In 1993, when Kevin Kelly and I were both editors at Wired, Douglas Coupland spent a few weeks at the office. The entire staff fell in love with him. He had a wicked sense of humor, came up with brilliantly sideways ideas, and was very kind to everyone. When we ran his short story in Wired, "Microserfs," he send a bouquet of flowers to everyone in the office.
I haven't spoken to Doug in years, so it was a great treat to get on the phone with him and catch up. He is still as funny and smart as ever. He is the artist-in-residence at the Google Paris Office, and the phone connection was poor, but it is worth listening to. You can read the show notes and the transcript at Cool Tools.
Also, let me recommend Doug's new book, The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present, which he wrote with Hans Ulbricht, and Shumon Basar. We discuss it in the podcast. Fans of Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore will love it. Snippets: "Technology favors horrible people," "Machines are increasingly talking about you behind your back," "Hoard anything you can't download," "Poor famous people are depressing," "Knowing everything turns out to be slightly boring."
