This turns out to be a perfectly timed episode of Eating the Fantastic, though I didn’t plan it that way, and had no idea while recording such would be the case. The reason for my feeling of serendipity is because my guest is Malka Older, author of the novels Infomocracy, Null States, and State Tectonics — which comprise the Centenal Cycle — and which just a few days ago was announced as having made the final Hugo Awards ballot in the category of Best Series.

In addition to being the author of that series — the first book of which was named one of the best books of 2016 by Kirkus, Book Riot, and the Washington Post — Malka Older has also written short fiction and poetry which have been published at WIRED, Tor.com, Fireside Fiction, and many other venues. Her first short story collection And Other Disasters will come out in late 2019.

In the non-fiction side of her life, she has a Masters in international relations and economics from the School of Advanced International Studies Johns Hopkins University, was named Senior Fellow for Technology and Risk at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs for 2015, and has more a decade of experience in humanitarian aid and development.

She joined me for lunch at Momofuku CCDC, a restaurant which will be familiar to regular listeners of this podcast, because Rosemary Claire Smith joined me there a little more than two years ago in Episode 32. I try not to be a repeat customer at any of the spots I visit — at least not while recording for the podcast — but a lot has changed since that visit. David Chang installed a new executive chef, Tae Strain, and gave him orders to “destroy” the menu (according to an article in the Washingtonian), which meant ditching the ramen and pork buns for which Momofuku is so famous. But hey, where else am I going to get a chance to try kimchee potato salad?

We discussed why democracy is a radical concept which scares people (and what marriage has to say about the dramatic potential of democracy), the pachinko parlor which helped give birth to her science fictional universe, how what was intended to be a standalone novel turned into a trilogy, her secrets (and role models) when it comes to writing action scenes, which of her characters moves more merchandise, how (and why) editor Carl Engle-Laird helped her add 20,000 words to her first novel, what she learned about herself from the collaborative Serialbox project, the one thing about her background I was embarrassed to admit I’d never realized, and much more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation at Momofuku CCDC —

1) Subscribe at the iTunes store — where I’m hope you might also be tempted to download a few of the 91 previous episodes.

2) Listen on any device of your choice by using the RSS feed of http://eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com/rss.

3) Or simply check it out via the embed below.

Here’s what Malka and I ate as we chatted —

Bing Bread/Kimchi Potato Salad
cultured honey butter, gochugaru/soy egg, fried shallots

Scallion Bing Wrap with Cumin-Spiced Lamb
kimchi, radicchio, and black vinegar

Dry Spiced Chicken
olive, cilantro yogurt, rotisserie fat rice

Crack Pie with Soft Serve Cereal Milk Ice Cream

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support my mission of breaking bread with creators of the fantastic while letting you listen in, there are a few ways you can help bring this podcast to the attention of potential new listeners looking for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics ear candy —

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Please join me again in two weeks when my guest will be Steve Stiles, a Hugo-winning artist who coincidentally started working at Marvel Comics in the British reprint department back in the mid-‘70s the year after I left. So expect us to wax nostalgic as we look back over his career.

Thanks for listening!