The podcast episode 'The Great Political Fictions: The Time Machine' provides an in-depth analysis and interpretation of H.G. Wells' 1895 science fiction novella 'The Time Machine'.

The episode explores how the novel reflects late Victorian anxieties about social progress and human evolution, with the story depicting the evolutionary split between the civilized and bestial aspects of humanity into separate species.

The episode contrasts the pessimism of 'The Time Machine' with Wells' more optimistic later speculation, and argues that history has not borne out Wells' fears of progress becoming futile.