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What Mad Universe?!?

Adam Prosser and Philip Rice

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Action! Excitement! Horror! Romance! Thrills and Chills! Swords and Sorcery! Rockets and Rayguns! Hosts Adam Prosser and Philip Rice take a journey through the history of SF, Fantasy, horror, and pulp fiction. Every 2 weeks one of us, alternating back and forth, selects a book or book series from the late 18th century up to the present to look back on, discuss, and examine. Some of them have left an indelible mark on pop culture; some of them are forgotten echoes of what might have been...al ...
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One dark and stormy night, a stranger arrives in West Sussex at a village inn. He is heavily clad in an overcoat and his face is wrapped in bandages. He takes a room at the inn, but refuses to socialize with anyone. He stays cooped up in his room all day and night, working with strange chemicals and apparatus. Suddenly, strange events begin to happen in the village. Mysterious burglaries and fires break out, culminating in a destructive rampage across the peaceful countryside. The stranger i ...
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Set list Cutting Remarks. Trickle Down. Lone Wolf. Going Steady. Sunny Day. Extortion. Cut. Prism. Dreaming. Match. The Little Things. Risky Business. Inside Looking Out. Speaking Volumes. pantheon @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is pow…
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Pulp genre fiction has produced some monumental successes (from a financial POV), and today we're tackling probably the second-biggest after Stephen King: Michael Crichton. His career as a novelist of the Campbell "hard Sci-fi" school got started in properly in 1969 with the first novel released under his real name, The Andromeda Strain. We look at…
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Set list Newsnight. Rise Above It. Game Plan. Value Role Models. Grace. Asymbiotic. Too Late to Mess it Up. Ramifications. Accountable. Smarty Pants. Leopard Stripes. Reputable Source. All Out. Grounds. lothario @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This …
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Episode Notes Historical adventures with swashbuckling, alternate identities, and criminals with a heart of gold seem to have been inescapable in early 20th century pulp, and Georgette Heyer's "The Masqueraders" is a fine example of the form. This one adds another common trope: cross-dressing! Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week ear…
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We've talked before about how plainly world events have informed the subtext (and sometimes the regular-text) of classic SF, and The Moon Maid, a late-career offering from Edgar Rice Burroughs, proves that in spades. The politics that engulfed the world in the mid-1920s are on full display here in this seemingly escapist pulp fantasy, in which thin…
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Set list Lanes. Power. Breach. Same Clock Face. Gentle Reminder. Our Feathered Friends. Overboard. Vision. Slinky. Ducks. Big Tobacco's Refocus. Light Bulb Moment. Corners. Lived Experience. phantasmagoria @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe…
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Continuing from last week's theme of "advanced mutants walk amongst us", we're looking at an entirely different take on a similar premise, one that's entirely more sympathetic to the supposedly non-human subjects. In Wilmar Shiras' "Children of the Atom", the super-intelligent kids are more benign...mostly. Though the perils of raising kids who mig…
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Set list Chug. Positive Cognitive. Odds. Action Movie. Narcissism. Nourish. Party Planning. Sincere. Sleep. Mouse Arrest. Arachnophobia. Tonight. Offence/ Defence. Value System. devour @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is powered by Pinec…
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They're everywhere! They're better than you! They can tinker with your brain! They'll inherit the Earth! And trying to stop them makes you into a monster! It's a common assortment of tropes from SF, with a subtext touching on everything from a Freudian fear of your children to even darker, frequently racist conspiracy theories. Slan, by A. E. Van V…
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Sometimes you just want to take a break from it all and find solace in some booze...and more importantly, good company. Of course, it doesn't help if your watering hole is constantly being invaded by aliens, vampires, talking dogs, and fairies...or does it? It certainly keeps things interesting. Spider Robinson's long-running Callahan's Place serie…
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Set list Neighbourhood Watch. Mediterranean Mealtime. Handling. Rubber Duck. Build. Earworm. At Source. Only Known Weakness. Come Around. Aged. Draft. Simple Exercise. Understanding. Celestial Circles. reactionary @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe Thi…
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We're back for another look at Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, this time focusing on The Watch series. It's a social satire and police procedural in a fantasy setting, which means it has dragons, dwarves, trolls, and police who actually serve the public trust...you know, a fantasy. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam…
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Set list Magnolia/ Vanilla. Compartmentalise. Set your Sights. Stay Elegant. Priorities. Gather. Fair's Fair. Leap. Crazy-paved. The Holy Grail of Words. Poise, then Pounce! Layman's Terms. Public Servant. Hold on Tight. beneficial @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley…
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It's interesting to consider which characters fall into obscurity and which remain relevant. Johnston McCulley's most famous creation, Zorro, is of course still a household word. His other creations, Thubway Tham and The Crimson Clown, have been completely forgotten, even though they were nearly as popular in their day. Both thieves, albeit of two …
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Fandom! The word sends chills up the spine of anyone who's spent any time in Fantasy and Science Fiction spaces...for a pretty wide variety of reasons. But what if fandom turns...to murder? Actually, that seems pretty plausible. Sharyn McCrumb explored this very idea in the murder mystery Bimbos of the Death Sun (published by TSR!) and we're joined…
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Set list Tactics. Jagged Sky. Monkey See... Blinkered Thinking. Safe Distance. Karma Careful. All in Good Time. Suppose. Shop Until You Drop. Darkest Before the Dawn. Positive Mindset. Go To Person. Echo Chamber. Urgent Response. succumb @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-g…
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Langwitch, its syurly a confuzement! Whut wud Inlish luk liek inna thousand yeers? These are the questions asked by Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, a post-apocalyptic meditation on culture, storytelling, religion, and language. It's a tricky read but a fulfilling one. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam's PatreonPh…
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Set list World's Greatest. Almost There… Spectrum. Just Breathe. Anti-Christmas. Own Worst Enemy. Present Arms. Othering. Doobie Roulette. Magical Outcomes. Us and Them. Right Honourable. Forge. Depth Perception. abundance @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry…
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This is the story of Edwardian-era European explorers traveling to the north pole in an airship, only to find a strange land unknown to mankind, and populated by an alien yet advanced race of intelligent non-human beings. The encounter holds up a mirror to western society, colonialism, and the dark side of human nature, and things go badly for the …
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In the best of all possible worlds, this podcast would always be on time...but we're not there yet, are we. You know what comes close, though? The Culture, the star-spanning utopia depicted in Iain M. Banks's novels such as Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games. In this episode, Philip and I take a dive into the possibilities of benevolent godli…
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Set list What the Hell. Wolf Pack. Temperance. Keep Your Seats. Aim. Reinforcements. Ninja Swarm. Trouble at Tea Break. Checking it Twice. Enclosure Lock-in. Public/ Private. Pessimist. Sleepy Head. Language. somnolence @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-ca…
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This week, wayfarers, we go WAY back, to 1666, and the first European work of feminist Science Fiction--in fact, one of the first works of Science Fiction as we know it--Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, a travelogue, pontification, and philosophical potboiler. Adam's PatreonPhil's Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on BlueskyWhat Mad Uni…
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We aten't dead! In fact we're back in 2024 for a new chapter in a series...a series within a series, you might say...on Terry Pratchett's Discworld! In this one we're joined by pal Ing to talk about the Granny Weatherwax books and witchcraft vs. wizardry. (Update: I'm really sorry, the wrong audio was uploaded for this. It should be fixed now.) Sup…
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'Tis darkening days, fair ones, and as we approach the end of the year of our lord 2023, What Mad Universe?!? has been, we confess, erratic of late. But take heed! We return with a look at an obscure but excellent fantasy series from the early 20th century, the Neustrian Cycle by Leslile Barringer. Is it a lost tome, or the wellspring for much late…
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Set list Spin. Seeking Stillness. Ecosystem. Next. Poppy Fields. Garden. Pre-Advent. Comms. Rest Easy. Must Try Harder. Facts of Life. Benevolence. Morpheus. Gifted. lugubrious @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is powered by Pinecast.…
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As we all know by now, the WWII period saw the blossoming of ASTOUNDING magazine, which set the pace for the so-called "Golden Age" of Science Fiction, launching the careers of storied names such as Asimov and Heinlein. They also hosted a short series of satirical space westerns about a near-immortal doctor and his staunch companion, the Ole Doc Me…
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Set list Field to Fork. Run. Rock. Yesteryear. Small Butter Packs. Satin. Actionable. Hunger. Give. Onwards and Upwards. Stopping Distance. Gain. Free Ride. Beat the Clock. elitist @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is powered by Pinecast.…
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Swashbuckling adventures in far-flung lands to the east! Geopolitical intrigue! The manly code of the warrior! Dan Tyler Moore's The Terrible Game taps into several veins of pulp action that span several eras...as well as being the source material for one later, hilariously bad movie. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam&…
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As Philip points out, if we had a nickel for every time we talked about a book where Buddha fights Jesus in a Sci-Fi setting, we'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right? The subject this time is Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny, and the subject is actually Hinduism more than those other religions, as far-f…
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Set list Lifespan. Loop. Pair New Device. Petal. On Paper. Erm... Qualities. Clearing. Value Added. Regrouping. Open Questions. To the Victor... Groundhog Day. Shift. soliloquy @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is powered by Pinecast.…
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Sorry about the long delay there, folks, some real world chaos combined with a LOT of pages that had to be read for this episode led to an unplanned couple of week's break. We're back now, looking at Kim Stanley Robinsons' seminal trilogy, Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars, one of the most in-depth hard SF stories of the past few decades. But it's not …
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Set list Caprice Skies. Shifting Gears. Flap. Rated Eighteen. Flush. Life. Strength. Talk. Home Sweet Home. Sure Thing. Judge. Clickbait. Incident At Breakfast. Zap. caprice @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is powered by Pinecast.…
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We've talked about John W Campbell as an editor on this show a few times, which isn't surprising since he oversaw an entire era of 20th century SF. Now we dive in directly to his own best known writing, the novella Who Goes There?, the basis for John Carpenter's The Thing (as well as the 50s movie The Thing From Another World), and talk more about …
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The newest What Mad Universe?!? looks at one of the earliest progenitors of the space opera, a 19th century French obscurity that delves deeply into world-building, poetry, and, unfortunately, racism. It's STAR, OR, PSI CASSOPEIA by C. I. DeFontenay. We read it before it was cool! Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam'…
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Set list Egotist. Manuka Moves. Touchscreen. Hold Fast. Broadly Speaking. Wobble. Phone Booth. Gimme. Accountability. Grip. Beak. Celeb Rated. Not Into Golf. Best Intentions concave @AdGridley Support Ad Gridley's Poetry Café by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/ad-gridley-s-poetry-cafe This podcast is powered by Pinecast…
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One hundred episodes! I'm not sure we ever believed it would happen, but it has, thanks to you, acolytes of adventure! A heartfelt tip of our space helmets to all of you, and we hope you enjoy this special 100th episode spectacular! And what better subject for this illustrious episode than a book that touches on both one of the most archetypal and …
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