Explore the future of food, technology, labor, and community with award-winning author Annalee Newitz in conversation with writer and food critic Soleil Ho. Newitz discusses Automatic Noodle, a speculative novel about a group of friends who build an automated restaurant while navigating questions of technology, work, and what makes a community thrive.
Annalee Newitz is a science journalist who also writes science fiction. They are the author of several books, including Automatic Noodle, an instant USA Today bestseller, The Terraformers, which was nominated for the Nebula Award, and Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age. They have a monthly column in New Scientist magazine and are a member of the Flaming Hydra collective.
Soleil Ho is an award-winning food and culture writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2019, they became the San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic, producing work for which I won a James Beard award. In 2025, they co-founded the COYOTE Media Collective, a worker-owned news outlet for the Bay Area.
Environment & Nature
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Author Readings & Lectures
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One City One Book
Events and workshops curated around SFPL’s One City One Book selection. One City One Book: San Francisco Reads is a citywide literary event that encourages members of the San Francisco community to read the same book at the same time. For more information, see sfpl.org/onecityonebook.