Starboard Vineyard Tours

Ben Klug and Mark Sokolov
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Welcome to Starboard Vineyard Tours! Curious what people have thought and written about science fiction? Want some guidance on discovering this area of study - things to read, and ways to read them? In this podcast, Mark and Ben will take you on a tour through the world of science fiction studies. Join us on the beginning of a voyage into the unfamiliar, the estranging, the counterfactual, the speculative, what has not happened but might: science fiction, in all its forms. (And please remember to keep hands, feet, and any other limbs on board the vessel at all times!)

  1. 10/17/2025

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 20: Immortal Monster: The Mythological Evolution of the Fantastic Beast in Modern Fiction and Film, Andriano

    For this episode, we read Joseph D. Andriano's Immortal Monster: The Mythological Evolution of the Fantastic Beast in Modern Fiction and Film (1999). Andriano reads his primary texts - an eclectic collection, from Moby Dick to Jaws, King Kong to Grendel (1971) - as the great myth of the immortal monster, transformed over the decades and by different creators' hands. For him this myth speaks to our culture's deeply held beliefs about the boundaries of the human and the animal. We find ourselves perplexed and not especially convinced by this methodology. Still, these many monsters give us plenty to talk about, especially our old friend the white whale. Topics: monsters, mythology, animals Next episode we will be reading Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction (2016), by André M. Carrington.

  2. 04/01/2025

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 19: Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, Carroll

    This month's reading is upsettingly timely, as we read Jordan S. Carroll's Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024). Carroll covers both the historical uses of science fiction by the far right, and the current ways white nationalists imagine the future and read the genre. Topics include: fans being slans and the genre of the mutational romance; klan being fans and the "hermeneutics of obtuseness" they need to avoid recognizing anti-racist themes; science fictional mythologies of whiteness. It's an interesting topic, which Carroll discusses both accessibly and in detail, involving a wide variety of the worst people to read science fiction, and we try to keep discussion as light and as biting as mutually possible, given the above. Topics: whiteness, speculation, fandom Content warning for discussion of white supremacist ideology and neo-nazis, including discussion of racist claims about human nature, but not any extensive discussions of racist acts of violence. Next month's episode is currently uncertain! When we know what we're reading, we'll let you know.

  3. 03/02/2025

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 18: New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction, Amis

    This month, we read Kingsley Amis's provocatively titled New Maps of Hell (1960) - in which Amis sets forth a his account of the nature and hopes of science fiction at the end of what's often called the Golden Age. New Maps has been often referenced in works we've read so far, and ends up something of an eccentric snapshot of a moment in the genre, a commentary on the state of the genre through Amis's very particular concerns. These include the “comic inferno”, the power and danger of advertising, and the anti-conformist streak in SF, as well as an extended analogy between SF and jazz. Overall, it's an odd book, one that had us asking if Amis even really liked science fiction - or maybe whether he liked that he liked it or not. Topics: SF history, Golden Age, pulp Next episode, we will be reading Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024) by Jordan S. Carroll.

  4. 01/16/2025

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 17: Miracle Stalker: Personal and Social Transformation in Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic, Moore

    For this (belated - apologies!) episode, Mark is joined by guests Jackson and Nora of Anomalous Readings and other fine podcasts. We read John Moore's “Miracle Stalker: Personal and Social Transformation in Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic”, published in Foundation in fall 1997. The article starts out with some strong Freudian claims and then goes on to mostly talk about other stuff, leaving us a bit confused as to its ultimate argument. We're always happy to talk Roadside Picnic, though. It's a brief, but wide-ranging discussion on the novel's interest in class, family, and miracles. Topics: Roadside Picnic, Freudian analysis Find Jackson at headfallsoff.com on Bluesky, and on many podcasts on the Abnormal Mapping network. Find Nora at skulldaughter.bsky.social on Bluesky, and on many podcasts on the Export Audio network. Next month, we will cover New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction (1960), by Kingsley Amis.

  5. 11/21/2024

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 16: Pilgrims Through Space and Time: Trends and Patterns in Scientific and Utopian Fiction, Bailey

    For this episode, we read Pilgrims Through Space and Time: Trends and Patterns in Scientific and Utopian Fiction, J.O. Bailey's 1947 book about the emerging genre of “scientific fiction”: its history, its plots, and its value. Quite a bit of the first two, especially, as a large portion of the book is catalogue and summary, and frankly it was a bit of a slog, but it still holds great interest for us - Pilgrims is arguably the first work of scholarship on science fiction every published, at least academically. We consider the categories Bailey uses, the frustration of summary, and the limitations of catalogue, as well as what we can learn about the period's science fiction and its ethos. An ethos that, unfortunately, definitely also included eugenics. Topics: SF history, Victorian literature, pulp Next month: Ben will be taking December off to focus on dissertating and family, so Mark will be joined by Jackson and Nora of Anomalous Readings (and many other fine podcasts) to discuss John Moore's “Miracle Stalker: Personal and Social Transformation in Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic” (1997).

  6. 10/18/2024

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 15: Cyberpunk's masculinist legacy: Puppetry, labour and ménage à trois in Blade Runner 2049, Murphy

    For this episode, we read Graham J. Murphy's article “Cyberpunk's masculinist legacy: Puppetry, labour and ménage à trois in Blade Runner 2049” published in Science Fiction Film and Television, in a symposium on the legacy of Blade Runner. This continues our string of articles, and gives us a chance to think about a movie we both enjoy and dynamics we both find fascinating. Murphy both interests and frustrates us, identifying some of the most interesting moments of gender and embodiment in the film, but leaving us wanting more analysis and discussion, so be prepared for a bunch of digressions about Blade Runner in general and in gender. Content warning: Though there’s nothing explicit, the discussion as a whole focuses on gendered violence. Topics: Gender, feminism, film, Blade Runner, cyberpunk Next month, we plan to read what might be the first historical study of science fiction as a genre, Pilgrims Through Space and Time by J. O. Bailey.

  7. 09/19/2024

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 14: Shadows of the Empire/A New Hope: A Dialectical Critique of Gender Historicization and Utopian Desire in Isabel Fall's "Helicopter Story", Fulloon

    This episode we read an article on a mission: "Shadows of the Empire/A New Hope: A Dialectical Critique of Gender Historicization and Utopian Desire in Isabel Fall's “Helicopter Story”" by JD Fulloon, which is a mouthful, and was published in the May 2024 issue of Transgender Studies Quarterly. Fulloon's goal is to engage with "Helicopter Story" not for the controversies surrounding its publication and the backlash, but taking it seriously as a work of literature with something to say, a mission we're entirely on board with. In that spirit, while we do address the context, we focus on engaging with Fulloon's historicizing Marxist analysis of "Helicopter Story" as well as what we find interesting and exciting in the story itself, plus get into some confusion about what plastics are and what the story is doing with military science fiction - and what that Star Wars is doing in that title besides making it a bit longer. Topics: Gender, trans studies, military SF, Marxism Next month, we’re reading “Cyberpunk's masculinist legacy: Puppetry, labour and ménage à trois in Blade Runner 2049” by Graham J. Murphy.

  8. 08/19/2024

    Starboard Vineyard Tours 13: The Mechanics of Wonder: The Creation of the Idea of Science Fiction, Westfahl

    For this episode, we read Gary Westfahl's The Mechanics of Wonder: The Creation of the Idea of Science Fiction (1998). This book frustrated us quite a bit with its insistence that the fundamental nature of science fiction was defined in the 20s and has not changed since. On the other hand, we came away with a new appreciation for its central figures, Hugo Gernsback and John W. Campbell, Jr., especially Gernsback, as thinkers of science fiction, if not theorists per se. The depth of Westfahl's research into these two men's writings fascinated us; we simply disagree strongly with his conclusions. The book presents itself as a challenge to the field of science fiction studies. We find ourselves in the position of answering that challenge. Topics: sf history, biography Note: The original 1973 science fiction history by Brian Aldiss is actually called Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction, and the updated version from 1986 is Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction. Apologies for the error! Next time, we'll be looking at JD Fulloon’s “Shadows of the Empire/A New Hope: A Dialectical Critique of Gender Historicization and Utopian Desire in Isabel Fall’s ‘Helicopter Story’” (2024), this time for certain.

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About

Welcome to Starboard Vineyard Tours! Curious what people have thought and written about science fiction? Want some guidance on discovering this area of study - things to read, and ways to read them? In this podcast, Mark and Ben will take you on a tour through the world of science fiction studies. Join us on the beginning of a voyage into the unfamiliar, the estranging, the counterfactual, the speculative, what has not happened but might: science fiction, in all its forms. (And please remember to keep hands, feet, and any other limbs on board the vessel at all times!)

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Klug and Mark Sokolov
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ben Klug and Mark Sokolov
  • Show Website
    Starboard Vineyard Tours