— Podcast with Robin Murphy and Teresa Heffernan

In the introduction to “Robots,” Episode 49 of Words to that Effect: Stories of the Fiction that Shapes Popular Culture, podcast host Conor Reid reflects on how, “from the very first use of the word robot,” in the early 20th century play, R.U.R., “there are tensions and contrasts between the miraculous technological advancement the robots embody, and fundamental issues of freedom and slavery and what it is to be human.”

Reid explores these tensions, which “have only increased in the decades since Čapek’s play,” in conversation with Dr. Robin Murphy (Texas A&M University, Robotics Through Science Fiction) and Dr. Teresa Heffernan (Saint Mary’s University, Cyborg Futures: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics).