Blog
For my old weblog material, visit www.kschroeder.com/archive
Mar 25, 2020
Two hour interview on Singularity Weblog
This is my second time talking with Nikola Danaylov
About eight years ago, I sat down with Nikola to talk about all things Singularity--or, as it turned out, all the reasons I thought the Technological Singularity is an idea whose time has passed. Now, in spring 2020, we got to talk again, and we had a lot to catch up on.
What might be most interesting about this interview, which ranges across many topics, is that we did it just pre-COVID-19. The disease was out and ravaging China and Iran, but it hadn't really established a presence in Canada yet. Nonetheless, what I wanted to talk about with Nikola was how we can remain optimistic when humanity's options and power seem increasingly constrained. The context of the discussion was global warming, but the ideas apply equally well to the pandemic. Head on over to the Singularity Weblog, and hear for yourself.
Feb 07, 2020
Stealing Worlds makes Locus's Year's Best list!
I don't get to brag very often, so I'll do it now: every one of my novels has made this list
Check out the Locus Annual Year's Best list, which covers science fiction and fantasy novels, novellas, and short stories, as well as horror and other genre fiction. The reviewers and critics at Locus generally pick 25 or so titles in each category, which considering the number of books and stories published every year, puts you in pretty rarified company if you make it. I'm proud that all my books have made the list, and deeply proud that Stealing Worlds is in such good company this time.
Silicon Flatirons
I'll be a guest panelist this Sunday at this annual conference
We'll be discussing "Technology optimism and pessimism" at this year's Silicon Flatirons conference in Boulder, Colorado. Here's who I'll be speaking with:
Keynote Panel: A Conversation About the Future
- The Honorable Phil Weiser — Moderator
Attorney General, State of Colorado; Founder and Executive Fellow, Silicon Flatirons; Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado Law School - Casey Fiesler — Panelist
Assistant Professor, Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder - Patty Limerick — Panelist
Faculty Director and Chair of the Board, Center of the American West, University of Colorado Boulder - Karl Schroeder — Panelist
Futurist and Author
My Boskone 57 schedule
I'll be packing a lot into two days. Come out and visit
Here's what I'll be up to--a particularly fun set of panels this year!
Reading: Karl Schroeder
Format: Reading
14 Feb 2020, Friday 20:30 - 20:55
Your Generation Ship Has Landed! Now What?
14 Feb 2020, Friday 21:00 - 21:50
Our behemoth of a spaceship has been in transit since the days of our many-times-great grandparents. We've finally reached an Earth-like planet and are ready to go. What will our panel (of appointed/anointed/hereditary/elected?) leaders suggest doing first? Have they forgotten something important? Watch the panel map out our future and that of the human race on this, our new home. Then suggest your own ideas.
100 Years From Now…
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 12:00 - 12:50
The world as we know it has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. How about the next 100? What might everyday life be like a century from now? What technological marvels will the near future bring? What social changes will take place? How about natural and human-made disasters? Overall — where will we be, and how will we get there? Is the Singularity coming? "Day Million"? Or will our grandchildren herd sheep and shiver in the dark?
Futuristic Societies in Science Fiction
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 14:00 - 14:50
Creatures that are part human and part machine. Sentient alien species. People living on ships and across time itself. The future is full of people. So what does it mean to be a person in the future? How might futuristic societies evolve based upon their surroundings and histories? How can we escape the perils and pitfalls of contemporary social norms in order to create societies that feel completely fresh and new?
Kaffeeklatsch: Karl Schroeder
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 16:00 - 16:50
Autographing
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 17:00 - 17:50
Dec 26, 2019
Interviewed on the Bitcoin Podcast
Corey Petty and Demetrick are co-hosts of the highly successful Bitcoin Podcast. We talked about Stealing Worlds, crypto, and the value of optimism.
Just in time for Christmas, the Bitcoin Podcast interviewed me about my work and in particular, my latest novel Stealing Worlds. This was a really deep and far-ranging conversation--you might think the subject would have been limited to bitcoin and cryptocurrency, but no, we ranged all over from talking about NASA spinoffs, microcommunities, REDDIT and the Green New Deal. We talked about self-redistributing currencies, but also about the immense pace of beneficial change in battery technology, and how these multidimensional hits by new technologies affect us in so many different ways.
This was a great conversation and you can listen to it right now, in The Bitcoin Podcast: Episode 288.
Oct 23, 2019
Signing/Reading at Bakka Phoenix
Thursday, October 24, L X Beckett and I will be going post-cyberpunk
I'll be tag-teaming with L X Beckett at Bakka Phoenix bookstore Thursday, Oct. 24. We'll both be reading from and signing our new novels, which have some really interesting similarities.
Beckett's Gamechanger is set about sixty years later than Stealing Worlds, but they could almost be the same world. In my novel, we're balanced on the uneasy edge of the future; AI, self-driving cars, and murderbots aren't quite here yet, but people are already being displaced by their imminent arrival. In Gamechanger, the whole whirlwind of change that cyberpunk shows us has come and--not exactly gone, but evolved in really cool ways. Beckett's vision of the future is staggering, and I'm thrilled to be able to share the evening.