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

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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$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

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A desperate performer signs with a miracle agent who promises work, food, and a paying audience beyond anything Broadway can offer. But once the contract is signed, Mike Hennesy learns that show business has just opened on a much larger stage. The Agent by Stephen Marlowe. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Stephen Marlowe returns to the podcast, and if the name doesn’t sound familiar, you’ve already heard his work here under several others. He previously appeared as Milton Lesser, Darius John Granger, and C. H. Thames.

Our story first appeared on page 94 of the April 1953 Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader, the second and last issue to bear that title. Here’s “The Agent” by Stephen Marlowe…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, 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.

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$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

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A company offers a service so extraordinary that every satisfied customer forgets ever hiring them, leaving behind only impossible evidence and an unpaid question that refuses to disappear. When Steve Stevens demands an explanation, he uncovers a business built on a scientific breakthrough that could rewrite every relationship he has ever known. Alternatives Inc. by Mack Reynolds. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Mack Reynolds is back on the podcast for what will be his sixth story. One of my favorites by Reynolds is The Martians and the Coys which was episode 9.

Published in the May 1958 issue of Amazing Science Fiction Stories on page 21, Alternatives Inc. by Mack Reynolds…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A desperate performer signs with a miracle agent who promises work, food, and a paying audience beyond anything Broadway can offer. But once the contract is signed, Mike Hennesy learns that show business has just opened on a much larger stage. The Agent by Stephen Marlowe.

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A young god wagers billions of years on a daring experiment that every elder around him expects to fail. If he can prove that intelligence and compassion can grow together, an entirely new species may change the future of the galaxy—or confirm its darkest doubts. Day’s Work by Noel Loomis. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

There are a number of ways you can support The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast. You can leave a 5 star rating and review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify or wherever you listen to us.

You can become a Lost Sci-Fi Premium member and listen to every episode without commercials or you can buy us a coffee as James van Maanenberg did recently. Actual James bought us $50 worth of coffee!!! “My kids were only just talking when I first started listening, now they are fans too. We chat about the stories and just love pausing them and making predictions about what might happen next. Thank you Scott and all the people who cheer you on and contribute to this, the best of all sci-fi podcasts.”

Thank you James!! We appreciate you and every one of our tens of thousands of listeners all around the world.

Noel Loomis wrote more than 30 sci-fi short stories that were published from 1946 to 1970. Today’s story was published in the third and last issue of Rocket Stories, published at the height of the science fiction magazine boom, and in this case bust. The date on the cover of this magazine, September 1953, and we will find our story on page 128, Day’s Work by Noel Loomis…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A company offers a service so extraordinary that every satisfied customer forgets ever hiring them, leaving behind only impossible evidence and an unpaid question that refuses to disappear. When Steve Stevens demands an explanation, he uncovers a business built on a scientific breakthrough that could rewrite every relationship he has ever known. Alternatives Inc. by Mack Reynolds

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$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

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A stranded explorer on Jupiter’s frozen moon discovers that the greatest danger is not the brutal landscape but the choices made when desperation takes hold. When an alien race reveals powers far beyond human understanding, Hugh Betancourt must decide whether some discoveries are too valuable to bring home. Star Of Panadur by Albert De Pina and Henry Hasse. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Henry Hasse has appeared on the podcast before, but today marks the Lost Sci-Fi Podcast debut of Albert dePina.

Albert Robert dePina was born in 1901 in Havana, Cuba. Like many writers from the pulp science fiction era, very little is known about his life. Between 1943 and 1954, he published just ten stories, four of them co-written with Henry Hasse.

dePina passed away in 1956 at the age of 55, less than two years after the publication of his final story.

Turn to page 65 in Planet Stories, March 1943, Star Of Panadur by Albert dePina and Henry Hasse…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A young god wagers billions of years on a daring experiment that every elder around him expects to fail. If he can prove that intelligence and compassion can grow together, an entirely new species may change the future of the galaxy—or confirm its darkest doubts. Day’s Work by Noel Loomis.

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Thanks to Our Listeners Who Bought Us a Coffee

$200 Someone

$100 Tony from the Future

$75 James Van Maanenberg

$50 MizzBassie, Anonymous Listener

$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

$15 Every Month Someone

$15 Steve, Someone, SueTheLibrarian, Joannie West, Amy Özkan, Someone, Carolyn Guthleben, Patrick McLendon, Curious Jon, Buz C., Fressie, Anonymous Listener

$10 David, Anonymous Listener

$5 Every Month Eaten by a Grue

$5 Tammy, Owen, Bruce, Someone, TLD, David, Denis Kalinin, Timothy Buckley, Andre'a, Martin Brown, Ron McFarlan, Tif Love, Chrystene, Richard Hoffman, Anonymous Listener

Listen without commercials and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/

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