James Graham Ballard, one of the most singular and bracing authors of science and speculative fiction writing in English, is the subject of a very British half-hour interview via the old BBC talk show Face to Face. He discusses his childhood in Shanghai, the influence of technology in magnifying the violence and sexualism of human nature, and the nature of global media corporations in creating a self-fulfilling “secondary” reality that superimposes itself of the lived reality of daily life in the real world. Prophetic, or dispassionately observant — call it what you will. It’s an fascinating, insightful and compellnig conversation, and worth the full half hour of your time.
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