“The Pod Generation” Explores High-Tech Alternatives To Pregnancy
In the film “The Pod Generation,” a couple finds out what it’s like to grow their baby inside a pod. But how will the technology affect society?
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In the new movie The Pod Generation, a wife named Rachel, played by Emilia Clarke, and her husband Alvy, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, want to start a family. In the movie’s near future, you don’t have to have a baby by getting pregnant, or using IVF, or going through a surrogate.
If you’re lucky, you can get a reservation at The Womb Center, where you can grow your baby inside a convenient, high-tech, egg-shaped pod. Pressured by her friends and her work’s HR department, Rachel decides to give The Womb Center a shot.
But Alvy, a professor of botany and lover of the natural world, is not thrilled to find out Rachel wants a pod baby. Despite this, they forge ahead and learn how this new technology will not only change society, but their relationship.
Universe of Art host D. Peterschmidt sat down with the film’s writer and director, Sophie Barthes, to talk about what inspired her to make the movie, and what may be lost in the thoughtless pursuit of technology.
Universe of Art is hosted and produced by D. Peterschmidt, who also wrote the music. Our show art was illustrated by Abelle Hayford. Support for Science Friday’s science and arts coverage comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
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Meet the Writer
About D. Peterschmidt
@dpeterschmidtD. Peterschmidt is a producer, host of the podcast Universe of Art, and composes music for Science Friday’s podcasts. Their D&D character is a clumsy bard named Chip Chap Chopman.