May 1, 2007 Episode

Authors Mike Resnick, Kim Stanley Robinson, Elizabeth Bear, Dave Freer, Paul Levinson and Stoney Compton are joined by Randal L. Schwartz (programming consultant and activist) and Walt (the Bananaslug) Boyes of Jim Baen's Universe magazine. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 1, 2007 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 142 minutes] ---

Topics include:

[1] News: (a) the recent discovery of the first earthlike planet other than our own, (b) your host's surgery, (c) your host will appear at ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC, USA (June 1-3, 2007), (d) listener feedback on superconductivity, sexual equality, the singularity and transhumanism.

[2] Many online magazines now pay professional rates--sometimes much better than print magazines--does this mean the great electronic experiment was a success? Or just that the print magazines are dieing? Mike Resnick (editor of the highest paying online magazine) discusses this and provides another eyewitness report on how bad things really are across Africa. He also answers your host's question about Funny Novels: is there more money but less respect?

[3] Walt (the Bananaslug) Boyes and Stoney Compton take us inside Jim Baen's Universe magazine.

[4] Must a generation die off for a culture to change its most deeply held beliefs? Or is our current population somehow learning to become comfortable with nontraditional ideas, behaviors, clothing and lifestyles? Elizabeth Bear speaks of this and the universal notion of Us verses Them.

[5] Have we been relying on non-lethal weapons for centuries without even realizing it? Kim Stanley Robinson insists that we have, and also argues that implanting a computer inside your skull is not trivial. It carries risks of damage and infection, and might best be reserved for solving life-altering problems like blindness or deafness.

[6] Another installment in our serialization of the novel Bones Burnt Black.

[7] Despite the numerous benefits, the renowned programmer Randal L. Schwartz insists he will be highly reluctant to accept a computer hardwired into his brain; and will refuse it entirely if its operating system is made by Microsoft since that would make his mind too easily hacked and too prone to spontaneously crashing.

[8] Cell phones have changed our culture and altered the way we live, but their changes are not yet complete. Paul Levinson ponders what is yet to come.

[9] Large scale engineering projects have been less visible recently thanks to all the buzz about nanotechnology. But the future is not given only to the very small. Those who design big are still thinking big, and the biggest place to build big is in the biggest place of all: space. Dave Freer presents his vision of how humanity will spread beyond the earth and fulfill its destiny among the stars.