Episode 11 - The Demolished Man

For our March 2026 episode of Starship Alexandria – and the first our our new season – Emma puts forward the novel The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester.  

Other talking points: 

The perils of returning to past reads 

Difficult books to summarise 

Cunning schemes for the perfect murder 

Psychic earworms 

Psychotherapy in science fiction 

Particularly big warts 

(not) the Time Machine Factory 

Heroes and anti-heroes 

The Poochy effect 

Skeezy gender dynamics 

Eugenics 

Contradictory attitudes towards murder 

Typographical games 

Inadvisable titles 

Media Mentions: 

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, novel by Douglas Adams 

The Lathe of Heaven, novel by Ursula le Guin 

The Simpsons TV series (twice!) 

Gormenghast, series by Mervyn Peake 

Babylon 5, TV series 

Illuminati, card/board game 

Star Trek: The Next Generation, TV series, particularly "Remember Me" 

The Life of Chuck, movie dir. Mike Flanagan (based on the work of Stephen King) 

Next month we look at the movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 

Emma's music recommendation: Punk Tactics by Joey Valance & Brae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OklSZmIx9-o&list=RDOklSZmIx9-o&start_radio=1   

Emma's latest writing is included in Creative Futures (Beyond and Within) https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/creative-futures-allen-stroud/7847161 which was recently shortlisted for a BSFA Award 

Adrian's most recent book: Pretenders to the Throne of God https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pretenders-to-the-throne-of-god-adrian-tchaikovsky/7953437 

If you'd like to support the show, and get an additional monthly patrons-only episode, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home  

You can buy our official t-shirts and mugs at https://starshipalexandria.teemill.com/ 

Follow us at: 

Emma: @emmanewman@bsky.social and www.enewman.co.uk  

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com