Some of the best speculative fiction comes when a writer is able to extrapolate forward in a manner that is both engaging and plausible. And when that speculation leans toward the dystopian? Well – go ahead and sign me up.

That’s what Rob Hart has done with his new novel “The Warehouse” (Crown, $27); it’s an exploration of a near-future that reads like nothing so much as a darkest timeline look at the future of our society as it relates to the corporate monoliths that consume all that lies before them in their quest for ever-increasing growth.

By spinning out the trends toward ubiquity among some of our larger corporations, Hart takes us deep into the shadows cast by the cheerful bright lights of “progress.” His tale of those tangled in that all-encompassing web – those at the top and at the bottom alike – offers a satiric, chilling and bleakly funny perspective on the potential endpoint of our cultural fascination with the biggest of big business.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve greatly admired Ann Curry’s work in broadcasting and journalism. Whether she was reporting from the center of a war-torn nation or posing a difficult question to a president, she has always epitomized journalistic integrity.

After leaving NBC’s Today Show in 2012, Curry produced content for NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC before parting ways with the network in 2015. She later developed a production company responsible for her six-part PBS series “We’ll Meet Again,” a show focused on lives changed for the better.

That theme is amplified in her new weekly series “Chasing the Cure,” airing live each Thursday at 9 p.m. on TBS and TNT.

The show brings together patients suffering from an undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or uncured illness with thousands of doctors from around the nation and millions of viewers – some of whom may be able to offer solutions.

In the following interview, Curry explains how the show works while also revealing her initial concerns surround the concept of “Chasing the Cure.”