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SF podcast: "Conversations With and About My Electric Toothbrush"

Cory Doctorow at 6:18 am Thu, Jul 19, 2007

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Today's episode of the Escape Pod science fiction podcast is "Conversations With and About My Electric Toothbrush" by Derek Zumsteg, and it's a doozy of a story about a artificially intelligent electric toothbrush that yearns to be a milk-frother and so produce things that people love and cherish.

I listen to Escape Pod every week and I'm never disappointed, but every now and again, they really hit one out of the park. This could be the most entertaining 22 minutes you spend this week.

“I read an interesting forum post last night,” my electric toothbrush told me over its low burr.

“Thiff ouff thew be thood,” I said through my mouth of foam.

“It was!” he replied. “Using readily available components, Monkeymonkey turned his Intellibrush into a milk frother.”

I spit into the sink and set my toothbrush in its white ceramic charger. “What would I do with a milk frother?”

“Make cappucinos,” my toothbrush said, with a hint of resignation, as I rinsed and spit again.

“I don’t drink cappucinos,” I said.

“You could start!”

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I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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