What Mad Universe?!?

Adam Prosser and Philip Rice
  • 5.0 (6)
  • BOOKS

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 .

  1. JAN 21

    Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: For Generations Yet Voiceless!

    As a wise man once said, we are all concerned about the future, because that is where we are going to spend the rest of our lives. Kim Stanley Robinson certainly is, and his magnum opus The Ministry For The Future tackles the biggest threat to the future: looming climate change, and the things that prevent us from tackling it (spoiler: it's capitalism). This near-future hard SF book takes a look at what might be done, at least in Robinson's mind; is it plausible or practical, or does he have the wrong idea? Either way, it's certain: future events such as these will affect you in the future. [Adams Patreon](https://patreon.com/phantasmictales) [Phils Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/Spearhafoc) [What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/whatmaduniverse.bsky.social) [Philips Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/spearhafoc.bsky.social) [Adams Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/prankster36.bsky.social) [What Mad Universe on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/WhatMadUniverse) [What Mad Universe on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/universewhatmad/) [What Mad Universe RSS Feed](https://pinecast.com/feed/what-mad-universe) Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick Additional Music: ["War and Peace" by Jamie Evans](https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jamie_Evans/Opening_Doors/War_and_Peace_320) (c) 2026 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a [Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

    55 min

  2. JAN 7

    Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five: The Well-Made Knight!

    When times are dark and evil stalks the land, it means it's time for a knight in shining armour to ride to the rescue! What what happens when it's the 20th century and knights in armour are hard to come by? You build one, of course! The 1970s kid's adventure Sir MacHinery has a robot taking on the role of gallant saviour on a noble quest against the forces of darkness through a wacky misunderstanding, in a breezy romp that reflects where pop culture was at at the time. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! [Adams Patreon](https://patreon.com/phantasmictales) [Phils Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/Spearhafoc) [What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/whatmaduniverse.bsky.social) [Philips Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/spearhafoc.bsky.social) [Adams Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/prankster36.bsky.social) [What Mad Universe on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/WhatMadUniverse) [What Mad Universe on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/universewhatmad/) [What Mad Universe RSS Feed](https://pinecast.com/feed/what-mad-universe) Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick Additional Music: "The Sorceror's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas (c) 2026 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a [Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

    46 min

  3. 11/19/2025

    Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four: Footnotes*!

    In which we bring our look at the works of Terry Pratchett to a close... *you see because Terry Pratchett famously utilizes footnotes for both jokes and to expand upon the lore. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! [Adams Patreon](https://patreon.com/phantasmictales) [Phils Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/Spearhafoc) [What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/whatmaduniverse.bsky.social) [Philips Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/spearhafoc.bsky.social) [Adams Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/prankster36.bsky.social) [What Mad Universe on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/WhatMadUniverse) [What Mad Universe on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/universewhatmad/) [What Mad Universe RSS Feed](https://pinecast.com/feed/what-mad-universe) Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a [Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

    1h 36m

  4. 10/22/2025

    Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three: Sympathy for the Devil!

    Halloween is spooky season, and what's spookier than...THE DEVIL?!? Yes, Phil continues his journey through the interconnected universe of Anne Rice with a look at two of her most cosmic books, ones that eventually delve into theology and the problem of evil. A must-listen entry for Demon Lovers everywhere! Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky 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: "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by Johann Sebastian Bach (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

    1h 18m

  5. 10/08/2025

    Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two: The Kingdom of the Sorceror!

    The towering names of Weird Pulp Fiction: HP Lovecraft, Robert E Howard and...Clark Ashton Smith, the perpetual Larry to their Curly and Moe, ever overshadowed by his two contemporaries a century later. But Smith, of course, deserves a look on his own merits. In this episode we're joined by our friend Will "Filbi" Staples to talk about Smith's cycle of medieval fantasy stories set in the "witch-haunted" country of Averoigne. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky 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 Medieval Banquet" by Shane Ivers] (https://www.silvermansound.com/free-music/the-medieval-banquet) (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

    51 min

  6. TRAILER

    Chapter 132 Promo

    Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky 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) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

    1 min

  7. 09/10/2025

    Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: The Grave of All Hope!

    Well that's a grim title for a goofy episode...but it is part of our Discworld series, after all, and in particular it's our episode on the books Pratchett wrote about Death, the Grim Reaper, the End of Things. He's a nice guy when you get to know him, really! We're once again joined by James "Ing" English (Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/u3109397 ) to talk about the briiiiight siiiide of death (whistles) Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky 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: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

    56 min

  8. 08/27/2025

    Chapter One Hundred and Thirty: The Power Of God In The Great Bear!

    Sometimes a bear is just a bear. And sometimes the bear is the avatar of the ineffable divine, serving as a sign that it's time to reconquer your lost empire. The trick is knowing which is which. We attempt to solve this conundrum in the latest WMU?!? on Richard Adams' Shardik, a fantasy novel--or is it? About a bear who is a god--or is he? So many questions. Can we at least know if he pees in the woods? Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky 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 Pines of Rome" by Arturo Toscanini (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

    1h 12m
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About

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 .

Information

  • Creator
    Adam Prosser and Philip Rice
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    194
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018
  • Show Website
    What Mad Universe?!?