Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Conversation begins at 12:45 (I went ON during my intro; sorry!)
During Readercon (https://readercon.org) weekend, Christopher Brown (https://christopherbrown.com) rejoined the show for our first conversation since the 2020 release of his novel FAILED STATE (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780062859105). We talk about the nonfiction project he's working on, tentatively titled THE SECRET HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS (christopherbrown.com/2022/10/the-secret-history-of-empty-lots/), the surprising reach of his FIELD NOTES weekly newsletter (https://edgelands.substack.com), tribes' creation myths and how they manage to justify dominion over the land, why the outdoors is one of America's most segregated spaces, and why he thinks calling Washington, DC "The Swamp" is an insult to swamps. We get into the differences and similarities between his fiction and nature writing, the impact of Tesla and the Gigafactory on life in/around Austin, TX (esp. for its neighbors in unincorporated land), the tensions of child-rearing at a time of ecological disaster, what it means to read science fiction through nature-lens (esp. Annihilation (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780374104092) and Neuromancer (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780441007462)), the natural world's response to COVID lockdowns and capital's post-COVID snapback, and what it was like to vacation in South Padre Island, TX during the hottest week in history. Plus, we discuss the fun of coming back to Readercon, the old semi-hip days of psychogeography, our backup plans to bug out of the failed state, and plenty more. Follow Chris on Twitter (twitter.com/NB_Chris), Bluesky (https://staging.bsky.app/profile/christopherbrown.bsky.social) and Instagram (instagram.com/ebitdada/), and subscribe to FIELD NOTES (https://edgelands.substack.com) • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-547-christopher-brown • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod or paypal.me/vmspod and via our newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
And go listen to our past talks:
2018 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-271-christopher-brown
2019 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-332-christopher-brown
2020 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-391-christopher-brown
COVID Check-In chimeraobscura.com/vm/covid-check-in-with-christopher-brown
Conversation begins at 12:45 (I went ON during my intro; sorry!)
During Readercon (https://readercon.org) weekend, Christopher Brown (https://christopherbrown.com) rejoined the show for our first conversation since the 2020 release of his novel FAILED STATE (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780062859105). We talk about the nonfiction project he's working on, tentatively titled THE SECRET HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS (christopherbrown.com/2022/10/the-secret-history-of-empty-lots/), the surprising reach of his FIELD NOTES weekly newsletter (https://edgelands.substack.com), tribes' creation myths and how they manage to justify dominion over the land, why the outdoors is one of America's most segregated spaces, and why he thinks calling Washington, DC "The Swamp" is an insult to swamps. We get into the differences and similarities between his fiction and nature writing, the impact of Tesla and the Gigafactory on life in/around Austin, TX (esp. for its neighbors in unincorporated land), the tensions of child-rearing at a time of ecological disaster, what it means to read science fiction through nature-lens (esp. Annihilation (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780374104092) and Neuromancer (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780441007462)), the natural world's response to COVID lockdowns and capital's post-COVID snapback, and what it was like to vacation in South Padre Island, TX during the hottest week in history. Plus, we discuss the fun of coming back to Readercon, the old semi-hip days of psychogeography, our backup plans to bug out of the failed state, and plenty more. Follow Chris on Twitter (twitter.com/NB_Chris), Bluesky (https://staging.bsky.app/profile/christopherbrown.bsky.social) and Instagram (instagram.com/ebitdada/), and subscribe to FIELD NOTES (https://edgelands.substack.com) • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-547-christopher-brown • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod or paypal.me/vmspod and via our newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
And go listen to our past talks:
2018 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-271-christopher-brown
2019 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-332-christopher-brown
2020 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-391-christopher-brown
COVID Check-In chimeraobscura.com/vm/covid-check-in-with-christopher-brown
