Illinois Public Media News
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Best of: Sci-fi author Ken Liu on his writing, AI, and sentient toasters
Author Ken Liu was born in China in 1976, and his family emigrated to the U.S. when he was 11.
He has published multiple collections of short stories and an epic series of novels. Several of his works have been made into films , including “Good Hunting,” which was part of the Netflix animated anthology series Love, Death and Robots. He's also known for translating the Chinese sci-fi series known as The Three Body Problem.
Based in the Boston suburbs, Liu visited Central Illinois back in 2024 for a talk at the Champaign Public Library on art and artificial intelligence. That's when we first aired this conversation, in which he talks about trading a traditional job for writing full time, what's unique about Chinese science fiction, and why he's excited for the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Best of: How ‘The Onion’ made modern news satire
The Onion's news satire has become a staple of American culture. It’s come a long way from humble beginnings in the Midwest in 1988, when Christine Wenc was part of the original. Her book, Funny Because It’s True: How the Onion Created Modern American News Satire explores history of the publication and how it's still relevant today.
