The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories

A breakthrough meant to open the stars threatens to shatter the world before anyone understands what it can really do. One exhausted inventor must decide whether to bury his work—or prove it in front of the very people who want to control it. Passage to Anywhere by Sam Merwin Jr. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Sam Merwin Jr. made his debut on the podcast just five months ago and you like his stories so much you keep asking for more so here we are, his fifth story in those five months.

The year was 1956, in February of that year Elvis Presley released Heartbreak Hotel which would become his first #1 pop hit. It stayed at #1 for 7 weeks and topped the country and western charts for an amazing 17 weeks.

Sci-Fi fans in February 1956 went to the newsstands and paid 35 cents for Fantastic Universe magazine which included today’s story on page 54, Passage to Anywhere by Sam Merwin Jr.…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A desperate refugee believes safety waits beyond the mountains, but each mile strips away another piece of the civilized man he once knew. When fear turns into a hunger for power, he may become indistinguishable from the enemy pursuing him. Survivor by Irving Cox Jr.

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A brilliant mind builds more than one legacy, but the most obedient creation can still reach a breaking point. In a quiet house above Boston, one witness must decide whether he is facing a mad servant, a failed machine, or something far worse. I, Gardener by Allen K. Lang. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

I could’ve sworn Allen K. Lang had been on the podcast before but I can’t seem to find him anywhere in our 585 episodes.

So let’s call this his debut, even if it isn’t! Allen Kim Lang was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1928. He wrote 1 novel and about 30 science fiction short stories.

Today’s tale can be found in Fantastic Science Fiction Stories in December 1959 on page 89, I, Gardener by Allen K. Lang…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A breakthrough meant to open the stars threatens to shatter the world before anyone understands what it can really do. One exhausted inventor must decide whether to bury his work—or prove it in front of the very people who want to control it. Passage to Anywhere by Sam Merwin Jr.

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A strange malfunction in a revolutionary vending machine leaves two worlds trading useless objects while baffled scientists race to understand the impossible connection. As the exchanges grow more deliberate, one risky decision could turn a commercial gimmick into the first bridge between planets. The Cosmic Jackpot by George O. Smith. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Most sci-fi fans don’t remember George O. Smith, but maybe they should. He wrote 70 short stories and 9 science fiction novels from 1942 to 1976. This is the 5th time Mr. Smith has been on the podcast, and with most of his work in the public domain we will hear from him again.

From Thrilling Wonder Stories in October 1948 on page 109, The Cosmic Jackpot by George O. Smith…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A brilliant mind builds more than one legacy, but the most obedient creation can still reach a breaking point. In a quiet house above Boston, one witness must decide whether he is facing a mad servant, a failed machine, or something far worse. I, Gardener by Allen K. Lang.

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A lone Briton fleeing murderous outlaws stumbles into a hidden world beneath the forests of ancient Britain, where an older people still remember every stolen homeland and every dead king. One act of mercy may be the only thing standing between Cororuc and a vengeance that has burned in darkness for centuries. The Lost Race by Robert E. Howard. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Let’s peel back the pages of time 99 and a half years as we travel back to ancient Britain with a story written years before Conan the Barbarian first appeared in print. Robert E. Howard’s The Lost Race blends brutal adventure, hidden civilizations, and eerie folklore into one unforgettable journey beneath the forests of Cornwall.

From the January 1927 Weird Tales magazine on page 74, The Lost Race by Robert E. Howard…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A strange malfunction in a revolutionary vending machine leaves two worlds trading useless objects while baffled scientists race to understand the impossible connection. As the exchanges grow more deliberate, one risky decision could turn a commercial gimmick into the first bridge between planets. The Cosmic Jackpot by George O. Smith.

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Sylvia finally finds a way to escape the life she believes is holding her back, but freedom proves far stranger than she imagined. As she drifts farther from the people who love her, she faces a frightening question: what if the life she abandoned no longer wants her back? The Good Life by John R. Pierce. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

What is the guy who invented the term transistor doing on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast? Well it turns out that John Robinson Pierce who was born in 1910 in Des Moines Iowa wasn’t just a brainiac electrical engineer.

He graduated from CalTech, worked at Bell Labs, came up with the term transistor and according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame Pierce invented the first communications satellite. He was granted over 90 patents, and was awarded the Edison Medal, and the National Medal of Science.

And he was a science fiction author in his spare time with 19 stories to his credit from 1930 to 1973.

Four of those stories were published under the pen name J. J. Coupling as was today’s story which can be found on page 59 in the February 1952 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, The Good Life by John R. Pierce…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A lone Briton fleeing murderous outlaws stumbles into a hidden world beneath the forests of ancient Britain, where an older people still remember every stolen homeland and every dead king. One act of mercy may be the only thing standing between Cororuc and a vengeance that has burned in darkness for centuries. The Lost Race by Robert E. Howard.

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