Fiction Science

British physicist Jim Al-Khalili, author of "On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe Tick," discusses why time flows in only one direction, and why time travel into the past is highly unlikely - but not yet completely ruled out.

Cinematographer Brendan Uegama discusses how he and his teammates created a fictional world for "Star City," an Apple TV series that traces a dramatically different version of the U.S.-Soviet space race.

A podcast double-feature delves into scientific and social issues raised by the "Disclosure Day" movie. Our guests are Adam Kirsch, author of "We Want to Believe"; and Meg Charlton, author of an alien-abduction novel titled "Voyagers."

Nisi Shawl discusses the genesis of "The Curve of the World," a newly published novel about an ancient odyssey from Crete to the Pacific Northwest that science-fiction pioneer Vonda N. McIntyre finished writing just before her death in 2019.

SETI astronomer Seth Shostak talks about the parallels between the alien connection in "Project Hail Mary" and the real-world search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Now Elon Musk wants to build a city on the moon before building a city on Mars. Biologist Scott Solomon, author of a new book titled "Becoming Martian," sizes up the prospects for building a city anywhere that's beyond Earth.

Aerospace consultant Roger Myers explains why space nuclear power will play a big role in the competition between the U.S. and China to establish bases on the moon in the 2030s.

Space scientist Les Johnson tells the story behind his role in creating "Pluto," the last novel in sci-fi master Ben Bova's Grand Tour series and one of the first works of fiction to incorporate revelations from NASA's New Horizons mission.

Cherokee science-fiction author Daniel H. Wilson blends ancient tales about extraterrestrials with up-to-date speculation about alien visitations in a new novel called "Hole in the Sky."

Washington Post staff writer Christian Davenport, author of "Rocket Dreams," discusses the parallel space races between America and China, and between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Tim Chawaga, the author of a climate-fiction thriller titled "Salvagia," weaves the implications of future sea-level rise and other high-tech twists into a Florida murder mystery.

Tech pioneer Nathan Myhrvold and paleontologist Thomas Holtz discuss how dinosaur science has evolved over the past three decades - and do a reality check on the latest "Jurassic World" dino-movie.

Mario Juric, director of the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute, explains why astronomers are celebrating the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's "First Look" at the cosmos - and tells you how to join the party.

Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, authors of "The AI Con," say the benefits of AI are being played up while the costs are being played down — and they lay out strategies for fighting the hype.

Science-fiction author Ray Nayler talks about his latest book, "Where the Axe Is Buried," a chilling tale of AI-powered repression and resistance that was inspired by current events as well as Nayler's familiarity with authoritarianism.

Copies of human bodies can't be printed out, as shown in the space-based satire "Mickey 17," but biomedical researcher Christopher Mason says it should be possible to re-engineer humans to make them more suited for living in space.

In a Valentine's Day episode, Mary Roach, the author of "Packing for Mars," brings us up to date on one of the big questions about living in space: What would zero-G sex be like?

Planetary scientist John E. Moores and astrophysicist Jesse Rogerson weave tales about interplanetary adventures that are like nothing on Earth in a book titled "Daydreaming in the Solar System."

Law professor James Boyle, author of "The Line: AI and the Future of Personhood," explains why he thinks intelligent machines will eventually be considered persons.

TrueMedia.org founder Oren Etzioni and Annalee Newitz, author of "Stories Are Weapons," discuss the escalating arms race between the purveyors of political disinformation and those who are trying to defend against it.