Ply: A punk future, CERN inspired science and the quest for selfhood in Nature Hits the Books

Summary

The podcast presents an in depth conversation with Ernan Diaz about Ply, his third novel, which imagines a near future metropolis where modern institutions have dissolved and energy is the central currency. The discussion moves from world building in Ply to the real science that inspired it, including subatomic physics and the Wakefield accelerator Diaz learned about during a visit to CERN. Diaz explains his aim to write a book about a beginning rather than a dystopia, and how the future becomes a natural habitat for technology in fiction. The episode also examines the practical realities of scientific work, collaboration across disciplines, and the human tendency toward ambition and humility in front of large scale experiments. Diaz reflects on how art and science illuminate each other and the role of narrative in explaining complex ideas.

• Key insight 1: Ply is framed as a historical fold, a beginning after the end of modernity, with new currencies and social arrangements centered on energy and water.
• Key insight 2: The Wakefield accelerator grounds the novel in current physics while remaining a narrative device to explore larger questions about spacetime and reality.
• Key insight 3: The podcast emphasizes the iterative, collaborative nature of science and contrasts it with the singular voice of a novelist crafting a new world.
• Key insight 4: Diaz’s experience at CERN informs his portrayal of science as a collective enterprise that both humbles and liberates the imagination.

Introduction

In the podcast episode the host Ben engages with Ernan Diaz, a writer whose novel Ply has just been published. Diaz is candid about his attitude toward science fiction. He notes that Ply is not a conventional science fiction work but a book of science in fiction. He uses a future world to explore contemporary desires and anxieties, particularly those surrounding technology, energy, and social organization. The dialogue makes clear that Ply is organized in two halves, and the way the narrative shifts from first person to third person is central to the novel’s exploration of perspective and reality.

The Two Halves of Ply

Diaz explains that Ply unfolds in two distinct sections, a division that mirrors a historical turn. In the first half the action follows a narrator in a New York like city where modern states have collapsed and a barter economy governs daily life. In this world energy is the central commodity and the centralization of power has diminished to a fragmented system in which energy and water sustain the remaining structures. The second half shifts to a more experimental mode, bringing in a scientist character and a technological conceit that aims to probe the smallest scales of reality. The pivot marks a transition from a personal, grounded perspective to a more public, science driven frame.

Science, Technology and Friction

The Wakefield accelerator is a centerpiece in Ply. Diaz describes the machine as a conceptual device that could access quanta of spacetime, a provocative idea rooted in real physics but rendered as a narrative engine. Diaz was inspired by Wakefield accelerators and by a physicist named Eda Gentner at CERN. He describes his approach to imagining such a device without being bound by the strict conventions of science fiction or the precise syllogisms of current physics. Instead he uses the machine to catalyze a discussion about how knowledge emerges and how technology can shape social organization.

From Punk New York to the Future

Diaz draws on gritty, punk era New York imagery to construct the world of Ply and to illuminate how unstable social structures can quickly give way to nature reclaiming urban space. He explains that the punk ethos—rebellion, improvisation, and a do it yourself attitude—serves as a lens to understand the potential of a society undergoing transformation. The future is imagined as a laboratory for technology, where the boundaries between science, art and everyday life blur and new forms of currency and exchange arise alongside new forms of community.

Scientific Humility and the Artist Voice

A recurring theme in the podcast is humility in science. Diaz suggests that the day to day labor of researchers is slow, collaborative and incremental, contrasting with the heroic rhetoric sometimes associated with physics. He recounts his visit to CERN where he observed the division of intellectual labor, noting how specialists often do not communicate across subfields. Diaz also notes the fear some scientists have of oversimplifying physics for broad audiences, a concern he navigates by anchoring his complex ideas in vivid, tactile imagery and by filtering explanations through a punk, relatable protagonist who lacks formal training in physics. This narrative choice makes abstract ideas more accessible.

Mad Scientists and the Future of Truth

The podcast features a thoughtful discussion of the mad scientist trope. Diaz argues that the trope is outdated and misleading. He contends that the concept of madness should be decoupled from being a kind of moral or intellectual deficit, and that science should be seen as a process that acknowledges ambiguity rather than claiming ultimate, objective certainty. The final reflections in the podcast emphasize that truth in science is asymptotic, an ongoing pursuit rather than a final endpoint. Diaz articulates a hopeful stance that recognizes the limitations of knowledge while remaining committed to progress and understanding.

Selfhood, Entanglement and Narrative Time

Diaz connects ideas from physics—quantum entanglement, superposition, and the notion of space as a relational property—to questions of identity and perception. The podcast delves into how Ply uses tense shifts and narrative perspective to mirror the quantum idea that reality is relational and that observers influence outcomes. Diaz also discusses his time in neuroscience at the Zuckerman Institute, explaining how experiences with scientists shaped his thinking about selfhood and how our sense of space between individuals is a meaningful arena for understanding human connection.

Conclusion

The episode closes with a sense of optimism about the potential for human beings to make better choices as knowledge evolves. Diaz emphasizes that physics and philosophy should inform each other, and that the future of science is not a solitary sprint but a collective project enriched by art, narrative and human curiosity. Ply is thus presented as a work that uses fiction to interrogate the future of science and society, while inviting readers to contemplate their own sense of self in a changing world.

Takeaways

• The Wakefield accelerator serves as a narrative device to explore deep questions about spacetime and causality, grounded in current physics literature but imagined for storytelling purposes.
• Ply proposes that modernity ends and a new social order emerges where energy and water sustain life and culture, prompting a rethinking of currencies and value.
• The journalist authoring approach to science adds a humanist perspective that helps readers grasp difficult scientific ideas without losing sight of social and ethical implications.
• Science and art are presented as complementary endeavors that illuminate reality through different modes of understanding, rather than as rival domains.