Jun 30, 2022
Should we still celebrate THE LORD OF THE RINGS? Michael Moorcock once penned an infamous and scathing takedown of JRR Tolkien’s LOTR series, but is it convincing today? Luke & James react to his argument about the inherent Toryism and “corrupted Romance” of Tolkien’s writing, as well as that of C.S. Lewis...
Jun 23, 2022
George Saunders’s short story, “Escape from Spiderhead," was a tragicomic success worthy of The New Yorker, but did it successfully make the leap to film? In episode 232, Luke & James discuss director Joseph Kasinskis’s big month, George Saunders's literary lineage, why we all have a little Chris Hemsworth in...
Jun 16, 2022
Author & translator Simone Heller rejoins the show to compare the Rankin/Bass adaptation of Peter S. Beagle’s fantasy classic. In episode 231, Luke, James, & Simone discuss the German love for the movie’s soundtrack, Schmendrick as an author stand-in, a realm-walking butterfly, and how embracing mortality can...
Jun 9, 2022
Author and Translator Simone Heller joins to discuss one of her all-time favorite novels and a classic of fantasy, THE LAST UNICORN by Peter S. Beagle. In episode 230, Luke, James, and Simone discuss the concept of thinning magic, what it means to be trapped in a fairytale, the wisdom of a forgetful butterfly, and why a...
Jun 2, 2022
Arthur C. Clarke was already one of the most famous SciFi writers of all time before collaborating with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, so how did he feel about the release of the film just beating his novel by a few months and ultimately overshadowing it? In episode 229, Luke & James discuss a potentially...