Last night I interviewed one of my favourite authors, Neal Stephenson, for the How To Academy. We discussed his latest novel Polostan which springs from forgotten histories of the 1930s and 40s that inspired his writing.  He spoke about how untold stories from the era of Stalin’s Soviet Union, the origins of the nuclear age, and the space race shape this latest volume of historical fiction.

One of the most striking parts of our conversation was his take on Magnetogorsk, a Soviet steel production hub built during Stalin’s industrial push, and the intense ideological competition between communism, fascism, and capitalism in shaping the 20th century. Magnitogorsk may sound like a character from the Avengers but was one of Stalin’s flagship industrial projects. It was built using forced labor, with tens of thousands of peasants and prisoners toiling (and dying from cold, hunger and disease) in harsh conditions. Stalin, whose chosen name means “Man of Steel,” envisioned the city as a symbol of Soviet power.

We discussed his portrayal of the Bonus Army, a little known moment in U.S. history when thousands of WWI veterans marched on Washington D.C. in the 1930s, demanding compensation for their service. These veterans set up makeshift camps in the capital, only to be forcibly evicted by the U.S. Army under the command of future military leaders like Patton and MacArthur. Stephenson weaves this historical tragedy into the fabric of his novel, connecting it to larger themes of economic upheaval and political unrest that resonate today.

Polo becomes its own character in the book – Stephenson writes about how it was once a vital military training exercise for cavalry, not just the upper-class sport we think of today. His protagonist, Aurora, learned to play on ranches in Wyoming – where ponies were raised specifically for polo, and cowboys—among them Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers—became skilled polo players while training the horses.

Stephenson spoke about how writing historical fiction offers him a refreshing break from his explorations of the future, like the metaverse and blockchain.