Listen to Owen Bennett-Jones discuss the future of opinion polls with Mark Pack

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Science Fiction
Science Fiction May 5, 2022

The Circus Infinite

Khan Wong

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Few writers are as qualified to set their book in a circus as Khan Wong, who has not only performed in a circus but is an internationally recognized hula hoop …

Science Fiction

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Interviews with writers of science fiction and scholars of science fiction about their new books.

High Theory May 2, 2022

Outdated Futures

A Discussion with Manish Melwani

Manish Melwani

Hosted by Kim Adams and Saronik Bosu
Saronik talks with Manish Melwani about outdated visions of the future and stale science fiction ideas that just won’t die. Manish is a Singaporean writer of science fiction, fantasy, and …
Literature April 26, 2022

The Membranes

A Novel

Ta-wei Chi

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh
It is the late twenty-first century, and Momo is the most celebrated dermal care technician in all of T City. Humanity has migrated to domes at the bottom of the …
Science Fiction April 7, 2022

Stringers

Chris Panatier

Hosted by Dan Hanks
Take an average-to-below-average man, his loyal best friend, a jar of pickles, and some bug sex facts, and what do you have? The answer to that is Stringers, the new …
Science, Technology, and Society April 4, 2022

Science Fiction

Sherryl Vint

Hosted by Frances Sacks
The world today seems to be slipping into a science fiction future. We have phones that speak to us, cars that drive themselves, and connected devices that communicate with each …
Novel Dialogue March 17, 2022

The Work of Inhabiting a Role

Charles Yu speaks to Chris Fan (JP)

Charles Yu and Chris Fan

Hosted by Aarthi Vadde and John Plotz
Charles Yu won the 2020 National Book Award for Interior Chinatown but some of us became fans a decade earlier, with How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe …
Science Fiction March 10, 2022

Light Years from Home

A Novel

Mike Chen

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Literature is full of families torn apart by tragedy—death, war, crime. But what if the members of a family can’t agree on the cause of the tragedy that divides them …
Grinnell College: Authors and Artists March 1, 2022

How High We Go in the Dark

A Novel

Sequoia Nagamatsu

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I talked to Sequoia Nagamatsu about his novel How High We Go in the Dark (William Morrow, 2022).In 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of …
Science Fiction February 17, 2022

Goliath

Tochi Onyebuchi

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Tochi Onyebuchi’s new novel Goliath (Tordotcom, 2022) features a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in cities—gentrification.Like the gentrifiers of today who push out old-timers with high rents and coffee boutiques …
Science Fiction January 27, 2022

Deep Dive

Ron Walters

Hosted by Dan Hanks
“Why not just torture this main character and make his children completely disappear?” That’s the terrifying premise behind Deep Dive (Angry Robot, 2022), the debut novel by author Ron Walters …
Science, Technology, and Society January 20, 2022

What The Living Know

A Novel of Suicide and Philosophy

Matthew C. Kruger

Hosted by Sarah Kearns
Now that science has granted eternal life and youth to all, the world is a place of endless opportunity to live out one's dreams and fulfill one's desires. With death unnecessary …
Science Fiction January 6, 2022

Swashbucklers

Dan Hanks

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Most people believe that when they grow up, they need to “put away childish things”—a wise strategy for holding a job, paying the rent and raising a family. But what …
Chinese Studies December 21, 2021

Chinese Science Fiction During the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw

Hua Li

Hosted by Clara Iwasaki
The late 1970s to the mid-1980s, a period commonly referred to as the post-Mao cultural thaw, was a key transitional phase in the evolution of Chinese science fiction. This period …
Science Fiction December 16, 2021

Forging a Nightmare

Patricia A. Jackson

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Patricia A. Jackson’s debut novel Forging a Nightmare (Angry Robot, 2021) immerses the reader in a world of menace-—fallen angels and demigods whose history of alliances and resentments stretch to the beginning …
Science Fiction November 26, 2021

2034

A Novel of the Next World War

Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis

Hosted by Rob Wolf
The next world war is 13 years away—that is, if you live in the world envisioned by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War (Penguin, 2021) …
Literature November 9, 2021

Nick Bones Underground

Phil M. Cohen

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Shmulie Shimmer is the inventor of LERBS, the most popular designer drug ever to be created. Turns out that it leaves people brain dead, and Shmulie should be in prison …
Science Fiction November 4, 2021

Destroyer of Light

Jennifer Marie Brissett

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Destroyer of Light (Tor Books, 2021) is Jennifer Marie Brissett’s long-awaited follow up to her critically acclaimed debut Elysium, winner of a Philip K. Dick Special Citation and a finalist …
Science Fiction October 14, 2021

Light From Uncommon Stars

Ryka Aoki

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Ryka Aoki’s new novel, Light from Uncommon Stars (Tor Books, 2021), is packed with as much variety as a box of lovingly prepared assorted donuts from your favorite, funky-but-long-standing neighborhood donut …
Science Fiction September 23, 2021

No Gods, No Monsters

Cadwell Turnbull

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Cadwell Turnbull appeared on New Books in Science Fiction two years ago to discuss his debut novel, The Lesson, about an alien invasion and colonization of Earth, centered around Turnbull's …
Science Fiction September 2, 2021

In the Watchful City

S. Qiouyi Lu

Hosted by Rob Wolf
It’s no coincidence that one of the main characters in S. Qiouyi Lu’s In the Watchful City carries with ser a qíjìtáng, or cabinet of curiosities. Lu’s novella is, itself …