Imagining better futures – humanist thought and the radical power of science fiction

Send us Fan Mail In her 1818 novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley asked what it meant to make a person – and what we owed to the beings we create. Two centuries later, the questions she opened are still being asked, in the time machines and starships and feminist utopias of the science fiction tradition.  Humanism has long found a home in speculative fiction: a genre where the supernatural is set aside, where the world's contingency is laid bare, and where, as this week's guests put it, we can test-drive our values without looking to the heavens for answers.  From H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon to Naomi Mitchison, Octavia Butler, Samuel Delany and the writers reimagining the genre today, this episode asks how imagining the impossible helps us change the present – and boldly go towards a better future. Guests: S.I. Martin, British historian, author and educator specialising in Black British history and literature, and a patron of Humanists UK. simartin.org.uk Katie McGregor Stone, literary critic and researcher of science fiction and utopian literature, currently writing a book on Frankenstein. katiemcgregorstone.co.uk For all references to people, places, and events in this episode and the full series, visit heritage.humanists.uk/podcast Join Humanists UK: humanists.uk/join Discover more Humanist Heritage: heritage.humanists.uk Send us your questions or feedback: [email protected] Unholy Histories is produced by Humanise Live a production agency creating values-led podcast content. Start podcasting today at humanise.live Music: Small Things by Simon Folwar Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.