Cory Doctorow's Blog, page 48

My guest-appearance on Hello From the Magic Tavern

I’m a huge fan of the fantastically rude improv/current affairs/high fantasy podcast Hello From the Magic Tavern, I’ve enjoyed it ever since I binge-listened to the first season halfway through.

Last month, I dropped into the Cards Against Humanity studios where the podcast is recorded while in Chicago on my book tour, where I sat in on a session (MP3) where I played Sigint, the Five-Eyed Spider, a whistleblowing ex-spy for the Dark Lord.

I had an amazing time: I’m no improver, but the...

Talking WALKAWAY with Reason

My novel WALKAWAY is something of a fusion of the best elements of the anti-authoritarian left and the anti-authoritarian right. In a meaty interview with Reason Magazine, I discuss the politics and economics, and theories of human action with Reason magazine Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward.

Liverpool, I’ll see you tonight on the Walkaway tour! (then Birmingham, Hay-on-Wye, San Francisco…) (!)

Thanks to everyone who came out for last night’s final London event on the UK Walkaway tour, at Pages of Hackney with Olivia Sudjic; today I’m heading to Waterstones Liverpool One for an event with Dr Chris Pak, followed by a stop tomorrow at Waterstones in Birmingham and then wrapping up in the UK with an event with Adam Rutherford at the Hay Festival.

Then I hit the road again in the USA, with stops at the Bay Area Book Festival, BookCon NYC, ALA Chicago, Printers Row Chicago, Denver C...

London! I’ll be at Pages of Hackney tonight with Olivia Sudjic! (then Liverpool, Birmingham, Hay…) (!)

Last night’s sold-out Walkaway tour event with Laurie Penny at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road was spectacular (and not just because they had some really good whisky behind the bar), and the action continues today with a conversation with Olivia Sudjic tonight at Pages of Hackney, where we’ll be discussing her novel Sympathy as well as Walkaway.

Tomorrow, I’ll be at Waterstones Liverpool One with Dr Chris Pak, and on Friday I’ll signing at Waterstones Birmingham before heading to Hay-on...

London! I’ll see you tonight on the Walkaway tour! (then Liverpool, Birmingham, and Hay…) (!)

Last night’s kick-off event for the UK Walkaway tour was brilliant, thanks to the magic combination of the excellent Tim Harford, the excellent people of Oxford, and the excellent booksellers at Blackwells!

Tonight I’ll be at Forbidden Planet at 6PM to sign books, then we’re walking over to Waterstone’s Tottenham Court Road for with Olivia Sudjic (author of Sympathy) at Pages of Hackney at 7PM.

After that...

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows us how science fiction predicts the present and shapes the future

Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds is a new MIT Press book commemorating the bicentennial of the publication of Mary Shelley’s seminal novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.”

I was honored to be asked to contribute an essay to the edition, which they titled I’ve Created a Monster! And so can you. It’s a look at how Shelley’s book illustrates the relationship of science fiction to the present (it reflects back our hopes and fears) and the...

Oxford, I’ll see you tonight on the Walkaway tour (then London, Liverpool, Birmingham…) (!)

I’m in the UK for the British Walkaway tour, which kicks off tonight at 7PM in Oxford where I’ll be in conversation with Tim Harford at Blackwells.

Then I’m doing three events in London: a signing at Forbidden Planet at 6PM on Tuesday, then a conversation with Laurie Penny at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road at 7:45 on Tuesday; and on Wednesday, it’s a conversation with Olivia Sudjic (author of Sympathy) at Pages of Hackney at 7PM.

From there, I’m heading back to the USA for appearances...

Burbank: I’m coming to you today on the Walkaway tour! (then Oxford, London, Liverpool…) (!)

I took great advantage of my 36 hour hiatus from the Walkaway tour, but I’m back at it today, with a 2PM appearance at Burbank’s Dark Delicacies, before I go straight to the airport to fly to the UK for my British tour.

On Monday, I’ll be at Blackwell’s Oxford at 7PM with Tim Harford; on Tuesday I’ll be in London at Forbidden Planet at 6PM and at Waterstone’s Tottenham Court Road at 7PM with Laurie Penny.

On Wednesday I’ll be in London again, at Clapton’s Pages, with Olivia Sudjic; and...

Talking Walkaway with Suicide Girls Radio

Nicole Powers interviewed me for Suicide Girls Radio and transcribed our wide-ranging, political conversation that ranged over Calexit, computer law, Occupy, and science fiction’s role in the world.

NP: I watched your New York Public Library Q&A with Edward Snowden two days ago. You both spoke about immorality being used as a MacGuffin in the book. However, I read an article recently about a surgeon that successfully transplanted a head on to a rat. That same surgeon says he’s going to do...

Vancouver, I’ll see you at tonight’s Walkaway tour stop (then Burbank, Oxford, London…) (!)

Many thanks to the good folks who came out to Bellingham’s Village Books for last night’s Walkaway event; tonight, I’ll be appearing in Vancouver before flying home to Burbank for an event at my local Dark Delicacies on Saturday and then going straight to the airport for the start of my UK tour.

I’ll be starting that tour in Oxford with Tim Harford; then in London on two consecutive nights, the first with Laurie Penny and the second with Olivia Sudjic; then I’ll be in Liverpool with Chri...