Tag: sci-fi

Explore the Complexities of Human and AI Connection in the New Science Fiction Podcast ‘Selección Natural’

August 27, 2024

What does the future look like when it comes to AI personalities interacting with humans? This fundamental question of our present day is explored in the new Spotify Original fiction podcast Selección Natural. 

In this science fiction tale, Sofía, an advanced humanoid artificial intelligence robot, embarks on a scientific mission in Antarctica with climate change expert Ismael. Throughout the five episodes, listeners learn that Sofía is not just any AI. She develops feelings and complexities so human that one nearly forgets that Sofía is a machine, resulting in a variety of consequences. 

The Spanish-language podcast is written by Julio Rojas, the creator and screenwriter of the acclaimed series Caso 63. “In Selección Natural, I am keen to explore a pressing question: What will the dynamics be like between a human and a self-aware, emotionally capable machine? What kinds of connections could form? How will power dynamics play out, and ultimately, who will make the decisions?” explains Rojas.

Danna

Sofía is brought to life by Mexican actress, singer, and producer Danna, and Ismael is voiced by Chilean actor Álvaro Rudolphy. 

The series not only examines key questions about the use of artificial intelligence, but it also utilizes AI-based tools for various production aspects. While the script was written by Rojas, he used AI tools to adjust some parts of the protagonist’s content, making her sound more humanoid. Additionally, Sofía’s voice recordings were done in Spotify studios in Los Angeles and then introduced to an AI model to obtain the final voice. The aim of this creative approach was to have a realistic recording of what an AI would sound like. Finally, AI was also used for the podcast’s visual of Sofía. A digital artist and graphic designer specializing in AI design worked with a real portrait of Danna and subjected it to an AI program to create the final character.

Selección Natural is a captivating show that demonstrates the power of AI—both in storytelling format and for production tools. Discover this unique and exciting story of love and connection by listening to the first episode, below.

Selección Natural, el nuevo podcast de ciencia ficción que explora las complejidades de la conexión entre el ser humano y la inteligencia artificial

August 27, 2024

¿Cómo será el futuro cuando la IA interactúe con los humanos? Esta y otras complejidades se exploran en Selección Natural, el nuevo podcast original de ciencia ficción de Spotify.

En esta historia de ficción, Sofía, un robot humanoide de inteligencia artificial avanzada, se embarca en una misión científica en la Antártida con Ismael, un experto en cambio climático. A lo largo de los cinco episodios, los oyentes descubren que Sofía no es una inteligencia artificial cualquiera. Sofía desarrolla sentimientos y complejidades tan humanas que uno casi se olvida de que Sofía es una máquina, lo que provoca diversas consecuencias. 

El podcast está escrito por Julio Rojas, creador y guionista de la aclamada serie Caso 63. “En Selección Natural me interesa explorar algo inminente: Cómo será la dinámica entre un  humano y una máquina que tiene conciencia de sí misma y puede jugar a experimentar emociones. ¿Qué vínculos se generarán? ¿Cuáles serán las dinámicas de poder y por último, quién tomará las decisiones?,” explica Rojas.

La actriz, cantante y productora mexicana Danna da vida a Sofía, mientras que el actor chileno Álvaro Rudolphy pone voz a Ismael. 

La serie no sólo examina cuestiones clave sobre el uso de la inteligencia artificial, sino que también utiliza herramientas basadas en la IA para diversos aspectos de la producción. Aunque el guión fue escrito por Rojas en su totalidad, utilizó herramientas de IA para ajustar algunas partes del contenido de la protagonista, haciéndola sonar más humanoide. Además, las grabaciones de voz de Sofía se hicieron en los estudios de Spotify en Los Ángeles y luego se introdujeron en un modelo de IA para obtener la voz final. El objetivo de este enfoque creativo era obtener una grabación realista de cómo sonaría una IA. Por último, también se utilizó la IA para el aspecto visual de Sofía en el podcast. Un artista digital y diseñador gráfico especializado en diseño de IA trabajó con un retrato real de Danna y lo sometió a un programa de IA para crear el personaje final.

Selección Natural es un podcast atrapante que demuestra el poder de la IA, tanto en la trama de la historia como en las herramientas de producción. Descubre esta historia única y emocionante de amor y conexión escuchando el primer episodio, a continuación.

Celebrate May the 4th With Special ‘Star Wars’ Playlists, Audiobooks, and More

May 1, 2024

Spotify’s Star Wars celebrations are in full Force starting today, and this May the 4th—aka Star Wars Day—fans will discover playlists with exclusive interactive content and new ways to explore audiobooks from the iconic franchise.

In our Best of Star Wars playlist—which has been streamed over 70 million times to date—multiple lightsabers have been hidden throughout our collection of the most-iconic Star Wars songs. Those intrepid enough to find them all will be rewarded with special Easter eggs featuring beloved characters from the Star Wars universe.

In addition, Spotify Audiobooks today launched its new Sci-Fi & Fantasy Essentials hub, which includes a number of Star Wars classics for fans to listen along to, in addition to new and quintessential sci-fi and fantasy titles such as The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, and Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith, releasing May 6.

Ready to listen for yourself? Just follow these simple steps.

How to celebrate Star Wars Day with Spotify:

  • Lightsaber Scavenger Hunt (Mobile Only): Listen to Spotify’s Best of Star Wars Playlist to begin unlocking hidden lightsabers in the tracks. As specific songs are played, listeners will receive a message from characters announcing they have unlocked a lightsaber. Once a listener has collected all five, they can check back later for a special message coming from a galaxy far, far away. 
  • Intergalactic Audiobooks: Spotify Premium users across the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand have access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening time—check out titles from the Essential Legend Collection including Yoda: Dark Rendezvous or Timothy Zahn’s top-streamed Heir to the Empire (Star Wars Legends). 

Star Wars fans show their love on Spotify

While May the 4th is a banner day for Star Wars-related streams each year, Spotify data reveals that fans listen to their favorite Star Wars hits on Spotify all year long: 

The art of Star Wars soundtracks

Last (but certainly not least), For the Record spoke with composer Kevin Kiner who, alongside his children Sean and Deana, has created the scores for fan-favorite shows like Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and most recently, Ashoka. Keep reading to discover what makes a Star Wars song a Star Wars song, his creative approach to Star Wars shows, and his experience of watching Star Wars for the very first time. 

Kevin Kiner

How does it feel to be a part of the Star Wars universe? Were you always a fan?

It means everything to me. It’s the crowning achievement of my career to be part of Star Wars, and in my opinion, having themes that are now canon in the Star Wars universe is one of the greatest honors a composer can have.  

But to fully answer the question, I was always a fan. I went to every midnight showing I could. I don’t think there was a midnight showing in 1977, but I do remember when I first saw Star Wars. When I first saw that giant Star Destroyer and I first heard John’s magnificent theme, it changed my life, musically speaking.

Your work spans many different genres and worlds. How do you add in elements that bring those various places to life in a score?

It’s hard to talk about being eclectic and cohesive at the same time when the very definition of being eclectic often involves not being cohesive. I feel that all of the music we do for Star Wars still has a largeness of scope to it in the same way John Williams’ compositions do. If you take his “The Imperial March,” for example, it’s a giant piece of music in terms of not being subtle and being extremely bold. 

Boldness is one of the hallmarks of Star Wars music. That’s what we strategically have in mind when we are writing. So even if we are using unusual flutes or dark synths, they are all bold sounds that hearken to the spirit of the Star Wars universe. 

How do you get into the right creative mindset when you start work on a new Star Wars soundtrack?

For Ahsoka, Sean, Deana, and I put together a playlist of 20-25 tracks that we thought were really groundbreaking and unusual. The list included everyone from Joe Hisaishi to John Williams, with many other composers in between. 

Then, we sent those to Ashoka creator Dave Filoni and got feedback from him as to what he liked. But mostly, we just let those percolate in our brains a little bit. My personal technique for preparing is I go to the piano every morning and I start working on ideas.  

After a while, those ideas start to gel into different themes. Also, sometimes a theme just comes while I’m in the middle of writing a cue. Many times, that winds up being the best theme in the show.

The second season of Ahsoka is in development. Any fun musical surprises the fans can expect?

I actually don’t know a thing about Season 2 yet. Purposely, I have asked Dave to keep us in the dark, unless we need to develop a theme that happens later on in the arc of a series. 

I like to be surprised when I first watch a show or a film because thoughts and ideas come to me as a visceral reaction to what I’m watching. So that’s a long way of saying that I have no idea if there are musical surprises. But I’m sure there will be something that surprises even me!

Kick off your May the 4th celebrations with the Lightsaber Scavenger Hunt in our Best of Star Wars playlist!

Las mentes creativas de “Caso 63” regresan con un nuevo misterio de ciencia ficción: “Caso 63: Enigma

October 17, 2023

a futuristic rainbow cube

En 2020, lanzamos Caso 63, una audio serie con guión chileno que encabezó las listas de éxitos. El podcast original de Spotify fue tan popular que más tarde adaptamos la historia al Portugués, Hindi, e Inglés

Ahora Julio Rojas, el creador detrás del exitoso original, está de vuelta con una nueva historia ambientada en el mismo universo: Caso 63: Enigma. Y aunque los fans se encontrarán con un nuevo elenco de personajes, recordarán algo que se insinuó en la primera temporada de Caso 63: el 6 de agosto de 2042, Johana Flores, astronauta de una colonia marciana, hace un descubrimiento trascendental en un antiguo vestigio de una civilización madre conocida como “La Estructura”. Allí, Johana descubre un libro que contiene la clave para viajar en el tiempo. Pero, como sugiere el eslogan de la serie, “una cosa es encontrar un enigma y otra resolverlo”.

Caso 63: Enigma profundiza en esta historia, presentando a los oyentes a Isabel, una mujer mexicana encargada de resolver el misterio del libro, (también conocido como “El Enigma”). A lo largo del podcast, los oyentes experimentarán los pensamientos de Isabel, conversaciones con amigos, investigaciones y sueños recurrentes.

El talentoso elenco de actores y actrices del podcast está encabezado por la actriz mexicana Ana Valeria Becerril como Isabel y Diego Klein como Javier. La serie también cuenta con los actores chilenos Gabriel Urzúa como Gaspar, Alvaro Rudolphy como Miguel, Ignacia Baeza como Rebeca y Marcial Tagle como Alfredo.

“La historia está maravillosamente escrita, no deja cabo suelto, creo que es un universo súper basto, pero para mi lo más interesante es el formato de podcast”, comentó Ana Valeria Becerril. “Te pones tus audífonos, te sientas en un sillón, cierras los ojos y dejas que tu imaginación corra libre”.

Para los fans que devoran los episodios en poco tiempo y quieren escuchar aún más contenidos de Caso 63, pueden consultar Caso 63 – El Universo de Canciones, una lista de reproducción musical colaborativa creada por Julio Rojas, el compositor del podcast Mowat, y Ana Valeria Becerril. Esta colección de temas oscuros, melancólicos y futuristas de iconos de la música como Björk, Portishead, Radiohead, y Nick Cave  sirvió de inspiración para la serie, y es el complemento perfecto para sumergirse aún más en su misterio.

Empieza escuchando la nueva serie, disponible ya en Spotify. 

 

Popular Chilean Sci-Fi Podcast Gets Adapted for Brazilian Listeners in ‘Paciente 63’

July 22, 2021

Since its premiere last fall, the popular Chilean Spotify Original podcast Caso 63 has transfixed listeners with its science fiction storytelling. Now, the time traveling show is going the geographical distance as Spotify adapts its Spanish-language podcast into Paciente 63, a Portuguese language version, for listeners in Brazil.

Created by Julio Rojas, the fictional show is set in the year 2022, when psychiatrist Elisa Aldunate begins a series of therapy sessions with “Patient 63.” As the sessions progress, time, space, and reality begin to blur, playing with listeners’ minds. Drama builds over the course of 10 episodes, delivering thought-provoking mystery for Spanish speakers the world over.

“It has been a very impressive phenomenon—Caso 63 was one of the most-listened-to audio series in Spanish in 2020 and was met with an enthusiasm that crossed countries, lasted for months, and generated a great amount of reflection and comments on all social networks,” Rojas reflected.

“[With the adaptation I feel] a lot of emotion,” he added. “Listening to Paciente 63 in Portuguese, with the level of its actors, the adaptation, and the production, it was as if the story had always been designed to be heard in that language. It is comforting to see that science fiction stories and their audiences have no borders, perhaps because stories make us all reflect on the same issues. Science fiction is today the great source of philosophical reflection on whom or where we want to be.”

The adaptation features Brazilian actors Mel Lisboa and Seu Jorge. Both stars lend their voices to the series, helping to immerse listeners in the world of Paciente 63.

“I was very excited to join Paciente 63,” Lisboa shared. “The series brings up, in many moments, the theory that there may be different realities based on the choices we make, so it can make people reflect on their mistakes and their decisions. Also, I think one insight that people can get from listening to Paciente 63 is that we’re likely to go through drastic changes. In 2019, for example, we did not imagine that we would need to isolate ourselves as is happening until now.”

The recording process was a new experience for the actors, who were unable to meet during the pandemic and instead developed their characters and relationships remotely.

“It was a challenge to bring a character to life through his voice,” Jorge shared. “The need to use only this feature as a means of immersion for the listener, especially with the COVID-19 limitations that were happening, made the process more difficult. It was an experience that required a lot of technique. Ultimately, the project was part of a rich process in which I had to study the best way to deal with my voice and trained a lot to get where I wanted to go.”

Lisboa and Jorge believe the story’s thought-provoking premise and audio format will resonate with Brazilians. For Rojas, this is no surprise—and only the beginning for fiction podcasts.

“For thousands of years, oral storytelling has been the main way for transmitting stories,” explained Rojas. “Listening to an audio series activates you, ignites new neural highways, and generates the intimacy necessary for self-reflection. You are part of the story because you help make it. It is a unique and personal experience, and I think that is the new format for a post-pandemic world. I hope that Brazilian listeners enjoy it.”

Join the adventures of Paciente 63 and Dr. Elisa. Binge all 10 episodes today:

Comedians Henry Zebrowski and Holden McNeely Break Down ‘Dune’ in Spotify Exclusive Podcast

March 15, 2021

Since its original 1965 publication, Dune, the six-part book series by Frank Herbert, has gained a worldwide following and earned its way into the literary hall of fame. The sci-fi sensation—a futuristic tale about a man who must navigate power and politics on the desert-like planet of Arrakis—is even being made into a blockbuster film adaptation slated for October starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. But fans don’t need to wait too long for new Dune content: Spotify’s new exclusive podcast Dune, hosted by Henry Zebrowski and Holden McNeely, brings a comedic take to the story that both longtime fans and science fiction newbies will enjoy.

That’s right: Last Podcast on the Left host Henry Zebrowski and Wizard and the Bruiser host Holden McNeely are coming together to take fans on an interstellar journey through Dune. Listeners can expect this show to carry the same edgy comedic spin the duo are known for. “Dune is made by the same powerful nerds who made Last Podcast on The Left and Wizard and the Bruiser,” Henry says. “The lessons hidden inside the books have changed my life in ways that have made me more difficult to love, but easier for me to rule the galaxy!”

Holden shares that he first picked up the acclaimed series thanks to Henry’s recommendation. “I soon got lost in an incredibly well-developed world and hero’s journey that said more about the universe and our place in it than pretty much anything else I’ve ever read,” explains the comedian.

The podcast includes 12 episodes that will bring an hour of laughs for both longtime sci-fi lovers and Dune newcomers. “Listen to the podcast if you love Dune and, more importantly, if you’ve never been able to love it but wish you could,” says Holden. 

Check out the first episode below.