XXV: Sci-Fi's Sense of Wonder w/ Lillian Wang Selonick

We were excited to have Lillian Wang Selonick back on the podcast as a repeat guest! We discuss her story published in Synthesized Sunsets “The Waters of Lethe”, her recent travels in Japan and Korea, the sense of wonder at the center of Sci-Fi, the evolution of the meaning of the word nerd, and more.Apologies for the really long delay between episodes. We have two more episodes recorded so the next few should come out in the next few weeks. In more exciting news, Kevin Kodama will be competing on Jeopardy this coming Wednesday February 25th, so check that out if you are interested.Hope you enjoy listening!TIMESTAMPS:0:14 - Introduction0:43 - Lillian’s recent trip to Korea and Japan5:17 - It’s cool that for a character language your writing system doesn’t change over time10:44 - Discussing Lillian’s story “The Waters of Lethe”12:20 - Writing with a character voice very different from your own18:35 - Researching the science for short stories21:13 - Cixin Liu’s “Church of Sci-Fi” essay from “A View From the Stars” and the sense of wonder25:41 - There is good Sci-Fi that doesn’t try to elicit this feeling33:30 - Sci-Fi is more centered on this awe feeling in China35:23 - Western translations try to add gravitas to Cixin Liu38:03 - Sci-Fi movies like Interstellar and 2001 are good at creating this awe feeling42:51 - Evolution of what it means to be a “nerd”48:51 - Nerd culture used to have a high barrier to entry53:19 - Being a nerd became way cooler in the early 2010s55:38 - Prose can do things that video can’t57:46 - Conclusion and Lillian’s story recommendation “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges59:54 - Start of Synthesized Sunsets Backstage1:02:23 - People come of age much more gradually nowadays1:10:31 - Rehashing the Church of Sci-Fi essay1:11:45 - Cixin Liu gets the same criticisms in China with regards to characters1:14:52 - The universe should be a protagonist in Sci-Fi1:22:32 - There is an unrealized demand for Sci-Fi with this focus on a sense of wonder1:29:56 - Discussing Kevin’s article “There Is No Antimemetics Division as a Reminder of the Internet’s Wild Potential”1:32:05 - SCP Foundation and “There Is No Antimemetics Division”1:37:54 - SCP Foundation was a cool thing you would run into from time to time1:46:27 - “There Is No Antimemetics Division” will probably not funnel people towards web fiction1:48:46 - Going on the internet is like looking up at the night sky1:51:41 - The ol’ reddit switcheroo1:55:57 - More Sci-fi writers used to be on the cutting edge of science1:57:02 - Conclusion This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe