Light On Light Through

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 412, in which I interview Tom Cooper about his new book Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan published on May 1, 2025 by Connected Editions.

A group of 51 scholars from the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Poland gathered on May 1 via Zoom -- a mini global village -- to see this interview with Tom Cooper. The interview and subsequent Q&A is presented here in audio its entirety. We started off with some casual conversation ...
Transcript of the complete Zoom Chat that took place after the interview Get the book in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover here Other audio interviews about Wisdom Weavers : Captain Phil interviews Paul Levinson about Wisdom Weavers on WUSB Radio ... Frank LoBuono interviews Paul Levinson and Tom Cooper about Wisdom Weavers on the Being Frank podcast Watch the entire interview on video

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 411: I returned to Captain Phil's Planet on WUSB (Stony Brook University) Radio the other day to talk to Captain Phil about Tom Cooper's new book, Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan , to be pubished by Connected Editions (my publishing company) on May 1.

As we discussed in the interview, I'll be interviewing Tom about his book via Zoom on the evening of Wisdom Weavers ' publication -- 8pm (New York time), May 1. If you'd like to attend, email me at Levinson at Fordham dot edu and I'll be happy to send the Zoom URL to you.

In the meantime, check out my Marshall McLuhan playlist on YouTube for 50 of my lectures, interviews, etc about McLuhan over the past 20 years. Here are my two books about McLuhan: Digital McLuhan and McLuhan in an Age of Social Media . You'll also find numerous essays about McLuhan on my Academia.edu page . And, if you're a fan of audio podcasts, just search on "McLuhan" on my Light On Light Through podcast page.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 409, in which I interview Simon Vozick-Levinson, Deputy Editor of Rolling Stone , about the magazine's list of the 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time. We talk in particular about Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Sam Cooke, and also discuss the importance of publications like Rolling Stone standing up for democracy in these politically troubling times.

As a special treat, at the end of this interview, I play a song, "Dance with Destiny," from James Harris's new LP, The Moons of Jupiter . This is consistent with Phil Ochs' view that we needs works of beauty especially in troubled times.

Relevant links:
Rolling Stone 's list of the 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time The science fantasy story I wrote, "Sam's Requests," inspired by Sam Cooke's song "Having a Party " ... read the story here ... or here (free) My review of Trupa Trupa at the Bowery Electric, Manhattan, 1 March 2025 My Light On Light Through interview with David Browne about his book, Talkin' Greenwich Village NY Times listing of the three-hour show Joshua Meyrowitz and I did about Phil Ochs, after his death in 1976, on WFDU-FM Radio My Light On Light Through interview with Sarah Seltzer about her novel The Singer Sisters The Moons of Jupiter on Bandcamp (soundscapes by Nicky Rowe, vocals by James Harris)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 408, and my in-depth interview with Lance Strare about his new book, Not A, Not Be &C .

Relevant links:
Get a copy of Not A, Not Be &C Come see Lance, Thom Gencarelli, and me talking about Lance's book at The Players in Manhattan on 19 February 2025 at 6pm. More information about this book launch, including FREE registration, here Frank LoBuono 's Facebook page -- where he will be live streaming the dramatic reading from my novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles , taking place at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY, 23 February 2025.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 407, and my in-depth interview with Sarah Seltzer about her novel, The Singer Sisters.

Relevant links:
Get a copy of The Singer Sisters My review of The Singer Sisters Sarah Seltzer personal appearances at JCC-MidWestchester (Scarsdale, NY ) February 28, and JCC-Rockland (West Nyack, NY ) March 12 Dramatic reading from It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles with Paul Levinson, Anthony Marinelli, Amanda Greer, Frank LoBuono, and Denise Reed, at Big Red Books, Nyack NY, February 23.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 406, and my in-depth interview with Rolling Stone writer David Browne about his masterful book, Talkin' Greenwich Village . We talk at length about Dave Van Ronk, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, The Blues Project, Bob Lind, and a little less about many others, including Hegel and his spirit of an age.

Relevant links:
Get a copy of Talkin' Greenwich Village My review of Talkin' Greenwich Village Catch David Browne at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY, March 6 Catch me at Big Red Books, Nyack, NY, February 23, doing a dramatic reading from It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles , with Anthony Marinelli and Amanda Greer, real people who appear as characters in the novel, and Frank LoBuono and Denise Reed.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 405: Howard Margolin invited me to join him on his Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction show (on WUSB Radio) in a dramatic reading from the second chapter of my 2024 novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles . Here's the reading, with some commentary before and after by me.

Relevant links:
Get the Kindle , paperback , or hardcover of the novel Read the award-winning first chapter of the novel, FREE Listen to the award-winning radioplay adapted from the 1st chapter, FREE Anne Reburn's recording of "Real Love" for the radioplay Watch my reading the 1st chapter of the novel at its book launch at The Players in NYC, March 27, 2024 Interview about the novel on Bloggerythms February 23, 2025 up-coming in-person dramatic reading from parts of the novel -- at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY -- featuring Anthony Marinelli (playwright, director) and Amanda Greer (actor), who are real-life characters in the novel My reviews of Max & Domino (play), and Why I Had to Kill You While You Slept (movie), both written and directed by Anthony Marinelli and starring Amanda Greer Listen to the full episode of Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction , with both the reading in this podcast, and Howard Margolin's interview with me , before and after our reading, December 27, 2024, FREE

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 404, in which I review A Complete Unknown , the new Bob Dylan biopic, which my wife and I went to see on its opening day, Christmas, in New York.

Relevant links:
my written review of A Complete Unknown Frank LoBuono's podcast interview with Terri Thal, Dylan's first manager my written review of Jack Dann's The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History ... my podcast interview with Jack Dann my video interview of Sarah Seltzer, author The Singer Sisters , a novel about a folk-singing family It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles (my novel)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 403, in which I interview Jared Moshe about his movie Aporia, a time-travel movie on Hulu that explores, in a way I've never seen before, the wrenching ethical dilemmas that arise when you try to change the past.

Relevant links:
my written review of Aporia Aporia on Hulu more about Jared Moshe here my best-known time travel novel my best-known alternate history novel

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 402, in which I review Dexter: Original Sin on Paramount+Showtime.

Relevant links:
written reviews of Dexter: Original Sin 1.1 and 1.2-1.3 (with links to written reviews of all episodes of Dexter: New Blood and all eight seasons of the original Dexter) audio podcast reviews of Dexter: New Blood 1.1 ... 1.2 ... 1.3 ... 1.4 ... 1.5-1.6 ... 1.7-1.8 ... 1.9-1.10

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 401, in which I interview Dan Abella about The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival, NYC, 14 Dec 2024. (Kendall Brown, Operations Manager for the Festival, joins us in the interview.)

Relevant links:
The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival written interview with me by Evan Levine, in which I discuss Hegel's "spirit of an age" (see 10th question in the interview) Dan Abella's play, "Timothy X’s Journey from PTSD to Wholeness," to be performed live at the Festival [scroll down] McLuhan in an Age of Social Media Lioness (streaming on Paramount+)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 400, in which I review the Beatles '64 documentary that just went up yesterday on Disney+.

Here are links to some of the many people and things I discuss in the podcast:
my written review of Beatles '64 my 1972 article about Murray the K in The Village Voice my 1971 article about Paul McCartney in The Village Voice the song I wrote and recorded about Murray the K my podcast reviews of Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back my podcast review of Maestro McLuhan in an Age of Social Media It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles Evan Levine's 25 November 2024 written interview with me

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 396, in which I interview Bob Hutchins about AI. My guess is you'll find this discussion much more optimistic about AI than what you'll usually hear.

Discussed or mentioned in this interview:
"On Behalf of Humanity: The Technological Edge " my 1996 article The Media Ecology Association New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication my review of Confronting the Presidents

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 395, in which Patrick Rands interviews me about It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles on his WZBC Radio program Abstract Terrain.
more about It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles here say hello at the Meet and Greet at Big Red Books, 120 Main Street, Nyack, NY, Sunday, October 6, 12noon-2pm It's Real Life radioplay on Killerwatt Radio Anne Reburn's cover of Real Love my interview with Anne Reburn Yoko Ono's Cambridge 1969

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 394, in which I interview Dan Abella about The New York Science Fiction Film Festival, to take place Saturday, September 14, 2024 at the Stuart Cinema and Cafe, 79 West Street in Brooklyn, NY.
more details here my review of Gerrit Van Woudenberg's Quantum Suicide my in-depth interview with Rufus Sewell about The Man in the High Castle
Among the science fiction filmmakers we discuss: Gerrit Van Woudenberg, Jay Kensinger, Frank Spotnitz, M. Night Shyamalan, Francis Ford Coppola

Among the science fiction authors we discuss: Philip K. Dick, Sam Delany, Robert Harris, Walter Mosley

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 393, in which I argue that debate performance has nothing to do with how a candidate actually performs as President.

See also:
It's the Debate that Failed Last Night, Not Biden blog post NY Times Editorial Board: President Biden Should Leave the Race What's Wrong with The New York Times blog post Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial: Donald Trump Should Leave the Race

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 392, in which I review Dark Matter 1.9 on Apple TV+.

Further places:
podcast review of Dark Matter 1.1-1.2 podcast review of Dark Matter 1.3-1.4 podcast review of Dark Matter 1.5 podcast review of Dark Matter 1.6 podcast review of Dark Matter 1.7 podcast review of Dark Matter 1.8 written blog post review of episode 1.9
See also Deadline 's interview with Blake Crouch

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 386, in which I talk to Mark Dawidziak about his latest book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe , and another iconic author Mark has written about, Mark Twain.
more about A Mystery of Mysteries watch a video of this interiew written review of The Pale Blue Eye more about It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 385, in which I review Dark Matter 1.1-1.2 on AppleTV+.

Further places:
written blog post review of Dark Matter 1.1-1.2 written blog post review of Quantum Suicide audio podcast review of Constellation alternate reality short story "The Other Car " It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles Tetrad on History and Alternate History

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 383, in which I review the first season of Constellation .

Written blog post review of Constellation .

Mentioned in the podcast:
"The Chronology Protection Case": novelette , movie , radio play (audio book) It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles : novel , radio play of first chapter , video of book launch "The Other Car": short story , audio book written blog post review of Gerrit Van Woudenberg's Quantum Suicide

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 381, a special Saturday episode of this podcast, in which Captain Phil and I talk about the Philip K. Dick Film Festival going on today at the Musuem of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens; a panel I'll be moderating there at 2:40 this afternoon on the Anatomy of a Feature Winning Script; my novel It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles which has just been published and for which no movie or TV script has yet been written (but a radio play has been adapted from the first chapter, see the links below); Philip K. Dick; and much more.
The Philip K. Dick Film Festival It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles novel It's Real Life the radio play

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 379, in which I take you into the Book Launch and reading I did of It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles , my new novel, based on the award-winning short story of the same name, in the historic Players Club in New York City on March 27, 2024.
"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History Watch the video of the Book Launch here . Get the book here . Listen to the radio play adapted from the short story here . Listen to "If I Traveled to the Past" here . Interview about the novel here . More about The Players. More about the New York Society for General Semantics (sponsor of the Book Launch.)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 376, in which I interview Dan Abella in George's Cafe in Manhattan about The Mind Revolution Experience (March 14, 7-9pm at The Producer's Club, 358 W. 44th Street, NYC) and the upcoming Philip K. Dick Film Festival (April 4-7, Musuem of the Moving Image, and other places in NYC).
more about The Mind Revolution Experience here more about the PKD Film Festival here more about my novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles -- that I'll be doing a reading from at the PKD Film Festival -- here

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 371, in which I join Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York) and Marybeth Ritkouski, Michael Rizzo, Bruce Playfair, and Colleen Bement in a 2+ hour in-depth, fun discussion of For All Mankind , Seasons 1-4, on Apple TV+.
my written reviews (w/spoilers) of For All Mankind , Season 4 (link is to my review of the 10th episode, which has links to my reviews of the other 9 episodes) and earlier seasons Chuck Todd's podcast December 26, 2023 interview with me about For All Mankind and alternate histories "It's Real Life" (alternate history about The Beatles) story and radio play

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 369, in which I review the Who Killed JFK? podcast, episodes 9-10.

Read this review (written review of episode 10, with link to written review of episode 9)

Podcast reviews of Who Killed JFK? Episodes 1-5 and 6-8

Photo by Robert H. Jackson. Originally published in the Dallas Times Herald , November 25, 1963. Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 368, which I devote to consideration of tetrads for history and alternate history. Don't know what tetrads are? They're explained in the first few minutes of the podcast.

Read about Tetrads for History and Alternate History here .

Further reading on Tetrads: Laws of the Media (by Marshall McLuhan, with Preface by Paul Levinson); Tetrad Wheels of Cultural Evolution (Paul Levinson); Tetrad on the Selfie (Paul Levinson); Tetrads and Chiasmus: A Reclamation of the Tetrad Wheel (Matthew S. Lindia & Paul Levinson),

Further reading, listening to, viewing Alternate History: A Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History by Jack Dann; Paul Levinson's review of A Fiction Writer's Guide to the Alternate History ; Paul Levinson's interview with Jack Dann ; Paul Levinson's interview with Rufus Sewell , who starred in The Man in the High Castle series on Amazon Prime Video; Chuck Todd's interview with Paul Levinson about alternate histories; It's Real Life (alternate history about The Beatles by Paul Levinson, made into a radio play)

Also -- a voicemail from Marshall McLuhan for me, in 1978

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 364, in which I review the Who Killed JFK? podcast, episodes 1-5.

Read this review (written review of episode 5, with links to written reviews episodes 1-4)

Links to some of what I mentioned in the podcast:
my review of Jack Dann's Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History ... my podcast interview with Jack Dann my alternate history story about The Beatles

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 361, in which Cora Buhlert, Joel McKinnon, and I talk about the second season of Foundation on Apple TV+.

Relevant links:
our discussion of the first season of Foundation my reviews of the 2nd season of Foundation (with links to reviews of the 1st) Cora Buhlert's reviews of the 2nd season of Foundation Joel McKinnon's Seldon Crisis podcast

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 360, in which Joel McKinnon and Cora Buhlert join me for a conversation about The Beatles' "Now and Then". We had reconvened for a conversation about the second season of the Foundation series on Apple TV+ -- I had asked them to join me to talk about the first season back in 2021 -- but Joel, who's been in a band for decades, asked me what I thought of The Beatles new single, and this led to a conversation about the new single, The Beatles in Hamburg, AI and recording, and lots of observations you won't hear any place else. (And look next week for the conversation about Foundation that ensued.)

Relevant links:
my review of "Now and Then" our 2021 conversation about the 1st season of Foundation

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 359, in which I interview Jack Dann about his book The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History and other things science fictional.

Relevant links:
Jack Dann's first publication, his 1974 Wandering Stars anthology How Paul Levinson discovered Wandering Stars back in 1974 Jack Dann's The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History Paul Levinson's review of The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History Paul Levinson's alternate history story about The Beatles, "It's Real Life " Paul Levinson's reaction to The Beatles' "Now and Then" Chuck Todd interviews Paul Levinson about alternate histories

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 357, in which I join Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York) and Marybeth Ritkouski, Michael Rizzo, and Roy Bjellquist in a 2-hour in-depth, fun discussion of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .
my written reviews (w/spoilers) of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Season 2 Roundtable podcast discussion of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 1 "It's Real Life" story and radio play

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 356, in which I interview Chris Cosmain about his novel Novikov Windows and time travel. We also discuss how to succeed as a science fiction author.
read my review of Novikov Windows buy the novel Chris Cosmain's web page read Paul Levinson's The Chronology Protection Case novelette watch The Chronology Protection Case movie video interview with director Jay Kensinger about The Chronology Protection Case movie "It's Real Life", Paul Levinson's alternate history story about The Beatles, discussed at the end of the podcast, read it here for free

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 355, in which I interview Dan Abella about the upcoming Psychedelic Film and Music Festival he is organizing. The Festival will take place October 20-22, 2023 in New York City, and there will both live and remote events and access.

Among the topics we discuss: Hegel's spirit of an age ... Impressionism ... Matthew Modine ... Dennis McKenna ... Les Bicyclettes de Belsize ... Lewis Carroll ... John Lennon ... popular culture labels ... Philip K. Dick ... psychedelics and science fiction ... reading backwards ... Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy ... The Man Who Fell to Earth and its sequel ... Strawberry Alarm Clock ... The Moody Blues

Links to some of what we discuss in the podcast:
more about The Psychedelic Film Festival, October 20-22, 2023, Producers Club Theaters (358 W 44th St, New York, NY) video of this podcast interview more about Matthew Modine's I Am What You Are more about Dennis McKenna "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" (Engelbert Humperdinck ) ... And here's a beautiful cover I just discovered by Kelly Ann Cosentino "I Am the Walrus" my interview with Rufus Sewell about his role in the TV adapation of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle "Incense and Peppermints" "Tuesday Afternoon" my 2021 interview with Dan Abella about his book, The Theater of the Mind

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 354, in which I join Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York), Marybeth Ritkouski, and Michael Rizzo, in a 2-hour in-depth, fun discussion of Star Trek: Picard Season 3.

Links to what is discussed in the podcast:
my written reviews (w/spoilers) of Picard 3 more (tc, links to reviews) about Robots Through the Ages video of Paul Levinson reading from an early version of "Robinson Calculator" "It's Real Life" story and radio play

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 353, in which Captain Phil and I discuss the new anthology Robots Through the Ages -- with stories by Ambrose Bierce, Philip K. Dick, and other titans, as well as relative newbies like me -- and AI and Chat GPT.

Links to what is discussed in the podcast:
more (tc, links to reviews) about Robots Through the Ages video of Paul Levinson reading from an early version of "Robinson Calculator" "The Civil Rights of Robots " "It's Real Life" story and radio play "Welcome Up " (words & music by Paul Levinson) "Welcome Up" instrumental remix by Cheeky CP & QRock639

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 352, in which I interview Spencer Hannabuss, who sang "If I Traveled to the Past" at the end of the It's Real Life radio play adapted from my alternate history story about The Beatles, streaming on Killerwatt Radio. We also discuss our views of The Beatles and their preeminent role in popular culture. The interview concludes with a mini-concert of three songs by Spencer Hannabuss.

Links:
It's Real Life radioplay the original "It's Real Life" short story video of this interview with Spencer Hannabuss Spencer Hannabuss and The 286 Bandcamp page original recording of "If I Traveled to the Past" by Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio), produced by Chris Hoisington for Old Bear Records and Light in the Attic Records interview with Anne Reburn , who sang "Real Love" in "It's Real Life" radio play more about "Robinson Calculator" and Robots Through the Ages Chuck Todd interviews Paul Levinson about alternate histories

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 351, in which I visit Captain Phil's Planet on WUSB Radio (Stony Brook University) where he plays and we discuss the radio play "It's Real Life," adapted from my short story, narrated by Bobby Roberto, produced and streaming on Killerwatt.co Radio.
listen to the radio play on Killerwatt.co , streaming free, where you'll find complete credits for the performances and production of the play, as well as an additional interview with me right after the radio play, and the three songs heard on the radio play read my original short story (free) adapted into the radio play my interview with Anne Reburn , who sang "Real Love" in the radio play Anne Reburn's YouTube video of "Real Love" as performed in the radio play my interview with Spencer Hannabus , who sang "If I Traveled to the Past" at the end of the radio play Chuck Todd interviews me about alternate histories

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 350, in which I interview YouTube star cover artist Anne Reburn, who did the cover of John Lennon/The Beatles' "Real Love" in the It's Real Life radio play adapted from my short alternate history about The Beatles, streaming on Killerwatt Radio. The interview concludes with a mini-concert of three songs by Anne Reburn.

Links:
It's Real Life radioplay the original "It's Real Life" short story video of this interview with Anne Reburn video of Anne Reburn's cover of "Real Love" Anne Reburn's covers and original music on YouTube "Unbelievable (Inconceivable You)" by The Vogues (written by Paul Levinson, discussed in the interview) video of Paul Levinson interview with Spencer Hannabus, who sang "If I Traveled to the Past" (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio), at the end of the It's Real Life radio play Chuck Todd interviews me me about alternate histories

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 346, in which I explore the connection between The Mosquito Coast 2.8 (on Apple TV+) and Hari Seldon of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.

Further reading:
Written blog post of this exploration Paul Krugman's disappointment with Apple TV+ adaptation of Foundation . Importance of Foundation trilogy in Paul Krugman's Nobel laureate work in economics
Further listening:
Cora Buhlert, Joel McKinnon, and Paul Levinson discuss season 1 of Foundation series on Apple TV+ Paul Levinson reviews season 1 of The Mosquito Coast

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 344, in which I review The Peripheral episode 1.6 on Amazon Prime Video.

Written blog post of this review: 1.6: Now or Soonest Podcast reviews of The Peripheral 1.1-1.2 ... 1.3-1.5 Further reading: alternate realities about The Beatles (It's Real Life ) ... time travel ( Slipping Time ) Mentioned in this episode: upcoming special issue of Amazing Stories

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 343, in which I review The Peripheral episodes 1.3-1.5 on Amazon Prime Video.
Written posts of this review: 1.3: John Snow ... 1.4-1.5 Lev's Tea and the AI Therapy Podcast review of The Peripheral 1.1-1.2 Further reading: alternate realities about The Beatles (It's Real Life ) ... time travel (Slipping Time ) Mentioned in this episode: upcoming special issue of Amazing Stories

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 340, in which I join Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York) and Marybeth Ritkouski, Michael Rizzo, Roy Bjellquist, and Colleen Bement in a 2-hour in-depth, fun discussion of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

More about the discussants: Marybeth Ritkouski , Michael Rizzo , Roy Bjellquist , Colleen Bement

Boarding the Enterprise (edited by David Gerrold and Robert J. Sawyer), anthology with essay "How Star Trek Liberated Television" by Paul Levinson, which discusses the Star Trek syndication impact

Fringe Science: Parallel Universes, White Tulips, and Mad Scientists (edited by Kevin R. Grazier) anthology with essay by Paul Levinson, "The Return of 1950s Television in Fringe ," which discusses Levinson's "First Love Syndrome" in popular culture appreciation.

It's Real Love -- alternate history short story (FREE) about The Beatles by Paul Levinson, now being made into a radio play, discussed in the podcast

More about Star Trek on Mastodon

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 336, in which I review episode 3.10 of The Orville on Hulu

Blog post written review of this episode

Podcast reviews of The Orville third season: 3.1 ... 3.2 ... 3.3 ... 3.4 ... 3.5 ... 3.6 ... 3.7-3.8 ... 3.9

Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek and The Orville on McKinnon's Seldon Crisis podcast .

First chapter of It's Real Life novel, mentioned at the end of the podcast

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 333, in which I review episodes 3.7 and 3.8 of The Orville on Hulu

Blog post written reviews of these episodes: 3.7 and 3.8

Podcast reviews of The Orville third season: 3.1 ... 3.2 ... 3.3 ... 3.4 ... 3.5 ... 3.6

Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek and The Orville on McKinnon's Seldon Crisis podcast .

First chapter of my just finished novel -- mentioned in the podcast -- alternate history about The Beatles: It's Real Life

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 332, in which I review episode 3.6 of The Orville on Hulu

Blog post written review of this episode

Podcast reviews of The Orville third season: 3.1 ... 3.2 ... 3.3 ... 3.4 ... 3.5

Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek and The Orville on McKinnon's Seldon Crisis podcast .

First chapter of my novel in progress, alternate history about The Beatles: It's Real Life

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 328, in which I review For All Mankind 3.3-3.4 on Apple TV+.

Blog post review of these episodes: 3.3 - 3.4

Podcast reviews of prior episodes and seasons: 3.1 3.2 ... Season 2 ... Season 1

Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Orville, Isaac Asimov, much more on his Seldon Crisis podcast

*** Note added 27 October 2023: Check out my review of Jack Dann's new book, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 327, in which I review the ninth episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+

written blog post review of this episode

Podcast reviews of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1.1-2 ... 1.3 ... 1.4 ... 1.5 ... 1.6 ... 1.7 ... 1.8

Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Orville, Isaac Asimov, much more on his Seldon Crisis podcast

Welcome to Light On Ligh t Through , Episode 317, in which Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York) interviews me about the January 6 House Committee Hearings. (This interview was conducted the Sunday after the first hearing on June 9, 2022, but we discussed issues pertaining to the continuing hearings. We talk for the first 13 minutes about science fiction on television -- one of our usual topics of discussion -- and then begin to discuss the House Committee Hearings).

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 314, in which I review For All Mankind 3.1 on Apple TV+.

Blog post written review of this episode

Podcast reviews of prior seasons: Season 2 ... Season 1

Further reading:
It's Real Life (free alternate history story about The Beatles) The Missing Orientation (free article about why we have not yet made it further than the Moon in our own reality)

*** Note added 27 October 2023: Check out my review of Jack Dann's new book, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 307, in which Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York) interviews me about what must be done to stop the continuing slaughter of children in America by weapons designed for war. The interview begins with 15 minutes of a much lighter discussion about The Beatles and science fiction, and then proceeds to 90 minutes about what must be done about guns.