Episode 11 - The Demolished Man

For our March 2026 episode of Starship Alexandria – and the first our our new season – Emma puts forward the novel The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester.

Other talking points:

The perils of returning to past reads

Difficult books to summarise

Cunning schemes for the perfect murder

Psychic earworms

Psychotherapy in science fiction

Particularly big warts

(not) the Time Machine Factory

Heroes and anti-heroes

The Poochy effect

Skeezy gender dynamics

Eugenics

Contradictory attitudes towards murder

Typographical games

Inadvisable titles

Media Mentions:

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, novel by Douglas Adams

The Lathe of Heaven, novel by Ursula le Guin

The Simpsons TV series (twice!)

Gormenghast, series by Mervyn Peake

Babylon 5, TV series

Illuminati, card/board game

Star Trek: The Next Generation, TV series, particularly "Remember Me"

The Life of Chuck, movie dir. Mike Flanagan (based on the work of Stephen King)

Next month we look at the movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Emma's music recommendation: Punk Tactics by Joey Valance & Brae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OklSZmIx9-o&list=RDOklSZmIx9-o&start_radio=1

Emma's latest writing is included in Creative Futures (Beyond and Within) https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/creative-futures-allen-stroud/7847161 which was recently shortlisted for a BSFA Award

Adrian's most recent book: Pretenders to the Throne of God https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pretenders-to-the-throne-of-god-adrian-tchaikovsky/7953437

If you'd like to support the show, and get an additional monthly patrons-only episode, you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/starshipalexandria/home

You can buy our official t-shirts and mugs at https://starshipalexandria.teemill.com/

Follow us at:

Emma: @[email protected] and www.enewman.co.uk

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and www.adriantchaikovsky.com