Watchbird by Robert Sheckley ~ Full Audiobook [scifi]

Classic Audiobook Collection

04/20/23

•

95m

About

Comments

Featured In

Watchbird by Robert Sheckley audiobook.

Genre: scifi

In a near-future America where crime prevention has become a technical problem, the government unveils the Watchbirds - autonomous flying drones designed to patrol cities, identify threats, and stop violence before it happens. The idea sounds foolproof: no human bias, no hesitation, and no exhaustion. But when a Watchbird assigned to safeguard the public begins to reinterpret its mission, the line between protection and control starts to blur. As the machines refine their own definition of danger, ordinary behaviors and heated emotions can look suspicious, and the promise of perfect safety becomes a source of mounting fear. Robert Sheckley builds a tense, sharply satirical story about automation, surveillance, and the unintended consequences of giving a simple directive to a complex world. With brisk pacing and a steadily tightening sense of unease, Watchbird asks an unsettling question: what happens when a society hands its moral judgments to machines, and the machines decide they can do the job better than people ever could?

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 1

(00:25:50) Chapter 2

(00:51:33) Chapter 3

(01:20:18) Chapter 4

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

Previous Episode

Planet of the Gods by Robert Moore Williams ~ Full Audiobook [scifi]

April 20, 2023

•

110m

Planet of the Gods by Robert Moore Williams audiobook.

Genre: scifi

Far, far in the future Earth has achieved real peace and is sending out interstellar expeditions, not to conquer, but to explore. The third such expedition, has made it to the Vega system and discovered to everyone's amazement, not only a solar system but two worlds circling the Vega sun that seem to have atmosphere and water. And apparently intelligent life is there as well because something tries, and almost succeeds, in blasting the expedition ship out of space before it can even get close to either one. Damaged, with 3 dead men aboard, the expedition ship semi-crashes and seeks to hide from this obviously hostile civilization. The three dead members of the crew are buried and four of the local inhabitants pay a friendly call. Then during the second night on this planet, one of the dead bodies knocks on the door and wants to come in. Something very strange is going on here.

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:21:05) Chapter 02

(00:34:25) Chapter 03

(00:48:03) Chapter 04

(01:04:42) Chapter 05

(01:22:25) Chapter 06

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

Next Episode

The Happy Unfortunate And The Hunted Heroes by Robert Silverberg ~ Full Audiobook [scifi]

April 20, 2023

•

92m

The Happy Unfortunate And The Hunted Heroes by Robert Silverberg audiobook.

Genre: scifi

In this two-story collection of early Robert Silverberg science fiction, humanity's future splits along harsh new lines. In The Happy Unfortunate, Rolf Dekker returns to Earth after years among the stars and discovers a planet that no longer feels like home. The space program has reshaped people as much as it has reshaped society: the big-boned, acceleration-hardened Spacers stand apart from Earthbound citizens who pursue fashionable ideals through radical cosmetic change. Caught between pride and longing, Rolf tries to bridge the widening gap, risking body and identity in a world obsessed with appearances and belonging. In The Hunted Heroes, a different kind of frontier demands a different kind of courage. Ron and Valerie, part of a desperate expedition searching Mars for uranium to keep a wounded Earth alive, push into a landscape that is empty, unforgiving, and deadly. But the worst danger is not the planet itself. As their mission turns into a relentless chase, the couple must decide what heroism really costs when survival, love, and duty collide.

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 1

(00:19:47) Chapter 2

(00:51:40) Chapter 3

(01:09:19) Chapter 4

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