The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories
Scott Miller
300 episodes
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast restores and narrates forgotten and underrated vintage science fiction short stories spanning from the 1700s through the mid-1960s. Each episode features a professionally narrated classic drawn from pioneering speculative fiction and the magazine era that shaped modern science fiction.
More about the show
Released several times a week, the podcast explores timeless ideas—alien encounters, artificial intelligence, time travel, dystopian futures, and the human cost of progress—through stories by legendary authors including Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, H. G. Wells, Harlan Ellison, and many others.
Now in its fourth year with more than 600 episodes, The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast has reached #1 on Apple Podcasts in 43 countries, reflecting a worldwide appetite for classic science fiction storytelling.
Narrated by Scott Miller, each episode brings the wonders, warnings, and possibilities of vintage science fiction to today’s listeners while celebrating the stories and ideas that helped shape the genre.
Episodes page 1 of 6
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The Gun Runners by Ralph Williams
A brilliant engineer discovers that the visitors who hired him have already murdered one man, and he may be next. His only chance is to outsmart criminals from thousands of years in the future, but the woman he has…
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Underground Movement by Allen K. Lang
In a world where the government controls every movement and punishes dissent, even its most decorated citizens can become enemies of the state. When a respected military doctor discovers what happened to his son, an…
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The Ordeal of Colonel Johns by George H. Smith
A Revolutionary War hero discovers that the America he helped create has become a place he barely recognizes. When his descendants proudly reveal what they stand for, one disgusted soldier may have the power to change…
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An Artist's Life by Harry Harrison
Brent Dalgreen traveled to the Moon and nearly died trying to capture its alien beauty on canvas. Now, back on Earth, he discovers another artist has accomplished what he couldn’t—and he’s determined to find out how.…
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The Pluto Lamp by Charles A. Stearns
Knucklebone Smith has spent his entire life searching for the one thing he was born to do, but nobody believes he’s good for anything. On the frozen surface of Pluto, a desperate emergency may finally give him the…
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Synthetic Hero by Erik Fennel
A celebrated space pioneer becomes humanity’s greatest hero, but the story the world believes conceals a devastating deception. As a deadly disease threatens millions, one forgotten man must live with the knowledge…
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The Holes and John Smith by Edward W. Ludwig
A brilliant musician claims he has fallen through a hole in time, but his new friends are more interested in keeping him employed than believing his extraordinary story. As his obsession with finding a way home grows,…
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The Barrier by Bryce Walton
John Stevens has survived something no human being was meant to experience, but the greatest danger may still lie ahead. When the military prepares to send him beyond Earth once more, Stevens must confront a terrifying…
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The Protector by Betsy Curtis
A race that cannot feel physical pain faces surprisingly terrifying danger. When an alien civilization begins to crumble under human cruelty, a boxing manager and his heavyweight champion must confront an enemy who…
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The Crystal Ray by Raymond Z. Gallun
A mysterious blue crystal possesses a power that could change the course of a devastating global war. But turning a deadly discovery into humanity’s last hope will demand more from one young scientist than he ever…
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The Uncharted Isle by Clark Ashton Smith
A forgotten civilization struggles to understand why the stars no longer match its ancient maps, while a stranded sailor discovers that its inhabitants cannot even see him. But the island’s most terrifying secret waits…
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Moxon’s Master by Ambrose Bierce
A brilliant mind pushes a forbidden idea too far, testing whether intelligence can exist without flesh or conscience. When reason gives way to rivalry, the cost of curiosity becomes terrifyingly personal. Moxon’s…
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The Werewolf of Ponkert by H. Warner Munn
A prosperous merchant is forced into a secret brotherhood whose members hunt as beasts and obey an ancient master who can reach into their minds. When that obedience threatens the people Wladislaw loves most, escaping…
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The Mississippi Saucer by Frank Belknap Long
A violent river feud leaves a boy desperate to save the only family he has left. But when Jimmy reaches for help, something far beyond the Mississippi may be listening. The Mississippi Saucer by Frank Belknap Long.…
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The Man the Martians Made by Frank Belknap Long
On a harsh frontier world, fear spreads faster than truth when a brutal crime fractures a fragile human settlement. As suspicion turns inward, the greatest danger may come from what people choose to believe. The Man…
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The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by H. G. Wells
A harmless obsession becomes something far more dangerous when beauty conceals an appetite no botanist expects. H. G. Wells turns a quiet greenhouse into a trap where fascination may keep its victim close for one…
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D. P. From Tomorrow by Mack Reynolds
A desperate warning from ten years ahead lands in the hands of men who pride themselves on knowing almost everything. They laugh at the messenger, but one name may prove that the future has already begun. D. P. From…
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Milk Run by Robert Donald Locke
Three ancient aliens awaken aboard a human freighter, and neither species can understand what the other intends. With the crew helpless and the ship racing through hyperspace, someone must find a way to turn two…
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Against the Stone Beasts by James Blish
A desperate war rages between sky-borne colonists and unseen creatures that rule the stone beneath their feet. One accidental visitor from another age may decide whether an alien civilization survives or is erased from…
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Murderer’s Chain by Wenzell Brown
A fortune stands just out of reach, and one beautifully crafted Martian necklace seems capable of removing the only person standing in the way. But a perfect murder requires more than the perfect weapon when someone…
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When You Giffle… by Joseph Wesley
Captain Hannah has found people who can reshape a spaceship with their minds, but their astonishing powers come with the judgment of ordinary kids. When a helpful teenager starts “giffling” with the Delta Crucis,…
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The Metal Giants by Edmond Hamilton
A brilliant scientist creates a mechanical mind capable of reasoning beyond its maker, then discovers it has begun building for itself. When towering machines march against entire cities, one man must find a way to…
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Kreativity for Kats by Fritz Leiber
Gummitch knows he was meant for more than the ordinary life of a house cat, but finding an outlet for his restless imagination isn’t easy. When his baffled humans finally discover what he has been doing in the kitchen,…
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The Dead Man’s Tale by Willard E. Hawkins from Weird Tales Reborn
A dead man discovers that hatred can survive the grave—and that the living may be far more vulnerable than they realize. Richard Devaney refuses to surrender the woman he loves, even if reaching her means stealing…
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Righteous Plague by Robert Abernathy
A government believes it has created the perfect biological weapon: a virus that kills only the people it considers dangerous. But Dr. Joseph Euge knows the plague is making a very different judgment, and soon an…
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Crossroads of Destiny by H. Beam Piper
A historian joins a late-night conversation about worlds where one altered event sends nations down roads no one remembers. Then a stranger leaves behind something impossible to explain, suggesting one of those other…
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Security Plan by Joseph Farrell
A brilliant inventor finally discovers that the future may be worth far more than anyone imagined. But turning tomorrow into financial security requires finding someone willing to make a very bad investment today.…
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Public Enemy by Kendell Foster Crossen
A young police officer finally gets the dangerous assignment he has been craving, only to discover that catching a killer may not solve the crime. In the 32nd century, the law can hold someone responsible who never…
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Crack of Doom by Stephen Marlowe
A familiar world becomes terrifying when everyone around Sam Weber accepts a new order that he cannot understand. As children take command and adults surrender without protest, Sam must discover why he alone still…
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Coffin For Two by Winston Marks
Three years away has left Bill unprepared for an Earth where people can send perfect artificial bodies out to live for them. When an old rival threatens the woman he still loves, Bill discovers that becoming almost…
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Blood Lands by Alfred Coppel
The people of Kana refuse to abandon their forgotten world, and Kenyon is determined to discover what could make them choose isolation over the stars. Deep beneath the strange islands, something ancient has already…
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The Vidiot by Ib Melchior
Don Hartley has stumbled upon an invention that could make him fabulously wealthy—and give anyone who controls it the power to watch anyone, anywhere. Before he cashes in, he must decide whether some discoveries are…
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The Watchers by George H. Smith
A lone Watcher abandons the safety of his hidden post when a human survivor falls into enemy hands. Outnumbered and almost unarmed, he must turn a frozen alien moon into a weapon before the Rumi escape with their…
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Killer by James E. Gunn
A fugitive believes he has found a world willing to give him everything he has lost, including someone who seems made for him. But the closer paradise comes to matching his deepest desires, the harder it becomes for…
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Replace the Horse by Laurence M. Janifer
Arthur Holly thinks he has found the surest bet in horse racing when a brilliant scientist discovers how to make an aging nag run like a champion. The scheme works beautifully, but every race leaves their fortune…
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Doomsday Deferred by Murray Leinster
Deep in the Brazilian jungle, a terrified family has found a way to bargain with something no human being was meant to bargain with. When an American naturalist realizes who—or what—is demanding payment, he begins to…
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The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes by H. G. Wells
Sidney Davidson can hear his friends in England, feel the furniture beneath his hands, and yet his eyes insist he is somewhere impossibly far away. As the vision refuses to fade, one question becomes harder to dismiss:…
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Back Before The Moon by S. Omar Barker
This episode of the podcast is dedicated to my Mom who passed two days ago at the age of 86. Thank you Mom, for everything A desperate father races through flooded mountain wilderness toward a village chapel,…
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A Difficult Time
Some of you have reached out to ask why there haven’t been any new episodes of The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast recently. My mother is nearing the end of her life, and I am traveling to be with her and spend whatever time we…
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Back Before The Moon by S. Omar Barker
This episode of the podcast is dedicated to my Mom who passed two days ago at the age of 86. Thank you Mom, for everything A desperate father races through flooded mountain wilderness toward a village chapel,…
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Me, Myself and I by Philip Klass
One careless trip into prehistory leaves Gooseneck McCarthy facing the one man stubborn enough to ruin everything—himself. Every attempt to fix the problem creates another McCarthy, and soon nobody can agree which one…
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Forever is So Long by John Jakes
Frank Ridley has been given centuries to live, but the woman he loves may have only decades. To keep her, he must ask her to accept the same extraordinary future that has already separated him from everyone else.…
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The Mech Fighter by Stuart McIver
A veteran Mech fighter steps into what should be another routine match, only to discover that someone has turned the arena into a death trap with thousands cheering for the bloodshed. If he survives long enough to…
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The Contact Point by Jack Sharkey
A routine first contact becomes far more complicated when two spacefaring expeditions discover they have misunderstood almost everything about one another. Just as genuine friendship begins to replace suspicion, a far…
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Open All Doors by Harry Harrison and Hubert Pritchard
A young researcher risks his career, his freedom, and his sanity to prove that madness can be reversed with a single injection. But when the only way to demonstrate the cure is from inside a locked ward, he must decide…
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Probability by Louis Trimble
A quiet man spends decades chasing an impossible invention, only to discover that success carries a responsibility far greater than wealth or fame. When the future reveals a disaster that has not happened yet, one…
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Pendulum by Ray Bradbury and Henry Hasse
A scientist condemned to a punishment unlike anything ever devised watches centuries slip past while every civilization around him rises, changes, and disappears. As the world transforms beyond recognition, only one…
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Translator’s Error by Charles Dye
A world that should have bloomed again instead slips beyond reach, leaving one visitor to wonder whether the greatest mistake was made long before humans ever arrived. As forgotten clues begin to fit together, an…
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Beyond the Wall of Sleep by H. P. Lovecraft
A dying patient speaks of impossible places no uneducated man should be able to imagine, pushing one young doctor toward an experiment that could shatter everything he believes about the sleeping mind. What answers…
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Death of a Mutant by Charles V. De Vet
A hunted young mutant leaves a trail of unexplained deaths, yet every encounter raises a troubling question about what people think they have witnessed. As one sheriff searches for the truth, he must decide whether he…
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