The newest addition to the entertaining SmartPopBooks collection is What We Talk About When We Talk About Clone Club: Bioethics and Philosophy in Orphan Black by Professor Gregory Pence, just in time to delve deeper just before Orphan Black Season 4 kicks off in April.
What is the real-world history and science of human cloning, and how closely does Orphan Black nail it?
Can you “own” a person—even a cloned one?
How can Sarah Manning be straight, Cosima gay, and Tony trans?
Cult hit sci-fi show Orphan Black doesn’t just entertain—it also raises fascinating questions about human cloning, its ethics, and its impact on personal identity.
In What We Talk About When We Talk About Clone Club: Bioethics and Philosophy in Orphan Black, prominent bioethicist Gregory E. Pence violates Clone Club’s first rule to take us deeper into the show and its connections to the real world, including:
- Prominent myths about human clones (and Orphan Black’s rejection of them)
- Our ugly history of eugenics
- The ethics of human experimentation, by way of Projects Castor and Leda
- Clones and identity: What we can learn from twin studies and tensions among Orphan Black‘s clone “sisters”
- Kendall Morgan and other genetic anomalies
- The brave new world of genetic enhancement, clonal dynasties, and how Helena and Kira Manning fit in
In the process, What We Talk About When We Talk About Clone Club reveals why Orphan Black is some of today’s most engaging and thought-provoking television.
And best of all for you, Slice of SciFi has 2 copies to give away to our fans and listeners!
So tell us, who’s your favorite Leda or Castor clone, and why?
SmartPopBooks: What We Talk About When We Talk About Clone Club
Miguel Lopez says
Hard to pick a favorite, but if forced I pick Cosima, because is the one I would spend a good afternoon geeking out with, without worrying about sexual tension. 😉
Lowell in Columbus says
I think Beth, she had a very troubled young life and while starting Clone Club she just wasn’t strong enough to face what she has discovered and she though or face all of the discoveries.
Barry Kazimer says
My favourite Leda clone is Sarah Manning because she’s one of the originals. And she is such a rebel. You rock girl!.
Lorraine says
I would pick Sarah because she’s entertaining, full of spirit.
Ruth Kazimer says
I think I like Cosima Niehaus best. She is such a brain!