Feral Historian
Published 19 Jun 2026Coriolanus is on a core level a story about loyalties, the personal and the tribe. It’s a rich field for science fiction, and this story hinges on a delicate balance of loyalties that can change drastically in different sci-fi settings.
The original edit of this relied heavily on the 2011 film, but for copyright reasons I’m using different performances as examples here. Apologies for any edits that seem a tad off.
00:00 Intro
03:00 The Tribunes
04:50 A World Elsewhere
07:25 Martius and Aufidius
12:39 LoyaltiesCorrections: 13:07 I know, I’m technically using “geopolitical” incorrectly.
It also occurs to me that there is a bit of a Coriolanus influence on my book (shameless plug incoming) Stellar Drift, available now. amazon.com/dp/B0GTVXK4CN
And of course book 1 in the series, Ninti’s Gate as well. amazon.com/dp/B0CYXH9BWD
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October 18, 2026
Coriolanus and Science Fiction
October 14, 2026
Star Trek: Yesterday’s Progressivism
Feral Historian
Published 12 Jun 2026Star Trek has always been a progressive cultural phenomenon, but that was in the last century. Now, Star Trek is older than most of its fan base and in some ways has started to look fairly conservative. This not only reminds us how relative those terms are, but also makes us ask, is Star Trek still relevant? Or perhaps more relevant than it ever was?
00:00 Intro
01:42 TNG, Discovery, and the Orville
04:16 Auroville
06:52 History Didn’t End
08:59 Social Cohesion as Technology
13:40 Step Back to Go Forward🔹 Patreon | patreon.com/FeralHistorian
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October 11, 2026
In The Country of the Blind: A Tale of Applied Cliology and Incompetence
Feral Historian
Published 5 Jun 2026Michael Flynn’s In The Country of the Blind gives us a mystery wrapped around an examination of the idea of predictive history. Sort of Foundation with more laughs and cynicism.
I’ve been sitting on this one for some time now, hoping to think of some good b-roll to cut in. But I got nothing, so here it is. For those that listen to these while driving, this one’s for you.
I haven’t found the study I mentioned that isn’t paywalled, but here’s a link so you know which one I’m talking about. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/92…
00:00 Intro
04:50 Results, Not Intentions
10:43 Technopeasants
13:21 Scientific Management
16:33 Back to Now
18:43 Power Structures🔹 Patreon | patreon.com/FeralHistorian
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October 3, 2026
Altered Carbon: Immortality Breaks Humans
Feral Historian
Published 29 May 2026Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon builds on a simple premise, what if everyone’s consciousness was digitally transferable, regardless of class or wealth. The world he depicts has an undercurrent of dread permeating everything and hints at some even more terrifying possibilities.
00:00 Intro
03:10 Not Human Anymore
06:25 Social Disconnect
11:07 Make it Personal
15:15 The Netflix Adaptation
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September 23, 2026
Corporatism and Fake Mussolini
Feral Historian
Published 22 May 2026No direct sci-fi angle here, just a clarification of a widely-held misconception about what Fascists believed, exemplified by an oft-repeated fake quote with some tangents on Eco, Gramsci, and others. Since the subject of Fascism and mythologizing of WWII comes up a lot here, it seems appropriate to address this one.
And here’s a link to Umberto Eco’s essay for those who are interested. https://ia802906.us.archive.org/31/it…
Back to the usual science fiction as cultural artifact essays next week.
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September 5, 2026
60th Anniversary of Star Trek: A Very Brief Look Back
Feral Historian
Published 4 Sep 2026On September 8th 1966, Star Trek premiered and has since reflected shifts in American popular culture from the Vietnam era to today. It hasn’t always been good, but it has been a ride. Perhaps one that has come to an end.
00:00 Intro
04:32 A New Trek
06:15 Overlap
09:04 Stuck In Itself
10:00 Enterprise
12:37 JJ
13:28 Trek TodayThe link for Sean Munger’s video: • Star Trek and the Vietnam War (Part I)
Obviously this is not a statement of agreement with every point in that video.🔹 Patreon | patreon.com/FeralHistorian
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🔹 Oh, and book 2 of Stellar Drift is out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTVXK4CN
August 17, 2026
Peacemaker and the Red Skull’s Ghost: Breaking The Post-WWII Mythos
Feral Historian
Published 10 Apr 2026I expect half the viewers to think I sound like a Leftist and the other half to think I’m turning into their Right-wing uncle with a little dash of conspiracy theorizing on this one. But there’s a point here that I think is worth stating. Or maybe it’s just a silly video about superheroes and a war we can’t seem to get over.
00:00 Intro
03:18 Pennyworth
04:40 Political Sabotage
11:08 Contending with the Ghost
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August 6, 2026
The End of Eternity: Micromanaging History, Killing the Future
Feral Historian
Published 3 Apr 2026Isaac Asimov’s The End of Eternity can be read as a tangent to his Foundation series, an artifact of the optimism that permeated the years immediately preceding the dawn of manned spaceflight, or as a critique of central planning and social engineering. It also has a bit more character development than is typical for Asimov’s concept-focused writing.
00:00 Intro
04:33 Noys and Space
09:25 Closed Loop
11:14 The Superman
16:17 Losing the Stars
20:31 Ending Eternity
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July 30, 2026
Equilibrium: 198451 with Gun-Fu Fighting
Feral Historian
Published 27 Mar 2026Equilibrium (2002) is a curious mix of early-aughts action movie and mid-20th Century dystopia. While it does feel a bit overwrought and derivative at times, it ends up being more than the sum of its parts.
00:00 Intro
03:17 Gun Kata
04:44 198451
06:45 Endings
07:07 Anti-Human Systems
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July 16, 2026
How Few Remain: The Second War Between the States
Feral Historian
Published 13 Mar 2026Let’s take a look at Harry Turtledove’s How Few Remain and its many themes and historical extrapolations. And probably argue about the Civil War a little along the way.
If there’s enough interest, this may be the start of a dive into the entire sprawling series that follows.
00:00 Intro
01:37 A War Unfinished
07:09 Adapting and Evolving
10:12 Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass
13:15 The Horace Greeley Letter
15:40 Freddie’s Louisville Adventure
18:07 Turtledove, Lost Cause, and Spoilers
(more…)
July 13, 2026
A Fair Reading of The Camp of the Saints
Feral Historian
Published 10 Jul 2026Jean Raspail’s 1973 novel The Camp of the Saints has gone from obscurity to infamy in recent years, drawing condemnation for its highly … unflattering depiction of third-worlders. Much of this condemnation comes from people who haven’t read it, or gave it only a shallow and cursory read. But if we let the book speak for itself it can be quite insightful at times, and the true target of its scorn becomes brutally evident.
Rather than use politically-charged b-roll, it’s all hiking shots this time. Mostly to cover some edits. This is a great one for those who listen to these on the commute. Or the commode as the case may be.
00:00 Intro
01:03 The Story
14:22 Escalation Curve
17:38 Hamadura and “Whiteness”
22:05 Culture and Ethnicity
26:33 Why so Serious?
30:09 The End of a World
34:14 Your Virtual Right-Wing Uncle
35:48 A “Martian” Perspective🔹 Patreon | patreon.com/FeralHistorian
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🔹 Oh, and book 2 of Stellar Drift is out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTVXK4CN
July 1, 2026
Elleander Morning: Causes vs Catalysts
Feral Historian
Published 6 Mar 2026Elleander Morning (Jerry Yulsman) is a peculiar bit of alt-history, brilliant in some ways and immensely clunky in others. It’s a story of a war averted, or perhaps only postponed, and it plays with some fundamental questions of history.
00:00 Intro
02:30 Implications left hanging
03:29 The Books
06:15 The New Catalyst
12:06 Gaming the Past
13:04 Concluding Musings
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June 23, 2026
American Gods: Land and Egregores
Feral Historian
Published 20 Feb 2026American Gods (Neil Gaiman, 2001) is, among other things, a layered examination of the role of mythologies, religion, national identities, and some underlying “American-ness” that bends them all into something new. By necessity this meanders a bit (I’m not going to get into Gaiman’s failings as a human being much) but it gives us a lot to think about.
I mention a couple outside references in here, links below if you want to dig into it.
Lilly Wachowski on the role of the Red Pill in The Matrix: https://screenrant.com/the-matrix-mov…
George Lucas on the Rebellion, and Viet Cong (people often quote the line but miss the context) : • JAMES CAMERON’S STORY OF SCIENCE FICTION |…
00:00 Intro
01:56 The Setup
04:48 Spirit of America
07:57 White and Red
10:50 New Gods and the State
12:51 Author, Intent, and Meaning
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June 15, 2026
Elysium: Greed and the Crab Trap
Feral Historian
Published 23 Jan 2026Elysium is one of those films I like more for the world it presents than the story it tells. It’s a tale of two worlds, a wealthy break-away civilization in orbit and a slowly dying civilization on Earth. On the surface it’s simplistic, preachy even, but underneath it posits some important questions both by what it tries to do and what it doesn’t even attempt to address.
00:00 Intro
01:18 Healing Magic and Healthcare Access
03:22 Overpopulation and Automation
04:18 Technology in Layers
07:50 Easy Answers to Hard Problems🔹 Patreon | patreon.com/FeralHistorian
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Ninti’s Gate – the prologue to Stellar Drift, coming later this year.
🔹 amazon.com/dp/B0CYXH9BWD
June 4, 2026
Sci-Fi and the WWII Mythos Part II : The Political Element
Feral Historian
Published 16 Jan 2026Last time I was focused on cultural aspects, but what about the direct political manifestations today? Is there a resurgence of neo-nazi attitudes or is just an artifact of the ubiquity of digital media preserving everything? Why might those ideas resonate with the young, and how does it fit with my argument that the old myths are breaking down?
00:00 Intro
01:42 Right, Left, and Gen-Z
02:56 Patterns of Force
04:25 Rambling about Economics
05:48 Efficient? No.
06:39 Bifurcation
08:00 Loss of PerspectiveThis one is a direct result of a conversation on the Talking History program on KSMU (I’ll link the episode when goes up) and covers something that came up but wasn’t really addressed well.
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