The Years of Rice and Salt 10: "The First Years," Circularity, Ending, Swerving, Becoming Fully Human

Look, here we are again! We start our final episode on The Years of Rice and Salt by talking about what's up next for the podcast. Short answer: probably a few standalone episodes on movies and KSR short stories, followed by a deep dive into the forthcoming The Ministry for the Future, followed by our next big project. But first, a short hiatus while we solidify plans and the school year starts to start. We reflect on rebirth and retribution, teaching and learning, and finding yourself in a small community and a large world. We talk about how the characters, K and B especially, attempt to become fully human, locating themselves between the Great Man and Mass Movement models of history. And we discuss the book's fantastic and uncanny elements, and try to keep the melancholy of ending a book at bay. Stay tuned to the end to find out whether or not we recommend this book! There were some extremely funky things happening with the recording this week, so sorry for any extra-weird hiccups in the recording and editing. We are going to use your donations to the show (yes, you can donate to the show via Anchor, but you really don't have to!) to buy Hilary a new microphone, which we hope will banish Robot Voice to hell. Thanks for listening, and see you soon! You can contact us at:  Email us at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @podcastonmars Leave us a voicemail on the Anchor.fm app Rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Music by Spirit of Space