Discussion episodes

The singing bone – with Lucy Holland & Charlotte Bond

For this week's episode, Lucy and Charlotte thought they'd take the opportunity to talk about something they have a passion for: folklore. In particular, the ballad of the Singing Bone, which is Aarne Thompson index number 780.  To give it its full name, the Aarne...

Women write YA?

Have you ever wandered into a bookstore and found yourself baffled by the shelving of some books? Have you ever read a review that labeled a book written for adults as YA only to bemoan the amount of adult content? What do most of these erroneously shelved books have...

Reconciling our love of works by problematic creators

Recently, a number of prominent television and film creators, as well as authors, have either been outed for bad behaviour or made hateful public statements. Anyone who is a regular listener will know that we often refer to Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer....

Scrooge reimagined

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the staples of Christmas. As well as the original book, it’s possible to watch adaptations involving among others Bill Murray, Jim Carey, Patrick Stewart, and (mine and Megan’s favourite) Michael Caine. It has even been...

Childhood Heroines

Or 'Extraneous Fangirling' as I subtitled this episode while editing it. And in truth there is a fair bit of fangirling, but there's also a lot of critical reflection to go with it. Because when we looked back at the books and shows we enjoyed as kids, we found some...

The Cabin in the Woods: horror, comedy & choice

Variously listed as a horror, comedy and fantasy film by different websites, one thing is certain: Cabin in the Woods, by Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, defies easy labelling. Is this a send-up of the horror genre in the style of Scary Movie? Is it a rumination on...

Addressing our biases

Entrenched racism is all around us. This is not a new phenomenon nor the first time racism has been headline news – and yet we have a seemingly incredible ability to forget the atrocities committed daily as long as they aren't at the top of the news cycle. We can’t...

Back to the 80s: Willow

Well, it's that time again: 80s family film funtime! Today we are looking at 1988's Willow, starring Warwick Davis and Val Kilmer, directed by Ron Howard with a story by George Lucas. But first, let's set the scene. It is a time of dread. Seers have foretold the birth...

Gendering monsters

Monster. Freak. Beast. These words are often thrown around, but what do we really mean when we use them? What is a monster? Why are they so central to our narratives? Like many of the issues we discuss on this podcast, the idea of monstrosity features built-in sexism....