Sisters of Sci-Fi
Sisters of Sci-Fi
L. Stephanie Tait
Contrary to the (thankfully) diminishing belief that science fiction is a predominantly male genre, women have been at the forefront of sci-fi and speculative fiction since before it became a popularized literary category. Sisters of Sci-Fi is a bi-monthly podcast that examines the immense amount of science fiction written by women since the 1600s. In order to cover as many writers as possible, over this enormous expanse of time, rich with options, the show is formatted like a sort of book club, so listeners can plan ahead and read along, or sit back and enjoy the discussions between host L. Stephanie Tait, and her fellow guest-hosts. New episodes will be posted the first and third Tuesday of every month.
Sci-Fi Snack Stop Episode 6: Dimensional Repair
Written and read by Michelle Grey Text of the story: Dimensional Repair "So, do I just hit the start button?" she asked, wringing her clammy hands. "I've never been to a multidimensional healing spa before." The healing chamber around her began to hum and the lights in the room sharpened. Suddenly, the bright lights shifted in color, shooting blades of rainbow prisms across the room.As the rainbow prisms crossed Raquel's form, she was instantly suspended in midair. "Have no worries, Raquel. We will take great care of you. We are Oool and we will be your guide. It seems you have selected two different dimensions for repair.""Wait, what is that?" asked Raquel nervously. "Please relax. We are simply hydrating your system telepathically in preparation for your journey. Happy healing, Raquel. Your healing launch is in 3, 2, 1." Music Credits:"Platinum Stars" by Amber Waldron Sound Credits: Sound Effects from Storyblocks and by L. Stephanie Tait Sound Design by L. Stephanie Tait Sound mixing by L. Stephanie Tait Image credits (everything was made by a human): Poster image, Earth Crew 2042 logo, and animation by Brian Carroll All copyrights of the Dimensional Repair micro fiction story belong to Michelle Grey. All permissions for this production of Dimensional Repair belongs to Sisters of Sci-Fi. No permissions given for reprinting, reposting, recreating, rerecording, using as a prompt or for expanding into another story, or using for machine learning. Contact Sisters of Sci-Fi for permissions to use in all usages and scenarios.
Jul 8
1 min
Sci-Fi Snack Stop Episode 5: Cosmic Hope
Written and read by Nikita Text of the story: Cosmic Hope Looking at the earthrise from the far side of the moon, Niki felt herself gasp. She never thought she'd ever make it high enough to dangle her feet from Earth's North Pole, much less the moon. Nothing mattered here. It didn't matter how cold the air got, how little sunlight was able to make its way here. The craters, the darkness, the silence - none of it mattered. She. Was. Here. She really wanted to light up a cigarette and take it all in, right down to the last cell in her body. All across her little, blue planet, life had exploded and then done everything it could to kill itself. She took another deep breath. Vacuum. Her lungs expanded. She held her breath and let it out slowly, until her back caved in. Far away, her glass sphere spinned around and around. Maybe nothing mattered anymore. Maybe everything still did. Music Credits:"Days of Brightness" by Raighes Factory Sound Credits: Sound Effects from Storyblocks and by L. Stephanie Tait Sound Design by L. Stephanie Tait Sound mixing by L. Stephanie Tait Image credits (everything was made by a human): Poster image, Earth Crew 2042 logo, and animation by Brian Carroll All copyrights of the Cosmic Hope micro fiction story belong to Nikita Bawa. All permissions for this production of Cosmic Hope belongs to Sisters of Sci-Fi. No permissions given for reprinting, reposting, recreating, rerecording, using as a prompt or for expanding into another story, or using for machine learning. Contact Sisters of Sci-Fi for permissions to use in all usages and scenarios.
Jun 10
1 min
Earth Crew 2042 Episode 4: another terrible day
Episode 4 of Earth Crew 2042, an episodic radio play by the Sisters of Sci-Fi podcast that is a light-hearted love letter to 1970s sci-fi.  Dear Diary, today has been another terrible day for the Empress *squeak french r* of Alactria. Her younger sister has come to visit... Written, Directed, Produced, and Edited by L. Stephanie Tait Starring the voice talents of: Blerg- Nadia Vazquez Bob- Kimberly Rockwell Dr. Droovnia- Dr. Susan W. Tait Empress/Younger Sister- Romi Dames Grrthnk- Michelle Grey Hhhhhthhhh- Nikita Bawa Mummy 1- Tiffany Cole Mummy 2- Sheryl Scott Professor Plinstik- Dr. Stephen Tait Music Credits:"Melodramatic 1970s Disco" by Ethan Fik "Balanced Pathway Forward" by Jayson Wayne Brown Sound Credits: Sound Effects from Storyblocks and by L. Stephanie Tait Sound Design by L. Stephanie Tait Sound mixing by L. Stephanie Tait Image credits (everything was made by a human): Poster image, Earth Crew 2042 logo, and animation by Brian Carroll All copyrights for images, recordings, texts, animations, promotional material, and scripts associated with Earth Crew and Sisters of Sci-Fi belong to L. Stephanie Tait and the Sisters of Sci-Fi podcast.
May 27
22 min
Sci-Fi Snack Stop Episode 4: Flow State
Written and read by Lili Fox-Lim Text of the story: Flow State Sweat beaded on her temple, not just from the heat. The rhythmic crashing allowed her attention to find its habitual peace. A juicy wave on the horizon. Ale began to sprint. The juvenile edge of the wave walled up. Perfect. It peeled over. Yes. The tunnel of water enclosed her, in darkness. Then, silence. Stars. Ale tensed. Familiar heralds, dancing neon strings, in her periphery. Here we go!  SHHP. Near freezing. Choppy. Maybe the Atlantic— SHHP. Windy. Sand in her eyes. SHHP. Was that a castle? SHHP. Back on her board. Topanga. On Tuesday, Dr. Mills listened intently. He nodded. "Quite an imagination! Surfing clearly makes you very relaxed and, uh, creative." Ale took a measured breath. She would try a new therapist next week. Music Credits:"Nebula Eternal Relaxing Meditative Soundscape" by The Turquoise Moon Sound Credits: Sound Effects from Storyblocks and by L. Stephanie Tait Sound Design by L. Stephanie Tait Sound mixing by L. Stephanie Tait Image credits (everything was made by a human): Poster image, Earth Crew 2042 logo, and animation by Brian Carroll All copyrights of the Flow State micro fiction story belong to Lil Fox-Lim. All permissions for this production of Flow State belongs to Sisters of Sci-Fi. No permissions given for reprinting, reposting, recreating, rerecording, using as a prompt or for expanding into another story, or using for machine learning. Contact Sisters of Sci-Fi for permissions to use in all usages and scenarios.
May 13
2 min
Sci-Fi Snack Stop Episode 3: Happy Birthday
Written and read by Nadia Vazquez Text of the story: Happy Birthday She clutched the tiny bundle of chaos, tiptoeing toward the purple quilt that enveloped her brother. The creaky floorboards betrayed her. He opened his eyes. "Now that you're seven, you can see," she whispered, holding out the fuzzy, smelly chaos. "This is my emotional support time loop." "How does it work?" he asked. "Touch it," she said softly. She clutched the tiny bundle of chaos and tiptoed toward the purplequilt that enveloped her brother. All copyrights of the Happy Birthday micro fiction story belong to Nadia Vazquez. All permissions for this production of Happy Birthday belongs to Sisters of Sci-Fi. No permissions given for reprinting, reposting, recreating, rerecording, using as a prompt or for expanding into another story, or using for machine learning. Contact Sisters of Sci-Fi for permissions to use in all usages and scenarios.
Apr 8
1 min
Earth Crew 2042 Episode 3: The crew with two lives
Episode 3 of Earth Crew 2042, an episodic radio play by the Sisters of Sci-Fi podcast that is a light-hearted love letter to 1970s sci-fi.  While taking a much needed rest on the casino planet of D329 Flamphis Gamma, Earth Crew 2042 must find a way to help one of their own remember who they are. Written, Directed, Produced, and Edited by L. Stephanie Tait Starring the voice talents of: A13x1s- Dawn Alden Jane the Narrator- Kimberly Rockwell Brian- Brian Carroll Chandra- Lili Fox-Lim Gstlwring- Alexander Scott Mnemosyne- Abhimanyu Katyal Stephanie- L. Stephanie Tait Music Credits:Music licensed from Gavin Keese's original score to the film "Captain Valedor" including "Monsters… from Space!" Additional music "Dig that Disc" and "Get Funked Up" by Jon Presstone. Sound Credits: Sound Effects from Storyblocks and by L. Stephanie Tait Sound Design by L. Stephanie Tait Sound mixing by L. Stephanie Tait Image credits (everything was made by a human): Poster image, Earth Crew 2042 logo, and animation by Brian Carroll All copyrights for images, recordings, texts, animations, promotional material, and scripts associated with Earth Crew and Sisters of Sci-Fi belong to L. Stephanie Tait and the Sisters of Sci-Fi podcast.
Mar 25
38 min
Sci-Fi Snack Stop Episode 2: Mitigation Translation
Written and read by Kimberly Rockwell Text of the story: Mitigation Translation When the alien transmission arrived, every senior analyst agreed on one thing: it was a threat. The syntax was sharp. The cadence hostile. The verbs clearly aggressive. But the youngest linguist in the room saw the anomaly—a single word that refused to align. "Trixdadhl" didn't fit. It didn't match. She reran the translation. Then again.  Then, slowly, aloud. The message changed. We apologize if we frightened you. We did not know how loud we were. Weapons powered down. Sirens fell quiet. History exhaled. Later, they asked her how she prevented a war. She said, "I translated fear into regret." Music Credits: "Majestic Forest" by Humans Win Image credits (everything was made by a human): Sci-Fi Snack Stop logo and images by Brian Carroll All copyrights of Mitigation Translation belong to Kimberly Rockwell. All permission for this production of Mitigation Translation belongs to Sisters of Sci-Fi. No permissions given for reprinting, reposting, recreating, rerecording, using as a prompt or for expanding into another story, or using for machine learning. Contact Sisters of Sci-Fi for permissions to use in all usages and scenarios.
Mar 11
1 min
Sci-Fi Snack Stop Episode 1: Transformation
A short story about a new life for a weapon of war long after they were abandoned on a foreign planet. This is a microfiction from a longer short story by L. Stephanie Tait. Written and read by L. Stephanie Tait Text of the story: Transformation The last thing she'd remembered was destruction. But as her system rebooted, after so many centuries of inactivity, she looked down. And saw the flowers from the field into which she'd been surrendered had joined with her body. Moss flourished in the crevices where weapons used to be. Small creatures moved around her, unafraid. Her body was made new- a hybrid of metal and earth. Her purpose now her own. This was a new era. That she could write herself.  A story with a happy ending.  Or many. All copyrights belong to L. Stephanie Tait. No permissions given for reprinting, reposting, recreating, rerecording, using as a prompt or for expanding into another story, or using for machine learning. Contact Sisters of Sci-Fi for permissions to use in all usages and scenarios.
Feb 11
1 min
Earth Crew 2042 Episode 2: the coding conundrum
Episode 2 of Earth Crew 2042, an episodic radio play by the Sisters of Sci-Fi podcast that is a light-hearted love letter to 1970s sci-fi.  The members of Earth Crew 2042 encounter a ship run by supercomputer 01000101 and it's impudent humanoid inhabitants. Are they friendly, or is there something else, something... nefarious afoot? Written, Directed, Produced, and Edited by L. Stephanie Tait Starring the voice talents of: 01000101- Julia Manis A13x1s- Dawn Alden Bob/Jane the Narrator- Kimberly Rockwell Brian- Brian Carroll Chandra- Lili Fox-Lim Saliani- Renée Torchio MacDonald Stephanie- L. Stephanie Tait Treya- Michelle Grey Music Credits: Music licensed from Gavin Keese's original score to the film "Captain Valedor" Additional music "Smooth Love 1976 (Piano) by Yagull Music and "The Space Between Us" by Boris Skalsky   Sound Credits: Sound Effects from Storyblocks and by L. Stephanie Tait Sound Design by L. Stephanie Tait Sound mixing by L. Stephanie Tait   Image credits (everything was made by a human): Poster image, Earth Crew 2042 logo, and animation by Brian Carroll   All copyrights for images, recordings, texts, animations, promotional material, and scripts associated with Earth Crew and Sisters of Sci-Fi belong to L. Stephanie Tait and the Sisters of Sci-Fi podcast.
Mar 12, 2025
21 min
The King of Empty Spaces
Trigger and content warning for discussions of genocide, massacres, warfare, murder (including murder of family members) and use of chemical weapons. These are mentioned without graphic details. A short speculative fiction audio story by L. Stephanie Tait. Read by Kimberly Rockwell. King Vusaad sits on his throne, in his empty kingdom, and muses on his feats, glories, and the importance of being king. I started writing this story in 2011 when I heard about the imprisonment and torture of two young men who used graffiti to criticize the Syrian regime. It was this event that started the full scale rebellion against Al-Assad, and his eventual (and ongoing, though forgotten by the Western media) massacre of his own people. With the deepening, vicious attempts to squash criticism of the West's rabid, unrelenting imperialism and involvement in genocides, it seemed like now was the time to release this story in an audio format.  People who will do anything to get into places of power will do whatever they can to maintain it once there. We see that unfolding in real time today with US, UK, German, French, and other Western countries' tax dollars being funneled into multiple genocides, all for profit. Special mention to the UAE's involvement in Sudan and DR Congo. All this is happening while ignoring the cries of their own people. While people are buried under extreme weather and storms and loss due to climate change. Climate change being sped up by the amount of bombs being dropped on refugees in tents and hospitals. This story is about them. All of them. From the beginning to now. Because they would not stop, even if they were the last person alive. They are all King Vusaad.
Sep 13, 2024
14 min
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