Welcome to the Interstellar Age

An Introduction

Hello, and welcome to The Interstellar Age.

I’m your host, Dylan McFadyen—an independent sci-fi author with an academic background in military history and international relations.

As you might have guessed, this is a science fiction podcast—but with a twist. The concept is that it’s a history podcast, or podcast equivalent, created by a historian in the early 26th century. This fictional historian is looking back on the last five centuries of human history, a period known in his time as the “interstellar age.” The show explores the events that defined this age: from Earth’s Third World War, to first contact with alien intelligences, to exploration, colonization, and the star-spanning conflicts that shaped the galaxy.

While entirely fictional, the podcast presents these events as if they were real history, much like the actual history podcasts that I (and probably many of you) know and love. Because the starting point of this history is our real-life present, the show initially tackles many conflicts and challenges our world currently faces—or might face in the near future. That said, this isn’t about making predictions. It’s about telling a compelling story and building a fictional universe that feels real, with an imagined history that seems like it could truly happen.

That being said, the first season in particular addresses real-world subjects that some listeners may find sensitive or upsetting. Please keep the fictional nature of the podcast in mind. However, if you feel I’ve mishandled anything, don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know.

The universe in which this history unfolds—the military sci-fi/space opera series Si Vis Astra—is one I’ve been developing since I was in middle school, which was… a long time ago. Of course, it’s undergone numerous iterations, overhauls, and rewrites since then. But some of those core ideas and themes—and even a few events—from those early years are still present in some form, now joined by over two decades of additional development.

The idea for this podcast came to me about a year ago as I sifted through hundreds of pages of notes on the history of the Si Vis Astra universe. I wanted to find a way to share this material in a format my readers might enjoy. Around that time, I was listening to the excellent Revolutions podcast, which takes listeners on a chronological journey through major Western revolutions, from the English to the Russian. I thought: What if I did this, but with fictional history?

Years ago, I attempted to start a podcast about the history of science fiction. While I gathered enough material to write a few good Substack posts, the research required for the show proved too demanding given the time I need to dedicate to my books. But this? This felt different. I’d already done the research—in fact, I’d written it all myself! It would be easy!

Well. Turns out writing, recording, producing, and promoting every episode single-handedly still takes quite a bit of work. But here we are—too late to turn back now.

Okay, enough breaking the fourth wall. That should be everything you need to enjoy the show (and maybe a little extra). If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at contact@dylanmcfadyen.com, or check the links in the show notes.

Now, without further ado: Episode 1 of The Interstellar Age. Enjoy!