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Future Tense Fiction is a collection of electrifying original stories from a veritable who's-who of authors working in speculative literature and science fiction today, pointing the way forward to the fiction of tomorrow.

A disease surveillance robot whose social programming gets put to the test. A future in which everyone receives universal basic income--but it's still not enough. A futuristic sport, in which all the athletes have been chemically and physically enhanced. An A.I. company that manufactures a neural bridge allowing ordinary people to share their memories. Brimming with excitement and exploring new ideas, the stories collected by the editors of Slate's Future Tense are philosophically ambitious and haunting in their creativity. At times terrifying and heartwrenching, hilarious and optimistic, this is a collection that ushers in a new age for our world and for the short story.

A partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University, Future Tense explores how emerging technologies will change the way we live, in reality and fiction.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: The Future Is Made of Choices - essay by Kirsten Berg, Torie Bosch, Joey Eschrich, Ed Finn, Andres Martinez, and Juliet Ulman
• Mother of Invention (2018) - short story by Nnedi Okorafor
• No Me Dejes (2018) - short story by Mark Oshiro
• When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis (2018) - short story by Annalee Newitz
• When We Were Patched (2018) - short story by Deji Bryce Olukotun
• Domestic Violence (2018) - short story by Madeline Ashby
• Mr. Thursday (2017) - short story by Emily St. John Mandel
• A Brief and Fearful Star (2018) - short story by Carmen Maria Machado
• Overvalued (2018) - short story by Mark Stasenko
• Safe Surrender (2018) - short story by Meg Elison
• Lions and Gazelles (2018) - short story by Hannu Rajaniemi
• Burned-Over Territory (2018) - short story by Lee Konstantinou
• Mika Model (2016) - short story by Paolo Bacigalupi
• The Starfish Girl (2018) - short story by Maureen F. McHugh
• The Minnesota Diet (2018) - short story by Charlie Jane Anders
• About the Contributors
• About the Editors

Inspired by New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson, an anthology of stories, set in the near future, from some of today's leading writers, thinkers, and visionaries that reignites the iconic and optimistic visions of the golden age of science fiction.

In his 2011 article "Innovation Starvation," Neal Stephenson argued that we--the society whose earlier scientists and engineers witnessed the airplane, the automobile, nuclear energy, the computer, and space exploration -- must reignite our ambitions to think boldly and do Big Stuff. He also advanced the Hieroglyph Theory which illuminates the power of science fiction to inspire the inventive imagination: "Good SF supplies a plausible, fully thought-out picture of an alternate reality in which some sort of compelling innovation has taken place."

In 2012, Arizona State University established the Center for Science and the Imagination to bring together writers, artists, and creative thinkers with scientists, engineers, and technologists to cultivate and expand on "moon shot ideas" that inspire the imagination and catalyze real-world innovations.

Now comes this remarkable anthology uniting twenty of today's leading thinkers, writers, and visionaries--among them Cory Doctorow, Gregory Benford, Elizabeth Bear, Bruce Sterling, and Neal Stephenson--to contribute works of "techno-optimism" that challenge us to dream and do Big Stuff. Engaging, mind-bending, provocative, and imaginative, Hieroglyph offers a forward-thinking approach to the intersection of art and technology that has the power to change our world.

Contents:

• Foreword (Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future) - essay by Lawrence M. Krauss
• Preface: Innovation Starvation (Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future) - essay by Neal Stephenson
• Introduction: A Blueprint for Better Dreams - essay by Ed Finn and Kathryn Cramer
• Atmosphaera Incognita - (2013) - shortfiction by Neal Stephenson
• Girl in Wave: Wave in Girl - shortfiction by Kathleen Ann Goonan
• By the Time We Get to Arizona - shortfiction by Madeline Ashby
• The Man Who Sold the Moon - shortfiction by Cory Doctorow
• Johnny Appledrone vs. the FAA - shortfiction by Lee Konstantinou
• Degrees of Freedom - shortfiction by Karl Schroeder
• Two Scenarios for the Future of Solar Energy - shortfiction by Annalee Newitz
• A Hotel in Antarctica - shortfiction by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Periapsis - shortfiction by James L. Cambias
• The Man Who Sold the Stars - (2013) - shortfiction by Gregory Benford
• Entanglement - shortfiction by Vandana Singh
• Elephant Angels - shortfiction by Brenda Cooper
• Covenant - short story by Elizabeth Bear
• Quantum Telepathy - shortfiction by Rudy Rucker
• Transition Generation - shortfiction by David Brin
• The Day it All Ended - shortfiction by Charlie Jane Anders
• Tall Tower - shortfiction by Bruce Sterling
• Science and Science Fiction: An Interview With Paul Davies - interview of Paul Davies (1946-) - interview by unknown