[UPDATED] A Trio of Videos of Neal Stephenson Talking About SF
[UPDATE: here’s the start of Stephenson’s entire lecture.]
I love the Internets. I love the unexpected gems that you find…like these three videos of Neal Stephenson talking about speculative fiction.
First up: Neal Stephenson Argues Science Fiction is Not a Genre where he says science fiction, or speculative fiction genre, and genres in general have faded in the classical sense.
Next: Why Science Fiction Actors Become Niche Actors in which Stephenson theorizes on why “niche” science-fiction/fantasy actors like Lucy Lawless, Hugo Weaving and Leonard Nimoy so often end up cast in these types of roles.
And finally: Neal Stephenson on Intelligence and Science Fiction, in which Stephenson analyzes the correlation between types of intelligence and appreciation for science fiction.
These are from the Gresham College symposium a couple of months ago — there’s some discussion here.
My first thought on listening to this was how the fading of genres as a category might play into the never ending debate on the definition of science fiction.