Future Tense Fiction: Can a Pandemic Story Have a Happy Ending?

Slate Technology

Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2023

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this month’s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Annalee Newitz about “When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis.” Annalee’s short story follows a disease-fighting robot—and its companions, both human and crow—on a quest to track an outbreak and develop a vaccine before it's too late. The story was published in December 2018, but now, three years after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it offers a look at how public health responses could better reflect the needs of the communities they serve. Plus, Annalee shares how they learned to speak crow language. Guest: Annalee Newitz, author of the Terraformers, the Future of Another Timeline, and Autonomous. Story read by Gin Hammond Podcast production by Tiara Darnell You can skip all the ads in Future Tense Fiction by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/plus for just $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Future Tense Fiction, a podcast featuring stories about how technology could change tomorrow.
0:08.4	I'm Maddie Stone. About a year before COVID-19 emerged in China, Annalie Niewitz imagined what a future
0:16.1	infectious disease outbreak might look like in the U.S. One in a poor city, without a CDC.
0:22.6	But with an adorable robot, a clever child,
0:25.6	and some very resourceful crows.
0:28.6	Did this crow really help you find the outbreaks?
0:32.6	Yes, the crows think humans are idiots,
0:35.6	but they appreciate your garbage.
0:38.8	On today's episode, we're bringing you a reading of Annalie Niewitz's story
0:43.1	when Robot and Crow saved East St. Louis.
0:46.4	Then, Annalie tells us whether the real pandemic response would have been better with the right kind of machines.
0:53.0	That's all coming up on future tense fiction.
0:56.1	Stay with us.
1:02.9	This episode is brought to you by Indeed.
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1:34.9	This is Future Tense Fiction. I'm Maddie Stone. I'm a freelance journalist and editor of
1:40.7	the Science of Fiction, a newsletter about how science and pop culture intersect.
1:45.7	Every month, Slate's Future Tense Partnership with New America and Arizona State University's
	...

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