The Broken Axiom by Alfred Bester Episode #423

Alfred Bester | September 12, 2025

The Broken Axiom by Alfred Bester Episode #423
Alfred Bester

THE Broken Axiom

Episode #423 · Written by Alfred Bester · Narrated by Scott Miller

A brilliant scientist builds a machine that can transmit matter through space — including himself. But one slight miscalculation hurls him into a terrifying half-world where unseen beings share the same space… and they’ve noticed him.

“The Broken Axiom” opens with a quiet promise of progress. A brilliant scientist believes he has solved the problem of matter transmission — safely disassembling and rebuilding a living subject. Animals go through unharmed. The math checks out. The experiment looks perfect. Then he steps into the machine himself, and discovers how fragile “certainty” really is.

What follows is one of Alfred Bester’s most unnerving ideas. A small tuning error pushes the doctor only slightly out of phase, but the consequences are enormous. His body becomes light. His senses dull. He slips through solid matter. And worst of all, he realizes that another form of life occupies the same space, moving in silence through our world — and studying him. There is no one he can talk to. There is nowhere safe. And the only hope of survival lies in understanding what has gone wrong, before the beings around him decide to take him apart.

This story feels fast, focused, and strangely plausible. Bester takes a simple piece of science — the idea that atoms can exist differently under altered conditions — and then pushes it into horror territory. The suspense builds not from monsters chasing the hero, but from the slow realization that physics itself has become his enemy. You can feel the dread closing in with every scene.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alfred Bester stands among the giants of classic science fiction. He wrote with energy, style, and a sense of momentum that few authors matched. His novels “The Demolished Man” and “The Stars My Destination” are considered landmarks of the genre. Bester blended hard science, psychology, philosophy, and dark humor, often questioning identity, perception, and what technology does to the human mind.

Beyond his novels and short stories, Bester worked in comics, journalism, and broadcasting. That background gave him a sense of timing and character that feels cinematic. His influence can be seen in cyberpunk, space opera, and modern science fiction thrillers. Listening to “The Broken Axiom” is like watching the moment when classic science fiction began moving toward deeper, more psychological territory — while still delivering a great, gripping adventure.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to The Broken Axiom by Alfred Bester — a mind-bending tale of science gone wrong in vintage science fiction suspense.

ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST

The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked #1 in 33 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.2 million listens, introducing classic science fiction to a global audience of devoted fans.

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:

★★★★★ “I love every single one of the stories I have heard, the narrator is great and brings the characters to life.”
— Molasar7

★★★★★ “I happened upon this site by accident and am glad I did. I like the older Sci-Fi a lot more than a lot of the newer stories.”
— yuli e