2020 has been a year of profound ups and downs, a year of wondering just what the future holds. It’s a year of online class, remote work, and online conventions, of massive protests, devastating wildfires, and, of course, a global pandemic. Some call it the “Great Pause,” but one thing is for sure: the world will never be the same again. But what exactly will the future hold? Will technology fill the gap? Will our social structures change? Capricon 41: Creating the Future We Want will explore those questions and more.
In addition to the program items listed below, we have a full slate of amazing panels, workshops, readings and more. Check out our online guide and Schedule Grid for details. Looking forward to seeing you at Capricon 41!
Brandon O’Brien’s Magical Literary Open Mic Night!
Come one, come all. This casual open mic night hosted by Guest of Honor Brandon O’Brien will be open to all attendees. Come share your poetry, fiction, and other literary work in a no pressure, share-the-love environment. You don’t need to be published or even want to be published. Whether you write for fun or to one day have it see the printed page, all are welcome here!
Aliette de Bodard Vietnamese Cooking Workshop
Come into Aliette de Bodard’s kitchen and share in a step by step experience of cooking. Aliette will show you how to mix dipping sauce, make bò bún (beef vermicelli salad), mixed summer rolls, and give various cooking tips as well as take your cooking and tea questions. Use this link to download an ingredient list ahead so you can cook along: https://preview.tinyurl.com/yxda7hd8
Looking at Lovecraft Country
Lovecraft country aims to reframe the pulp narratives of HP Lovecraft for a more modern audience. GoH John Jennings and fellow panelists discuss what makes this work for a new audience and how it is both celebrating and illustrating the complex history and modern day of Black Americans.
SFF is How I Learned to Politic
Politics have never been absent in SFF, and for many fans, genre fiction is how we learned to recognize how politics work and how they affect our lives. In this panel, fans and creators will talk about navigating the political nature of storytelling, and how their favorite SFF works on the page and on screen influenced their own political development. With GoHs Michi Trota, Aliette de Bodard, Brandon O’Brien, as well as Anoa Changa and Meha Ahmad.
Cacophonie Tomayo Concert
GoH Cacophonie Tomayo tickles our ears and eyes with their musical stylings!
Capricon 41 Dancestravaganza
Get ready to bust out your best moves, as former GOH John Scalzi spins the most danceable tunes from the 70s, 80s, 90s and the 21st Century. It’s the most fun you can have on a laptop!
The Concept of Progress: How Much Control Do We Really Have?
This year’s theme is “Creating the Future We Want” but how much control do we really have over what kind of future we make? Drawing on her research on the history of the concept of progress, and the history of political activism and social-engineering efforts, historian/novelist Ada Palmer lays out the evolution over time of how we think about who has the power to change history, and how ideas about progress and power, passed on in many media including fiction and history-writing, shape our perceptions of our own power or powerlessness in a rapidly-changing world.
Artificial Intelligence: Savior of Society or Destroyer of Worlds?
For decades artificial intelligence was solely the stuff of science fiction. Today it’s everywhere, albeit in primitive forms, with more advances on the horizon. The technologies of computer autonomy — both decision-making and robotics — will upend pretty much everything, probably in ways we can’t even comprehend. Bruce Schneier hosts a panel of AI researchers to discuss the sorts of futures AI technologies will enable, and how we can steer those technologies towards building a fairer and more just world (and not exterminate humanity (which would be bad (for us, not for them)).
The Functional Nerds Live! (With Special Guest Star: YOU!)
Come join Capricon 35 Guest of Honor Patrick Hester and his (new!) co-host, Chicago-area novelist Tracy Townsend, for a live recording of The Functional Nerds podcast! Patrick and Tracy will talk geek news of the day, take questions and topics from the audience, and let YOU share some of your “picks of the week” with the Capricon community. Best of all, you’ll be part of a real, live Functional Nerds podcast episode, thus securing your rightful place of honor as part of Nerd History.
Skiffy and Fanty Show Live!
Let the shenanigans ensue! Shaun Duke, Jen Zink, and GoH Brandon O’Brien join forces for a live recording of the 3x Hugo Finalist podcast, The Skiffy and Fanty Show! Together, they’ll discuss the power of science fiction to explore the present and uncover hope, from its technological imagination to its approach to social issues and beyond. They might even give you an absurdly long reading reading list… Bring your questions and thoughts! Audience contributions are strongly encouraged!
The OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
OSIRIS-REx recently acquired its sample from asteroid Bennu and will be returning to Earth in 2023; panelists Brother Guy Consolmagno and Bob Trembley will describe the mission, the target asteroid, the spacecraft’s unique sampling mechanism and discoveries made by OSIRIS-REx while at asteroid Bennu.
Tiara Workshop
Best Fan Artist Hugo Finalist Sara Felix walks you through the steps involved in making your own fabulous tiara! The workshop includes a tiara kit mailed to you and suggestions for other decorations that will make it your own unique creation. Space is limited, advance signup required at https://forms.gle/QUmKSGnEyMkNTFQp6
Ardham Interlude Virtual Escape Room
You receive a strange inheritance, left to you in trust by Atticus Freeman. Find out what you are the heir to and solve its mysteries before time runs out. Due to the intense nature of the material, this game is suitable for adults and teens only. Space is limited, sign up in advance at https://forms.gle/rP3GX8k5CJ1ZJGY59
Silent Spring Redux, A Future without Insects
In 1962, Rachel Carson asked us to imagine a world without insects. With today’s declining native bee populations, and so many pressures facing honey bee populations, her bleak outlook doesn’t seem so far-fetched. In the future, what will the status of pollinators be? Jen Haeger talks about about the most recent threats to earth’s pollinators, what our world might look like without them, and what can be done to help save them. Save the Bees, Save the World.