What is it about robots that gives them such a hold on our imaginations and such a perennially prominent place in pop culture? Despina Kakoudaki is here to answer our questions about robots in fiction and why we can’t seem to get enough of those stories.
Kakoudaki is the author of the new book Anatomy of a Robot: Literature, Cinema, and the Cultural Work of Artificial People, which looks at both the how and the why of robots prominent place in fiction — stretching from ancient poetry all the way to modern science fiction movies. She is also a professor of literature at American University, where her research focuses on the changing roles of robots in fiction, apocalyptic narratives, and the role of tech in early films, among other things.
She will be joining us from 11:00 a.m. – noon (Pacific time), so start asking her all your questions about how we think about robots, both now and in the past!
