Apr 4, 2016
Feature Guest: Brian Trent
Here’s the ultimate challenge for science fiction. How do you
describe the appearance and behaviour of an intelligent alien
species when we have no example to go on but us? How can we ever
know our portrayal is truly alien and not a projection of our own
expectations, hopes and fears? Or has the job of science fiction
all along been to hold up a mirror to ourselves? Today we're joined
at The Star Spot by Brian Trent, an award-winning science fiction
author who manages to blend shockingly unfamiliar alien beings
within stories of profound humanity.
Today’s episode of The Star Spot is the third in a three part
series featuring interviews with the keynote speakers at the 13th
annual Expanding Canada’s Frontier’s symposium, this year on the
topic Astronomyths: Science or Fiction?, looking at cosmology and
alien life, hosted at the University of Toronto this past
January.
The Star Spot is Now on the Radio!
The The Star Spot podcast is now The Star Spot podcast and radio
show. That’s right. Your favourite astronomy program is now
travelling through space, specifically the 1280AM frequency. Our
broadcaster, CJRU The Scope at Ryerson, is now available on the
radio dial, which means you can join us at The Star Spot at 1280AM
every Sunday 8PM and Tuesday 6PM Eastern Time.
Current in Space
Did the Large Hadron Collider just discover a new heavy particle beyond the Standard Model of particular physics? Anuj reports. Then Dave explains how astronomers captured for the first time the very beginning of a supernova explosion. And Tony reveals how space rocks arriving on Earth from before the formation of the solar system show chemicals produced in long dead stars.
About Our Guest
Brian Trent is a journalist and
science-fiction writer. His work appears regularly in major
publications like AE - The Canadian Science Fiction Review, ANALOG,
Fantasy & Science Fiction, COSMOS, Nature, Galaxy’s Edge and Daily
Science Fiction. In 2013 his story “War Hero” was a winner in
the Writers of the Future Contest. His most recently published
Novel, Rahotep, came out in December.
Brian Trent describes himself as “a futurist with an
interest in the past.” He studies how technology has affected our
world in order to speculate on where we are headed. His
writings on artificial intelligence, longevity research and
the search for life in the universe, among other topics, lead him
towards a picture of what the future looks like for our society and
our species. His ideas have appeared in UTNE, The Humanist, Strange
Horizons, Clarkesworld and other publications.