The Verge Launches Multimedia Sci-Fi Anthology, “Better Worlds”

Today The Verge launched “Better Worlds,” a new series of short fiction stories, audiobooks and animation that explores how technology could shape our society and environment in better, more equitable ways.

Everything today is so dark. The news is terrible. The TV shows are grim. The superheroes are dark. However many of the best creators and inventors were inspired by golden age sci-fi comics, shows like Star Trek, and writers like Isaac Asimov and Octavia Butler, who imagined science improving the future.

“At The Verge, we’re committed to exploring how the intersection of technology and culture will impact our lives in the future,” said Nilay Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge. “Better Worlds will pull together some of biggest names in sci-fi to bring positive new light and thinking on what’s to come.”

That’s why The Verge is launching Better Worlds, bringing exciting names in science fiction like Justina Ireland, John Scalzi, and Leigh Alexander whose original short stories disrupt the common narratives of an inevitable apocalypse and explore spaces our fears have overlooked. The series, sponsored by Boeing, will showcase original storytelling from these heavy-hitting writers, with 11 original fiction stories, five animated adaptations, and five audio adaptations.

The first story of The Verge’s multimedia package “Better Worlds” is live today, and new stories will premiere each Monday and Wednesday through February 13, 2019. Follow along on theverge.com, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and your favorite podcast app. See the full schedule below:

• Monday 1/14: Justina Ireland, “A Theory of Flight”
• A daring plan to build an open-source rocket could help more people escape Earth.
• Wednesday 1/16: Leigh Alexander, “Online Reunion”
• A young journalist chronicling a vintage e-pet reunion gets more than she expected.
• Monday 1/21: John Scalzi, “A Model Dog”
• An overbearing CEO demands that his employees engineer a solution to his dad’s aging dog.
• Wednesday 1/23: Cadwell Turnbull, “Monsters Come Howling in Their Season”
• An island commonwealth integrates an AI to defend itself against a worsening hurricane season.
• Friday 1/25: Katherine Cross, “Machine of Loving Grace”
• An AI designed to moderate video games takes on a life of its own.
• Monday 1/28: Rivers Solomon, “St. Juju”
• A young woman must choose between her secure enclave and the one she loves.
• Wednesday 1/30: Carla Speed McNeil, “Move the World”
• You can choose to pull a lever that resets the world — but will it make things better?
• Monday 2/4: Elizabeth Bonesteel, “Overlay”
• A father undertakes a dangerous mission to save his captured son.
• Wednesday 2/6: Kelly Robson, “Skin City”
• A street performer gets into trouble after falling for a radical privacy devotee.
• Monday 2/11: Karin Lowachee, “The Sun Will Always Sing”
• A spacecraft carrying precious cargo embarks on a lifetime journey to a better world.
• Wednesday 2/13: Peter Tieryas, “The Burn”
• As people around the world fall victim to The Burn, AR researchers begin to suspect a pattern.