The Coode Street Podcast

Welcome to episode 7 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. This week Jonathan and Gary return to form with a classic ramble through a jumble of topics ranging from the postponement of this year’s Swancon in Perth (and a bit of trivia about an American Swanncon from decades ago); the possible effects of the missing convention years on the SFF field; a brief foray into utopian/dystopian fiction; Charles de Lint, urban fantasy, and his new novel Juniper Wiles; our mutual admiration for Catherynne Valente's forthcoming The Past is Red; and bits about what we’ve been reading lately, including Nghi Vo's The Chosen and the Beautiful, fictions that focus on a single technology like Sarah Pinsker's We Are Satellites, alternate histories like P. Djèlí Clark's A Master of Djinn, set in Cairo, and why we’ve been overloaded on London steampunk (especially on TV), while other world cities seem to get short shrift in the whole steampunk/alternate history trend. Some of these authors, we promise, will get a chance to spe

Welcome to episode 6 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. This week Jonathan and Gary are joined by the delightful Nebula and Aurora winning author Kelly Robson, whose first collection Alias Space and Other Stories has just been published by Subterranean Press. Kelly discusses life during lockdown in Toronto, the joys of becoming a widely admired short fiction writer after starting out as a “late bloomer,” how SF and fantasy helped get through challenging times when younger, what she’s learned from writers such as Michael Bishop, James Tiptree, Jr., Howard Waldrop, and Connie Willis, the worldbuilding behind her novella Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach (and other stories set in that universe), and the fun she’s had exploring humorous fiction in new work that she's completing right now. And, of course, the wonderful stories that go to make up her new collection. As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast. We'll see you again soon!

Welcome to episode 5 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. After three weeks of unexcused absences, Jonathan and Gary return, just as the world starts re-emerging with the announcement that the Montreal World Fantasy Convention, at least at present, expects to host an in-person event in early November. That led us to return to our occasional discussion of possible candidates for Life Achievement Awards (limited to those over 62 years of age), with Jonathan again presenting his case for Howard Waldrop, which Gary finds it hard to disagree with. But Gary also mentions several other eligible possibilities. That leads us toward the other categories on the ballot, and we name some possible candidates for novel, novella, anthology, collection, and artist, as well as the more mysterious categories of special achievements, professional and nonprofessional.  As always, we welcome reminders of those we have inevitably overlooked, some of which we will undoubtedly embarrassed about. As always, we hope you enjoy th

Welcome to episode 4 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. Despite an unexpected glitch that caused Jonathan to disappear partway through, he and Gary are joined by Veronica Schanoes, whose Burning Girls and Other Stories is just out, with endorsements from writers and scholars as diverse as Karen Joy Fowler, Jack Zipes, Jane Yolen, Catherynne Valente, Jeffrey Ford, and Roz Kaveny. We talk about fairy tales, anti-Semitism, feminism, labour history, immigrant history, punk rock, and many other elements that go to make up her remarkable short stories. As always, we'd like to thank Veronica for making the time to talk to us, and hope you enjoy the podcast.

Welcome to episode 3 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. This week the brilliant Aliette de Bodard joins us from Paris to discuss her new Fireheart Tiger, which is already gathering stellar reviews, as well as the challenges of writing a complex romance with significant political themes, how much world-building is needed for a particular story, her use of mystery plots in recent novellas like Seven of Infinities and The Tea Master and the Detective, and the importance of the city of Paris to her well-received Dominion of the Fallen trilogy. As always, our thanks to Aliette for making time to talk to us. We hope you enjoy the episode and see you next time!

Last year Coode Street sat down with people from all over the world to talk about what they were reading, what they were up to, and how they were coping with strange times. We did it every day, which we probably never will again, and along the way found out it was fun and interesting to check in for a short chat. We're continuing that during 2021. Ten Minutes with Max Gladstone The second "Ten Minutes with..." chat for 2021 is with Max Gladstone, the acclaimed author of the Craft Sequence, the Empress of Forever and, with Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War. Max sat down with Jonathan last year and discussed what he had been reading (a lot!), what he'd recommend, and what he had coming up. As always, our thanks to Max for taking the time to chat with us.

Welcome to episode 2 of Season 12 of The Coode Street Podcast. This week, in the second of our main season of twenty-six hour-long episodes, our hosts Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan talk to Locus Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Liza Groen Trombi and award-winning writer Daryl Gregory about the year in science fiction and fantasy. The annual Locus Recommended Reading issue is due out at the beginning of February featuring an overview of the year, the 50th Locus Reader's Poll and annual recommended reading list, so it seemed like a good time to talk trends, themes, books, and more.  And, of course, there's the odd digression because it's Coode Street and that's what we do. As always, our thanks to our guests Liza and Daryl. We hope you enjoy the episode and see you next time!

Last year Coode Street sat down with people from all over the world to talk about what they were reading, what they were up to, and how they were coping with strange times. We did it every day, which we probably never will again, and along the way found out it was fun and interesting to check in for a short chat. We're continuing that during 2021. Ten Minutes with Jason Sizemore The first "Ten Minutes with..." chat for 2021 is with Apex Magazine editor and publisher, Jason Sizemore. Apex is an award-winning magazine that publishes fantastic fiction. It paused publication due to illness, but is back with exciting new material in 2021. During our conversation Jason discusses the future of the magazine, watching Deadwood for the first time, and the fiction of Mary Doria Russell.

Welcome to Season 12 of the Coode Street Podcast. This year we're repeating our commitment to bring you at least twenty-six hour-long episodes where our hosts, Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan, talk about science fiction and stuff with little or no coherent purpose, and occasionally interact with interesting people. There will also be additional episodes and bits and pieces, but they'll come in due time. John Clute and Science Fiction Repeating the Future This week we're delighted to be joined by the venerable John Clute, who talks to us from a weirdly deserted Camden Town in London, discussing the impact of World War I on the surprisingly large numbers of scientific romance writers of the 1920s and 1930s, some provocative ideas which John laid out in his 2017 Telluride talk "Those who do not understand Science Fiction are Condemned to Repeat It", including the notion of “techno-occultism,” what’s happened with space opera, generation starships, and apocalyptic literature, and what’s wrong with the idea of

Since we’re as anxious as everyone else to finally escape 2020, this one is likely to be Jonathan and Gary’s final episode of the year, unless we think of something irresistible. We start by reminding long-time listeners (or explaining to some for the first time) where the Coode Street name comes from, then honouring major figures we’ve lost in the last couple of weeks, including Ben Bova, Richard Corben, and Phyllis Eisenstein. Then, as usual at this time of year, we reflect on some of the important and/or overlooked books we’ve read, the continually widening diversity of the field, some of the major works from major writers that appeared in 2020, and the most pleasant surprises of the year. We wish you the best of holidays and hope to see you in 2021 when everything will be magically all better all at once. (Hey, we’re talking about SF here!)

We're getting to the end of an extraordinary year and it's almost time to shutter the podcast before a well-earned holiday break. But, before Gary and Jonathan close the door on the Gershwin Room for the last time for 2020, a special gift guide episode. There were no notes, no plans, no lists - just some off-the-cuff gift suggestions for the holidays.  We hope you'll consider your local independent businesses when choosing gifts for the holidays. They're a vital part of our communities. While this isn't the last time you'll hear from Coode Street in 2020, we would like to thank you all for listening and wish you and your loved ones a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.  

Jonathan and Gary continue their irregular 2020 schedule with a conversation with Charles Coleman Finlay, who for more than five years has carried on the grand tradition of editing The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Sheree Renée Thomas, who picks up the mantle as new editor beginning with the March/April 2021 issue. We talk about the magazine’s distinguished history, the challenges of maintaining an iconic magazine in a radically changing short fiction field, and their own experiences as SF readers, writers, and editors.

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and book lovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Hugo and Nebula winner Charlie Jane Anders talks about some new books she’s been reading by Rebecca Roanhorse, Holly Black, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Darcy Little Badger, some past favourites including Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Katherine Dunne, and Ursula K. Le Guin, and her own forthcoming YA trilogy—as well as the differences between writing YA and adult fiction. Books mentioned include: Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1963–1973 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

After spending a few minutes chatting about what it’s like to live in a relatively safe but relatively sealed-off environment—something Jonathan can experience in Western Australia, but something SFF has occasionally touched upon—your intrepid hosts venture into the questions raised by Time magazine’s much-discussed list of "The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time,” with occasional reference to similar past lists in Michael Moorcock's Fantasy: The 100 Best Books and Locus magazine's All-Time Best Fantasy poll. We discuss what’s useful about such lists, what’s silly about them, and who are they really for? Who do they include and who do they exclude, and are they really ever anything much more than something to chat about with friends? As usual, we arrive at some definitively non-definitive answers.

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning writer Rebecca Roanhorse chats about living and working through lockdown in New Mexico, the appeal of epic fantasy, reading fantasy for pleasure and science non-fiction for work, her stunning new fantasy novel Black Sun, and her experiences working in the writers' room for an unnamed new TV show. Books mentioned include: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Hugo Award-winning Asimov’s editor Sheila Williams talk about the early days of the pandemic in Manhattan, the challenges of finding time to read anything other than the 800 submissions per month she sees at the magazine, her good luck to have travelled to Ireland and the Canary Islands just before the lockdown began, her new anthology in the Twelve Tomorrows series from MIT Press, and, of course, what she’s been reading. Books mentioned include: Entanglements: Tomorrow's Lovers, Families, and Friends edited by Sheila Williams The Wright Sister by Patty Dann Nine Bar Blues by Sheree Renee Thomas Doomsday Book by Connie Willis A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Multiple award-nominated novelist Paul Park discusses reading the Book of Mormon in preparation for his new novel, the challenges of writing about a society with no recognition of gender (including the problem of pronouns), reading about the Dreyfuss affair, serializing a 14-part story on his Facebook page, and a possible new collection of short fiction. Books mentioned include: A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park All Those Vanished Engines by Paul Park A City Made of Words by Paul Park An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris The Odyssey by Homer  Emily Wilson (trans.)

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan chats with S. Qiouyi Lu about being highly prolific during the pandemic, the pleasures of immersive reading, reading work in translation (especially in Chinese), the growth in diverse voices, how changing times impact on stories, the recently announced novella In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu, and much more. Books mentioned include: In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu (2021) Inhalations: Collected Works Vol. 1 by S. Qiouyi Lu  The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

Jonathan and Gary are back with their usual laser-like focus on a single important topic--or maybe not. Starting at the recent release of the trailer for Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune, which has many of us looking back at Frank Herbert's classic novel, they touch upon re-reading old favourites, books that are genuinely sui generis and whether they have a lasting influence, other books that caused us to rethink the possibilities of SFF, "classics" or classic ideas that really don't hold up that well, and of course what they've been reading lately and might be thinking about for the Locus recommended reading list, which we'll both need to start working on in next month. 

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Award-winning critic and biographer Julie Phillips talks about listening to audiobooks while biking in Amsterdam, enjoying Martha Wells's Murderbot series, reviewing classic American books newly translated into Dutch, her own fondness for Willa Cather, and her current biographical work on women authors as mothers (including Doris Lessing) and her biography-in-progress of Ursula K. Le Guin. Books mentioned include: James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells East of Eden by John Steinbeck O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Beloved by Toni Morrison The Underground Railway by Colson Whitehead