@booklet {11603, title = {{\textquotedblleft}Interviews of Importance{\textquotedblright}}, howpublished = {Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future}, year = {2021}, month = {2021}, pages = {43-55}, publisher = {The MIT Press}, address = {Cambridge, MA}, abstract = {

The story is set in a future where society at least appears to be caring more for its aging population through the establishment of an Elder Resources program that is designed to connect aging people \“with working-age people, both to reduce loneliness and isolation . . . and to have some early warning and support for vulnerable people in any kind of future disaster\” (45) Also, the new digital democracy required everyone to be technologically competent to participate and vote, and the system is designed to ensure that the elderly had the needed competencies. It is told from the viewpoint of a young woman who works in a low-paid job to contact people in their sixties or older to first set up an interview in which she asks set questions about their lived history, with a particular emphasis on what is now called \“historically oppressed groups\” (46). They are then encouraged to join a network which will contact them regularly. The young woman is cynical about her job but is also desperate to learn her mother\’s history.

}, keywords = {Female author, Latinx author, US author}, isbn = {978-0-262-54240-1 }, author = {Malka [Ann] Older (b. 1977)}, editor = {Gideon Lichfield} } @booklet {11602, title = {{\textquotedblleft}Little Kowloon{\textquotedblright}}, howpublished = {Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future}, year = {2021}, month = {2021}, pages = {11-25}, publisher = {The MIT Press}, address = {Cambrisge, MA}, abstract = {

The story is set in an independent Scotland during a period of continuing pandemics. Little Kowloon refers to the fact that Edinburgh has become one of the main destinations for the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Honk Kong.

}, keywords = {Male author, Scottish author}, isbn = {978-0-262-54240-1 }, author = {Adrian Hon}, editor = {Gideon Lichfield} } @booklet {11601, title = {{\textquotedblleft}Patriotic Canadians Will Not Hoard Food!{\textquotedblright} }, howpublished = {Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future}, year = {2021}, month = {2021}, pages = {27-40}, publisher = {The MIT Press}, address = {Cambridge, MA}, abstract = {

The story is set after a future pandemic in which Canada had instituted rationing to ensure that everyone was adequately fed.

}, keywords = {Canadian author, Female author, US author}, isbn = {978-0-262-54240-1 }, author = {Madeline Ashby (b. 1983)}, editor = {Gideon Lichfield} } @booklet {11604, title = {{\textquotedblleft}The Price of Attention{\textquotedblright}}, howpublished = {Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future}, year = {2021}, note = {

Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 7. Ed. Neil Clarke (New York: Night Shade Books/Skyhorse Publishing, 2023), 60-75.

}, month = {2021}, pages = {105-120}, publisher = {The MIT Press}, address = {Cambridge, MA}, abstract = {

After two major pandemics, a country has transformed itself using sophisticated algorithms, opening up green spaces in cities, defunding police and funding support systems, and other \“radical liberal\” policies. The story takes place as a referendum is about to be held to choose between continued decision-making by algorithm using a very complicated system of voting designed to avoid fraud and decision-making by citizen panels.

}, keywords = {Canadian author, Male author}, isbn = {978-0-262-54240-1 }, author = {Karl Schroeder (b. 1962)}, editor = {Gideon Lichfield} }