I am so delighted and honored that Escape Pod is once again an Ignyte Award finalist for Outstanding Fiction Podcast! You can read our official announcement here.

Recently, I recorded a panel for WriteHive that will be shared on July 11th at the conference. The topic was “Predicting the Future: Where Science Fiction Could Explore Next” and I had both my writer and editor hat on for that one. Two hats, one head, zero chill.

Anyway, one of the things the other panelist and I discussed is that the future is for everyone. I think when we say that, some people envision every story being turned into a Miss Universe pageant, where a character from every possible group must be paraded onto the stage and given a brief spotlight somehow. Instead, one thing I mean is that when we look at the breadth of futuristic science fiction, the whole shelf rather than one book, it’s important that we try to make space for stories about all the different kinds of people who are alive today. To quote Lilo & Stitch: no one is forgotten, no one is left behind*.

We are living in a time, like so many other times, when marginalized people are being persecuted to varying degrees in different places. It is, pardon my language, some really gruesome shit. At Escape Pod, our stated ethos is that we try to showcase stories that are hopeful, optimistic, escapist—which can mean very different things to different people, especially depending on what they’re going through at any given moment. It can also mean that it feels as if we’re turning away from harsh reality, pretending nothing is wrong, avoiding hard truths and experiences.

That’s one way to handle escapism, but not the only way. I think that instead we try to fulfill our mandate, at least to some extent, by taking the people who are getting it in the neck today and showing them living, breathing, dreaming in the future. We show them surviving. We show them thriving. Maybe we don’t show how the dots connect, how we get from here to there, but we want to believe that we will. That we must.

Whether we win any awards or not, I hope we can keep offering people that vision of the future. One for everyone, where no one is forgotten, and no one is left behind.

*Well, paradox of tolerance, of course. Some people can eat dirt. They know who they are.