Future Historian
The book comes alive with over 350 images keyed to the page numbers
Robots in American Popular Culture
The Companion Site to the Book
I See The Future
Since I was a kid and picked up my first science fiction magazine, I've been fascinated by the future. Now - more than five decades later - I've seen the future depicted in science fiction passed and obsoleted, just as 1984 and 2001 are no longer years to anticipate. I've turned my gaze backward, to study why those images of never-to-be-realized futures entrance and affect us so. By delving into the massive repositories of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, television, and internet databases, I've resurrected multiple stories from those past futures, becoming in the process a Future Historian. My book, Robots in American Popular Culture, grew from that obsession, springing from my earlier - but still very active - website, Flying Cars and Food Pills.
The pages here are dedicated to robots in all shapes and forms, along with androids, cyborgs, humanoids, replicants, mechanical men and women, and the thousands other creations of fertile minds. Inside you''ll find over 300 images, movie and television clips, and music videos that will bring the text of Robots in American Popular Culture to life along with more than 50 articles on the astounding diverse history of robots. New articles will be added regularly.
This site is done entirely in Roboto font.
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REVIEWS
A deeply entertaining and enlightening book on the history and "character" of strictly the mechanical/steam operated/clockwork machines that for several decades populated novels movies and more and more of present day reality.
DR. A. EBERT
POPCULTURESHELF.COM
I did a Background Mode podcast with The Mac Observer's John Martellaro. It just went live. We had a wide-ranging discussion about robots in the past and what robots represent in today's culture. John called it fun.
It will always be archived on the Mac Observer site, but will eventually sink below newer podcasts there. A more permanent, direct link is below.
Steve Carper podcast.
July 29th, 2019
Steve Carper is a Future Historian, researching how the dazzling future that dominated the Golden Age of science fiction was created—starting with the technological frenzy of the late 19th century.Steve writes a bi-weekly robot column at BlackGate.com and his latest book, published in June 2019, is Robots in American Popular Culture. This book examines society's reactions to robots and androids such as Robby, Rosie, Elektro, Sparko, Data, WALL-E, C-3PO and the Terminator in popular culture.Steve and I discussed his new book, covering some of the most famous robots of fiction and then all aspects of robot technology in our culture: robots as servants, enemies, lovers, children, successors and doubles. Where will the evolution of robots take our society next? Klaatu barada nikto.