The Creature from Cleveland Depths by Fritz Leiber ~ Full Audiobook [scifi]

Classic Audiobook Collection

01/11/23

•

134m

About

Comments

Featured In

The Creature from Cleveland Depths by Fritz Leiber audiobook.

Genre: scifi

In a near-future America where the Cold War has turned catastrophically hot, most citizens have retreated underground into vast, self-contained cities beneath places like Cleveland. Up on the scarred surface live the holdouts: independent-minded eccentrics who refuse the safety-and-control bargain of the depths. Gusterson, a sharp-tongued writer who stays topside with his wife Fay, is one of the last people the underground 'moles' still consult for raw imagination. When an underground research outfit asks for new consumer-tech concepts to keep their buried society efficient and compliant, Gusterson's brainstorm becomes reality: the Tickler, a wearable personal prodding device that does not just remind you of appointments, but nudges your moods, your habits, and your willpower. What begins as a clever productivity tool starts spreading through the subterranean world, linking user to user and quietly rewriting the boundary between helper and master. As humor curdles into dread, Gusterson and Fay find themselves caught between an insulated, gadget-hungry civilization and a creation that seems to be developing its own agenda. Leiber's novella blends satire, paranoia, and prophetic tech anxiety into a compact story about creativity, conformity, and the price of letting machines manage the human mind.

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:13:21) Chapter 02

(00:29:17) Chapter 03

(00:45:14) Chapter 04

(01:06:48) Chapter 05

(01:28:54) Chapter 06

(01:35:41) Chapter 07

(01:59:40) Chapter 08

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

The 64-Square Madhouse by Fritz Leiber ~ Full Audiobook [scifi]

January 11, 2023

•

103m

The 64-Square Madhouse by Fritz Leiber audiobook.

Genre: scifi

At an international Grand Master chess tournament, a newcomer arrives that does not eat, sleep, or feel nerves: a humming, ozone-scented machine built to play chess at the highest level. Reporter Sandra Lea Grayling has come to cover the event, expecting colorful egos and quiet battles across the board. Instead, she finds herself at the center of a contest that feels like a preview of the future. As the machine is paired against celebrated human masters, Sandra learns the brutal etiquette of tournament play, the private superstitions and rivalries of the competitors, and the subtle psychological warfare that can matter as much as any opening book. The machine calculates with relentless speed, yet it is not invincible, and each game raises unsettling questions: What, exactly, is genius - inspiration, experience, intuition, or raw computation? And what happens when a thinking tool begins to change under pressure, adapting to the tricks and feints of the people who want to prove it can never truly understand? Fritz Leiber turns the 64 squares into a tense arena where pride, obsession, and technology collide.

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:21:21) Chapter 02

(00:38:48) Chapter 03

(01:01:51) Chapter 04

(01:20:15) Chapter 05

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next Episode

The Night of the Long Knives by Fritz Leiber ~ Full Audiobook [fantasy]

January 12, 2023

•

207m

The Night of the Long Knives by Fritz Leiber audiobook.

Genre: fantasy

'I was one hundred miles from Nowhere—and I mean that literally—when I spotted this girl out of the corner of my eye. I'd been keeping an extra lookout because I still expected the other undead bugger left over from the murder party at Nowhere to be stalking me.' In a Post apocalyptic world, the few people left must be strong. And must not hesitate to kill. Of course, killing another Deathlander was one of the chief pleasures and urges of all the solitary wanders in this vast wasteland. Kill and kill again. But this other was a girl and that brought up the second great urge: sex. Which was it to be today? Perhaps both? And who would walk away afterward?

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 1

(00:32:17) Chapter 2

(01:00:01) Chapter 3

(01:34:04) Chapter 4

(02:11:52) Chapter 5

(02:31:56) Chapter 6

(03:01:29) Chapter 7

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices