Eight decades after Jules Verne’s death, his great-grandson opened a family safe and discovered an unpublished manuscript. In this episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll review some of Verne’s remarkable predictions for the 20th century and consider why he never published the novel.
We’ll also discuss listeners’ ideas about the mysterious deaths of nine Soviet ski hikers in 1959 and puzzle over how a man’s breakfast turns deadly.
Sources for our feature on Jules Verne’s Paris in the Twentieth Century:
Arthur B. Evans, “The ‘New’ Jules Verne,” Science-Fiction Studies, March 1995.
Brian Taves, “Jules Verne’s Paris in the Twentieth Century,” Science-Fiction Studies, March 1997.
Jules Verne, Paris in the Twentieth Century, 1863.
Sources for listener mail:
“‘Partially Digested’ Human Head, Leg Found Inside Shark Caught by Filipino Fishermen,” Fox News Latino, Nov. 12, 2014 (accessed May 8, 2015).
Donnie Eichar, Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, 2013.
Jason Zasky, “Return to Dead Mountain,” Failure Magazine, Feb. 1, 2014.
Greg’s article on animal infrasound appeared in the January-February 2004 issue of American Scientist.
This week’s lateral thinking puzzle comes from Jed’s List of Situation Puzzles, suggested to us by listener David Morgan.
This episode is sponsored by our patrons and by The Great Courses — go to http://www.thegreatcourses.com/closet to order from eight of their best-selling courses at up to 80 percent off the original price.
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Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.
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