What Mad Universe?!?
An adventure through the history of pulp SF and fantasy!
9 days ago

S4E117 -Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: The Life of the Mind!

On SLAN, by A. E. Van Vogt

They're everywhere! They're better than you! They can tinker with your brain! They'll inherit the Earth! And trying to stop them makes you into a monster! It's a common assortment of tropes from SF, with a subtext touching on everything from a Freudian fear of your children to even darker, frequently racist conspiracy theories. Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt, seems to be ground zero for popularizing these ideas in Science Fiction, and today we're diving into it, so listen before it's mysteriously deleted from the timeline...

CW: Anti-Semitism, sexual assault, statutory rape and inappropriate relationships with minors, incest, mind control, and headgames.

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Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Additional Music: "Lost in Space" by Jupiter Wave

(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.

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