1294 Programming the Cosmos: How Science Fiction Conditioned Humanity for Space

2025-12-17

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EP. #1294 Programming the Cosmos: How Science Fiction Conditioned Humanity for Space What if humanity didn’t invent the space age—but inherited it? In Part Three of our four-part series on how science fiction shapes reality, Professor Mark Brake traces an unsettling pattern: rockets, satellites, lunar landings, arcologies, even cosmic megastructures all appeared in fiction long before engineers built them. From Kepler to Clarke, storytellers sketched the architecture of the modern world centuries in advance. Were these writers merely imaginative—or were they quiet...

EP. #1294 Programming the Cosmos: How Science Fiction Conditioned Humanity for Space

What if humanity didn’t invent the space age—but inherited it? In Part Three of our four-part series on how science fiction shapes reality, Professor Mark Brake traces an unsettling pattern: rockets, satellites, lunar landings, arcologies, even cosmic megastructures all appeared in fiction long before engineers built them. From Kepler to Clarke, storytellers sketched the architecture of the modern world centuries in advance. Were these writers merely imaginative—or were they quietly programming our collective future? Tonight, we follow the thread into orbit, where fiction stops entertaining us and starts directing us.

GUEST: Professor Mark Brake is a leading science communicator and author exploring the hidden feedback loop between imagination and innovation. He is the author of FutureWorld: Where Science Fiction Becomes Science and numerous bestselling books examining the real science behind Star Wars, superheroes, time travel, and the multiverse. Known for translating complex ideas into gripping narratives, Brake argues that science fiction doesn’t merely entertain — it quietly shapes the laboratories, technologies, and futures we eventually inhabit.

LINKS:

https://www.instagram.com/profmbrake

BOOK:

FutureWorld: Where Science Fiction Becomes Science

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