Alternate Futures

Author: Alternate Futures

Fun, interesting, unusual, and always thought-provoking, The Alternate Futures podcast features interviews with indie science fiction creators where we discuss their work, the world, and anything in-between.
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Language: en

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

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83. Cryonics, Geopolitics, and the Future of Humanity, with John R. Carlos
Episode 83
Tuesday, 14 April, 2026

Retired Royal Australian Air Force wing commander John R. Carlos talks with me about his debut novel Cryonic Dreams: Awakening and the real-world experiences that shaped its themes of control, surveillance, and ethical clarity. John shares insights from his 42-year military career in administration and logistics, including deployments to Egypt, the Middle East, and Sudan, and describes a post-COVID political shift that intensified his focus on authoritarian drift.He then unpacks his structured worldbuilding method—mind map, key variables framework, and timeline—used to extrapolate a plausible dystopian future, and present the story’s core themes of authoritarian control. We also discuss cryonics science, propulsion ideas, hybrid publishing and marketing, and broader questions about collapse, neo/techno-feudalism, perpetual war, and whether the West can recover a “classical center” through citizen-led resistance.Books of his we discuss: Cryonic Dreams: Awakeningjohnrcarlos.com.aualternatefutures.substack.comalternatefutures.co.uk