Robin Wasserman, author of the young adult science fiction novel Skinned, joins us to discuss hacking Harvard, working in publishing, human identity, and writing about the future. Dave and John try to figure out how to upload their minds.
Introduction
0:00 Introduction by Tor.com
0:38 Dave and John introduce the show
Interview: Robin Wasserman
02:51 Interview begins
03:04 Some of Robin’s favorite SFF when she was growing up
03:35 How Robin got into science fiction, and on being a closet fan
05:09 Robin talks about Skinned and importing consciousness into a machine
07:14 Accidental dystopia: world-building for Skinned
08:31 Robin’s novel Hacking Harvard: “A geek My Fair Lady.”
09:30 Her experience at Harvard and favorite classes, and the class that inspired Skinned
12:16 The Defecating Duck: some of the more interesting automata that Robin studied
13:23 Robin’s life working in publishing, and how it slowed down her panic as a writer
16:06 The transition from editor to writer
17:19 Crashed and Wired, the sequels to Skinned
19:13 On the state of YA science fiction
22:31 Interesting feedback from Robin’s readers
24:21 The Seven Deadly Sins series, soon to be a Lifetime movie
26:09 The humor in her work
27:52 Coming up from Robin: murder mystery/crypto-thriller The Book of Blood and Shadow
28:55 Interview ends
Dave and John think deep thoughts about transferring human consciousness
29:01 YA science fiction: Hunger Games; Uglies (John’s review of Uglies can be found here)
33:08 Mind uploading, both as a science fiction and fantasy trope
35:13 Transporters and the ‘continuity of consciousness’ problem
36:50 James Patrick Kelly’s “Think Like a Dinosaur”
37:22 In which we learn that this trope really bugs John, and why
39:51 Star Trek: Voyager and the transporter malfunction
42:22 The thought experiment of the mechanical brain
44:53 Dave proceeds to REALLY FREAK OUT PODTERN with scientific facts! (Good luck sleeping after this bit)
47:29 On the subject of souls
49:24 Regarding death and Heaven
51:12 Preserving great minds: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds; Kiln People by David Brin; the Cymechs of Dune
54:35 Gene Wolf’s Book of the New Sun
56:04 And now for something completely different: The Man With Two Brains; Freaky Friday; Vice Versa
58:34 Dave once again attempts to corrupt our youth with tales of computer vandalism, and apologizes to a former teacher
01:02:13 Show wrap-up
Bonus Links!
The New York Review of Science Fiction
Next week: Eli Kintisch, author of Hack the Planet
Thanks for listening!
John Joseph Adams (www.johnjosephadams.com) is an anthologist, a writer, and a geek. He is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. He is currently assembling several other anthologies, including Brave New Worlds, The Living Dead 2, The Mad Scientistís Guide to World Domination, and The Way of the Wizard. He worked for more than eight years as an editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and is currently the fiction editor of Lightspeed Magazine, which launches in June 2010.
David Barr Kirtley (www.davidbarrkirtley.com) is a writer living in New York who has been called “one of the newest and freshest voices in sf.” His short fiction appears in magazines such as Realms of Fantasy and Weird Tales, and in anthologies such as The Living Dead, New Voices in Science Fiction, and Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition.
Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
