The Incomparable

Vacationing in the Golden Age

As January’s icy grip tightens, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson find sanctuary in the thrilling days of yesteryear. This time out they have procured the services of Jamie Todd Rubin to act as their guide for their voyage back in time to the Golden Age!

Generally defined as the period between 1939 and 1950, the Golden Age was dominated by John W. Campbell’s editorship at Astounding. It was when Science Fiction acquired a degree of depth and characterization through the works of Isaac Asimov, Lester Del Rey, C.L. Moore, L. Sprague De Camp, Leigh Brackett, A. E. Van Vogt, Robert Heinlein, Jack Vance, and Clifford Simak. Jamie talks about reading those issues of Astounding and what he learned about SF and fandom, then and now.

Also discussed are Jamie’s latest Analog column, plotting-vs-pantsing, and pre-internet flame wars.

And the Hoarsemen start the year with a MASSIVE list of books, comics, and TV consumed.

Listen to this episode (1 hour, 49 minutes)