Our Episodes
Chosen Identities – with Charlie Jane Anders
Our identity is who we are. But for such a seemingly simple concept, our identities are extremely complex. We aren't the only ones who decide our identities. Society places labels on us that we often don’t feel represents who we are, or worse, forces us into very...
Franchise writing with Una McCormack
The basic principles of writing a book are simple – come up with an idea, write it. Of course, it isn't really that simple, it is a lot of hard work, but that's about the size of it, right? Well, not always. What happens if you are asked to write for a hugely popular...
Making the ordinary monstrous with Catriona Ward
Why do we need monsters in our fiction? Why do we want to be frightened? When they pick up a book, do readers enter into a pact with a writer, as Catriona Ward describes: a pact that says I share your fear, let's face it together? We asked Catriona about the nature of...
Communities with Caroline Hardaker and Gabriela Houston
When you look, communities are everywhere. They can be the people where you live, the people who share the same interest as you, the people you volunteer with. They can be as small as a household or as big as a city. Communities, societies, political and religious...
Exploring Ragnarok – with H.M. Long & Genevieve Gornichec
Spirituality exists in every work of fiction in some form or other, but most often manifests as divinity. Gods and goddesses never seem to go out of fashion. Why do authors turn to a god or pantheon of gods to articulate this spiritual urge? And out of all the...
Parenthood with Julia Fine
Being a parent is not glamorous. It’s hard work and it often goes unappreciated – in life and in fiction. When we do see parents represented in our fiction, we tend to see a very limited kind of representation. Rarely are parents the centre of the story – the...
Matriarchies – with Aliette de Bodard
The world as we know it has historically been ruled by men. But when it comes to fiction, writers can choose what power structures they create and how they are depicted. Despite the free rein this allows authors, most simply replicate the patriarchy. When...
Loneliness in science fiction with Aliya Whiteley
Space. The final frontier. An empty, endless expanse of nothing? Or teeming with life?But do we really need to look beyond the confines of our world to find loneliness? We are currently fighting a pandemic, and in its wake, a loneliness epidemic. Despite our constant...
Hollywood Monsters – with Mallory O’Meara
History is written by the winners. By men. Early editors of science fiction anthologies chose to exclude works by women, and in doing so, made many believe that women did not write science fiction in the genre's earliest years. This is just a single example and by no...