Theme: Justice, fast-food style

Episode Connections
Authors, stories. Alexander Malac, Extrapolosis. Harry Harrison, The Stainless Steel Rat series. Daniel H. Wilson, Where’s My Jetpack? Alice Glaser, “The Tunnel Ahead.”
Films. Star Wars. Running Man. Judge Dread. RoboCop. Blade Runner.
TV episodes, series. Firefly. Judge Judy. The People’s Court , Judge Mathis. The Hot Bench.
Ideas. Vehicular homicide. Smart vehicles in surveillance cities. Instant, data-driven justice justice. Science fiction as a collection of (among other things) cautionary tales.
Whoa - Hmmm - WTF. Dan says it falls between Hmmm and Whoa. Bill says no WTF, but plenty of the other two.

Previous episode: Thomas F. Monteleone, “Chicago”
Next episode: Ann Warren Griffith, “Captive Audience”

Music Credit: "Ouroboros" Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Link: Creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Theme: If I had a million robots ...

Episode Connections
Authors, stories. Dean Koontz. Monteleone, The Time Swept City. Fritz Lieber, “A Pail of Air.” Roger Zelazny, “For a Breath I Tarry.” Tom Godwin, “The Cold Equations.” Ray Bradbury, “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Cyril Kornbluth, “Marching Morons.” Harlan Ellison, “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” Jack Williamson, “With Folded Hands.”
Films. Colossus. The Planet of the Apes film series. Finch. I, Robot. Wall-E. Star Wars.
TV episodes, series. Car Talk. Star Trek (the original series).
Ideas. Automated, smart cities. Robots. Post-apocalyptic Earth. Human devolution. What does it mean to be human?
Whoa - Hmmm - WTF. Dan says … hmmm at best. Maybe we need to add Meh to the scale? Bill says yep.

Previous episode: Roger Zelazny, “For a Breath I Tarry”
Next episode: Alexander Malec, “10:01 AM”

Music Credit: "Ouroboros" Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Link: Creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Theme: What does it mean to be human?

Episode Connections
Authors, stories. Roger Zelanzny, Chronicles of Amber. Neil Gaiman, Sandman. The Bible. Isaac Asimov, Bicentennial Man. Jack Williamson, “With Folded Hands.”
Films. Bicentennial Man. AI. Blade Runner. I, Robot. Finch.
TV episodes, series. Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Ideas. Literary sci fi. Mythological connections. Logic is once again the defining characteristic of humankind, even in a post-human world. In that context, the story asks … what does it mean to be human? What role does emotion play in defining humanity?
Whoa - Hmmm - WTF. Bill says it is designed to be a Hmmm tale. Dan agrees.

Previous episode: Ray Bradbury, “There Will Come Soft Rains”
Next episode: Thomas F. Monteleone, “Chicago”

Music Credit: "Ouroboros" Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Link: Creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/