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A podcast by three red-headed fantasy authors talking about everything from academic mythology to dick jokes (and sometimes, both at once), as well as the role of fanfiction as an integral yet oft-overlooked part of the literary conversation and in the broader cultural context. It is, obviously, a podcast of extremely deep literary merit.
Episodes
Wednesday May 20, 2020
Wednesday May 20, 2020
On this week's episode, we're discussing historical fantasy, and Freya makes a truly brilliant point about what this genre really IS. The tentpoles today are The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly, and “Duende” by astolat.
What We’re Into Lately
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
A Marvelous Light by Freya Markse!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Hornblower by C.S. Forester
Loveless anime
“Dangerous If Unbound” by astolat
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
P.G. Woodhouse books
Judging accuracy with the Bill and Ted test
Hild by Nicola Griffith
The Hornblower books by C.S. Forester
A Dalliance with the Duke by AMargeurite
An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
The Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal
Everfair by Nisi Shawl
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
For Next Time
The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce
Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you as always to our lovely scribes for their hard work!
Wednesday May 06, 2020
Wednesday May 06, 2020
On this week's episode, it's time for another extravaganza of questions from our darling listeners! What's Freya's favorite nonfiction book? How quickly can Macey bring up chaos theory? Will Alex make any progress convincing their cohosts to wear snek onesies for the digital Hugo ceremony?
What We’re Into Lately:
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Untamed fanfic
Scum Villain fanfic
Other Stuff We Mentioned:
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
The City Born Great by N. K. Jemisin
The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
The Divine Cities series by Robert Jackson Bennett
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Seanan McGuire’s swamp
Ness from Strange Horizons
Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzalez
Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
Watching the English by Kate Fox
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Johnathan Gottschall
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The works of Diana Wynne Jones
The Harry Potter series
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
RPF
Frank/Gerard
Thor/Loki
Leto/Ghanima
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
Kylo Ren/Rey
Viable Paradise Writers Workshop
Dangerous If Unbound by astolat
freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose by synecdochic
House Proud by astolat
Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
The new serpent taxonomy: which astolat fic are you?
Does God Play Dice? by Ian Stewart
For Next Time:
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
Transcription:
Click here for the transcript of this episode! Thank you as always to our beautiful, glamorous team of scribes!
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
On this week's episode we're a lil loopy from quarantine, but we're still having fun! We're talking about non-human protagonists this week, with the tentpoles for discussion being The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood, All Systems Red by Martha Wells, and the film Ratatouille.
What We’re Into Lately
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
Birarley by Aster Glenn Gray
The Unconquered City by K.A. Doore
perhaps even friends by hirokiyuu
Even more Untamed fic
Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings
Other Stuff We Mentioned
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Kushiels’ Dart by Jacqueline Carey
WALL·E (2008)
The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers
Zootopia (2016)
“Bright: The Apotheosis of Lazy Worldbuilding” by Lindsay Ellis
The Redwall books by Brian Jacques
Robin Hood (1973)
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
The Aristocats (1970)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Teaching empathy to engineers
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Cats (2019)
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Unnatural Order by Alyssa Wickramasinghe and Alis Franklin
Victory Condition by astolat
Shrek (2001)
For Next Time
Nothing! It's the Episode 60 Extravaganza!
Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you once again to our priceless, invaluable scribes! You're the best <3
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Welcome back to campus, students! It's the episode about college AUs and university settings! On today’s episode, we’re discussing The Student Prince by FayJay, Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, and the pilot episode of The Magicians.
What We’re Into Lately
Band Sinister by K. J. Charles
Stormsong by C.L. Polk
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun fic
The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Witchmark by C.L. Polk
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat aka 肉包不吃肉
All nighters and Irn Bru
The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers
The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry
The Student Prince by FayJay -- podfic version
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Drastically Redefining Protocol by rageprufrock
Juxtaposition
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Sneaking into events for free food
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
College AU shenanigans
American University Hellscape
Advanced Ambulatory Ichthyology by gyzym
Two ducks per student
For Next Time
The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood
Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here. Please applaud your scribes, all of them made it onto the Dean's List this semester for their hard work.
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
On this episode, we are shifting into a more serious register to talk about plague narratives. In light of the current pandemic, we urge you to check in with yourself before listening to this episode--are you doing okay? Are you good to listen to this right now? Please take care of yourself, and don't listen to this episode right now if it'll be an emotional overload for you. It'll always be here for you later.
That said, the tentpoles for this episode are: The Monster of Elendhaven, The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, and the eighth episode of the first season of X-Files, called “The Ice.”
What We’re Into Lately
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings
Drowned Country by Emily Tesh
Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis
Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather
The Case for Socialism by Alan Maass
Paris or Maybe Hell by basingstoke
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Episode 60 Extravaganza!
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Children of Men by P.D. James
Blindness by José Saramago
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Newsflesh series by Mira Grant
A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker
Handshaking
Handwashing
Zombies
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
“With Fire in Their Eyes” by Askerian
“House of the Living” by astolat
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
For Next Time
The Student Prince by fayjay
Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Seriously, though, special thanks to our scribes for tackling this one.
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
On this week's episode, we're diving into a very self-referential discussion of the metatext! Tentpoles this week are the film The Handmaiden, the fanfic “Steve Rogers at 100,” and A Choir of Lies by our very own Alexandra Rowland.
What We’re Into Lately
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri
The Impossible Contract by K. A. Doore
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xu
Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xu
The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild
Written by the Victors by Speranza
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
Person of Interest (or, the Husbands and Wives show)
For Next Time
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here! Appreciate your local scribes and their hard work by reading their margin comments--they've been metatexty this whole time, wow!
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
On this week's episode, we're talking about bureaucracies! Macey brought a fun little game so Alex and Freya could use their imaginations! We're also talking about two great tentpoles: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett and the Harry Potter fanfic “Little Red Courgette” by blamebrampton.
What We’re Into Lately
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
“Little Red Courgette” by blamebrampton
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke
The New Oxford American Dictionary
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
Machineries of Empire series
BtS Episode 7
“The Office Job” Leverage ep.
BtS Episode 29
For Next Time
A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland
Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you, scribes!!!
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
On this episode, we're discussing portal fantasies! We're yelling about how mad we are at Aslan! We're finding out Freya's middle name! We're talking about some great tentpoles: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, “Every Heart a Doorway” by Seanan McGuire, and the 2005 movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
What We’re Into Lately
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women 2019 movie
Learn My Lesson by Katee Robert
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System
Our Story’s Just Begun by aishiteru
Flesh and Blood exhibit
“Sunflowers” by Anselm Kiefer
The Untamed series
etymologyplayground on AO3
Other Stuff We Mentioned
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
“Every Heart a Doorway“ by Seanan McGuire
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie
Danger Mouse series
Silk and Steel anthology
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
Wayward Children by Seanan Mcguire
‘The Girl That’s Never Been’ Filk song by Vixy & Tony (Michelle Dockrey)
‘Wicked Girls’ song by Seanan McGuire
Restoree by Anne McCaffrey
Isavalta series by Sarah Zettel
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones
Doctor Who TV series
Quantum Leap TV series
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Stargate film & TV series
Farscape TV series
Star Trek Voyager TV series
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Naruto anime
Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
Homestuck webcomic
The Sims videogame
For Next Time
Little Red Courgette by blamebrampton
Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you as always to our beauteous, heroic scribes for making this happen!
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
On this episode, the Serpents are welding themselves to their bullshit with the help of a friend, glamorous guest star and kickass editor Ruoxi Chen! We're yelling about the Chinese fantasy drama, The Untamed! Welcome to Year Three of the podcast!!
What We’re Into Lately
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System
SV Wishes by Feynite
“Linger in the Sun” by etymologyplayground
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lymond Chronicles series by Dorothy Dunnett
Captive Prince trilogy by C. S. Pacat.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by 墨香铜臭
“A Civil Combpaign” by Ariaste (two combs reference)
Tall Once More In The Spring Wind by Fayjay
Books by Robert Jackson Bennett
For Next Time
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Transcription:
The transcript for this episode is available here. We're dramatically grabbing the wrists of our darling scribes (Tess, Sara, Kelle, Millie) and staring yearningly into their eyes as they play our love song on a hill somewhere.
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
WHAT'S THIS? An episode on a Wednesday that isn't an Episode Wednesday!? Yes, it's true! Last year we pitched in to help our esteemed colleagues at Strange Horizons with their Kickstarter by pledging to do a special episode if they reached a certain landmark amount of donations. This week, we're bringing you that episode and talking about three amazing short stories that Strange Horizons published! The tentpoles this week are “Hunting the Viper King” by Kathryn Harlan, “Regret, Return, Reignite” by Audrey R. Hollis, and “Truth Plus” by Jamie Wahls.
What We’re Into Lately
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Altogether by Brill Harper
On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
Hoshigaki by writer168
Five Kingdoms for the Dead by Evil Is A Relative Term
Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
Connections (TV series)
Other Stuff We Mentioned
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
How We Got To Now by Steven Johnson
Connections by James Burke
“Many Hearted Dog and the Heron Who Stepped Past Time”
“What We Named the Needle” by Freya Marske, in Analog
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Super Little Dead Girls” by Nino Cipri
“Remains” by Basingstoke
“Wrap Me in Oceans Wide” by Marissa Lingen
“Notes on a Resurrection” by Natalia Theodoridou
“The Wind Whispers Secrets To The Sea” by Jordan Kurella
“Sequestration; Vitrification” by AJ Lucy
“The King’s Mirror” by M.K. Hutchins
“Cassandra Draws the Four of Cups” by Ruthanna Emrys
“Who Has Never Loved a Gentle House?” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu
“Sublet” by Ian Kappos
For Next Time
It's back to your regularly scheduled on-our-bullshit with next week's episode, which is still about The Untamed!
Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here. BONUS THANKS to our scribes for taking on this bonus episode!