Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Acclaimed Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami discusses her gripping new novel, 'The Dream Hotel', which conjures a world where even dreams aren’t safe from surveillance.
Originally presented on 4 of March 2026 by The Wheeler Centre.
Watch Lalami in conversation with Sonia Nair as they explore the seductive pull of technology, the commodification of the private self and the unnervingly plausible future where a single line of code could seal a person’s fate.
Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Laila Lalami’s 'The Dream Hotel' is a chilling dissection of surveillance culture, technological overreach and the quiet, everyday ways people become complicit in their own monitoring.
Set in a near-future America shaped by predictive surveillance, Lalami tells the story of a woman swept into a surreal dystopia where dreams are weaponised by the state. Accused of a crime she hasn’t committed – yet – and detained indefinitely in a retention centre in the Californian desert, she must navigate a world in which corporations trade in the contents of our subconscious and algorithms claim the authority to determine guilt, innocence and destiny.
🔔 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
youtube.com/@WheelerCentre
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞
The Wheeler Centre is where writers, storytellers, thinkers and readers connect through live events, insightful conversations and compelling stories in Melbourne.
𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
Live and digital conversations, debates, readings, podcasts and discussions at The Wheeler Centre.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 👇
🔗 Website: wheelercentre.com
🔗 Instagram: instagram.com/wheelercentre
🔗 Facebook: facebook.com/wheelercentre
🔗Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wheelercentre.bsky.social
🔗 LISTEN wherever you get your podcasts: tinyurl.com/TWCLISTEN
Acclaimed Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami discusses her gripping new novel, 'The Dream Hotel', which conjures a world where even dreams aren’t safe from surveillance.
Originally presented on 4 of March 2026 by The Wheeler Centre.
Watch Lalami in conversation with Sonia Nair as they explore the seductive pull of technology, the commodification of the private self and the unnervingly plausible future where a single line of code could seal a person’s fate.
Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Laila Lalami’s 'The Dream Hotel' is a chilling dissection of surveillance culture, technological overreach and the quiet, everyday ways people become complicit in their own monitoring.
Set in a near-future America shaped by predictive surveillance, Lalami tells the story of a woman swept into a surreal dystopia where dreams are weaponised by the state. Accused of a crime she hasn’t committed – yet – and detained indefinitely in a retention centre in the Californian desert, she must navigate a world in which corporations trade in the contents of our subconscious and algorithms claim the authority to determine guilt, innocence and destiny.
🔔 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
youtube.com/@WheelerCentre
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞
The Wheeler Centre is where writers, storytellers, thinkers and readers connect through live events, insightful conversations and compelling stories in Melbourne.
𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
Live and digital conversations, debates, readings, podcasts and discussions at The Wheeler Centre.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 👇
🔗 Website: wheelercentre.com
🔗 Instagram: instagram.com/wheelercentre
🔗 Facebook: facebook.com/wheelercentre
🔗Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wheelercentre.bsky.social
🔗 LISTEN wherever you get your podcasts: tinyurl.com/TWCLISTEN
