andyjohnson.xyz

About andyjohnson.xyz

Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.

Publisher

Andy Johnson

Category

fiction · leisure · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Mar 2020

Latest episode

21 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

198 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Sept 2026

   #198 Down to the wire: The Fountains of Paradise (1979) by Arthur C. Clarke

   What is 36,000 kilometres long, made of a super-strong material that doesn't exist yet, and replaces rocket launches? It can only be a space elevator, a speculative mega-engineering project that has been a fixture of science fiction since 1979. That was the year that SF superstar Arthur C. Clarke popularised the concept with his novel The Fountains of Paradise. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic...

2. 

   5 Aug 2026

   #197 Prisoners of the past: Hawksbill Station (1968) by Robert Silverberg

   During Robert Silverberg's well-known peak period from 1967 to 1976, he put his own spin on various familiar SF tropes, from psychic powers to robots. One that he returned to frequently was time travel, and Hawksbill Station is an important example. In this short novel, expanded from a successful novella, time displacement is redeployed as a punishment. For anti-government rebels condemned to live in the Cambrian period, life is a hard, constant struggle to stay sane in a time period hundreds...

3. 

   19 Jun 2026

   #196 Winter of the world: Greybeard (1964) by Brian Aldiss

   20 years ago, Alfonso Cuaron's film Children of Men was released to some acclaim. Today, its depiction of a decaying, paranoid UK is often described as chillingly prescient. Less discussed is the central concept - of a sterile world, a world without children being born. The film was loosely based on P.D. James' 1992 novel, which itself has been described as "derivative" of Greybeard - a 1964 novel by British SF legend Brian Aldiss. This episode takes a close look at Greybeard, which was writ...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

6,893

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

87

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

30

Contact andyjohnson.xyz

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about andyjohnson.xyz