Our Episodes
Magic, Wealth and Power with Vic James
Today, the blunt reality of inequality and unequal distribution of wealth is more prevalent than ever. Our society is split into the haves and the have nots - the 1% and the 99%. A few individuals tend whole orchards of magic money trees; their extreme wealth is...
Women’s jobs in fantasy
While Charlotte and Megan geeked out about Star Trek (sparing poor Lucy who puts up with enough of that) when discussing women's jobs in science fiction, in this episode, all three of us shine a light on female careers in fantasy. We have found that few women in...
Grimdark with Anna Smith Spark
Sometimes the sheer number of sub-genres and niche areas within the SFF world can feel completely overwhelming. What do they all mean? Where does one thing become another? One of the most confusing – and most commonly talked about – sub-genres is Grimdark. Other than...
Women’s jobs in science fiction
With equality of pay and the drive to get more women in top executive jobs reaching the headlines in our current era, does the world of the future have women in the same roles they occupy now, or do they have them in traditionally male-dominated jobs? #SorryNotSorry...
Toxic masculinity
We started this podcast to highlight the issues around the representation of women in genre fiction. But women aren’t the only ones who suffer at the hands of harmful tropes, poor characterisation, and limiting traditional gender roles. In this episode, we discuss the...
Women’s ghost stories with Melissa Edmundson Makala
Ghost literature written by women in the 19th century was more about social commentary than pure entertainment, argues academic Melissa Edmundson Makala. Charlotte positively geeks out with Melissa about her book, Women's Ghost Literature in Nineteenth-Century Britain...
Idealised characters and Mary Sues
We've all encountered them – characters who can do anything. They have physical and mental abilities beyond every other character in that world, perhaps even abilities that no one else in the world has in any capacity. They are so good-looking there are no words to...
Fighting oppression with Paige L Christie
Last year, Lucy was lucky enough to read an author review copy of Paige L Christie's debut novel, Draigon Weather. She immediately fell in love with the story and what Paige was trying to achieve. We have previously had Paige on the blog answering our 'five questions'...
Describing women with Gwen C. Katz
YA author Gwen C. Katz came across a forum thread about men's ability to write female characters. There was the usual toxicity there – brushing off any criticism as more 'SJW bullshit'. She wanted to speak out, but she had no idea her comments would strike such a...