This month in The Salon we discuss whether steampunk is necessarily all about empire. The guests are Karin Lowachee (from Canada via Guyana), Lavie Tidar (from Israel) and Jeff VanderMeer (co-editor of two steampunk anthologies and other steampunk-related books).

For more information about things discussed in this podcast see the Salon Futura website.

Cheryl Morgan talks to Glenda Larke, Lou Anders and Tim Pratt about whether some fantasy fiction is specifically aimed at one gender or another.

Cheryl Morgan talks to Nicola Griffith, Hal Duncan and Catherynne M. Valente about how and why writers should use lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters in their work.

Each month Cheryl Morgan invites a number of celebrity guests to visit The Salon and talk about some topic related to speculative literature.

This month we welcome Gary K. Wolfe, Nnedi Okorafor and Fábio Fernandes. The topic of conversation is, perhaps appropriately, The Conversation -- how we talk about science fiction and understand its history.