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Seth is joined by returning guest Josh Ziefle to discuss the 1960 Hugo Award winner, Starship Troopers, by Robert A. Heinlein.
Start – 7:48 | Intro through “Why this book?” |
7:49 – 9:55 | Tangent about Josh’s Star Trek book collection |
9:56 – 16:24 | Non-Spoiler discussion |
16:25 – end | Spoiler discussion |
Notes & Mentions:
- Comps: The Forever War, Old Man’s War, Ender’s Game, All You Need is Kill, Full Metal Jacket, David Webber novels
- Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
- “Dulce et Decorum Est,” by Wilfred Owen
- “Mother’s Child,” by George Michael
Links:
- Josh’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/JRZiefle
- Josh’s blog: https://www.joshuaziefle.com
- Christianity Now! https://open.spotify.com/show/5fLuZzQw7VYKnkoiPnURzr
Enjoyed your podcast, but as much as I disagree with many of Heinlein’s views, I don’t think they’re fascist. I agree with the this, from critic Jonathan Rosenbaum’s review of the movie , “As critic H. Bruce Franklin rightly points out in his 1980 book Robert A. Heinlein: America as Science Fiction, the writer’s “right-wing” militarism actually reflects the liberal ideology of John F. Kennedy, who was elected president a year after the novel was published. The armed force in Starship Troopers anticipates the creation of the elite Green Berets; Kennedy’s signature “Ask not what your country can do for you” speech also seems to come straight out of the novel.”
Mentioning the Green Berets ties into one of the better points the book makes. I hope I’m remembering this correcting, but as I recall somebody asks why they need infantry when they can blow up entire planets, and the point is made that the military is supposed to use force to make a country (or whatever kind of entity the enemy represents) do something that they wouldn’t have done without force.
I don’t think Starship Troopers represents Heinlein’s ideal society, but I think it represents a society that he thinks might become made necessary (if people fail to spank their kids enough).
The Future History omnibus is The Past Through Tomorrow. Expanded Universe has some of the same stories in it but it’s not all Future History stuff. EU also has about as many essays as actual stories. Some of the essays will probably interest people who enjoyed the political discussions in Starship Troopers. “Who Are the Heirs of Patrick Henry,” is one that comes to mind. A story that you might want to take a look at, that appears in that collection.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the feedback on how Heinlein’s actual politics align with what’s in the book.