Colin and Phil decided to challenge each other with books, stories and films that they thought the other hadn't read or seen. The result is some suggestions for reading and watching that we'd like you all to consider.

These aren't necessarily the best science fiction around, but they are all items we greatly enjoy and heartily recommend. We hope you enjoy our suggestions every bit as much as our robo-butler enjoys serving them up to you.

For more information, including links to many of the items we discuss, check out the shownotes at https://101sf.blogspot.com/2025/07/serving-suggestions-episode-57.html

What on earth does science have to do with science fiction? Is science fiction about science? Is it fiction that takes a scientific approach to fiction?

Without getting into the tedium of multiple possible definitions of science fiction, Colin and Phil explore what they expect of something labelled "science fiction". What you can expect is a rambling conversation that touches on philosophy, physics, logic, time travel, and much more.

We also have our usual quiz, and our dash through the past, present and future of our favourite genre.

For more information, check the show notes at:

https://101sf.blogspot.com/2025/07/science-andor-fiction-episode-56.html

Every year, we review the short stories shortlisted for the famous Hugo Awards. It's our way of keep abreast of trends in the field of science fiction without having to read a ton of longer works!

All of the shortlisted stories are available online for free - for links to all of them, checkout the shownotes:

https://101sf.blogspot.com/2025/06/reviewing-hugo-short-stories-episode-55.html

So why not take a look at the stories for yourself, and see if you agree with Colin's and Phil's assessment?

Also in the episode we have our usual features: a quiz (about SF movies), and our recommendations of past/present/future science fiction.