Red Moon, Red Earth: the radical science fiction of Kim Stanley Robinson
An essay for New Socialist on the political science fiction of Kim Stanley Robinson, with a focus on his most recent novel Red Moon.
Philosophy
Designing the future: a review of Economic Science Fictions
A little over a century ago, there was an expectation that the future was ours to map and manage. An excerpt from a review for New Socialist of Economic Science Fictions, edited by Wiliam Davies.
A future Solar System economy: thoughts on Michio Kaku’s The Future of Humanity
We seem to be entering a new golden age of space exploration but with so many national and commercial players its hard to know what to believe. I take a long look at The Future of Humanity, a new book by Michio Kaku that offers valuable insight into the likely infrastructure of a future space economy.
21st century monsters: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Artificial Intelligence
Mary’s Shelley’s great novel, published 200 years ago this month, retains a peculiar relevance, resonating with today’s hopes and fears for the possibilities opened by artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology.
Automating virtue: China’s Social Credit System and the technology of trust
An article for The Norwich Radical exploring China’s design for enforcing ‘trustworthiness’: the Social Credit System.
Love and loss, then and now: reading Ovid’s poetry of exile
The 2000th anniversary of the Roman poet Ovid’s death, far from home on the shores of the Black Sea, prompted some thoughts on the condition of exile, as experienced then and now.
Communism, Confucius and confusion: China’s turn to the sages
An article for The Norwich Radical discussing Communist China’s complex relationship with the legacy of the old sage Confucius.