For the first time, we’ve committed Broadcast to paper and ink. And boy, does she look handsome. Including both writing and art, the print issue features contributions from hannah baer, Hank Shteamer, Ed Park, Janna Levin, and more. 

In celebration of his latest film, "The Whale," award-winning director Darren Aronofsky is joined by our Director of Sciences, astrophysicist Janna Levin, for a special conversation about storytelling, science, math, and god. ♦

In celebration of his latest film, "The Whale," award-winning director Darren Aronofsky is joined by our Director of Sciences, astrophysicist Janna Levin, for a special conversation about storytelling, science, math, and god.

Darren Aronofsky

In this new series, we speak with storytellers influenced by science in the broadest sense: from naturalism to futurism, from observation to fantasy, from the past to the future, from nature to technology.

Science vs. Fiction: Darren Aronofsky

In celebration of Jennifer Egan's new book, 

, a sibling novel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning 

, Egan is joined by author, astrophysicist, and Pioneer Works Director of Sciences Janna Levin to discuss memories, the collective unconscious, and a dystopian present.

Possibly a reference to the sinister edible houses of folklore, 

 deftly interweaves stories, narrative styles, and incisive observations to inspire speculation as well as nostalgia about both the past and the future. ♦

In celebration of Jennifer Egan's new book, The Candy House, a sibling novel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad, Egan is joined by author, astrophysicist, and Pioneer Works Director of Sciences Janna Levin to discuss memories, the collective unconscious, and a dystopian present.

Possibly a reference to the sinister edible houses of folklore, The Candy House deftly interweaves stories, narrative styles, and incisive observations to inspire speculation as well as nostalgia about both the past and the future.

Science vs. Fiction: Jennifer Egan on "The Candy House"

In celebration of Marlon James's epic new book "Moon Witch, Spider King," the second installment in his acclaimed Dark Star trilogy—his self-described “African Game of Thrones”—James is joined by author, astrophysicist, and Pioneer Works Director of Sciences Janna Levin to discuss fiction, speculation, and fantasy. 

Dark Star is not a linear trilogy; rather, each book is a very different version of the same story. "Moon Witch, Spider King" stands on its own as mythic and “deliciously obscene” (San Francisco Chronicle), bringing us deep into the world of Sogolon, the Moon Witch, as she endeavors to find a mysterious missing boy. The journey takes us to new truths about the Moon Witch and the world. ♦

Science vs. Fiction: Marlon James and Janna Levin on Moon Witch, Spider King

Science vs. Fiction: Marlon James on "Moon Witch, Spider King"

Janna Levin and Jonathan Lethem talk about the science of fiction and the fiction of science. Lethem weaves conceptual and scientific notions into his masterful novels, including his latest, 

, which tells of the arrival of a monstrous, technologically advanced, espresso-machine supercar into a charming, placid, small town in coastal Maine. While the vision came to him quite suddenly, he explained that the idea stems from apocalyptic notions as a child of the 60s and 70s. Levin’s new book, 

 (with artwork by Lia Halloran), is a fun romp through an ill-fated exploration of black holes. The pocket-size book invites readers into the very real science of this ultimate universal force.

Is there a distinction we should draw between dystopian and apocalyptic? Or between Sci Fi and speculative fiction? Tune in while the authors converse from their own murky environments in the ether. Get ready for some troubling yet curious visuals while Lethem and Levin discuss their respective new books, their Dystopian Top 5 and beyond.

The whole show (including the credits and music) is at the center of my dystopian sensibility, so I’m just listing it rather than singling out one episode. Though certainly it is eight or ten episodes that actually matter to me: “The After Hours”, “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”, “Walking Distance”, “Eye of the Beholder”, “The Invaders”, “Good Enough at Last.” These are akin to paranoid mid-century short SF stories by American writers like Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley and Philip K. Dick, but the 

 was my entrée, and emblematic of that mood.

The Man Who Fell To Earth/Station to Station

Again, I’m running stuff together here: Walter Tevis’s terse novel, Nicholas Roeg’s psychedelic film, Bowie’s image in the film and the stills of him on the cover of his most ominous and dystopian recordings, all of which hit me like a ton of bricks. This was, for me much more than 

, dystopian brought up to the countercultural edge of the dissipated, druggy ‘70’s.

So basic and background an influence on me that I can’t see around its edges. Orwell’s fundamental assertion is that the future is an allegory of the past, if we are allowed to read it. It was written by an Englishman but it seems to me to describe The Great American Amnesiac totally.

One of the first, and one of the harshest, eco-fictions. As with Vonnegut’s 

, the world ends in ice, not fire. Still feels like where we’re headed.

The ultimate surrealist cold war phatasmagoria, Lem’s book features a paranoiac environment known as “The Building”—a gigantic Kafkaesque bureaucracy that is obsessed with the existence of an unseen hidden enemy, called “The Anti-Building.” Within that frame come satires of science and academia, postmodernism and religion.

Arecibo is a much beloved 1000-ft radio telescope nestled in a sinkhole in the mountains of Puerto Rico. For six decades this generous instrument sent and received messages from space. When a 900-ton observation deck collapsed this month, tearing struts from the mountainside and landing in the dish, that big beautiful telescope was destroyed and along with it some of our interstellar ambitions.

Really I’m a sucker for any sort of monolith. Kubric’s monolith of course assumes pride of place as archetypal. Admittedly, the recent shenanigans in Utah undermined the fearsomeness of the oddly haunting shape. I heard that the guys who disassembled the thing apparently shouted epithets at the obelisk as they carted it offsite in a wheelbarrow.

Sometimes I imagine Sputnik incinerating in the Earth’s atmosphere, which is a respectable demise for a spacecraft. There is so much space debris out there that NASA has a division to track potential conjunctions, a euphemism for collisions. Occasionally defunct cold-war satellites threaten modern instruments. Worst is the debris from satellites intentionally destroyed by their countries of origin in a demonstration of military might.

Static in video or audio transmissions is just haunting. Probably my low-level anxiety around static originates from the first time I heard the crackling recording of 

. In some kind of ironic twist, we’re all presently communicating with advanced technology that’s delivering low-fidelity experiences. The pixelation of our video calls isn’t due to static, but has that vintage veneer.

There are many ways to explore death by black hole, and all of them are extravagantly interesting. Jonathan Lethem invented a manner of suicide by black hole that I hadn’t considered. Trap one in your laboratory and despite all safety warnings and best scientific practices, climb right in. ♦

If you want books fast for the holidays, try your usual online venues or, even better, your local bookstore—it might be on a slower timescale, but we’d be honored to send you a signed copy!

 is the bestselling author of twelve novels, including 

The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn

, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, 

 is his twelfth novel. His writings have appeared in the 

 and many other periodicals. He was born in New York and attended Bennington College, and currently teaches creative writing at Pomona College in California. His most recent book is 

 is the Director of Sciences at Pioneer Works and Editor-in-Chief of the Broadcast. She is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. Janna won a PEN prize for a first work of fiction. Her most recent book is 