The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 5. Into the Wardrobe with Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971; dir. Robert Stevenson): The Age of Not Believing and the Problem of Empire

/

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEp5IntoTheWardrobeBedknobsAndBroomsticks/SandF–Ep5–Into_the_Wardrobe–Bedknobs_and_Broomsticks.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIn this episode of Into the Wardrobe, Shaun and Jen talk about the utterly delightful, but definitely problematic, 1971 Disney production, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, directed by Robert Stevenson and featuring a heavy production overlap with Mary Poppins. The duo discuss everything from why they loved this film, the amount of nuance that they didn’t pick up on as children, the heavy influence of British Empire and Nationalism, the wonderful relationships and character arcs, and honestly a lot more that you’ll just have to discover yourself by listening to the episode! Enjoy!

Blog Posts

Review: Civilization 6: Gathering Storm

/

The Aztecs are sorely pressing Sweden, having taken a number of their cities. Greece is exploring, sending caravels across the wide ocean and making contact with the Phoenicians at Ugarit. The Arab-Chinese war is turning hot again. And the Zulu have asked the Phoenicians to join them in a glorious war against the Dutch. The Phoenicians politely have refused. Wait! This is not the latest Alternate History novel from Harry Turtledove. This is my latest game session of Civilization 6 using the latest expansion, Gathering Storm.  Civilization 6: Gathering Storm adds new a new gameplay format, civs, and mechanics to provide a Civilization game resonant with our climate change age.

Anders The City in the Middle of the Night Cover
The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

359. Charlie Jane Anders (Hostess with the Mostest) – The City in the Middle of the Night

/

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode359CharlieJaneAndersCityintheMiddleoftheNight/SandF–Episode359–CharlieJaneAndersCityintheMiddleoftheNight.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSCool suits, touch telepathy, and tidally locked planets, oh my! We didn’t know it at the time of our interview, but Paul and Elizabeth sit down with one of our official Hugo Fancast nemeses, Charlie Jane Anders, to talk about her new book, The City in the Middle of the Night! Listen to why Charlie Jane picked her setting and what that meant for the story, how generation ships might actually work out unless designed in a very specific way, how concepts of time play a key role in the world-building, the effects of trauma on a species that communicates via touch, what fashion looks like on the planet of January, and so much more! We hope you enjoy the episode!

Blog Posts

Book Review: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

/

Descendant of the Crane is a Chinese-inspired YA fantasy novel about politics, leadership and sacrifice. When the King of Yan dies suddenly, Hesina knows her father has been poisoned. In order to launch an official investigation, Hesina must take her place as the queen—no easy task when this involves gaining the approval of her mother. Plus, any ruler of the Kingdom of Yan faces a number of troubles. Whole villages are disappearing without a trace along the border, but Yan’s philosophy prevents the country from going to war. Within the capital there’s rumours that the soothsayers, the magic users who propped up the previous regime of profligate emperors, aren’t as dead as once thought, and neighbours begin to turn on each other. Hesina must somehow balance these concerns with her quest for the truth about her father’s death and her growing awareness of treachery from within her court.

Blog Posts

Book Review: Edges (Inverted Frontier, Book 1) by Linda Nagata

/

Edges capably starts a new sequence of Inverted Frontier novels set in the far future universe that first made the reputation of its author, Linda Nagata. Back in the 1990s, Cyberpunk and nanotech and transhumanism had a boom of novels and idea exploration. The first wave of cyberpunk led by Neuromancer and its ilk was succeeded by novels that pushed the concept further, exploring the consequences of programmable matter, multiple lives across copies, virtual existences, and fantastic landscapes and settings across the Earth and beyond. From Kathleen Ann Goonan to Walter Jon Williams, a number of authors explored this space.

Announcements and Errata, Awards Season

We’re 2019 Hugo Finalists!!! THANK YOU!

/

We really don’t know where to start. We’ve known for about two weeks now that was coming, but there was a small part that didn’t believe it. That instead believed it was some terrible hoax. Not that we don’t believe that The Skiffy and Fanty Show isn’t deserving of this, but rather that becoming finalists in 2014 was probably the one and only time it would ever happen. Yay for imposter syndrome!  We have to say, it’s a relief to see the official official announcement and know it is true (though to be amongst such amazing finalists is still bewildering!!) But then we looked at our team and knew immediately that we should never have doubted, because our team is AMAZING and deserves every bit of this nomination:

Scroll to Top