Red Horizons is a podcast that explores leftist thought and revolutionary theory through the lens of science fiction. Hosted by Steve McPhail, each episode blends literary analysis with political philosophy, examining how speculative worlds can illuminate real-world struggles for justice, liberation, and ecological survival. From anarchist utopias to post-capitalist experiments, Red Horizons invites listeners to imagine—and build—radical futures.
Red Horizons
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12 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Overview
Red Horizons is a podcast that explores leftist thought and revolutionary theory through the lens of science fiction. Hosted by Steve McPhail, each episode blends literary analysis with political philosophy, examining how speculative worlds can illuminate real-world struggles for justice, liberation, and ecological survival. From anarchist utopias to post-capitalist experiments, Red Horizons invites listeners to imagine—and build—radical futures.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
7/23/2025
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Recent Episodes
October 24, 2025
Episode 10 – The Forest Strikes Back: Colonialism, Collapse, and the Politics of Survival in The Word for World is Forest
Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest begins with conquest and ends with a reckoning. Terran colonizers arrive on Athshe to strip its forests, enslaving its people in the name of progress. But when the Athsheans rise up, their fight is not just for survival but for the soul of a world that dreams. In this episode, we dive into Le Guin’s sharpest critique of empire: how domination reshapes both the oppressed and the oppressor. We explore how colonialism, ecological destruction, and moral awakening intertwine in a story written at the height of the Vietnam War, and how its lessons echo in the burning forests and fractured politics of our own time. The forest remembers. The question is: will we?
October 3, 2025
Episode 9 – The Left Hand of Darkness: Gender, Loyalty, and Survival on the Ice
On Gethen, winter never ends. Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness imagines a world without fixed gender, where survival depends on loyalty and warmth shared across difference. But this isn’t just a story of ice and endurance. It’s a study of empire, misrecognition, and the walls we carry inside ourselves. In this episode, we follow Genly Ai and Estraven across the Gobrin Ice, and ask what solidarity looks like when categories collapse. We trace the failures of the envoy, the ethics of loyalty that defies the state, and the radical challenge Le Guin offers to empire’s rigid binaries. Solidarity begins when certainty fails. On Gethen, survival belongs to those willing to share warmth. Special thanks to comrade Bob Wilson for the Proverb reading.
September 19, 2025
Episode 8 - The Wall and the World: Anarchism, Exile, and Revolutionary Time in The Dispossessed
The Dispossessed is Ursula K. Le Guin’s great anarchist novel. A story about walls, worlds, and what it means to live without masters. In this episode of Red Horizons, we explore Le Guin’s vision of an anarchist society on Anarres, the contradictions of freedom and scarcity, and the shadow cast by Urras, a world of wealth and hierarchy just across the sky. Through Shevek’s journey, we ask: what does it mean to build a world where solidarity replaces domination? And how do we fight to protect it when empire always presses at the gates? This is the opening chapter of our Le Guin arc, where we dive into her most revolutionary works. Not as escapism, but as blueprints for struggle.
12 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Red Horizons?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Information about guest appearances is not available.
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