menu

Lost Sci-Fi

chevron_right

No Morning After by Arthur C. Clarke Episode #129

Arthur C. Clarke | October 23, 2023
  • play_circle_filled

    No Morning After by Arthur C. Clarke Episode #129
    Arthur C. Clarke

NO MORNING AFTER

Episode #129 · Written by Arthur C. Clarke · Narrated by Scott Miller

When alien minds reach out across half a thousand light-years, humanity’s fate rests in the hands of one man—drunk, heartbroken, and utterly disillusioned. Their warning could save our world… if only he cared enough to listen.

Half a millennium away, the beings of Thaar sense catastrophe on a distant blue planet: a sun about to explode. They stretch their vast telepathic powers across the void, searching for one receptive mind. The only consciousness that answers belongs to Dr. William Cross—a disillusioned rocket engineer nursing a broken heart and an empty bottle. What begins as an extraordinary link between worlds becomes a grim reflection on apathy, failure, and the blindness of a species too weary to save itself. Through Cross’s bitter indifference, Clarke delivers one of his most ironic and devastating visions of humanity’s self-destruction. No Morning After is as tragic as it is clever—a story of alien mercy, human futility, and the quiet end of the world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – 2008) stood at the intersection of science and storytelling. A trained physicist, inventor, and lifelong visionary, he authored more than one hundred works exploring mankind’s relationship with technology and destiny. From Childhood’s End to Rendezvous with Rama and The Nine Billion Names of God, Clarke’s fiction balanced cosmic scale with intimate insight. He predicted geostationary satellites, the rise of AI, and the cultural revolution of the Space Age decades before they became real. Yet beneath the equations and starfields, his writing returned again and again to one question: what will humanity do when faced with the infinite? Whether inspiring hope or warning of hubris, Clarke’s legacy endures as the conscience of classic science fiction.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to No Morning After by Arthur C. Clarke — a vintage sci-fi warning where alien minds reach a doomed Earth, and one man’s apathy decides humanity’s fate.

ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST

The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.8 million listens.

Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

What listeners are saying:

★★★★★ “A bright light amid the dark miasma of today’s narrated fiction. It is wonderful to come upon the beacon that is Scott Miller’s voice and story contributions.”
— Zippoflask

★★★★★ “Wonderful. You’re my #1 fave narrator of sci-fi.”
— scotleoqueen704

Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.

📬 JOIN LOST SCI-FI WEEKLY

35,000+ Listeners Can’t Be Wrong

Get vintage sci-fi stories, podcast episodes, and surprises every Monday.

FREE SCI-FI EVERY WEEK

✅ Check your email and confirm — that unlocks your free sci-fi downloads.

No spam in this galaxy. You can eject anytime.





  • cover play_circle_filled

    01. Lancelot Biggs Master Navigator
    Nelson S. Bond

  • cover play_circle_filled

    02. The Day The Monsters Broke Loose
    Robert Silverberg

  • cover play_circle_filled

    03. Hide and Seek
    Arthur C. Clarke

  • cover play_circle_filled

    04. Two Black Bottles
    H. P. Lovecraft

  • cover play_circle_filled

    05. Don’t Look Now
    Henry Kuttner

  • cover play_circle_filled

    06. Cosmic Tragedy
    Thomas S. Gardiner

  • cover play_circle_filled

    07. The Broken Axiom
    Alfred Bester

  • cover play_circle_filled

    08. Gambler's Asteroid
    Manly Wade Wellman

  • cover play_circle_filled

    09. Process
    A. E. van Vogt

  • cover play_circle_filled

    10. The Old Timer
    Richard R. Smith

  • cover play_circle_filled

    11. Dead Man's Planet
    Russ Winterbotham

  • cover play_circle_filled

    12. The Secret Flight of Friendship Eleven
    Alfred Connable

  • cover play_circle_filled

    01. Welcome to LostSciFi.com

  • cover play_circle_filled

    02. The Madness of Lancelot Biggs by Nelson S. Bond

  • cover play_circle_filled

    03. Don't Look Now by Henry Kuttner

  • cover play_circle_filled

    04. Poor Little Warrior by Brian W. Aldiss

  • cover play_circle_filled

    05. The Life–Work of Professor Muntz by Murray Leinster

  • cover play_circle_filled

    06. The Black Ewe by Fritz Leiber

  • cover play_circle_filled

    07. A Walk in the Dark by Arthur C. Clarke

  • cover play_circle_filled

    08. Time Enough At Last by Lynn Venable

  • cover play_circle_filled

    09. Duel on Syrtis by Poul Anderson

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Miserly Robot by R. J. Rice Episode #526
    R. J. Rice

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Last of the Deliverers by Poul Anderson Episode #525
    Poul Anderson

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Mordant by Merab Eberle Episode #524
    Merab Eberle

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Sweeper of Loray by Robert Sheckley Episode #523
    Robert Sheckley

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Fastest Draw by Larry Eisenberg Episode #522
    Larry Eisenberg

  • cover play_circle_filled

    Cat and Mouse by Ralph Williams Episode #521
    Ralph Williams

  • cover play_circle_filled

    One-Shot by James Blish Episode #520
    James Blish

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Long Question by David Mason Episode #519
    David Mason

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Gate to Xoran by Hal K. Wells Episode #518
    Hal K. Wells

  • cover play_circle_filled

    Death of a Spaceman by Walter M. Miller Episode #517
    Walter M. Miller

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Body-Masters by Frank Belknap Long Episode #516
    Frank Belknap Long

  • cover play_circle_filled

    The Crowded Colony By Jerome Bixby Episode #515
    Jerome Bixby

  • cover play_circle_filled

    When the Moon Turned Green by Hal K. Wells Episode #514
    Hal K. Wells

  • cover play_circle_filled

    Failure on Titan by Robert Abernathy Episode #513
    Robert Abernathy

  • cover play_circle_filled

    Murder Beneath the Polar Ice by Hayden Howard Episode #512
    Hayden Howard

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play