Outcast of the Stars by Ray Bradbury Episode #216

Ray Bradbury | June 5, 2024

Outcast of the Stars by Ray Bradbury Episode #216
Ray Bradbury

OUTCAST OF THE STARS

Episode #216· Written by Ray Bradbury · Narrated by Scott Miller

Fiorello Bodoni hears rockets every night and feels a hunger his world cannot satisfy. When the stars seem forever out of reach, he makes a choice that will change his family forever.

Fiorello Bodoni is a junk dealer living on the edge of poverty in a world rushing toward the stars without him. Each night he listens to rockets lifting into space, carrying the dreams of the wealthy while he remains grounded by responsibility and circumstance.

When an unexpected opportunity appears, Bodoni faces an impossible decision. Only one path leads upward, but every choice carries a cost. What follows is not a tale of conquest or technology, but a quiet act of defiance shaped by love, desperation, and hope.

Outcast of the Stars is science fiction at its most humane. Ray Bradbury uses space travel as a mirror, reflecting family bonds, unfulfilled longing, and the fierce need to give children something larger than fear. The story unfolds gently, letting emotion do the heavy lifting.

Bradbury was never interested in machines for their own sake. He cared about people standing beneath the machinery of progress, asking who benefits and who is left behind. This story captures that concern with remarkable tenderness and restraint.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Bradbury was born in 1920 and became one of the most influential writers of speculative fiction in history. His work appeared in magazines during the golden age of science fiction, but his voice always stood apart.

Rather than hard technical detail, Bradbury focused on memory, longing, and the emotional cost of the future. His stories often feel like fables, rich with symbolism and moral weight, yet grounded in ordinary lives.

He is best known for works like Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, but many of his finest achievements appear in short fiction. These stories reveal his belief that science fiction is not about predicting the future, but understanding the present.

Outcast of the Stars remains one of his most compassionate stories. It reminds us that sometimes the greatest journeys do not require leaving the ground at all.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Outcast of the Stars by Ray Bradbury — a vintage science fiction short story about sacrifice, family, and a dream that refuses to fade.

Listen on Spotify - The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast

LOST SCI-FI PREMIUM

Unlock Ad-Free Listening + Exclusive Bonus Episodes

For less than 17 cents a day, unlock every episode ad-free.

Start Your Free 7-Day Trial →

RAY BRADBURY SHORT STORIES

Few writers shaped the emotional landscape of classic science fiction the way Ray Bradbury did.

Bradbury did not rely on hardware or technical spectacle to make the future feel real. He filled rockets with longing, placed ghosts in small towns, and turned distant planets into mirrors held up to the human heart. Whether he was writing about children seduced by virtual worlds, lonely travelers on Mars, or quiet suburban lives unraveling under strange pressure, his stories pulse with warmth, dread, nostalgia, and wonder.

On The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast we’ve explored Bradbury’s astonishing range. In The Veldt (also known as The World the Children Made), technology grants children terrifying power over their parents. Asleep in Armageddon traps a lone astronaut on a hostile world where even the wind seems alive. Dwellers in Silence carries us across the red deserts of Mars, where hope flickers against ancient ruins.

Then there are the quieter shocks: Referent, which exposes envy and obsession with razor precision. Defense Mech and The Monster Maker, where invention and ambition twist into unintended consequences. Even in collaborations like Final Victim (with Henry Hasse), Bradbury’s touch is unmistakable.

From the cold Martian well in The One Who Waits, where an ancient entity waits patiently beneath the sand for new flesh and new thoughts, to Martian longing in The Visitor, from the biting irony of Changeling to the haunting unease of Death Wish, these selections reveal a writer who could make a single image linger for decades. Explore the stories below and experience the voice that helped define vintage science fiction for generations.

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 43 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 4.2 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:

★★★★★ “Outstanding. Great selection of stories read by a great voice artist.”
— FintanQ

★★★★★ “Best Podcast Around. I love this podcast! The narrator does a wonderful job. He is a master of changing his voice just slightly so you can hear each character distinctly and allow yourself to become fully immersed in each and every story. I’ve been listening nearly since the beginning and have loved every minute so far! Keep up the great work!”
— NoIamYourFather

Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.