170 episodes
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...all of them are weird and fascinating.
(If you like our work, please support us on Patreon! Adam is at https://patreon.com/user?u=404623 and Phil is at https://www.patreon.com/Spearhafoc .
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Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: The Life of the Mind!
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 Vogt, seems to be ground zero for popularizing these ideas in Science Fiction, and today we're diving into it, so listen before it's mysteriously deleted from the timeline...
CW: Anti-Semitism, sexual assault, statutory rape and inappropriate relationships with minors, incest, mind control, and headgames.
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Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross
Theme song by Jack Feerick
Additional Music: "Lost in Space" by Jupiter Wave
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License. -
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen: Where Everybody Knows Your Name!
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 series, starting with Callahan's Crosstime Saloon in 1977, posits such a bar, and turns it into the kind of place you'd probably love to visit, even if you're not a raging Sci-Fi nerd. Come on in, friend, first drink's on the house!
Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!
Adam's Patreon
Phil's Patreon
What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky
What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter
Philip's Bluesky
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Adam's Bluesky
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What Mad Universe on Facebook
What Mad Universe on Instagram
What Mad Universe RSS Feed
Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross
Theme song by Jack Feerick
Additional music: "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License. -
Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen: Whot's All This Then?
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's Patreon
Phil's Patreon
What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky
What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter
Philip's Bluesky
Philip's Twitter
Adam's Bluesky
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What Mad Universe on Facebook
What Mad Universe on Instagram
What Mad Universe RSS Feed
Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross
Theme song by Jack Feerick
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License. -
Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen: A Fool And His Money!
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 very different sorts, the two even met in the crossover novel Thubway Tham Meets the Crimson Clown, and it's that we're looking at today!
Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!
Adam's Patreon
Phil's Patreon
What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky
What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter
Philip's Bluesky
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What Mad Universe on Facebook
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What Mad Universe RSS Feed
Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross
Additional music: "Undercover Spy Agent" by David Fesliyan
Theme song by Jack Feerick
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License. -
Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen: Get a Life!
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 in this episode by our pal Filbi to talk about it!
Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!
Adam's Patreon
Phil's Patreon
What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky
What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter
Philip's Bluesky
Philip's Twitter
Adam's Bluesky
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What Mad Universe on Facebook
What Mad Universe on Instagram
What Mad Universe RSS Feed
Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross
Theme song by Jack Feerick
Additional Music: "Rhythmic Comedy" by Alayan10
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. -
Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: Sharna Pax and Get the Poal!
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 Patreon
Phil's Patreon
What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky
What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter
Philip's Bluesky
Philip's Twitter
Adam's Bluesky
Adam's Twitter
What Mad Universe on Facebook
What Mad Universe on Instagram
What Mad Universe RSS Feed
Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross
Theme song by Jack Feerick
Additional music: "War and Peace" by Jamie Evans
(c) 2024 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators.
Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.