Introduction

Hello!

You're listening to the MSU Ansible, a discovery podcast where we review and reflect on the crossroads of science fiction and science.

I'm Jody Coulter.

If you're joining me, it's likely you are interested in science fiction.

Great news, so am I.

I'm a fan of science fiction and I love talking about what I've read, how science is incorporated, and how science fiction reflects society.

It almost feels like we're living through another golden age of science fiction, which is awesome, and I want to give it the consideration it deserves.

To get us started, I want to take a moment to discuss what an Ansible is and what I mean when I say science fiction.

The term Ansible was coined in 1966 by Ursula K.

Le Guin, one of my favorite science fiction authors.

She used the term to describe fictional devices that were capable of faster-than-light communication.

Wikipedia does a great job of describing it.

An Ansible, quote, can instantaneously transmit and receive communication across vast distances and obstacles, including between stars and even across galaxies, end quote.

Because this is a podcast and because I hope to be able to talk across vast distances and obstacles with all of you, I thought The Ansible might be a great title for our podcast.

I also want to take a moment to talk about my definition of science fiction.

I'm not a science purist.

I don't believe in such things as hard science and soft sciences.

I know that some people find these terms useful, but I don't.

Science seems rigid, but methods that work in one field don't work in another.

Does that make those fields less than?

Absolutely not.

Science is science, even if it looks differently depending on your field.

So this podcast isn't going to just tackle chemistry and physics and math and engineering.

It's also going to explore social science and anthropology and political science and anything else in between.

To expand this, science fiction to me is a massive umbrella term that covers a lot of other genres.

For example, we might read speculative fiction or alternative histories or something else that might strike our fancy.

I also want to take a moment to talk about who I am.

I work as the life sciences librarian at Michigan State University.

I'm also an entomologist, which means I've studied insects, though I currently don't work as an entomologist.

One of my majors as an undergrad was English lit.

I've been fascinated by science fiction, and I have strong opinions about its place in literature with a capital L.

I'm also a big Star Trek fan.

Voyager is a super underappreciated series, and I'm happy to talk about it.

So why am I doing this?

I'm in touch with a lot of scientists across campus and the nation, and I want to showcase where science leaves off and fiction picks up in science fiction.

This podcast is meant to bring scientists closer to you through the medium of science fiction.

Personally, I've wanted to do a podcast that looks at how science fiction reflects society for some time.

Science fiction explores some amazing concepts that can be hard to look at straight on.

If you warp or twist the fabric of reality a little, some of the subtler themes start to pop out, and those themes can have big impacts on how we view the world.

I want to wrestle with those themes because I think they're important, but also because talking about them gives me hope.

I'm a helpless optimist, and I believe if we can dream of a more hopeful future, we can actually make a hopeful future.

I don't remember when I read my first sci-fi, but it became exceptionally important to me in my 20s.

I'm particularly fond of Ursula K.

Le Guin, J.S.

Dews, Ted Chiang, Martha Wells, Arkady Martine, James S.A.

Corey, and N.K.

Jemison.

I know that last author might spark some strong opinions, but she's amazing and I strongly stand by that one.

Currently, we have one season planned and six episodes laid out in that season.

We will release one episode a month.

Each episode will explore a new book and talk about some of the main science themes in that book.

I will have one or two new guests with me each episode, someone I know who might be able to give us a deep look into the science of the book.

With each season, we hope to bring you an abundance of other materials that will help you dive deeply into some of those themes.

These might include essays, lists of resources to help you understand complex topics, threads where you can join the discussion, and hopefully many other things as the podcast grows.

I want to wrap up this intro by saying that I really appreciate you listening.

Science fiction is an incredibly fun and gripping study, and I hope you will join us.