299. Stories About Ordinary People (ft. Joanne McNeil)
Nov 26, 2023
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Guest Joanne McNeil, author of the novel Wrong Way, discusses the need to tell stories about ordinary people and their social relations with tech systems. They explore the impact of Silicon Valley billionaires, perception of giftedness, reviving new wave sci-fi, work experiences, and the importance of different perspectives in writing.
Emphasizing the impact of Silicon Valley billionaires on ordinary people's lives and the need to humanize ordinary characters within the larger context of technology.
Advocating for the diversification of voices and perspectives in tech literature, drawing inspiration from the New Wave era to challenge formulaic storytelling.
Highlighting the importance of creating literature that allows readers to empathize with everyday people and incorporating personal experiences to create relatable and authentic stories.
Deep dives
The novel explores the impact of Silicon Valley billionaires on ordinary lives
The author discusses the influence of Silicon Valley billionaires and their impact on ordinary people's lives. She emphasizes the contrast between the power these billionaires hold and the everyday experiences of ordinary individuals. Using examples like a roofing company incentivizing Google reviews, she highlights how these tech companies can force their way into people's lives, even when they have little interest or familiarity with technology.
Challenging the exceptionalist narrative in tech literature
The podcast episode challenges the exceptionalist narrative commonly found in tech literature. It critiques the tendency to focus on exceptional individuals who infiltrate tech companies to either save the day or expose their evils. Instead, the author emphasizes the importance of portraying ordinary characters with ordinary lives. She argues for the need to humanize these characters and focus on their experiences within the larger context of technology and Silicon Valley.
The need for diverse voices and a revival of experimental sci-fi
The episode highlights the importance of diversifying voices and perspectives in tech literature. The author expresses frustration with the lack of representation and the dominance of mainstream storytelling in novels about technology. She calls for a revival of the energy and experimentation found in the New Wave era of science fiction writing, where radical politics, queerness, and feminism were explored. By bringing back this spirit, she aims to challenge the current trend of formulaic storytelling and create more meaningful and thought-provoking works.
The Emphasis on Human Stories
The podcast episode delves into the importance of human stories in literature. It highlights the need for books that allow readers to empathize and sympathize with normal people, rather than focusing on the narratives of startup founders or wealthy individuals. The speaker discusses their own writing approach, aiming to create experiences for readers that go beyond ego trips or intentional mediocrity. They strive to connect with the everyday experiences of working people, incorporating relatable work environments and emotions in their writing.
The Influence of Personal Experiences
The episode explores the influence of personal experiences on writing. The speaker mentions how their own emotions and situations from past jobs served as inspiration for the book. They drew upon feelings of betrayal, scapegoating, and emotional labor in the workplace to create relatable and authentic scenes. While some readers speculated about autobiographical elements, the speaker explains their skill of transferring emotions into different contexts. Additionally, they express the desire to challenge themselves by pursuing different writing projects after completing a book, utilizing a different part of their creative process.
We are joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss her new novel Wrong Way, which skillfully blends a beautiful literary style — focused on characterization, inner life, human relations — with a sci-fi story set in an alternative present / very near future. Joanne’s novel takes the practices of Potemkin AI and pushes them to a logical extreme, revealing their true absurdity by centering the everyday life of an human worker whose job is to secretly imbue the technological future with autonomy. We talk about the need to tell stories about ordinary people and their social relations with the technical systems and corporations that structure their reality, rather than always focus on the hero’s journey of gifted kids with oversized egos and privileged agency.
••• Follow Joanne: https://twitter.com/jomc
••• Read Wrong Way: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374610661/wrongway
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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)
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