XXIV: AI and Our Collective Dreams w/ Ken Liu

XXVIII: There Is No Antimemetics Division w/ qntm

This week’s guest is qntm: he is most well known as the author of There Is No Antimemetics Division [https://www.amazon.com/There-No-Antimemetics-Division-Novel/dp/0593983750], a sci-fi horror novel depicting humanity’s battles against malevolent entities which erase all memory of their presence. He also has written a number of other fantastic short pieces of speculative web fiction you can find on his website [https://qntm.org/] or short story collection Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories [https://www.amazon.com/Valuable-Humans-Transit-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B0BL24DFMW]. In addition to the book itself we discuss how There Is No Antimemetics Division’s [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/antimemetics-division-hub] origins as a collection of tales on the collaborative fictional database SCP-Foundation, Kevin’s article [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division] on Antimemetics, and the future of fiction on or about the internet. Hope you enjoy listening! TIMESTAMPS: 0:12 - Introduction 1:01 - What is an antimeme? 5:24 - How did There Is No Antimemetics Division come to be? 7:54 - Antimemetics is a book where characters are forced to act without context 9:21 - Similarities between Antimemetics and a time travel story 11:12 - Writing characters who do not have a consistent memory and narrative 13:50 - Very little of what we sense is actually remembered 17:07 - Antimemetics had a lot of momentum 18:15 - Serialization forces you to make something happen in every chapter 18:58 - Does qntm view himself as a web fiction author? 22:48 - Writing a realistic portrayal of the internet 25:08 - When writing internet chatroom fiction don’t use the backspace key 26:08 - Maintaining old versions of stories 28:58 - It is instructive to have access to earlier versions of a work 29:45 - Discussing Kevin’s article “There Is No Antimemetics Division [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division]as a Reminder of the Internet’s Wild Potential [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division]” 30:12 - Fiction is less optimistic about the internet than it used to be 33:16 - There are less websites nowadays 35:58 - The internet is no longer opt-in 38:35 - Conclusion 39:47 - Start of Synthesized Sunsets Backstage 41:15 - Discussing Valuable Humans in Transit Collection 41:47 - These are stories that are clearly written on the internet 43:10 - Discussing “The Difference [https://qntm.org/differenc]” 48:41 - “Cripes does anyone remember google people [https://qntm.org/perso]” 51:57 - Cool to read a story that successfully predicted the future 53:31 - Versioning stories complete with a list of dependencies 57:30 - Discussing Kevin’s recent article “The Brilliance & Excess of [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/the-brilliance-and-excess-of-the]The Wandering Inn [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/the-brilliance-and-excess-of-the]” 1:00:36 - The genre of The Wandering Inn [https://wanderinginn.com/] is “long” 1:05:36 - When writing a story this long you already have reader buy-in to do whatever you want as an author 1:08:31 - The Wandering Inn tells big world spanning stories from the perspective of individuals 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 [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

XXVII: Subcultural Scenes w/ Cairo Smith

This week’s guest is Cairo Smith [https://substack.com/profile/62837185-cairo-smith]: a prolific novelist and filmmaker who edits the literary magazine Futurist Letters [https://open.substack.com/pub/futuristletters] here on Substack. We sat down to talk about his extremely online novel Scenebux [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] and the extremely online subcultures that inspired it. We also talk about his novels Current Affairs [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] and Komodo [https://mybook.to/cairosmith], as well as his short AI horror film Red Team [https://www.askariproductions.com/red-team]. And we couldn’t resist talking about Vibecamp [https://vibe.camp], which makes a brief cameo in Scenebux [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] as “Edgelands”. Check out Cairo on Substack at Futurist Letters [https://open.substack.com/pub/futuristletters] or at Askari Productions [https://www.askariproductions.com], where you can find out all about his upcoming projects. (This episode was recorded quite a long time ago, so we apologize if anything is out of date.) TIMESTAMPS 00:00:12 – Intro 00:02:20 – Reinventing old forms of media in the Internet age 00:04:51 – The novelty of seeing tech slop Twitter in a real novel 00:08:36 – Why indie fiction is able to be more up-to-the-minute than trad pub 00:10:30 – ALL THAT WE SEE OR SEEM [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224004657-all-that-we-see-or-seem] and the irrealism of “realistic” fiction in 2026 00:14:10 – When should you take the L for the art? 00:17:46 – The excitement of independently coming to ideas at the same time as everybody else 00:21:27 – Scenebux [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] and the vibes at Vibecamp [https://vibe.camp] 00:27:47 – Kevin’s anecdote about the “smell guy” 00:31:28 – The importance of subcultural preservation in literature 00:31:56 – Jargon as an antimemetic defense against subcultural dilution 00:32:38 – The short film Red Team [https://www.askariproductions.com/red-team] by Cairo Smith 00:37:36 – The changing role of the writer across eras 00:42:17 – Will anything replace the Hollywood film? 00:46:06 – Conclusion and final recommendations 00:48:42 – Synthesized Sunsets Backstage begins 00:49:26 – Brief synopsis of Komodo [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] and Current Affairs [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] 00:52:35 – Komodo [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] discussion 00:55:13 – Kevin’s thoughts on Scenebux [https://mybook.to/cairosmith] 01:00:25 – What is Vibecamp [https://vibe.camp]? 01:01:40 – Gordon explains why being waterboarded is fun 01:08:56 – Kevin yaps about his upcoming novel 01:14:35 – Conclusion and final recommendations 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 [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

XXVI: Jeopardy Retrospective w/ James Hirsh

This week is a special episode with lawyer and sports podcast host James Hirsh who recently competed against Kevin Kodama [https://substack.com/profile/59672315-kevin-kodama] on Jeopardy! We talked about their experience on the show and sports in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Hope you enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 0:14 - Introduction 0:30 - Was the Jeopardy experience as expected 2:18 - Jeopardy was more fun than expected 4:02 - Anything especially nerve-wracking about Jeopardy 7:05 - Daily Double strategy 13:41 - Lack of sports in SFF 17:41 - Sports in SFF normally involve actual death 21:16 - Sports will have to reckon with continued advances in technology 27:13 - Sports need to be willing to change incrementally 27:40 - Conclusion and Recommendation of “1984 and Beyond” Playboy Magazine Interview (Unfortunately was unable to find this online but it appears in Playboy’s July 1963 issue) 29:35 - Start of Synthesized Sunsets Backstage 31:47 - Kevin got along well with Ken Jennings 34:06 - Lowbrow culture doesn’t really appear in SFF 35:27 - SFF stories, even futurist ones, don’t have modern economies 39:11 - Hockey does a great job of crafting a good watching experience through its rules 41:21 - MMA is more strategic than might be expected 45:26 - Recommendation of “Heretics [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/470]” by GK Chesterton 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 [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

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

We were excited to have Lillian Wang Selonick [https://substack.com/profile/46841555-lillian-wang-selonick] back on the podcast as a repeat guest! We discuss her story published in Synthesized Sunsets “The Waters of Lethe [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/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 [https://substack.com/profile/59672315-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 - Introduction 0:43 - Lillian’s recent trip to Korea and Japan 5:17 - It’s cool that for a character language your writing system doesn’t change over time 10:44 - Discussing Lillian’s story “The Waters of Lethe [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/the-waters-of-lethe]” 12:20 - Writing with a character voice very different from your own 18:35 - Researching the science for short stories 21:13 - Cixin Liu’s “Church of Sci-Fi [https://yuxi.ml/docs/posts/liu-cixin-anthology/#religious-feeling]” essay from “A View From the Stars [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/158043792-a-view-from-the-stars?ac=1]” and the sense of wonder 25:41 - There is good Sci-Fi that doesn’t try to elicit this feeling 33:30 - Sci-Fi is more centered on this awe feeling in China 35:23 - Western translations try to add gravitas to Cixin Liu 38:03 - Sci-Fi movies like Interstellar and 2001 are good at creating this awe feeling 42:51 - Evolution of what it means to be a “nerd” 48:51 - Nerd culture used to have a high barrier to entry 53:19 - Being a nerd became way cooler in the early 2010s 55:38 - Prose can do things that video can’t 57:46 - Conclusion and Lillian’s story recommendation “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges 59:54 - Start of Synthesized Sunsets Backstage 1:02:23 - People come of age much more gradually nowadays 1:10:31 - Rehashing the Church of Sci-Fi essay 1:11:45 - Cixin Liu gets the same criticisms in China with regards to characters 1:14:52 - The universe should be a protagonist in Sci-Fi 1:22:32 - There is an unrealized demand for Sci-Fi with this focus on a sense of wonder 1:29:56 - Discussing Kevin’s article “There Is No Antimemetics Division as a Reminder of the Internet’s Wild Potential [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division]” 1:32:05 - SCP Foundation [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/] and “There Is No Antimemetics Division [https://www.amazon.com/There-No-Antimemetics-Division-Novel/dp/0593983750]” 1:37:54 - SCP Foundation was a cool thing you would run into from time to time 1:46:27 - “There Is No Antimemetics Division” will probably not funnel people towards web fiction 1:48:46 - Going on the internet is like looking up at the night sky 1:51:41 - The ol’ reddit switcheroo 1:55:57 - More Sci-fi writers used to be on the cutting edge of science 1:57:02 - 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 [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

XXIV: AI and Our Collective Dreams w/ Ken Liu

This week’s guest is author, lawyer, and engineer Ken Liu [https://substack.com/profile/1843069-ken-liu]— a man of many talents. You may know him for his collections The Paper Menagerie [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24885533-the-paper-menagerie-and-other-stories?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_19] and The Hidden Girl [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52163147-the-hidden-girl-and-other-stories?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_15], his fantasy quartet The Dandelion Dynasty [https://www.goodreads.com/series/117103-the-dandelion-dynasty], inspiring the show Pantheon [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon_(TV_series)], or perhaps even translating The Three-Body Problem [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-problem]. His recent novel All That We See or Seem [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224004657-all-that-we-see-or-seem] is a near-future thriller about a beloved AI ‘dream artist’ who disappears without a trace, as well as the hacker trying to find her. It is the first of several planned ‘Julia Z novels’. In this episode, we discussed Liu’s inspiration for this new novel, his concept of ‘silkpunk’ in the context of The Dandelion Dynasty, and the uncertain future of art in the age of AI. You can find more information about him on his website kenliu.name [https://kenliu.name] or right here on Substack at The Lion's Teeth [https://open.substack.com/pub/kenliu]. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS 00:00:12 – Intro 00:00:56 – Ken Liu’s new thriller All That We See or Seem 00:02:22 – “Dreamweaving” and why using AI feels like a dream 00:09:26 – Why did LLMs not make it into literature earlier? 00:18:13 – Writing near-future SF and “Real Artists” 00:27:36 – AI as a copying machine of the “desired original” 00:34:02 – Compensating artists in the age of AI 00:41:53 – Silkpunk and The Dandelion Dynasty 00:49:05 – Tax policy and cultural technology 00:56:23 – “All life is an experiment” 00:00:57 – Conclusion and final recommendations 01:02:51 – Synthesized Sunsets Backstage begins 01:05:17 – Ken Liu is unusually optimistic about AI art 01:12:22 – How will idiolects of AI and humans feed off each other? 01:18:03 – The Dandelion Dynasty as an experiment in exposition 01:23:45 – The character of Mata Zyndu and writing morality out of time 01:26:06 – The Paper Menagerie and The Hidden Girl are really different 01:27:44 – “Byzantine Empathy” by Ken Liu 01:30:29 – Ken Liu on the irrealism of fiction that avoids technology 01:33:03 – New season / reopening for submissions 01:35:03 – Conclusion and final recommendations 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 [https://synthesizedsunsets.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]