We’re very late in getting this out. But starting a new semester as a teacher, getting a hurricane in your backyard, and desperately trying to get caught up on everything has a tendency to put you pretty behind on everything that isn’t work-related.
But we’re back. Podcasts are still happening, and we’ve got plenty to share!
Here we go:
Books and Stories
- Over at Breaking the Glass Slipper, they take a look at mythical female figures from literature and folklore and examine why they continue to have an impact on society. They also have a wonderful interview with author Tim Lebbon about his novels and his approach to writing female characters.
- Kirstyn and Ian of The Writer and the Critic have some thoughts about the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize. Here’s their discussion of John Langan’s The Fisherman and Anne Valente’s By Light We Knew Our Names.
- Imaginary Worlds has some interesting new episodes to check out, including:
- A look at the influence of music on worldbuilding (and vice versa).
- An exploration of technobabble.
- An interview with comic legend Scott Snyder.
Movies and Television
- Star Wars:
- The fine folks at The Incomparable take a look at The Clone Wars and Rebels. They explore what keeps fans coming back and what they love about the shows.
- Not Playing with Lex and Dan continue their journey through the franchise (one for the first time) with episodes on Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
- The folks at Blabba the Hutt interview publicist Craig Miller about his work on the original Star Wars movie.
- Here are some discussions of recent movie releases:
- IT:
- Filmspotting (w/ a list of the Top 5 Stephen King Scares)
- InSession Film (w/ a list of the Top 3 Stephen King Adaptation Scenes AND a discussion of Willow — OMG YES!)
- mother!:
- Filmspotting (w/ a list of the Top 5 Darren Aronofsky Scenes)
- InSession Film (w/ a list of the Top 5 Aronofsky-isms)
- Kingsman: The Golden Circle:
- Filmspotting (w/ an interview with Kogonada, director of Columbus)
- InSession Film (w/ a list of the Top 3 Stylish Movie Characters)
- The folks at InSession Film also have a throwback podcast on X-Men: First Class!
- IT:
- Over at Maltin on Movies, they interview the infamous Mel Brooks AND Wings alum Steven Weber.
History, Conspiracies, Science! and Weirdness
- Freakonomics continues to be one of the best podcasts to listen to if you want to know about tons of strange, wonderful, and/or terrifying facts about the world. Recently, they’ve had a series of 3 episodes on the dark history and limits of medicine (part 1, part 2, and part 3) AND a whole bunch of episodes on language:
- Also on fire lately? The Stuff You Missed in History podcast. Here are some of their fantastic recent episodes:
- Five First Flights (other than the Wright Brothers)
- Léonard Autié: Hair, Grandeur and Revolution (Part 1 and Part 2; this is the eccentric hairstylist behind Marie Antoinette’s famous looks)
- The Sinking of the H.L. Hunley (for you nerdy sea types)
- John von Neumann (the man, the life, the science)
- Over at Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know, the hosts take a look at the validity of some end of the world conspiracies. They also have an episode on how permanent your “footprint” is on the Internet and why “deleting your Internet history” isn’t feasible.
- NPR’s Hidden Brain remains one of our favorite shows. Their recent episodes include:
- A look at the research on arguments about free speech and what it says about people on various sides of the political aisle.
- An in-depth exploration of hookup culture and its implications.
- A talk about ignorance and the problems of the “ostrich effect.”
And there you have it.
What have you been listening to? Let us know in the comments! We’re always looking for new stuff to check out!
