Official Ols Episodes One Last Sketch

Marie and I are contractually obligated to discuss any book with dragons on the cover, so in the end, we couldn’t avoid chatting about the publishing phenomenon Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (2023). While it’s not entirely to our tastes, we also wonder if the backlash to the novel might be for all the wrong … Continue reading Episode 64 – Wings and Things

We look back on the things we most enjoyed in 2025, covering films, games, books and whatever else strikes our fancy. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song Stuff we mention

Over 20 years have passed since I first read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1869-1870), so I roped in Cory and Marie for a re-read. We find 20,000 problems with the science and struggle through 20,000 lists of underwater species, but they never obstruct the fun. Additionally, Marie “does a Zork.” Download … Continue reading Episode 62 – 20,000 Lists

We wander through a vast mansion full of looming statues in Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We try to get the jump on Canada Reads by discussing Bird Suit by Sydney Hegele (2024), the first pick for our 2025 book club. This southern Ontario gothic novel tells a story of generational trauma in a tourist town that also happens to have some bird-people living nearby. Opinions are decidedly mixed. We talk … Continue reading Episode 60 – Avian Attire

We decide to finally discuss something J.R.R. Tolkien-related on our podcast, but in the stupidest way possible: by comparing the 2024 animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim to 1980’s The Return of the King. This episode has been a long time coming, but as the orcs might say, where … Continue reading Episode 59 – Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way!

As the end of 2024 draws ever closer, we reflect on our favourite arts and culture from the past year. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song Some things we mentioned

Our 2024 book club concludes with Roger Zelazny’s 1963 novelette “A Rose for Ecclesiastes”, wherein a poet goes to Mars and discovers he’s not very good at describing dances. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We have only good things to say about The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (2021), though that doesn’t extend to the term “hopepunk” used in the marketing copy. Is this post-apocalyptic novella set in Alberta the best specifically Canadian piece of science fiction out there? We make the case that it is. Download … Continue reading Episode 56 – That Was Just Cloud Talk, Man

90s fantasy is back, baby! We discuss The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (2019). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

Will we survive the fungal infestation that lurks beneath Toronto in The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan (2023)? This horror/near-future science fiction/fantasy novel is packed with ideas and has plenty of relevant criticism of the direction Canada is heading, but doesn’t bring things together in a satisfactory way for the three of us. We talk … Continue reading Episode 54 – Fungus Among Us

In the dying days of 2023, we came together to reflect on the best things that we read, watched, listened to and played this year. Tune in to the end for our “dishonourable mentions” as well, where we consider…the opposite. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We wrap up our 2023 book club with a recent release, The Terraformers (2023) by Annalee Newitz. This throwback to the fix-up novel explores a lot of big ideas about ecology, biology and society, but do all the many, many elements work together as a whole? And what’s up with all the references to Canada? … Continue reading Episode 52 – Terraforming Moose

A working-class memoir? In this day and age? We sit down to discuss Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022) by Kate Beaton. Warning: Includes mentions of sexual assault and workplace harassment. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We talk about Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia Butler, which begins in the far-future year of 2024. And yet somehow, this still seems like a shockingly plausible representation of what next year could like. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We discuss Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, and marvel at how much literature you can pack into so few pages. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

Just before the holidays, we’re back for a reflection on culture we experienced over the past year. Books, comics, films, TV, games – we talk about them all! Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song Some things we mentioned:

We triumphantly re-convene after over a year’s absence to talk about The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem, a book of fairy tales for robots, by robots, about robots. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Book Depository page for The Cyberiad Marie’s website Source of our theme song

Despite the title, we are in fact talking about movies. But also books. Because this episode is all about adaptations! Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

A short discussion about Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Part of this episode references the YouTube video “Raya’s Moral ISN’T A Good Lesson to Learn” by La’Ron Readus. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song