MY LATEST POPULAR MECHANICS COLUMN: Why We Need Big, Bold Science Fiction. Featuring interviews with Neal Stephenson, Vernor Vinge, Sarah Hoyt, and non-science-fiction-writer Dean Kamen.

UPDATE: Ed Driscoll comments. “I think in terms of cinematic science fiction, the flip-over date was 1968; as I’ve written before, during that presidential year, Bobby Kennedy explicitly rejected the optimism of his late brother’s New Frontier, instead calling for ‘men who riot’ and producing depressing campaign ads such as this.”