Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by The Functional Nerds. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Functional Nerds or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

Episode 671-With Joan Slonczewski

1:06:25
 
Share
 

Manage episode 495820231 series 57032
Content provided by The Functional Nerds. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Functional Nerds or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Minds in Transit by Joan SlonczewskiThis week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Joan Slonczewski, author of Minds in Transit.

About Minds in Transit: In the hundred-level city of Iridis, human lords recycle diamonds and emeralds down to the Underworld while sentient machines pilot lightcraft and perform surgeries. Microbial minds expand the brains of scientists and artists. The artist Chrys directs her microbes to paint startling installations, design smart buildings and fix quantum networks. A world-size virtual intelligence called Transit commissions Chrys to create a whole new city on another planet.

But unexpected flaws fracture her designs. Microbial criminal gangs invade Chrys’s brain to kill off her own micros and take control. In Iridis, the roots of buildings grow cancers that escape the Underworld and cause earthquakes. Outlawed machines shake down shops and kidnap human lords for ransom. The city’s rulers ignore the signs of collapse, then face a new threat that no mind foresaw.

About Joan Slonczewski: Joan Slonczewski publishes research with undergraduates on bacterial pH stress, funded by the National Science Foundation. They also study cold-adapted microbes from Antarctica. Slonczewski authors science fiction novels, including A Door into Ocean and The Highest Frontier, both of which earned the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. They teach courses on microbiology and on writing science fiction.

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2025 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 671-With Joan Slonczewski appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

  continue reading

219 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 495820231 series 57032
Content provided by The Functional Nerds. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Functional Nerds or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Minds in Transit by Joan SlonczewskiThis week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Joan Slonczewski, author of Minds in Transit.

About Minds in Transit: In the hundred-level city of Iridis, human lords recycle diamonds and emeralds down to the Underworld while sentient machines pilot lightcraft and perform surgeries. Microbial minds expand the brains of scientists and artists. The artist Chrys directs her microbes to paint startling installations, design smart buildings and fix quantum networks. A world-size virtual intelligence called Transit commissions Chrys to create a whole new city on another planet.

But unexpected flaws fracture her designs. Microbial criminal gangs invade Chrys’s brain to kill off her own micros and take control. In Iridis, the roots of buildings grow cancers that escape the Underworld and cause earthquakes. Outlawed machines shake down shops and kidnap human lords for ransom. The city’s rulers ignore the signs of collapse, then face a new threat that no mind foresaw.

About Joan Slonczewski: Joan Slonczewski publishes research with undergraduates on bacterial pH stress, funded by the National Science Foundation. They also study cold-adapted microbes from Antarctica. Slonczewski authors science fiction novels, including A Door into Ocean and The Highest Frontier, both of which earned the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. They teach courses on microbiology and on writing science fiction.

This week’s picks:

Links:

© 2025 Patrick Hester

The post Episode 671-With Joan Slonczewski appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

  continue reading

219 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play