Future Tense Fiction: Can a Pandemic Story Have a Happy Ending?
b"On this month\\u2019s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Annalee Newitz about \\u201cWhen Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis.\\u201d Annalee\\u2019s short story follows a disease-fighting robot\\u2014and its companions, both human and crow\\u2014on a quest to track an outbreak and develop a vaccine before it's too late. The story was published in December 2018, but now, three years after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it offers a look at how public health responses could better reflect the needs of the communities they serve. Plus, Annalee shares how they learned to speak crow language.\\xa0\\n\\nGuest: Annalee Newitz, author of the Terraformers, the Future of Another Timeline, and Autonomous.\\n\\nStory read by Gin Hammond\\n\\nPodcast production by Tiara Darnell\\n\\nYou can skip all the ads in Future Tense Fiction by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/plus for just $15 for your first three months.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"