From Martians undone by germs to predators who insist on sporting duels, we explore the most ridiculous alien invasion tactics in fiction, and what they reveal about strategy, science, and human resilience.

Join us as we journey beyond the birth of the universe to unravel the mysteries of what might have preceded the Big Bang—and whether time itself had a beginning.
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The 10 Worst Alien Invasion Strategies
Episode 733; July 1, 2025
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 

Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
0:00 Intro
0:48 10. The “Park and Wait” Strategy
2:02 9. Invading a Planet That Can Kill You
3:46 8. Single Point of Failure: The Hive or Control Ship
5:22 7. Telegraphing Your Arrival
6:50 6. Overly Convoluted Takeovers
8:30 5. Broadcasting Your Weakness
9:55 4. Playing Fair & Ritual Combat
11:54 3. Overconfidence & Underestimating the Locals
13:07 2. Hive Minds That Collapse Instantly
15:03 1. Ignoring the Home Field Advantage
16:06 Outro

The 10 Worst Alien Invasion Strategies (Narration Only)

Transhumanism promises a better humanity—or perhaps something no longer human at all. Join us as we explore the moral dilemmas and future paths of human augmentation.

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How Would Aliens Behave?
July 13, 2025; Episode 732
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Editor: Donagh Broderick
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Stellardrone, "Red Giant", "Billions and Billions"
Taras Harkavyi, "Alpha and..."

The Ethics of Transhumanism (Narration Only)

Aliens don’t always attack with lasers—sometimes, the smartest invasions begin with a gift, a whisper, or a smile. Join us as we count down ten invasion strategies that actually make sense.

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Credits:
The 10 Best Alien Invasion Strategies
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

0:00 Intro
1:20 10. The Infiltration Gambit: Invasion Without a War
3:58 9. False Prophets – The Alien Messiah Strategy
5:55 8. Weaponized Belief – Memes, Myths, and Messiahs
7:53 7. The Hybrid Convert Strategy
8:59 6. Shock and Awe: The Killing Star Approach
12:39 5. Divide and Conquer: Turning Humanity Into Its Own Worst Enemy
14:10 4. Trojan Tech: When the Upgrade Is the Invasion
17:40 3. Overwhelming Force and Organization
18:52 2. Preemptive Invasion & Interdiction for Conformity – The Galactic Empire Problem
20:32 Beyond Scorched Earth

The 10 Best Alien Invasion Strategies (Narration Only)

Explore the entire life story of the cosmos, from quantum flickers at the Big Bang to the distant eras of black holes and dark energy, and discover what kinds of civilizations might endure across these unimaginable spans of time.

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Credits:
Spaceport Innovations - Designing the Next Generation of Launch Sites
July 31, 2025; Episode 744
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Epochs of the Universe - The Cosmic Clock & Civilization (July 31, 2025)
Recorded: June 2025
Written by: Isaac Arthur
Editor: Lukas Konecny
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Epochs of the Universe - The Cosmic Clock & Civilization (Narration Only)

Epochs of the Universe - The Cosmic Clock & Civilization

Imagine engineering projects so vast they mold galaxies into new shapes. We’ll explore the staggering feats of Kardashev-3 and beyond civilizations, crafting CARD galaxies, Birch Planets, and even rearranging superclusters.

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Credits:
Spaceport Innovations - Designing the Next Generation of Launch Sites
August 3, 2025; Episode 746
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Galaxy-Scale Megastructures & Kardashev-3 Civilizations
Written by: Isaac Arthur
Editor: Darius Said 
Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York, Sergio Botero, Steve Bowers
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Stellardrone, "Endeavour", "Red Giant", &"Billions and Billions"

Galaxy-Scale Megastructures & Kardashev-3 Civilizations (Narration Only)

What do snake oil, N-rays, and cold fusion have in common? They’re all cautionary tales reminding us why skepticism is essential to science—and to our future.


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Credits:

The Great Scientific Scams - From Snake Oil to Cold Fusion

Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur

Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 

Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

The Great Scientific Scams - From Snake Oil to Cold Fusion (Narration Only)

Are we alone, or just looking for the wrong kind of aliens? Discover how the path to hive minds and distributed consciousness might answer the Fermi Paradox — and pose new dilemmas of their own.



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Credits:

The Fermi Paradox & The Hivemind Dilemma

Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur

Editor: Lukas Konecny

Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 

Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

The Fermi Paradox & The Hivemind Dilemma (Narration Only)

Rogue planets wander the cosmos without stars, but could we still call them home? This episode dives into how humanity might transform these frozen giants into thriving outposts of civilization.

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Colonizing Rogue Planets
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Colonizing Rogue Planets (Narration Only)

The silence of the stars might be hiding more than an absence of life — it might conceal ancient machines, monuments, and traps from civilizations long vanished. Today, we explore these eerie cosmic echoes and the risks of unearthing them.

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Credits:
Ancient Alien Artifacts - Cosmic Relics Of A Dangerous Past
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Script Editor: Lukas Konecny
Graphics: Sergio Botero, Udo Schroeter
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:42 The Cosmic Junkyard
3:56 What Survives When Civilizations Don’t
9:31 Dangerous by Design
12:04 False Gifts and Poisoned Knowledge
15:37 We Might Already Be Inside One
19:21 Detecting the Undetectable
21:34 The Human Reaction
23:31 The Million-Year Message
24:55 Galactic Cemeteries
26:53 The Ghosts We Might Meet
28:43 The Next Artifacts

Ancient Alien Artifacts - Cosmic Relics Of A Dangerous Past (Narration Only)

What does it take to turn the Sun into a power grid? Discover the step-by-step path from asteroid mining to a star-spanning megastructure.

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Credits:
Building a Dyson Swarm... from Scratch
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Graphics: Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York Sergio Botero
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Chapters
0:00 Intro What Is a Dyson Swarm?
5:49 Gathering the Materials
9:40 Proto-Swarm: Our First Steps
13:05 Mining the Solar System
14:33 Beyond Mercury: The True Scale of the Swarm
19:10 Ghosts of Friendship Past
20:34 Building Habitats: How Much Mass Do We Really Need?
27:42 The Long Dawn of a Stellar Civilization

Colonizing Rogue Planets (Narration Only)

Isaac Arthur

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