Someday by Isaac Asimov Episode #259

Isaac Asimov | August 17, 2024

Someday by Isaac Asimov Episode #259
Isaac Asimov

SOMEDAY

Episode #259 · Written by Isaac Asimov · Narrated by Scott Miller

In a future where machines tell every story, two boys tinker with an old talking computer called a Bard. What they discover inside it may outlast the people who built it.

In a future so ordinary it feels inevitable, kids no longer dream their own dreams—machines do it for them. Isaac Asimov’s Someday opens on an eleven-year-old boy lying on the floor, listening to a battered old Bard, a mechanical storyteller that spins endless fairy tales out of magnetic memory. When his friend drops by with an “idea and a half,” the boys set out to re-program the Bard to tell better stories—ones about computers and real life instead of kings and dragons. But what happens next suggests that machines may learn more from us than we ever intended.

Asimov turns a simple childhood moment into a quiet parable about technology and imagination. Without grand wars or distant planets, Someday explores a future where storytelling itself has been automated—and where the very act of reading is forgotten. It’s tender, funny, and eerily predictive of our screen-saturated age. By the time the Bard begins whispering to itself in the dark, Asimov has already asked the question we’re still answering today: if machines can tell stories, will we stop needing to?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) was one of science fiction’s true architects—a prolific author, professor of biochemistry, and one of the “Big Three” alongside Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein. His Foundation and Robot series redefined the genre, blending rigorous logic with boundless imagination. He also wrote hundreds of essays on science, history, and the human condition, always in his unmistakably clear, friendly voice.

A storyteller, scientist, and teacher rolled into one, Asimov could take the smallest idea—a child’s curiosity, a machine’s whisper—and turn it into a glimpse of eternity. Someday is one of those moments: quiet, profound, and unforgettable.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Someday by Isaac Asimov — a thought-provoking tale of two boys and a talking machine in a world without books. A masterpiece of classic sci-fi.

ISAAC ASIMOV SHORT STORIES

Isaac Asimov did not just contribute to vintage science fiction — he helped build its foundation.

Trained as a biochemist and gifted with a teacher’s clarity, Asimov wrote with clean lines and steady confidence. His prose rarely shouts, yet his ideas carry enormous weight. He trusted logic. He trusted curiosity. And he trusted readers to follow him into laboratories, lunar colonies, crowded cities, distant stars, and the quiet corners of the human mind.

Where some writers chase spectacle, Asimov often begins with a question. What happens when machines think too well? What happens when children grow up with technology their parents barely understand? What happens when one small scientific breakthrough nudges society sideways? He sets the pieces in motion carefully, then watches the consequences unfold with almost mathematical precision.

Yet there is more than cool intellect at work. Beneath the rational surface you’ll find humor, irony, and a quiet affection for human stubbornness. His scientists argue. His bureaucrats bluster. His explorers misjudge what they discover. His aliens rarely behave the way Earth expects. Even at his most playful, there is a steady belief that knowledge matters and that understanding the universe is worth the effort.

Asimov was astonishingly prolific, publishing hundreds of short stories and dozens of novels across science fiction and beyond. In the magazine era that shaped so much classic sci-fi, his name appeared again and again, signaling a story built on a strong central idea and delivered with clarity. He had the rare ability to make complex concepts feel accessible without stripping away their depth.

The stories below show just how wide his range could be. Some lean into robots and hidden identities. Some explore space travel and planetary frontiers. Some turn on a single clever twist that snaps into place in the final paragraphs. Others unfold more gently, revealing how technology reshapes ordinary lives. Each carries that unmistakable Asimov touch — logical, engaging, and quietly confident.

If you want to understand why Isaac Asimov remains one of the central pillars of classic science fiction, these episodes are a perfect place to begin.

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:

★★★★★ “What a fine narrator you are! These great stories deserve someone who really knows what he’s doing; I can always differentiate characters and am always caught up in what’s going on. (One of my fave podcasts, and I listen to a *lot* of them.) Enormous thanks!”
— SueTheLibrarian

★★★★★ “Best Old Time SciFi. This is a great show. Love the reader and all of his information and choices in the stories.I just found this a couple months ago and I love it.”
— K9Rush

Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.