This week on the KPL Podcast, we spoke with author Annalee Newitz about Automatic Noodle, their inventive new novel. Set in a future California where robots have won their freedom, the story follows a group of food-service bots in a deserted ghost kitchen who seize control of their old delivery app account. Rebranding themselves as a neighborhood lunch spot, they whip up some of the best hand-pulled noodles in San Francisco. But their success hits a snag when a mysterious force begins review-bombing their page with fake “bad service” reports.

Author Recommendations:

1. The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong 

2. What we are Seeking by Cameron Reed (April 2026)

3. News for all the people: the epic story of race and the American media by Juan Gonzalez