January 1, 2008 Episode

Jack McDevitt, the best selling author, kicks off the show's new weekly format. Each weekly episode will feature a single guest interviewed in greater depth than ever before possible.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 1, 2008 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 53 minutes]

Jack McDevitt discusses how he has used the internet and email for research; science fiction on TV and in movies; what he learned by being a teacher and a newspaper reporter; and the novels that changed his life which include Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and the young adult stories in The Voyage of the Space Beagle.

He also talks about writing alternate history involving Sir Arthur Conan Dole's Sherlock Holmes, and he describes one of his favorite science fiction movies, the low-budget but brilliantly written film: Time Quest.

News items include (a) this program's new weekly format (b) our much shorter readings of stories from Jim Baen's Universe Magazine, and (c) Sir Arthur C. Clarke's 90th birthday. The legendary science fiction author celebrated the happy occasion a few weeks ago (December 16, 2007) by posting online a video Birthday Message to the entire world. (Sir Arthur is one of a handful of people who shaped and altered the course of your host's life, and was instrumental in his becoming a transhumanist over 30 years ago.) Listener Feedback includes emails examining whether or not guest interviews on this program should be censored.