Episode 118: F*ck Your Space Empire! (with Naseem Jamnia)

Detail from the cover of The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

Classic science fiction wears its love of colonialism on its sleeve, from heroic explorers to space empires that keep the peace. Why are empires such a major part of the genre, and how do we break free? Plus we talk to Naseem Jamnia about their new book, The Bruising of Qilwa.

Notes, citations, & etc.

Naseem Jamnia (website, Twitter, Instagram)

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Obeyesekere-Sahlins debate

The Archaeology of Refuge and Recourse, by Tsim Schnieder

Margaret Mead’s participant observer model of anthropology

The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire (The Atlantic)

Dune by Frank Herbert

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

“To Serve Man” by Damon Knight

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

Babel by R.F. Kuang

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan