Starboard Vineyard Tours 19: Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, Carroll

This month's reading is upsettingly timely, as we read Jordan S. Carroll's Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024). Carroll covers both the historical uses of science fiction by the far right, and the current ways white nationalists imagine the future and read the genre. Topics include: fans being slans and the genre of the mutational romance; klan being fans and the "hermeneutics of obtuseness" they need to avoid recognizing anti-racist themes; science fictional mythologies of whiteness. It's an interesting topic, which Carroll discusses both accessibly and in detail, involving a wide variety of the worst people to read science fiction, and we try to keep discussion as light and as biting as mutually possible, given the above.Topics: whiteness, speculation, fandomContent warning for discussion of white supremacist ideology and neo-nazis, including discussion of racist claims about human nature, but not any extensive discussions of racist acts of violence.Next month's episode is currently uncertain! When we know what we're reading, we'll let you know.