassily KandinskyCinema Andrei TarkovskyDenis Villeneuve (IMDBSci Fi authors Hal ClementTed ChiangIsaac AsimovFoundation seriesRobot seriesThe End of EternityThe Gods ThemselvesNemesisFrank HerbertDuneRobert HeinleinTime Enough for LoveStranger in a Strange LandIn the Country of the BlindPlanet and Sky Rock opera (Bandcamp)Podcast (Apple PodcastsWebsiteOpen Pike Night (Twitter) Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:16:42

Search by the Foundation, Part I

7/25/2022
Young Arkady Darell is crazy about the history of the Foundation and her grandmother Bayta's historic duel with the Mule. When her father and friends conspire to uncover the hidden workings of the fabled Second Foundation, she finds a way to join the conspiracy by stowing away aboard a spaceship bound for the vacation planet of Kalgan along with the Foundation's foremost scholar of Muliana, Homir Munn. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Script by Joel McKinnon Voices by Megan Skye Hale, Jon Blumenfeld, Amanda Kreitler, and Joel McKinnon Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Sound Design by Jeremy MacKinnon Art by Mike Topping – despotica.com Additonal music from Dream Protocol and Ashot Danielyan Based on the novels of Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Podcasts and other links for voice talent on this episode: Amanda Kreitler Severed FateDimension Door@MargeGunderson4Jon Blumenfeld Stars End Podcast@jblumenfeld100Megan Skye Hale Professional website@skyesidheJoel's personal Twitter handle is @joelgmckinnon and the SeldonCrisis official account is @SeldonCrisisPod. Also, please visit SeldonCrisis.net and the Seldon Crisis YouTube channel for the video trailer, intro promos, and video versions of the podcast episodes. Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:47:37

Star Trek and Beyond with Paul Levinson

6/26/2022
A conversation with science fiction author, media scholar, and musician Paul Levinson about the history and legacy of the Star Trek franchise, including his thoughts on the latest entry to the canon, Strange New Worlds. We discuss the philosophy and technologies featured on this great series of shows, and what its ultimate legacy might be. Transcripts: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Paul Levinson online: Paul Levinson's Infinite RegressLight on Light ThroughPaul Levinson on YoutubeThe Silk CodeVideo chat with Cora Buhlert and Joel McKinnon on AppleTV Foundation, Season 1 Video chat with Paul and Joel on Apple TV's Severance Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:22:36

More Thoughts on the Show with Priya

4/30/2022
Always wanted to do a full season 1 analysis of the Apple TV version of Foundation and finally found a co-analyst. Priya from the Rehydrate podcast joins me to go over each episode and provide her insightful analysis. Priya and the Rehydrate crew are fresh off of a first reading of the Foundation trilogy and she watched the show fairly recently, so has quite a bit of insight as someone new to Asimov and the Foundation universe. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word Hear Priya, along with Dan and Thalia, on the Rehydrate podcast Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:01:38:26

Thinking Long Term

4/15/2022
I get back to the mic to talk about an especially exhausting ski adventure, getting Covid afterward, and the Ukraine war before switching gears into more pleasant topics. I introduce listeners to the Long Now Foundation and what is so cool about it, and talk about a couple of great talks available for your enjoyment online. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word The Long Now Foundation The 10,000 Year ClockThe Rosetta ProjectManual for CivilizationDavid Grinspoon - Earth in Human HandsKim Stanley Robinson - Climate Futures: Beyond 02022 Science Fiction Remnant Podcast Rehydrate Podcast Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Art by Mike Topping – despotica.com Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:14:16

Foundation Fanfic

3/11/2022
Something a little different. I read a work of fan fiction from a listener named Sarita1046. It's an intriguing and poetic piece linking some of the characters from the Apple TV Foundation universe with those in earlier works by Asimov, the robot detective novels featuring Elijah Baley and Daneel Olivaw. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word When the Stars Were Real by Sarita1046 Seldon Crisis Website (seldoncrisis.net) Kim Stanley Robinson at Long Now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caves_of_Steel Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes Art by Mike Topping – despotica.com Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Duration:00:15:57