Episode 160 -- Science Fiction Fandom, Part 2
Summary
Adrian Dobb and Moira Donegan explore the "right-wing canon" in science fiction, analyzing how far-right fans appropriate specific texts and subgenres to promote reactionary ideologies. They discuss the Sad Puppies' critique of "message fiction" and the cultural appeal of military sci-fi, sword and sorcery, and cosmic horror to conservative audiences. The hosts examine Robert Heinlein’s influence, noting how his libertarian themes and controversial depictions of sexuality reflect broader right-wing attitudes toward gender and politics.
Topics discussed
Introduction: The Sad Puppies and right-wing fandom
Appropriation of pop culture and alt-right infiltration
Defining the 'reactionary canon' in sci-fi
Bain Books and the 'one true church' of fandom
Heinlein's Starship Troopers vs. modern military sci-fi
Vietnam-era sci-fi and existential horror
Larry Correia and the 'unabashed pulp' defense
Populist anti-intellectualism and genre purity
Regression to childhood and 'abashed' sci-fi
Analyzing 2013 Hugo nominees against Puppy complaints
The Wind-Up Girl and the 'robot rape' accusation
The 'wrong objects' and 'wrong way' of relating
Niven and Purnell's The Moat in God's Eye
The Yellow Company and Minions-like tropes
Torturer novels and Catholic Church reflections
Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and subgenres
Defining hard vs. soft science fiction
Near-future dystopias and Islamic takeover tropes
Dan Simmons' right-wing turn and Flashback
Medieval fantasy and the erasure of Black people
Cosmic horror and New England stock purity
Libertarianism and the outsider narrator
Anthropological viewpoints vs. libertarian isolation
Space exploration and government funding debates
Libertarianism and the age of consent trope
Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset and jailbait porn
The father-daughter examination scene controversy
Why the association with pedophilia is so firm
Incest taboo and Heinlein's free love targets
Spaces and groups: The sexual revolution context
Taking on the sexual revolution without dignity
Creep masculinity and scientific justification of sex
Jealousy as the first target of free love diatribes
Fan conventions and the personal lives of writers
Pacific Con 2 and the Heinlein controversy
Child molesters at comic book conventions
Pedophilia as a metacultural, not subcultural, issue
The age of the character and public objection
Selective depoliticization of gender and sex
Sex as private and beyond political scrutiny
Right-wing tropes in To Sail Beyond the Sunset
Malthusianism and the fear of overpopulation
Biological imperatives and the destruction of others
Overpopulation and sexual rationalism integration
Hard sci-fi as a gendered right-wing trope
Hard sci-fi as embattled against 'squishy' pop
Hard sci-fi not thinking of itself as literature
Marginality of hard sci-fi and generational attachment
Depulpifying sci-fi and the adult market
Sci-fi nostalgia and subverting chronological age
Real devotee vs. Johnny-come-lately dynamics
Progressive vs. apolitical pro-military politics
Culture war kerfuffles in post-pandemic fandom
Credits and production information
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