Man of Distinction by Michael Shaara Episode #410

Michael Shaara | August 30, 2025

Man of Distinction by Michael Shaara Episode #410
Michael Shaara

MAN OF DISTINCTION

Episode #410 · Written by Michael Shaara · Narrated by Scott Miller

In a future where time itself can be searched and verified, reputation becomes a commodity. Ancestry is no longer guessed or inherited through rumor, but scanned, documented, and sold. Man of Distinction opens inside a world obsessed with lineage, where famous names carry more weight than achievement.

At the center of it all is Thatcher Blitt, the man who built the system. He profits from curiosity, envy, and the deep human desire to belong to something important. For years, he decides who matters and who does not, guided by a hierarchy of bloodlines that he trusts completely. Yet one question remains untouched, even by him.

When Blitt finally orders his own history uncovered, the process refuses to cooperate. Each step backward erodes his expectations instead of confirming them. What follows is not a race toward revelation, but a narrowing corridor, where patience, power, and pride all fail at once.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Shaara published Man of Distinction during his early period writing for major science fiction magazines, including appearances in venues such as Astounding Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Long before his Pulitzer Prize–winning historical fiction, Shaara was already testing how systems of honor collapse when confronted with plain facts.

This story stands alongside other early Shaara works that examine status and self-deception under pressure. Its power comes not from its technology, but from how quietly it removes every excuse Thatcher Blitt has relied upon, leaving him alone with a verdict no audience can applaud.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Man of Distinction by Michael Shaara — a classic science fiction short story where ancestry is proven, status is sold, and one man faces the record of his own bloodline.

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 3.3 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:

★★★★★ “Scott Miller’s narration of old science fiction short stories is just wonderful. Of course, so is the material! Everyone from Ray Bradbury to HG Wells to Lovecraft to Asimov to Jack London and on and on... But there are also the one-timer sci-fi short-story writers that are relatively unknown and Miller provides a little background on them all. Extremely well done. Bravo, Scott Miller!”
— Laura Van Wormer

★★★★★ “Great stories. Just great old stories narrated by the best in the business! Very nice.”
— 24champs

Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.