Watch the video of our conversation with science-fiction writer Robert Charles Wilson

We discussed his new novel, Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, past novels Spin and Darwinia, Julian Comstock's origins in Roman history and 19th Century popular children's fiction, and why "wanker" is not, actually, an ethnic slur.

Wilson is the author of more than a dozen novels over more than 20 years. His work frequently features miraculous changes to the entire world: In Darwinia, it's the entire continent of Europe being replaced by an alien landscape in 1912. In Spin, set in the present day, the stars suddenly disappear one night as the Earth is completely encapsulated in an opaque shell. The world of Julian Comstock is relatively mundane — all that happens there is the complete collapse of civilization.

As usual, this is the raw, unedited video, the conversation starts a short way in.

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