Episode 611-With Wole Talabi

The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Wole Talabi, author of Convergence Problems.

About Convergence Problems: From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, for knowledge, for justice; constantly converging on our future selves.

In “An Arc of Electric Skin,” a roadside mechanic seeking justice volunteers to undergo a procedure that will increase the electrical conductivity of his skin by orders of magnitude. In “Blowout,” a woman races against time and a previously undocumented geological phenomenon to save her brother on the surface of Mars. In “Ganger,” a young woman trapped in a city run by machines must transfer her consciousness into an artificial body and find a way to give her life purpose. In “Debut,” Nairobi-based technical support engineer tries to understand what is happening when an AI art system begins malfunctioning in ways that could change the world.

The sixteen stories of Convergence Problems, which include work published for the first time in this collection, rare stories, and recently acclaimed work, showcase Talabi at his creative best: playful and profound, exciting and experimental, always interesting.

About Wole Talabi: Wole is an engineer, writer, and editor from Nigeria. Author of the critically acclaimed Shigidi And The Brass Head Of Obalufon which was named one of the best books of 2023 by The Washington Post. He’s hopped around the planet quite a bit but right now, lives in Australia. He’s been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, the Caine Prize, and won the Sidewise award for alternate history. Wole’s work has also been translated into 7 languages. His fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, F&SF, Clarkesworld, and is collected in the books Incomplete Solutions (2019, Luna Press) and Convergence Problems (2024, DAW Books)

This week’s picks:

• Wole: Bridge: A Novel of Suspense by Lauren Beukes
• Tracy: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi
• Patrick: The Marvels

Links:

• Wole Talabi on the network formerly known as Twitter
• Tracy Townsend on the network formerly known as Twitter
• Patrick Hester on the network formerly known as Twitter
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2024 Patrick Hester

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