Episodes

Jan. 28, 2022

Search by the Mule, Part I

The Mule dominates the galaxy and controls the planets and technology of the Foundation. He is not a happy conqueror, for he is unable to find the rumored Second Foundation despite five years of searching by Han Pritcher, now...

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Jan. 14, 2022

Eternity and Imperfection

Isaac Asimov's time-travel masterpiece The End of Eternity ends with a profound philosophical statement about the future of humanity. That, and Stephen Hawking's birthday got me thinking about the value of doing challenging t...

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Dec. 31, 2021

Foundation and History with TCA Achintya

Isaac Asimov loved history and used many important lessons from the past in writing his stories, including his greatest epic Foundation. Historian TCA Achintya joins Seldon Crisis to share his unique perspective from his expe...

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Dec. 24, 2021

Holiday Sampler: Some Favorite Scenes

A little holiday sampler collecting some of my favorite scenes from the series so far including; Seldon maneuvering Ling Chen into granting him exile, a bit of Lord Dorwin, Hardin vs Wienis on Anacreon, Ponyets vs the Grand M...

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Dec. 17, 2021

The Science of Foundation with Stephen Webb

A wide-ranging conversation with astrophysicist Stephen Webb, owner of all the canonical works of Isaac Asimov save for a couple of wall charts. Dr. Webb talks about Asimov the teacher, speculations on the distant future of h...

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Dec. 3, 2021

The Will to Challenge Fate

A brief look at the three mysterious Greek goddesses who were imagined to shape human destiny, and how Hari Seldon chose to challenge their authority. A look at what we must do in our current time, with our own fateful challe...

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Nov. 19, 2021

The Mule, Part III

Bayta & Toran Darell, Ebling Mis, and Magnifico arrive on the ruined former capital planet of Empire, Trantor. Mis searches frantically in Hari Seldon's psychohistorical archives while their old friend Han Pritcher pays a vis...

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Nov. 5, 2021

The Mule, Part II

Foundation has fallen to the Mule and the proud citizens of Terminus are shocked and dismayed. Haven is under siege and our heroes make a mad dash for the center of the Galaxy to find clues to the location of the fabled Secon...

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Oct. 8, 2021

Thoughts on the Show (so far)

I share some thoughts on the new AppleTV+ adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series from the perspective of someone who loves the books and wants the elements that make it a beloved classic to me to be retained, but also...

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Sept. 24, 2021

The Mule, Part I

We begin the grand story of the unconsidered variable in Hari Seldon's equations, a mutant being of indescribable powers known only as the Mule. He conquers worlds overnight, including the honeymoon destination of Bayta and T...

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Sept. 22, 2021

Foundation for Newbies

This brief episode is for any prospective watchers of the new Apple TV+ Foundation television series who have not yet read the books and are looking for a quick primer on the series. The new show will likely cover at least th...

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Sept. 3, 2021

The Dead Hand and the Living Will

We go a little deeper on the theme of The General, the opposing forces of psychohistorical determinism vs the futile efforts of Bel Riose to exert his free will against it. Bringing this into our current universe, we talk abo...

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Aug. 20, 2021

The General, Part II

We pick up where we left off with the meager Foundation reeling from the onslaught of the Empire's great general Bel Riose. The Emperor's sycophantic envoy Brodrig joins him at the front and insists on personally interrogatin...

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Aug. 6, 2021

A Moment of Meta

Brief comments in the interval between episodes, thoughts on the intended audience, and an explanation for shift to a more relaxed episode cadence. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word While you wait for the conclusi...

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July 23, 2021

The General, Part I

Seldon Crisis returns with the second in the seven novel saga, Foundation and Empire, and the opening of The General, which tells the story of the young and brilliant General Bel Riose's attempt to destroy the growing, but st...

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July 9, 2021

Season 1 Recap and Season 2 Preview

In this short episode we summarize the major characters and events of Season 1 covering the first novel, Foundation, in Isaac Asimov's seven novel epic, and tease a few of the major events to be covered in Season 2 correspond...

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June 25, 2021

The Philosophy of Foundation with Nathaniel Goldberg

To finish off Season 1 of Seldon Crisis and the completion of the first book in the original trilogy, Foundation, this special episode consists of an interview with Professor of Philosophy Nathaniel Goldberg. He will discuss ...

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June 11, 2021

The Merchant Princes

One of the enduring and mythic figures in Foundation history, Hober Mallow, follows in the footsteps of Hari Seldon and Salvor Hardin in facing a truly existential crisis in the growing power of the Korellian Republic, a brea...

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May 28, 2021

The Traders

Limmar Ponyets is a dashing profiteer on the galactic fringe who gets drawn into a life or death struggle to free a fellow Foundation comrade who also happens to be a secret agent. The Grand Master of Askone is not one to let...

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May 14, 2021

The Mayors

Mayor Salvor Hardin now leads the government of Terminus and the Foundation, but is threatened politically by the emergent Actionist Party headed by the young firebrand Sef Sermak. The Anacreonian military threat is greater than ever, but is momentarily c

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April 30, 2021

The Encyclopedists

The action shifts to the tiny planet of Terminus near the galactic fringe where Hari Seldon's team of scientists work on compiling the Encyclopedia Galactica central to their plans. The young Foundation is confronted with a p...

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April 15, 2021

The Psychohistorians

Young scientist Gaal Dornick travels to the imperial capital Trantor to work with the great psychohistorian Hari Seldon. Shortly after his arrival both are arrested and stand trial for disturbing the peace, due to Seldon's predictions of imminent catastro

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April 12, 2021

Introducing Seldon Crisis

Trailer introducing Seldon Crisis – The Podcast. Summary description of the intent of the podcast and a brief description of the first few episodes. Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word

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