Mike Hodel's Hour 25

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March 2001

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Index to our previous shows

  • Shows from April, 2002
  • Shows from March, 2002
  • Shows from February, 2002
  • Shows from January, 2002
  • Shows from December, 2001
  • Shows from November, 2001
  • Shows from October, 2001
  • Shows from September, 2001
  • Shows from August, 2001
  • Shows from July, 2001
  • Shows from June, 2001
  • Shows from May, 2001
  • Shows from April, 2001
  • March 29, 2001 - China Mieville
  • March 16, 2001 - Readings - Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson and The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells
  • March 10, 2001 - Laurie R. King
  • March 2, 2001 - Tim Powers
  • Shows from February, 2001
  • Shows from January, 2001
  • Shows from November - December, 2000
  • Shows from September - October, 2000
  • Shows from July - August, 2000
    •

    Please note : At the end of June major changes were made to the "Previous Shows" pages. This may have caused a problem if you had previously bookmarked one of those modified pages. If you are looking for a specific interview and can't find it on this page, then please check the Audio Index Page where you will be able to find links to all of the shows sorted by show date and interview guest.

    China Mieville

    On Thursday March 29, 2001 our guest was China Mieville, author of the highly aclaimed book Perdido Street Station.

    Considering the range of possibilities offered by fantasy, it is oft times distressing to find how many authors have imaginations that are circumscribed by medieval history. But not China Mieville. His newest novel, Perdido Street Station, is set in a world that has been described as a cross between Blade Runner and the London of Charles Dickens. And it's populated with characters borrowed from mythologies from all over the world that are given China's own unique twist. What can I say. This book is wiggy wierd and way cool. And it has been nominated for both the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award. The UK edition was named one of the Best Fantasy Novels of 2000 by Locus magazine and The Guardian named it a Guardian Pick for 2000.

    		    Perdiddo
    Cover Copyright © Del Rey Books.
    We had a chance to chat with China over the phone while he was here in the states for a brief book tour and he was a fascinating guest. Considering that Perdido Street Station is only his second book, he's a writer to keep our eyes on. You can find out more about China Mieville and read a sample chapter from Perdido Street Station by going to the Del Rey Books web site.

    Listen to this week's show
    webcasting
    • Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:05:30}
      or
    • Click here to listen to the show start.{0:41}
    • Click here for the show's opening and news.{14:05}
    • Click here for our interview with China Mieville {48:02}
    • Click here for the show's closing.{2:42}
      or
    • Click here for our show featuring Tim Powers.
    • Click here for an index of all Shows on our site.

    Links for more information relating to this week's show

    Mir - gone but not forgotten
  • Click here to learn more about the folks who went out in an airliner to watch the re-entry of the Mir Space Station. This site has a wealth of information about Mir and its re-entry, including videos of Mir's final plunge through the upper atmosphere.
  • Click here to go to the web site for MirCorp to learn more about their plans for the future now that there's no Mir for them to operate.
  • Click here to go to the web site for RSC Energia and learn more about the company that builds the Soyuz and much of the hardware for MIR and the ISS.
  • You can visit a very good web site about the MIR space station by going here.

    Missions to Mars
  • The official web site for the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission contains a lot of information about that project and will have a live web cast of its upcoming launch.
  • Click here to visit the official site for the Beagle 2 mission to Mars. Additional information about the Mars Express mission that will carry the Beagle 2 lander to Mars can be found at the ESA web site for that project.
  • Two great web sites about Mars and Mars Missions are the Mars Exploration web site at JPL and the Center for Mars Exploration at NASA Ames Research Center.
  • You can find collections of Mars images at the Malin Space Systems Gallery of Images from Mars Global Surveyor or at the National Space Science Data Center Mars Photo Gallery.
  • The Views of the Solar System web site contains a wealth of information about all the planets in our Solar System. Be sure to check out their page about Mars that is filled with information about that planet and the various spacecraft that have explored it.
  • And for all you addicts of the "Weather Channel", be sure to check out this web site - The Daily Martian Weather Report
  • For the latest in news from Mars be sure to visit MarsNews.com.
  • The NASA Human Spaceflight Exploring Mars and Beyond web site has information about various missions to Mars and even has a gallery of images showing various concepts for a manned mission to Mars. {Even if, as they say, "NASA currently has no formal plans for a human expedition to Mars or the Moon. The images displayed may not reflect the hardware and overall concept of possible visits to either of those celestial bodies.}
  • The Romance to Reality web site contains information about 270 {!} Mars mission studies dating back to the 1950's. Looking at this site reminds me of what might have been, but it also makes me dream of what yet may be. Highly recommended.
  • To get in touch with other persons interested in the human exploration of Mars you should checkout the homepage of The Mars Society
  • Percival Lowell spent his life observing Mars and popularizing the idea that Mars was covered by canals built by a dying civilization. An illustrated HTML edition of his book Mars, published in 1895, is available on-line and makes fascinating reading. The picture he painted of Mars colored much of our thinking about that planet during the last century and influenced many science fiction stories.

    Space News
  • The Spaceflight Now web site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?
  • The NASA Watch web site is another great place for getting information about current space missions. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

  • Click here for information about the audio files used for Hour 25 and for information about configuring your browser and downloading audio players.

    Please note web pages from external sites will open in a separate browser window and that Hour 25 Productions are not responsible for the content of any external Web Sites.

    • Return to the Previous Shows Index


    Readings -
    Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson and The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells

    On Friday March 16, 2001 we did a show filled with readings. Suzanne read the H.G. Wells story The Door in the Wall and I read the Poul Anderson story Call Me Joe.

    Science fiction is uniquely suited for dealing with issues and questions that cannot be addressed with mainstream literature. For example; what is it that defines our humanity? Is it the shape of our bodies or the nature of our minds? Where does the essence of our humanity reside?

    Poul Anderson shows us one take on this question in his classic story, Call Me Joe. In this tale scientists are using 'psionics technology' to take control of the mind of a 'biological automaton' that is being used to study the surface of Jupiter. The scientist who is doing this work is able to live - by proxy - on Jupiter and experience everything his alter ego is experiencing. But problems develop that threaten the safety and sanity of the man doing this work. The scientists must solve this problem; but at what cost to themselves and their research? In the end, they will have to rethink just what it means to be 'human'.

    		   Call Me Joe Call
    Copyright © Frank Kelly Freas.
    H.G. Wells is best known for his 'scientific romances', such as War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man or The First Men in the Moon. But he was also a master of quirky fantasy tales that would have been at home on The Twilight Zone. His story The Door in the Wall falls into this latter category. In it a man finds a door leading to somewhere wonderful, but he isn't able to stay there. At various times in his life this door reappears but he's always to busy with 'more important things' to follow his heart and return to his secret garden. In the end, after the man has died, we are left to wonder if he really died or if he finally followed his heart and returned to that wonderful place.

    Goddard's
    		  
    Anniversaries

    It was 75 years ago on March 16, 1926 when Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid propellant rocket and set in motion the on-going exploration of space.

    Sadly March 17 marks the second anniversary of the death of our dear friend and former executive producer, Terry Hodel. We've put up a memorial page for Terry with some of our thoughts about her so that those who knew her might pause to remember her and so those who never met her might come to know her.

    Listen to this week's show
    webcasting
    • Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:37:43}
      or
    • Click here to listen to the show start.{0:41}
    • Click here for the show's opening and news.{12:06}
    • Click here for my reading of the Poul Anderson story Call Me Joe.{1:21:57}
    • Click here for the show's closing.{2:14}
      or
    • Click here for an index of all Shows on our site.
    And for those of you who live in the United States or anywhere else where the works of H.G. Wells are in public domain.... click here to listen to Suzanne's reading of The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells. {47:16} Persons living in places where the works of H.G. Wells are not in the public domain should not click on this link.

    Links for more information relating to this week's show

    Poul Anderson
  • Tonight's reading of Call Me Joe can be found in the anthology The Dark Between the Stars. Our previous Poul Anderson story, Kyrie, can be found in The Best of Poul Anderson. Both of these stories have also appeared in other anthologies. However, all of them appear to be currently out of print. If you wish to read these stories you will need to look for them in your local used book stores or by trying on-line resources such as Bookfinders.org or Bookfinder.com.
  • Click here to view a bibliography of the Poul Anderson's work.
  • You can read an interview with Poul Anderson at Locus On-Line at this location.
  • You can view a gallery of paintings done by Michael Whelan illustrating Poul Anderson's stories at this web site or view other cover art from his stories {including many magazine covers featuring his stories} at this web site.
  • We want to thank Frank Kelly Freas for giving us permission to use his cover painting for Call Me Joe. You can see more of his work, as well as get a copy of his newest book Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It, by going to his web site.

    H.G. Wells
  • You can join the community of persons interested in the works of H.G. Wells by visiting the web site for the H.G. Wells Society.
  • You can read a fascinating essay about H.G. Wells by noted science fiction author and scholar James Gunn at this web page and be sure to check out the web site for the Center for the Study of Science Fiction for which he is the Director.
  • A bibliography of the works of H.G. Wells can be found here and a set of links to on-line versions of various H.G. Wells stories can be found here. An on-line version of The Time Machine can be found here and The War of the Worlds can be found here. Additional information about the Gutenberg Project and their on-line books can be found at the Gutenberg Project Home Page. Information about which books of H.G. Wells are in public domain - and where they are not in public domain - can be found here. {We ask that persons who live in areas where the works of H.G. Wells are not in public domain refrain from downloading copies of his works.}
  • You learn more about H.G. Wells by reading this short biography or by visiting the H.G. Wells Home Page. {Note, the opening page for this site is pretty sparse, be sure to follow the links to get to the meat of the subject}.

    Mir News
  • Click here to learn more about the folks who are planning to go out in an airliner and watch the re-entry of the Mir Space Station. This site has a wealth of information about Mir and its upcoming re-entry. This site will have video of Mir's reentry about 4 hours after Mir comes down.
  • Click here to go to the web site for MirCorp to learn more about their plans for the future now that there's no Mir for MirCorp to operate.
  • Click here to go to the web site for RSC Energia and learn more about the company that builds the Soyuz and much of the hardware for MIR and the ISS.
  • You can visit a very good web site about the MIR space station by going here.
  • You can find out when Mir - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA web page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

    ISS News
  • Click here to view the press kits for various ISS missions.
  • Check out the NASA International Space Station web page or the Boeing web page to learn more about this project.
  • Do you wonder where the Space Station is right now? You can use your browser to view real time maps showing the location of the ISS by going to this link at the NASA Space Link web site or here at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Please note that your browser must support Java to make use of this satellite tracking software.
  • You can find out when the ISS - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA web page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

    Space News
  • You can learn more about the Galileo Project by visiting the project's web site.
  • The Spaceflight Now web site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?
  • The NASA Watch web site is another great place for getting information about current space missions and the recent changes in the ISS along with the cancellation of the X-33 and X-34. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

    Information about Computer Viruses
  • The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center and the Computer Emergency Response Team web sites are great places to look for information about computer viruses and tools that can be used to counter them.
  • Additional information about viruses and tools to stop them can be found at AVP Virus Encyclopedia, Virus Bulletin home page, and ZDnet Virus Protection Guide.
  • Security updates and patches for Microsoft products can be found at their security web page.
  • The National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) studies physical and cybernetic threats to our national infrastructure. Check out their web site for some chilling reports. And to get some wicked story ideas.

  • Click here for information about the audio files used for Hour 25 and for information about configuring your browser and downloading audio players.

    Please note web pages from external sites will open in a separate browser window and that Hour 25 Productions are not responsible for the content of any external Web Sites.

    • Return to the Previous Shows Index


    Laurie R. King

    On Saturday March 10, 2001, Laurie R. King joined us to chat about her new book Folly, a novel about a woman who doubts her sanity and so she goes off to an isolated island to be alone so she can put her life back together. While there she must come to grips with the fact that her worst fears may not be all in her mind.

    We first encountered Laurie King through her novel {The Beekeepers Apprentice} about how Sherlock Holmes acquired a new partner - Mary Russell, a bright and independent 15 year old girl. Laurie's take on these characters was fresh and the story was exciting and interesting. Following the developments in their relationship and watching the characters grow and change as they affect each other has been touching and shows just how good a writer Laurie R. King is.

    		    Folly
    Bee      Grave      Laurie
    All book covers copyright by their respective publishers. Laurie R. King photo Copyright © 2000 Seth Affoumado and provided courtesy of Bantam Books.

    Listen to our show featuring Laurie R. King
    webcasting
    • Click here to listen to the entire show. {55:10}
      or
    • Click here to listen to the show start.{0:41}
    • Click here for the show's opening and news.{12:26}
    • Click here for our interview with Laurie R. King.{40:33}
    • Click here for the show's closing.{1:30}
      or
    • Click here for an index of all shows on our site.

    Links for more information relating to this show

    Laurie R. King
  • You can find out if Laurie will be doing a book signing in your town by checking out our Authors on Tour page.
  • You can learn more about Laurie R. King by visiting her Official web site or the Bantam Books web site.
  • You can read other interviews with Laurie here and at the Mystery Guild or in this article about her from the Houston Chronicle.
  • You can learn more about Laurie R. King and her books by visiting any of the various unofficial web sites dedicated to her works. You might start your explorations with these two; In Other Worlds and Laurie R. King and the Phenomenon of Mary Russell.

    ISS News
  • Click here to view the press kits for various ISS missions.
  • Check out the NASA International Space Station web page or the Boeing web page to learn more about this project.
  • Do you wonder where the Space Station is right now? You can use your browser to view real time maps showing the location of the ISS by going to this link at the NASA Space Link web site or here at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Please note that your browser must support Java to make use of this satellite tracking software.
  • You can find out when the ISS - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA web page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

    Mir News
  • Click here to learn more about the folks who are planning to go out in an airliner and watch the re-entry of the Mir Space Station. This site has a wealth of information about Mir and its upcoming re-entry.
  • Click here to go to the web site for MirCorp to learn more about their plans for the future now that there's no Mir for MirCorp to operate.
  • Click here to go to the web site for RSC Energia and learn more about the company that builds the Soyuz and much of the hardware for MIR and the ISS.
  • You can visit a very good web site about the MIR space station by going here.
  • You can find out when Mir - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA web page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

    The Chinese Space Program
  • Click here to go to the Go Taikonauts! web site, an unofficial web page covering the Shenzhou project and other aspects of China's space program.
  • The Encyclopedia Astronautica is a fabulous reference source for information about various space projects, including China's current activities. You can read more about the Shenzhou spacecraft and view many pictures of it at their Shenzhou web page. Check our their Chinese Space Station web page to learn about China's plans for building a space station in Low Earth Orbit in the next decade.
  • Click here to go to the web site for the China Great Wall Industry Corporation to learn more about the launch vehicles used for China's space program.

    Space News
  • The Spaceflight Now web site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?
  • The NASA Watch web site is another great place for getting information about current space missions and the recent changes in the ISS along with the cancellation of the X-33 and X-34. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

    Information about Computer Viruses
  • The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center and the Computer Emergency Response Team web sites are great places to look for information about computer viruses and tools that can be used to counter them.
  • Additional information about viruses and tools to stop them can be found at AVP Virus Encyclopedia, Virus Bulletin home page, and ZDnet Virus Protection Guide.
  • Security updates and patches for Microsoft products can be found at their security web page.
  • The National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) studies physical and cybernetic threats to our national infrastructure. Check out their web site for some chilling reports. And to get some wicked story ideas.

  • Click here for information about the audio files used for Hour 25 and for information about configuring your browser and downloading audio players.

    Please note web pages from external sites will open in a separate browser window and that Hour 25 Productions are not responsible for the content of any external Web Sites.

    • Return to the Previous Shows Index


    Tim Powers

    On Friday March 2, 2001 Tim Powers joined us to chat about his new book Declare, a novel which he describes as Tradecraft meets Lovecraft, or as I say, it's a book where spies meet spooks. You know, I really wasn't trying to do back to back shows dealing with the Cold War, but that's the way things worked out. Coincidence or something stranger? You decide. But only after you've listened to Tim talk about his books and his writing and about Philip K. Dick.

    Tim Powers is a really talented writer whose books always blend realistic settings and interesting characters with elements of the fantastic. His newest book, Declare, is no exception to this pattern. He takes a real double agent from the Cold War, Kim Philby, and all the accoutrement of spycraft and then mixes in his own unique characters and a supernatural twist that puts a whole new spin on everything you thought you knew about the Cold War. Way cool.

    More than just being a great writer, as if that wasn't enough, Tim is really good at explaining how he writes. Maybe it has something to do with his having taught writing at Clarion and other places for many years. If you're interested in writing, then Tim is someone you'll really want to listen to.

    		   Declare
    Tim    A note about the audio quality for this interview... Tim and I were unable to get together at the same place at the same time to do this interview, so we had to be satisfied with talking over the telephone. The problem is that the audio quality over the phone is not very good. {OK, it's actually pretty sucky.} But I figured an interview with Tim with less than great audio quality would be better than not getting an interview with him at all. So after doing the interview I filtered and tweaked it for hours, but there's a limit to what you can do when the original audio came through ratty copper wires. So I'll offer my apologies for the audio quality but the audio is what it is and the first part of the interview has the most problems. Those are the breaks.

    Listen to our show featuring Tim Powers
    webcasting
    • Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:39:38}
      or
    • Click here to listen to the show start.{0:41}
    • Click here for the show's opening and news.{24:52}
    • Click here for our interview with Tim Powers.{1:12:20}
    • Click here for the show's closing.{1:45}
      or
    • Click here for an index of all Shows on our site.

    Links for more information relating to this show

    Tim Powers
  • You can read other interviews with Tim Powers at Locus Online and at the sf site.
  • The Tim Powers on-line bibliography contains a listing of all the books he has written.
  • You can learn more about Tim and his books by referring to the Tim Powers FAQ.
  • There are a number of unofficial Tim Powers web sites where you can find out what other readers have to say about Tim's books. You might want to visit any or all of the following sites; The Works of Tim Powers , Stranger Tides, Anubis Gate, Anubis Gate {not related to the preceeding site} and ML's Unofficial Tim Powers' Web Page.
  • Tim Powers frequently teaches at the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop. You can learn more about Clarion and get information about attending by checking out their web site.

    The NEAR Spacecraft and asteroid 433 Eros
  • Click here to go to the home page for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission. It is filled with background information about the project and contains reports of the mission's most recent discoveries along with many pictures and movies of 433 Eros.
  • The NEODyS web site contains information about all Near Earth Objects in a searchable database along with web pages for each individual object. Click here to see their page for object 433 Eros.

    Life on Mars???
  • Click here to view a NASA press release about recent research concerning ancient life on Mars.
  • Click here for a web page at JPL discussing Martian meteorites and containing many links to related pages.
  • The Lunar and Planetary Institute has a web page designed to answer some basic questions about Mars and encourage further discussions and research on this topic.
  • Dr. Gilbert V. Levin, one of the bioscience investigators on the 1976 Viking Mission to Mars, has a web page about the question of Life on Mars in which he asserts that the data from the Viking Mission indicates that there is currently life on Mars.
  • For an alternate view about the Viking results you can checkout this page about Life on Mars at Malin Space Science Systems. And while there, don't forget to checkout their gallery of images from Mars Global Surveyor.
  • For the latest in news from Mars be sure to visit MarsNews.com.
  • To get in touch with other persons interested in the human exploration of Mars you should checkout the homepage of The Mars Society

    Solar Sailing
  • Be sure to go to the Planetary Society's web page for the solar sail project they are conducting with Cosmos Studios. There you will learn about the design of this solar sail spacecraft and its upcoming mission. You can also get on their email distribution list for project updates and get a Solar Sail decal. There's lots more information there so check it out. Way to go Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios! And another hearty 'way to go' to the engineers, scientists and technicians at the Babakin Space Center and the Makeev Rocket Design Bureau where the hardware is being designed and built.
  • You might also want to look at this Solar Sail web page which has information and links concerning solar sailing.
  • For more information about Solar Sail you should visit the web site operated by the Union pour la Promotion de la Propulsion Photonique. They have news and information about solar sails - including a comic based on the Arthur C. Clarke story "The Wind from the Sun". {This site is available in many languages including English, French, German, Italian and others.}

    Pluto Kuiper Express
  • Information about the science behind a mission to Pluto and reasons for why delaying a Pluto mission means science lost, not science delayed can be found in the interview I did with astronomers Dave Tholen and Bill Bottke about three months ago. Click here to listen to that interview.
  • The Planetary Society has been working to get the Pluto mission reinstated with a timely mission profile. Click here to learn more about the Planetary Society or here to learn more about their work to save the Pluto mission.
  • The plutomission.com web site was responsible for getting thousands of people to write to their congresspersons in support of a mission to Pluto. This web site now serves as a focal point for interest and activities associated with this mission.

    ISS News
  • Click here to view the press kits for various ISS missions.
  • Check out the NASA International Space Station web page to learn more about this project.
  • Do you wonder where the Space Station is right now? You can use your browser to view real time maps showing the location of the ISS by going to this link at the NASA Space Link web site or here at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Please note that your browser must support Java to make use of this satellite tracking software.
  • You can find out when the ISS - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA web page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

    X-33 and X-34
  • Much background information about the X-33 project can be found at the The X-33 History Project Home Page sponsored by the NASA history office.
  • More information about the X-33 can be found at the X-33 web page from the Marshall Spaceflight Center or at the Venturestar home page.
  • Current news about the X-33 can be found at the X-33 News web page.
  • You can start looking for information about the X-34 at this NASA web page, then check out this web page from Orbital Sciences - the manufacturer of the X-34 and then view this other NASA web page.

    Space News
  • The Spaceflight Now web site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?
  • The NASA Watch web site is another great place for getting information about current space missions and the recent changes in the ISS along with the cancellation of the X-33 and X-34. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

  • Click here for information about the audio files used for Hour 25 and for information about configuring your browser and downloading audio players.

    Please note web pages from external sites will open in a separate browser window and that Hour 25 Productions are not responsible for the content of any external Web Sites.

    • Return to the Previous Shows Index



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