The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories

Adam Jenkins walked away from the world’s most dangerous research project because he became convinced there was something far more important waiting to be built. When his closest friend arrives determined to change his mind, the conversation leads to an unexpected choice that could alter both of their futures. The Cave Where I Am Hiding by Robert Moore Williams. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

This is the fourth time author Robert Moore Williams has been on the podcast in the last ten months and there will me more. There was The Incredible Slingshot Bombs followed by Thompson’s Cat and most recently The Next Time We Die.

Today’s story asks a question that must have seemed almost impossible when it first appeared in 1951. At the height of the Cold War and the race to build the hydrogen bomb, Robert Moore Williams imagined what might happen if the world’s greatest physicist simply refused to keep making bigger weapons.

Williams had already written more than 100 short stories when this one hit the stands in the October 1951 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. We will find it on page 89, The Cave Where I Am Hiding by Robert Moore Williams…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A veteran Coast Guard captain witnesses an impossible rescue at sea, then finds himself chasing an explanation no naval report could ever record. As another convoy battles through the North Atlantic, he must decide whether to trust what every sailor knows cannot exist. Heroes Die Hard by Leroy Yerxa.

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Two alien swindlers believe they have found the perfect disguise, the perfect victim, and an easy path to unimaginable wealth. Their carefully staged bargain soon becomes a contest to discover who is truly being fooled. The Red Hot Deal by Joseph Farrell. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

We love hearing from you, yesterday we received this message on Facebook from Stephanie Laugesen, “My brother recently got me hooked on your podcast and I am absolutely loving listening to the stories.  I've started from the beginning of the series, and there have been a few that got me laughing and some with endings I didn't expect. I'm 100% hooked!”

Thanks Stephanie, I am so happy your brother Kevin told you about us, and thank you Kevin! So many of you have discovered our podcast thanks to recommendations from friends and family. Know somebody who loves sci-fi? Please tell them about us!

On our last episode we introduced you to author Joseph Farrell. He’s back today with another story. This one from Fantastic Universe magazine in September 1959 on page 111, The Red Hot Deal by Joseph Farrell…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Adam Jenkins walked away from the world’s most dangerous research project because he became convinced there was something far more important waiting to be built. When his closest friend arrives determined to change his mind, the conversation leads to an unexpected choice that could alter both of their futures. The Cave Where I Am Hiding by Robert Moore Williams.

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Stranded on an iron asteroid by ruthless competitors, two Earthmen discover that their foolish-looking captors have one irresistible weakness. Steve Burgess has a daring escape plan, but activating it could send the entire asteroid hurtling toward disaster. Juke Box Asteroid by Joseph Farrell. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

One of our favorite things is introducing you to authors making their first appearance on the podcast, and today that author is Joseph Farrell. Like so many writers from the pulp magazine era, he left no personal history behind. We don’t know where he was born, what he did outside of writing, or any details about his life.

What we do know is that Farrell published sixteen science fiction short stories between 1943 and 1962, carving out a small but memorable place in vintage science fiction.

Today’s story comes from the very beginning of his career. It first appeared in the Spring 1944 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, beginning on page 66—Juke Box Asteroid by Joseph Farrell…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Two alien swindlers believe they have found the perfect disguise, the perfect victim, and an easy path to unimaginable wealth. Their carefully staged bargain soon becomes a contest to discover who is truly being fooled. The Red Hot Deal by Joseph Farrell.

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A ten-year-old boy discovers that the fantastic dangers in his comic books may be closer to reality than any scientist suspects. When a friendly voice from another star offers him an astonishing invention, Tommy must decide whether he is speaking to an ally—or helping an enemy reach Earth. From Beyond the Stars by Murray Leinster. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

One of the questions we hear quite often is, Why did so many science fiction authors use pen names? There were actually several reasons. Magazine editors usually didn’t want a single issue to look as though it had been written by just one person, even if one author had supplied several excellent stories. Writers also sold stories to competing magazines, experimented with different styles, or simply wanted the flexibility of publishing under multiple names.

Today’s story is a perfect example.

If you pick up the June 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, you’ll see that From Beyond the Stars is credited to Will F. Jenkins, one of the many pen names used by William Fitzgerald Jenkins—the author we know today as Murray Leinster.

So why didn’t he simply use Murray Leinster? Because the same issue already featured another Murray Leinster story, The Boomerang Circuit. Publishing both stories under the same byline would have made it obvious that one writer dominated the magazine.

But there’s another twist. A third story in that very issue, The Nameless Something, is credited to William Fitzgerald, another variation of his own name.

The result? Of the seven stories published in the June 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, three were written by the same man—William Fitzgerald Jenkins. By using three different bylines, the magazine appeared to showcase a wider range of authors, while readers unknowingly enjoyed three stories from one of science fiction’s most prolific and influential writers.

We will find our story on page 82 in the June 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, From Beyond the Stars by Murray Leinster…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Stranded on an iron asteroid by ruthless competitors, two Earthmen discover that their foolish-looking captors have one irresistible weakness. Steve Burgess has a daring escape plan, but activating it could send the entire asteroid hurtling toward disaster. Juke Box Asteroid by Joseph Farrell.

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Arthur Giles helped build a civilization that believed death had been defeated, but one terrible diagnosis forces him to measure the future in years instead of centuries. When a dangerous experimental starship suddenly becomes his only chance to reclaim what time has taken away, the risk no longer seems impossible. The Dwindling Years by Lester del Rey. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Thank you to our Spotify listeners! We have 508 ratings on Spotify with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5. That’s awesome! Thank you. And if you listen on Spotify and you haven’t given us a rating yet it literally takes seconds to do it. We would appreciate your 5 star rating if you think we deserve it of course.

Lester del Rey had a gift for taking huge science fiction ideas and making them feel painfully personal. In The Dwindling Years, he imagines a future where humanity has defeated aging, only to ask a terrifying question: what happens when immortality suddenly stops working?

Turn to page 29 in the January 1956 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, The Dwindling Years by Lester del Rey…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A ten-year-old boy discovers that the fantastic dangers in his comic books may be closer to reality than any scientist suspects. When a friendly voice from another star offers him an astonishing invention, Tommy must decide whether he is speaking to an ally—or helping an enemy reach Earth. From Beyond the Stars by Murray Leinster

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