Family and Identity – Ep 61 with Hal Y. Zhang

In this episode Jon speaks with Hal Y. Zhang, author of Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother. Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother is a story about the imprecise nature of memories and how they affect our relationships. You can read an excerpt here.

The story follows Ellery Lang, whose mother Valerie has abruptly left

their home after several days of spouting increasingly strange

conspiracy theories. In a near future world where citizens are always

watched and where “personalization” is part of every day life, Valerie

has managed to stay in an era long gone. This makes her a mystery to

Ellery, who realizes how little she actually knows about her, and the

search for her stirs up painful childhood memories that Ellery can now

choose to erase.

Hal Y. Zhang is an international transplant and former physicist who writes science, science fiction, and fiction, in no particular order. Her prose and poetry have appeared in publications such as Uncanny, Strange Horizons, and Fireside. She splits her time between the East Coast and the Internet. Follow her at halyzhang.com.