A Canticle for Leibowitz
Fiat Homo
Walter M. Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic novel about the preservation of knowledge after civilization has been devastated by nuclear war. This radio adaptation presents the story of a community of monks in the American Southwest, whose work centers on safeguarding fragments of the old world.
The title “Fiat Homo” identifies the opening section of the novel, where the monks’ patient, often painstaking efforts to preserve documents meet the mysteries and hardships of life in a changed world. The story blends religious life, speculative fiction, and reflections on how societies remember—and repeat—their past.
Its tone moves between solemn and wry, balancing the monks’ devotion and daily routines with the immense historical questions surrounding them. The result is thoughtful science fiction focused less on spectacle than on faith, learning, and the fragile continuity of human culture.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.