Triumph or disaster? Vintage or trainwreck?

These are some of the questions we ask ourselves as we consider the year 1983 in science fiction film - prompted by a contemporary review which suggested it might have been particularly terrible.

You see, on the one the one hand, there's WarGames. But on the other, there's Krull. And somewhere in between sits Brainstorm.

As well as mulling over these cinematic masterpieces, we have a science fiction transport quiz courtesy of friend of the show Andy Parry, and our usual round-up of past, present and future SF.

For more information, check out the show notes on our blog at https://101sf.blogspot.com/2026/09/a-year-can-do-lot-to-person-episode-70.html

Colin and Phil consider the significance of dates in science fiction. ...1984, 1999, 2001... all years that carry heavy connotations for the SF connoisseur. And we've got plenty more. Which ones will you recognise?

We also have a women-in-science fiction quiz, and our usual recommendations of SF old and new.

For more information, check out the shownotes at https://101sf.blogspot.com/2026/09/thats-so-dated-episode-69.html

In the midst of a long, hot summer, Colin and Phil turn their sci-fi attentions to the treatment of climate change in science fiction.

Naturally, science fiction was there first: before human-caused climate change was recognised, science fiction had been considering what would happen if our planet became hotter. Or colder.

To explore this topic, we discuss two films from earlier times - David Twohy's The Arrival (1996) and Val Guest's The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961).

We also have a Cli-Fi Quiz, and our usual round-up of past, present and future recommendations. For more information, check out the show notes at 101sf.blogspot.com

This episode was intended to be a grab-bag of different topics, but we inadvertently dug up a show with a strong theme: translation!

We start off with a review of the hot-off-the-presses free magazine Small Planet, which discusses issues around translated science fiction. Even if you didn't know you were interested in languages and translating, you will be after you've heard our discussion.

Next we review the classic short film "La Jetée", famously the basis for the film 12 Monkeys.

And then the recent Chinese movie Resurrection, directed by Bi Gan.

We also have a quiz on SF terms, and our usual run through of recommendations of past, present and future SF.

If you'd like to support the show, don't forget you can buy us a coffee!

For the full shownotes, check out our blog, here: https://101sf.blogspot.com/2026/07/lost-in-translation-episode-67.html

It's awards season again, so Colin and Phil hunt out this years short story Hugo nominees: the six best stories from the science fiction and fantasy field in the running for the prestigious award from the World Science Fiction Convention.

We also have a Hugo quiz, courtesy of friend of the show, Emmanuel, and our usual run through of recommendations of past, present and future SF.

For more information on the things in today's episode, check out the show notes at 101sf.blogspot.com - and while you're there, consider buying us a coffee!

We're back. Waaaaaayyyy back, at the birth of science fiction. Or should that be "scientifiction"?

We're celebrating 100 years of Amazing Stories, which was the world's first ever science fiction magazine. Join us as we romp through the magazine's debut issue from April 1926!

That historic first issue is online, so please follow along and give it a skim. Find it here: https://archive.org/details/amazing_stories_april_1926/page/n1/mode/1up

And check out the show notes on our website 101sf.blogspot.com

This time we react to a fascinating article from Strange Horizons, which claims that all SF writers are... historians!

You can read the article here: https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/why-all-science-fiction-and-fantasy-writers-are-historians/

Related to this topic, we also read a delightful historical SF short story by David Brin, "A Professor at Harvard". Find it here: https://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-little-sci-fi-tale-to-boost-your.html

We also have a fiendish quiz sent in by a listener, and our usual round-up of SF past, present and future.

For the full shownotes with links to all the items mentioned, visit our blog at 101sf.blogspot.com

This time on Science Fiction 101, we take some trips down memory lane to revisit classic time travel movies. We mostly focus on the Back to the Future series, but also a couple of wildcards: Primer (2004, Colin's pick) and Peggy Sue Got Married (1986, Phil's pick).

We also have a listener quiz, and our usual round-up of recommended SF past, present and future.

For the full show notes, visit our blog: https://101sf.blogspot.com/2026/03/back-to-futures-episode-63.html