What does Michelle Obama's 2018 memoir, "Becoming," have to offer in conversation with science fiction? Quite a lot, as it turns out. When we look at her reflections on identity-building and personal transformation, we see a perfect template for examining these same subjects in science fictional works ranging from Annalee Newitz's "Autonomous" and Martha Wells' Murderbot series to Jeff VanderMeer's "Annihilation" and Nnedi Okorafor's "Binti."

And let's be honest, we both really wanted to talk about Michelle Obama's book, too!

Looking for the link to the Annalee Newitz article we mention in the cast? You can find it on io9 under the headline "Six Good Habits I Learned From Being Bullied as a Geeky Kid" or at https://io9.gizmodo.com/six-good-habits-i-learned-from-being-bullied-as-a-geeky-5966749. Enjoy!

You can find ALL of our back episodes on Youtube. Our Twitter handle is @imaginary_pod, our website www.imaginaries.net, and our email [email protected]. If you would like to help support our work, you can do so at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.