On this month’s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Annalee Newitz about “newitz-short-story-when-robot-and-crow-saved-east-st-louis.html">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

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When you imagine how science and technology will reshape our future, does it excite you, or scare you, or both? Each month, the Future Tense Fiction podcast will introduce you to a short work of science fiction, one that will challenge, surprise and intrigue you. Then host Maddie Stone will talk with the author to explore how their own experiences with technology—from smart weapons, to electronic pets, to virtual reality—informed their writing and their vision.

That’s every month on Future Tense Fiction, a podcast from Slate, Arizona State University, and New America. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. See you in the future.

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In this sixth and final episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to the Public Shakespeare Initiative’s Michael Sexton, Villanova professor John-Paul Spiro, Brooklyn College professor Roy Tsao, and theater critic Helen Shaw about the themes of populism, political authenticity, and the body in Shakespeare’s final tragedy, Coriolanus.

The actors in this episode are Geordie Broadwater as Coriolanus, Sean Williams as Menenius, Daryl Lathon as Sicinius, David Rosenberg as Brutus, and Henry Jenkinson and Will Sturdivant as the soldiers.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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Othello isn’t just a play about race, toxic masculinity, and the nature of identity—it’s a play that has influenced our own views on race throughout the centuries. But what did race mean in early 17th-century London?

In this fifth episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to Queen Mary University of London professor Jerry Brotton, Barnard College professor Kim Hall, and Ayanna Thompson, director of the Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University, about the history surrounding Othello and what it means to perform the play today.

The actors in this episode are Will Sturdivant as Othello, Sid Solomon as Iago, and Emily Gardner Xu Hall as Desdemona.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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Five hundred years before #MeToo, Shakespeare wrote his darkest comedy, a story of religion, sexual coercion, and the nature of justice.

In this fourth episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to theater critic Helen Shaw, Villanova University professor John Paul Spiro, and UCLA professor Claire McEachern about Measure for Measure, its troubling situations and conflicts, and why it’s still difficult to reckon with today.

The actors in this episode are Geordie Broadwater as Duke Vincentio, Emily Gardner Xu Hall as Isabella, and Daryl Lathon as Claudio, and Sid Solomon as Angelo.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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If a nation can be thought of as a family, what happens when the family running the nation falls apart? At the exact moment that King James I wanted to unite England and Scotland, Shakespeare answered this question with his masterpiece of tyranny, madness, and betrayal: King Lear.

In this third episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to theater critic Helen Shaw, Yale English professor David Kastan, and University of Roehampton professor Clare McManus about the themes of unification, misogyny, and entitlement found in one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. The actors in this episode are Geordie Broadwater as King Lear, Emily Gardner Xu Hall as Cordelia, and Daryl Lathon as Albany and Kent.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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Richard II is God’s anointed representative on Earth, but by the end of the play that bears his name, he’s dead and his cousin sits on his throne. This is the story of how Shakespeare used English history to ask still-relevant questions about legitimacy, and about how a performance of Richard II played a role in the last aristocratic rebellion against the English crown.

In this second episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to University of Richmond professor Kristin Bezio, Vanderbilt professor Peter Lake, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Julie Felise Dubiner about what made Richard II an intriguing figure, what defines legitimacy, and what audiences can learn from the play today.

The actors in this episode were Abe Goldfarb as the Duke of York and Earl of Northumberland, Daryl Lathon as Henry Bollingbroke, David Rosenberg as Richard II, and Sid Solomon as John of Gaunt.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Here, we offer a preview of the Julius Caesar extra, in which Isaac Butler, The Handmaid's Tale screenwriter Dorothy Fortenberry, and Vanity Fair film critic K. Austin Collins chat about the themes of elitism and the power of persuasion in the play.

To listen to the full episode—plus receive benefits like ad-free Slate podcasts and discounts to Slate Live events—sign up for Slate Plus at slate.com/shakespeare.

Lend Me Your Ears will return with Richard II on June 12.

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Lend Me Your Ears is a six-part podcast miniseries exploring how Shakespeare’s works have shaped our modern views on politics. Each month, host Isaac Butler will dig into a different Shakespeare play to explore how Shakespeare was responding to his current events, and how they map onto our own.

In this first episode, Lend Me Your Ears is looking at one of Shakespeare’s most accessible works: Julius Caesar. Why was the Bard so fascinated with the fall of the Roman Republic? Why do we tend to turn to this play when we worry about society’s future? How have contemporary theater makers reinvented Shakespeare’s version of the story for their audiences, especially in troubled political times?

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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