Podcast Summary: Relic Radio Sci-Fi — A Sound Of Thunder (SF '68)

Episode Date: November 17, 2025
Adapted From: Ray Bradbury’s short story
Production: SF '68 (originally aired in South Africa, adapted by Michael McCabe)
Podcast Host: RelicRadio.com

Episode Overview

This episode features the old-time radio adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s seminal time-travel story, A Sound of Thunder, originally written in 1952. The narrative follows a commercial time-travel safari operation where paying customers can hunt dinosaurs in the prehistoric past—provided they follow strict rules to avoid changing history. The episode explores the butterfly effect, the profound consequences of small actions in the past, and the fallibility of human nature in the face of awe-inspiring power.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Time Safari, Inc.: The Premise and Rules

• Time Safari, Inc. offers guided hunting trips into the distant past, advertising: “You name the animal, we take you there, you shoot it.” (03:56)
• Prospective customer Robert Eccles (Eckles) inquires about safety guarantees. He's told: “We guarantee nothing. Except the dinosaurs.” (04:07)
• Escort and guide Travis sets strict conditions:
  • Stay on the anti-gravity path, six inches above the ground. Never step off.
  • Only shoot marked animals—which are selected because they are about to die naturally.
  • Penalties for breaking rules: heavy financial fees and possible criminal charges.

2. The Butterfly Effect: Fragility of the Past

• Travis explains the rationale for the rules, crystallizing the story’s core idea:
  • “We don’t want to change the future. Not even by accident. Even killing a mouse could destroy an entire species, start a ripple effect... and change history.” (10:37)
  • Notable quote: “With one stamp of your foot, you annihilate first one, then a dozen, a million, a billion possible mice.” (11:27)
• The path, gun sterilization, and careful animal selection serve to minimize any inadvertent impact on the timeline.

3. Time Travel and Political Undertones

• The episode is set shortly after a pivotal U.S. presidential election, underscoring the theme of choices shaping the world:
  • "Thank the stars Keith won. He’ll make a fine President of the United States... If Deutscher had gotten in, we’d have had the worst kind of dictatorship.” (06:41)
• Time Safari’s clients joke about escaping into the past to flee unsatisfactory political futures.

4. The Thrill—and Terror—of the Hunt

• The team travels back 60 million years; Eccles is awed and then terrified by the realization of the scale and power of the Tyrannosaurus rex:
  • “William. Will you look at that? Oh, my. It could reach up and grab the moon.” (18:08)
  • Overcome by fear, Eccles panics and steps off the path into the prehistoric undergrowth (22:03).

5. Catastrophic Mistake & Aftermath

• Eccles’ momentary panic causes him to stray off the path—a direct violation:
  • Travis, coldly furious: “He ran off the path. Look at his shoes. This ruins us… You don’t know. You can’t understand what he’s done to time. To history.” (24:15)
• He is forced to retrieve spent bullets from the slain dinosaur and ordered not to re-enter the time machine until he complies—a moment of humiliation and shame.

6. Return to the Changed Present

• Although the physical setting appears nearly identical, Eccles notices faint but disturbing changes:
  • “The same man sat behind the same desk. But the same man did not quite sit behind the same desk. He could feel them moving there beyond the walls, almost like so many chess pieces blown in a dry wind.” (27:49)
  • Major clues: The English language on signage is twisted, words are oddly spelled (28:16). The air smells different, colors seem off, and the receptionist is subtly changed.
• Eccles discovers the cause: a dead butterfly, glistening on the sole of his shoe.

7. The Ultimate Consequence

• The new timeline is unveiled: Deutscher—“militarist, anti-everything”—has won the presidency (29:18).
• Eccles is stricken by guilt and horror at the scale of his error:
  • “Not a little thing like this. Not a butterfly…” (28:45)
  • He pleads: “Please? Can’t we take it back?... Can’t we start all over again?” (29:26)
• The episode ends with the sound of a rifle shot—the titular “sound of thunder” (29:54), suggesting Eccles’ fate.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Travis (on the rules of time travel):

  “Never step off the path. Never the path… You kill the mice, for want of those mice, a fox starves to death. For want of ten foxes, a lion starves. For the want of that lion, all manner of insects, vultures, a million life forms are thrown into chaos and destruction.” (11:12)

• Eccles (realization in the changed present):

  “Not a little thing like this. Not a butterfly.” (28:45)

• Travis (explaining how they select dinosaurs):

  “We only kill animals with no future… We destroy nothing that wouldn’t have been destroyed.” (13:56)

• On the altered sign:

  “The same sign he had made earlier… The same words, except the spelling Safaris was spelled S E F A R I S. Animal had two L’s. Name was N, A I M. Take T, A, E, K, you shoot it, you. It was Y, U.” (28:16)

• On the cost of a small mistake:

  “Step on a butterfly and you leave your footprint like the Grand Canyon across eternity.” (28:57)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | | --------- | ------- | | 03:56 | Time Safari, Inc. premise and introduction of Eccles | | 10:37 | Travis explains dangers and rationale for strict rules | | 18:08 | Encounter with the Tyrannosaurus rex | | 22:03 | Eccles panics and runs off the path | | 24:15 | Aftermath, Travis reacts to Eccles’ mistake | | 27:49 | Return to the changed present; growing unease | | 28:16 | Noticeable language changes and altered signage | | 29:18 | Revelation of new president (Deutscher) | | 29:54 | The sound of thunder—fateful ending |

Tone and Style

The adaptation brilliantly maintains Bradbury’s sense of peril and philosophical awe—delivering a sobering meditation on cause, effect, and personal responsibility. The mood balances the thrilling adventure of time travel with a deep, lingering unease about the frailty of the present and the terrifying vastness of consequence.

Summary

This episode of Relic Radio Sci-Fi brings to life a timeless allegory of unpredictability and responsibility, illustrating Bradbury’s maxim that even the smallest actions can ripple across eternity. Echoes’ simple mistake—stepping off the path and killing a butterfly—reverberates all the way to the halls of power and the lexicon of language, forever altering the world. A Sound of Thunder remains a haunting warning about arrogance, ignorance, and the irrevocability of history.