Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
Wild Palms
Vurt by Jeff Noon
Burning Chrome by William Gibson
Stand on Zanzibar 00:30 // Transmetropolitan 01:55 // Wild Palms 09:50 // Vurt 14:15 // Burning Chrome (and others) 22:00
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman
Plot and Setting 01:18 (viral learning, accelerated childhood, photosynthesis, viral augmented reality, living history, communism, living history, viral empaths) // Themes 15:04 (utopia and distopia, invading thoughts in the gestalt, J G Ballard, Anne Leckie, the bigger picture, Big Questions, Cyberpunk cheats death, constrained by time, death and transcendence, editing the soul) // The Roleplaying Bit 29:38 (two experience tracks, Brexit, countdown to apocalypse, local and global collapse, the Village)
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “But enough about me Bill Paxton” from Direct to Video // “Cylinder four” from Cylinders // “I can’t imagine where I’d be without it” and “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
Synopsis 02:19 // Themes 06:51 // activism // corporate totalitarianism // biotech // Roleplaying 19:11 // corporate dystopia // cyberprep // PbtA and Urban Shadows (storms/fronts) // the contract // dual advancement tracks // “Village fiction” (The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, Wayward Pines)
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear // “But enough about me Bill Paxton” from Direct to Video // “Cylinder four” from Cylinders // “I can’t imagine where I’d be without it” and “Another version of you” from Thoughtless
This episode I’m revisiting two charming 90s near-future films: Wim Wender’s Until the End of the World, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days.
Until the End of the World 01:17 // Strange Days 06:26 // Themes 10:49 // Brain taping, addiction to dreams, Snow Crash, Dollhouse, Sense8 10:53 // Fear of the future, The Last Policeman 13:43 // Games 16:48
Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive
Samples: “Is That You Or Are You You?” from Reappear // “Another Version Of You” from Thoughtless