Category: Interviews

Chicago Nerd Social Club

More than just a great name and a great idea, the Chicago Nerd Social Club is an active, welcoming group that does some seriously cool stuff.  Upcoming events include a field trip to Fermilab and a tour of tall ships.  They have a book club, their own blog — all sorts of good stuff.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to a recent author panel that they hosted in conjunction with Open Books and Just Write Chicago, which was well attended and full of great conversation about writing and publishing.

CNSC LogoCNSC also has its own podcast, which started recently.  Jeff Smith, co-founder of CNSC and host of the podcast, invited me to do an interview about Upload, some of its themes, and the writing process.  Check it out: CNSC Podcast Episode 8: Upload Your Consciousness.

UPLOAD on Tech Take

Thanks to Arthel Neville and producer Kevin Tracy for having me on Tech Take yesterday, a FoxNews.com program. It was a great opportunity for me to promote Upload, despite the apparent disconnect on what the interview was supposed to be about. I was expecting questions regarding computers and their potential effect on human evolution, and was caught off guard when the topic turned out to be more along the lines of how computers are affecting our brains. (It turns out hosts were switched out at the last minute, and there must have been some miscommunication.) Knowing it was live, I did my best to roll with it.

HowComputersAreAffectingOurBrainshttp://video.foxnews.com/v/2404866335001/computers-effect-on-the-human-brain-/?playlist_id=931078471001

This was my first TV appearance since I was on QuizBusters in high school. It turns out it’s really hard for me to look at the camera when I’m sitting alone listening to an audio feed in one ear — it just feels so unnatural.

For anyone curious about the book, it’s a near-future science-fiction novel about the first person to upload his consciousness to a computer. Read the About the Book page to learn more, or check it out on GoodReads. It’s available at major booksellers, including Amazon, where it was recently on the Top 100 High Tech Science Fiction bestsellers list.  More info on purchasing the book on the Where to Buy page.

Interview on WPR’s “At Issue” With John Munson

A big thank-you to John Munson for having me on his show, At Issue. I used to live in Milwaukee, and it was exciting to think that old friends tuned into Wisconsin Public Radio might be listening to our conversation. Great questions, and it’s a shame we didn’t have time to take more callers!

For anyone interested in listening to the interview, it’s archived on wpr.org.  I also have a local copy of the MP3, just in case it drops off the WPR archive.

The Joe Show

Thanks to Joe Teehan for having me on “The Joe Show” to talk about the future union of humans and computers, and about Upload.  You can catch the interview on the KGMI-AM website (see “The Joe Show for 4/22/13“) or listen to the MP3 here, trimmed down to just my segment.

In doing these radio interviews, I find myself gradually fleshing out my ability to talk about ideas and concerns that flopped around in my head through the many years of writing Upload.  I finally touched on one issue in particular that’s important to me, which could be in its early stages already:

We as a species have a role as caretakers of the planet, and as we isolate ourselves from the planet through a layer of virtual existence, we lose touch with that.  We could become more prone than ever to abusing the world that made it all possible.

Radio Interview on “Maritime Morning Weekend Edition” with Scott Simpson, News 95.7

I just did a live radio interview on Maritime Morning Weekend Edition on News 95.7, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This one was the most fun yet.  Thanks so much to Scott Simpson for doing such a great job and taking the conversation in so many fascinating directions!

You can listen to the audio on the News 95.7 website (it starts about half way through the hour), or listen to the MP3 here, which I’ve edited to contain only the relevant portion of the show.

Radio Interview With Pamela McCall on “Victoria’s News Authority”

I did my first live interview on Thursday, with Pamela McCall of “Victoria’s News Authority”, on Cfax1070. I even had a caller, a man who works in computer security and was curious about the potential of someone maliciously hacking a computer-based brain. If you’re curious, too, you can listen to the archived copy — my segment starts at 32:32 here on the CFAX website:

http://www.cfax1070.com/Media/CFAX-Podcasts/CFAX-Afternoons/April-18,-2013-10am

“Chicago Science Fiction Author Releases ‘Upload’”

Very exciting to get a little local media attention from WBBM Newsradio, here in Chicago:

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/04/13/chicago-science-fiction-author-releases-upload/

Thanks to Terry Keshner for interviewing me and getting me some Chicago airtime!

It’s fun to hear myself as the guy-on-the-phone in a radio interview. Although this just aired today, at the time it was recorded it was actually my first audio interview, and I was nervous as hell.

Interview with Jason Peffley of FuriousFanBoys.com

Thanks to Jason Peffley for having me on the FuriousFanBoys.com podcast:

http://furiousfanboys.com/2013/04/book-review-upload-by-mark-mcclelland/

It’s a long interview, nearly 27 minutes, covering a wide range of topics, mostly surrounding the book: ethical issues of uploading; how soon could it happen; possible “political” complications; what sort of computing changes would be required.

For those who’ve mentioned they’d love a sequel, I reveal some of my early thoughts on what I have in mind for a follow-up to Upload. I also talk a bit about the children’s book I’ve had stewing. I’m still on the fence about which to focus on first.

If you want to know what I sound like when I’m totally faking my way through an interview, listen to the part about Bitcoin.

Interview On Good Mornings! with Chris Oaks, WFIN-AM

Upload on Good MorningsIt’s up! Check out my radio interview on Good Mornings! with Chris Oaks: http://www.goodmornings.net/download/audio/0329-7a.mp3

It starts about a minute 38 seconds in, and runs roughly eleven minutes. You’ll know it’s coming when you hear the musical lead-in: Gordon Lightfoot singing, “If you could read my mind”. (Now I’ve got that song stuck in my head.)

A big thank-you to Chris for having me on the show. He did a great job framing the conversation and moving it along fluidly — clearly a pro.

I’m also thrilled to see that the interview is prominently featured today on the WFIN-AM home page (http://www.wfin.com/) and the Good Mornings! program page (http://wfin.com/morning/mornings.asp).

Author Spotlight on SpecFicPick

Another author interview… I was the spotlighted author over at SpecFicPick on Thursday.  Check it out: http://specficpick.blogspot.com/2013/03/author-spotlight-mark-mcclelland.html.  Fun question to get to answer: “What role do you believe speculative fiction plays in society?”

If you’re an author of speculative fiction, you should check out SpecFicPick, and join the community on Facebook.