60: That Hideous Strength Is Nonfiction

Marianne Wright discusses C. S. Lewis’ prescient science fiction novel. Peter Mommsen’s sister comes on the pod with Pete and Susannah to discuss That Hideous Strength, the third book in Lewis’s space trilogy, and its eerily accurate critiques of transhumanism. From questions of academic vocation to Arthurian legend to tame bears to head transplantation, this novel is a rich exploration of what it means to be human in the face of a conspiracy against the human. It’s also one of Susannah and Marianne’s favorite novels. The gang examines Lewis’s treatment of these themes, with many spoilers. They also solve, once and for all, the Jane Problem.