Woodrow Phoenix is the author of "Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World." We discuss the history of Japanese toy culture, as well as it's current incarnations, which include high-brow art from Takeshi Murakami and the limited-edition collectible vinyl toys for adults which are popular in the urban boutique market.

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Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art & Science of Japanese Robots." His book investigates the history of robots in Japan, from the pre-industrial age to today. We talk about why Japan's cultural history makes their perception of robots quite different from ours, as well as some of the most important robots in Japanese culture and technology.

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