I sat down with Tim Standish to talk about his debut novel, The Sterling Directive. https://rubipod.link/sterlingdirective It’s alternate history, but not the cosy costume drama kind. Tim’s version of late Victorian London is shaped by one change that cascades through everything else: Charles Babbage’s mechanical computer doesn’t die on the drawing board. In Tim’s timeline it becomes real, gets adopted, and by 1896 you’ve got something that feels oddly familiar. Not modern, and not sleek, but very recognisable in its effects: searchable records, networked communication, and the beginnings of a data-driven state. #steampunk #amwriting #podcast