The author of “Convenience Store Woman” has gained a cult following by seeing the ordinary world as science fiction.
We should all be reading more Ursula Le Guin
Her novels imagine other worlds, but her theory of fiction can help us better live in this one.
Humanists Have Done Nothing Wrong | Defector
For many years, I’ve held a pet theory that cultural consumers can be grouped into two broad categories: Primary Source People and Secondary Source People. The former are the book lovers, cinephiles, archive perusers, and history buffs who grew to love their areas of study because of the specific objects that constitute the field: the…
Humanists Have Done Nothing Wrong | Defector
For many years, I’ve held a pet theory that cultural consumers can be grouped into two broad categories: Primary Source People and Secondary Source People. The former are the book lovers, cinephiles, archive perusers, and history buffs who grew to love their areas of study because of the specific objects that constitute the field: the…
Disclosure Day
Across the films of Steven Spielberg, aliens have frequently been a vehicle to explore religiosity from a secular perspective. Institutions and dogma are elided in favor of dramatizing the ecstatic feeling of believing in something far beyond one�s station, and having that faith rewarded.
What OpenAI shares with Scientology
Strange beliefs, fights over money and bad science fiction
The scent of Musk: Power, charisma and paranoia in Silicon Valley
The End of Textuality - Real Housewives of San Francisco
Authenticity in the age of GenAI
The End of Textuality - Real Housewives of San Francisco
Authenticity in the age of GenAI
Cozy Fiction, Serious Hope: An Ecocritical Look at Becky Chambers - A Flower in Dystopia
In August 2026 I made a presentation for the Society of Ecocritical Studies – Japan.
As UFOs go mainstream, the jury is out on what the existence of alien life might mean for religion
Steven Spielberg's new film “Disclosure Day” explores extraterrestrial life and its impact on religion. UFOs, now also called UAPs, are gaining mainstream attention.
Midjourney
An independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species.
A Physicist Who Thinks in Poetry from the Cosmic Edge
In her second pop-science book, theoretical cosmologist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein returns to her celestial and cultural roots.
DOGE Blitzkrieg: on Musk's artificial intelligence statecraft
Published in Science as Culture (Ahead of Print, 2026)
Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction
Many designers enjoy the interfaces seen in science fiction films and television shows. Freed from the rigorous constraints of designing for real users, sci-fi production designers develop blue-sky interfaces that are inspiring, humorous, and even instructive. By carefully studying these “outsider” user interfaces, designers can derive lessons that make their real-world designs more cutting edge and successful
Patricia Mou on Twitter / X
"People do not seem to realise that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character" - Ralph Waldo Emerson— Patricia Mou (@patriciamou_) October 30, 2026