Category: Essays

Kurt Vonnegut’s Prometheus-winning “Harrison Bergeron” recognized for real-world relevance to “millionaires’ tax” debate


By Michael Grossberg

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” is a cautionary and satirical tale warning about the imagined future excesses of radical egalitarianism and attacks on individualism and personal excellence carried to absurd and coercive extremes.

The classic story, inducted in 2019 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame, suddenly seems as relevant as recent headlines about state and federal efforts to impose unprecedented confiscatory taxation on wealthier people.

Challenging the view that everything is or should become property of the State, NR Online writer Andrew Stuttaford invokes Vonnegut’s themes in a perceptive column.

Continue reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Prometheus-winning “Harrison Bergeron” recognized for real-world relevance to “millionaires’ tax” debate


“And the nominees are…” NOT the same thing as finalists! (How the Oscars differ from the Hugo and Prometheus awards, and why it matters)

By Michael Grossberg

“And the nominees are…”

Those words are familiar to just about everyone in America, since people frequently repeat them at several of the biggest annual televised awards ceremonies.

Especially at the Academy Awards, informally known as the Oscars – and still the premier annual American awards show in arts and entertainment despite its recent decline.

Yet I’d argue that such an iconic phrase is often misleading. Worse, it can lead to confusion and misperceptions about other awards – including our own.

The Prometheus Awards use the term “nominees” quite differently than the Oscars do.

What the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which sponsors and presents the Academy Awards, dubs “nominees” is actually what the Prometheus awards quite properly refers to as finalists.

That may seem like mere semantics, or a minor disagreement over labeling, but it’s an important distinction with significant differences.

In fact, finalists attain a higher level of recognition than nominees – and thus deserve greater respect and their own distinct name.

Continue reading “And the nominees are…” NOT the same thing as finalists! (How the Oscars differ from the Hugo and Prometheus awards, and why it matters)

“I am not a number. I am a free man!” – Remembering Patrick McGoohan: who conceived, co-wrote and starred in The Prisoner, a TV series ahead of its time


By Michael Grossberg

Today, March 19, is the birthday of Patrick McGoohan.

Patrick McGoohan as Number 6 in The Prisoner (Creative Commons license)

It’s a timely opportunity to remember and pay tribute to McGoohan, an iconoclastic talent who excelled as an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and creator of one of the most unusual, provocative, genre-smashing and influential TV series in history.

I’m referring, of course, to The Prisoner, inducted in 2002 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.

McGoohan (1928-2009) achieved a great deal on screen in his long and well-respected career. But The Prisoner in retrospect may be his crowning and most lasting achievement.

Yet, when McGoohan conceived, wrote and starred in the short-lived series, no one quite knew how to categorize it or what to make of it.

Continue reading “I am not a number. I am a free man!” – Remembering Patrick McGoohan: who conceived, co-wrote and starred in The Prisoner, a TV series ahead of its time


Discovering libertarianism through fiction, part 2: How James Blish, Ayn Rand and other writers sparked my intellectual evolution


By Michael Grossberg

For me as a boy, The Star Dwellers was revelatory.

An idealistic drama about a fraught “second contact” between Earth humans and ancient aliens, James Blish’s 1961 novel sparked my thinking about ethics, economics and politics.

I couldn’t have imagined at the time what reading yet another Young Adult science fiction novel would lead me to, but ultimately The Star Dwellers paved the way for me to develop into a full-fledged libertarian by the early 1970s.

Continue reading Discovering libertarianism through fiction, part 2: How James Blish, Ayn Rand and other writers sparked my intellectual evolution


Discovering libertarian ideas through fiction: It usually begins with Rand and Heinlein – but in my unusual case, it was James Blish’s The Star Dwellers


“People come to libertarianism through fiction. They come through Ayn Rand… Robert Heinlein…. L. Neil Smith.”
– Libertarian feminist author Wendy McElroy at the 2000 Prometheus Awards ceremony

By Michael Grossberg

For quite a few libertarians, “It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand.” Or Robert Heinlein. Or other freedom-loving science fiction writers.

James Blish in the 1960s (Creative Commons license)

For me, though, my introduction to libertarian and classical-liberal ideas and ideals began earlier – at least in part – with James Blish.

Specifically, Blish’s The Star Dwellers.

When I read Blish’s 1961 novel as a pre-teen in the early 1960s, I came to understand for the first time key insights about voluntary consent and mutual exchange for profit as the best foundation for peace and progress.

Now a finalist for the next Prometheus Hall of Fame award for Best Classic Fiction, The Star Dwellers is a young-adult-oriented science fiction novel that revolves around a fraught “second contact” between star-faring humans and an ancient, advanced alien species.

Continue reading Discovering libertarian ideas through fiction: It usually begins with Rand and Heinlein – but in my unusual case, it was James Blish’s The Star Dwellers


Godspeed, Artemis astronauts! The first human return to lunar space after more than half a century is overdue – and welcome


By Michael Grossberg

The first human beings to journey into deep space since 1972 might be on their way as early as today.

The first flight of America’s ambitious Artemis mission aims to lift off in early March for the first crewed mission around the Moon since the Apollo era. Initially scheduled for February,  Artemis 2 might take off on its next window in early April if the mission can’t make any of five potential launch dates March 6-9 or March 11.

The Artemis 2 Orion rocket on the Cape Canaveral launching pad (NASA file photo)

“NASA does not expect to be able to land astronauts on the moon before 2027, at the earliest. Realistically, it’s unlikely that such an undertaking would occur before 2028. But the Artemis II mission is no perfunctory exercise. This will be a difficult and dangerous mission, and it’s a precursor to America’s eventual return to our nightly neighbor — this time, to stay,” columnist Noah Rothman wrote in an insightful National Review article about the prospects of the upcoming mission.

Continue reading Godspeed, Artemis astronauts! The first human return to lunar space after more than half a century is overdue – and welcome


Last call for Prometheus Best Novel nominations: With the mid-February nominating deadline approaching, 13 2025 novels have been nominated so far


By Michael Grossberg

With the annual nominations deadline for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel now less than a month away, Libertarian Futurist Society members are encouraged to bring to our attention any eligible candidates they’ve come across.

This is a reminder and last call for nominations for the oldest category of the awards, now 47 years old.

So far, 13 2025 novels have been nominated by LFS members, somewhat less than average for Best Novel, with Feb. 15 the deadline for LFS members to nominate eligible and worthy works.

The current and interim list includes works by three authors who have previously won Prometheus Awards: Dave Freer (Cloud-Castles), Sarah Hoyt (Darkship Thieves) and Harry Turtledove (The Gladiator.)

This year’s interim slate of nominees also includes the latest novel in Karl K. Gallagher’s Fall of the Censor series, which includes quite a few novels recognized as Best Novel finalists.

But it’s also nice to see nominated works by authors who’ve never previously been recognized in our awards. So far this year, more than half of the novels were written by first-time nominees: Max Harms, Andrew Knighton, John C. A. Manley, Ewan Morrison, Laura Montgomery, Ray Nayler and J. Kenton Pierce.

So what are the novels by these authors that have been nominated so far?

Continue reading Last call for Prometheus Best Novel nominations: With the mid-February nominating deadline approaching, 13 2025 novels have been nominated so far


The Prometheus Young Adult Honor Roll: A reading and holiday gift guide for parents, teenagers and children


By Michael Grossberg

When Libertarian Futurist Society leaders added Young Adult (YA) fiction as an additional category of pro-freedom fantastical fiction that might be recognized with a Special Prometheus Award, quite a few worthy YA works already had won a Prometheus Award.

That’s why the LFS also set up a Prometheus Award Young Adult Honor Roll at the same time – a list that parents, grandparents and others should be aware of when choosing presents for the holidays or birthdays.

After all, what better present for a child or teenager than a good book?

Continue reading The Prometheus Young Adult Honor Roll: A reading and holiday gift guide for parents, teenagers and children


Thoughts and tips on improving our reading habits – as this cycle of Prometheus nominations moves into higher gear

By Michael Grossberg

Reading is a key pleasure in life – and a great way to expand one’s understanding and appreciation of the world around us. Reading a wide variety of fantastical fiction, including but not limited to science fiction and fantasy, is also crucial to judging and voting in literary awards – including the Prometheus Awards.

With the previous awards cycle now completed and this year’s Prometheus Award winners announced, Libertarian Futurist Society members have begun the next cycle of reading and considering potential 2025 candidates for nomination for next year’s award. So this is a good time to share a variety of helpful insights into reading – and reading better.

Substack columnist Tomer Rozenberg offers a wide variety of tips in his recent column on “Why We Put Books Down and How to Pick Them Back Up” – tips worth considering not only for this year’s Prometheus-related reading but also for future years.

“As someone who has poured their heart and soul into writing—which is quite a sensitive point for me as a book author—I’ve found myself wondering: why do people stop reading books they’ve started? And more importantly, how can we rediscover the joy that comes from a truly engaging read?,” Rozenberg poignantly asks.

Continue reading Thoughts and tips on improving our reading habits – as this cycle of Prometheus nominations moves into higher gear

Why leading libertarian, economist and novelist David Friedman admires the science fiction of Karl K. Gallagher



By Michael Grossberg

Leading libertarian thinker and economist David D. Friedman counts himself a fan of science-fiction writer Karl K. Gallagher.

David Friedman (Photo provided by Friedman)

In a fascinating question and answer session at the end of the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony, Friedman singled out just a few science fiction authors for praise – including Vernor Vinge, Robert Heinlein, C.J. Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold and Gallagher.

Karl K. Gallagher (2024 photo courtesy of Gallagher)

Gallagher’s novels are “well-written and interesting,” said Friedman, himself a Prometheus-nominated fantasy novelist.

Friedman, nominated for Harald, also has written Salamander, which he views as his favorite and best-written novel, and Brothers, a sequel to Harald.

Continue reading Why leading libertarian, economist and novelist David Friedman admires the science fiction of Karl K. Gallagher