Human fascination with robots has long been fused with fear. The first widespread use of the term came a century ago in a Czech play about robots manufactured to serve and work for people. The bots turn on their masters. That plot has played out in fiction countless times since. Meanwhile, the real world has created ever more advanced versions of mechanical servants.

Human fascination with robots has long been fused with fear. The first widespread use of the term came a century ago in a Czech play about robots manufactured to serve and work for people. The bots turn on their masters. That plot has played out in fiction countless times since. Meanwhile, the real world has created ever more advanced versions of mechanical servants.

Imagine a scene, set in the future, where a child in Burning Man–style punk clothing is standing in front of a yurt powered by solar panels. There weren't many books with scenes like that in 2014, when Sarena Ulibarri, an editor, first grew interested in a genre of science fiction that imagines a renewable and sustainable future. Welcome to solarpunk, a new genre within science fiction that is a reaction against the perceived pessimism of present-day sci-fi and hopes to bring optimistic stories about the future with the aim of encouraging people to change the present. The first book that explicitly identified as solarpunk was Solarpunk: Histórias ecológicas e fantásticas em um mundo sustentável (Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastic Stories in a Sustainable World), a Brazilian book published in 2012. In 2014, author Adam Flynn wrote Solarpunk: Notes Toward a Manifesto.

Join us for Third Rail With OZY, a terrific new TV show presented by OZY and WGBH, to debate provocative hot topics with experts and celebrities every Friday night. The subject of this week's show -- "Is the Truth Overrated? Is Lying the American Way?" -- features special guests Malcolm Gladwell, Roxane Gay, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz and Seth Weathers. Tune in tonight at 8:30/7:30c on PBS, or online, and please be sure to weigh in on social media (#ThirdRailPBS) and/or email us at thirdrail@ozy.com with your take! Think your friend looks fat in that dress but don't want to tell her? It's unlikely she'll know you're faking that supportive smile.