The Coode Street Podcast

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends ten minutes or so chatting with David Pomerico, the Editorial Director at HarperVoyager in the US, who talks about the pleasure of audiobooks, the importance of following your heart when choosing what you're going to read, and mentions some of the exciting new books he has coming out in 2021 and beyond. Books mentioned include: Middlegame by Seanan McGuire Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction The Wayfarer Series by Becky Chambers Wanderers by Chuck Wendig Weather by Jenny Offill    

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. The terrific Nnedi Okorafor joins Gary for an epic thirty-minute discussion on the challenges and rewards of having a lot of deadlines, comfort reading during the lockdown, what it’s like to discover that your daughter actually likes your novels, what Africanfuturism means, and various and exciting media projects, some of which must remain unannounced for the time being. Books mentioned include: Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor (forthcoming) Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (forthcoming) Noor by Nnedi Okorafor (in progress) Tales From Moominvalley by Tove Jansson The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler    

This week, returning to our customary format of rambling aimlessly for an hour or so, Jonathan and Gary share observations on what we are learning from our series of Ten Minutes With... podcasts, how the current crisis may or may not be reflected in tomorrow’s SF, the increasing relevance of Kim Stanley Robinson and others who have addressed global issues in the Before Times, the question of whether SF serves more as a mirror or a lamp (to borrow and cheerfully misuse a phrase from M.H. Abrams’s classic study of Romantic literary theory), and. of course, what we’ve been reading and hoping to read in the next few months.

This week, returning to our customary format of rambling aimlessly for an hour or so, Jonathan and Gary share observations on what we are learning from our series of Ten Minutes With... podcasts, how the current crisis may or may not be reflected in tomorrow’s SF, the increasing relevance of Kim Stanley Robinson and others who have addressed global issues in the Before Times, the question of whether SF serves more as a mirror or a lamp (to borrow and cheerfully misuse a phrase from M.H. Abrams’s classic study of Romantic literary theory), and. of course, what we’ve been reading and hoping to read in the next few months.

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary spends ten minutes or so with Hugo and Nebula-winning James Patrick Kelly, touching upon the challenges of reading during lockdown, the temptation to argue with the page while reading, the appeal of Raymond Chandler, and the virtues of listening to audiobooks and stories, including his own recent King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats  (also available as an audiobook from his website). Books mentioned include: King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats by James Patrick Kelly Mother Go by James Patrick Kelly Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho The True Queen by Zen Cho Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black (John Banville) Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary is joined by the wonderful Nalo Hopkinson, who took a few minutes away from a busy semester of suddenly teaching online to chat about the pleasures of hydroponic gardening, catching up on TV shows like Supernatural and The Murdoch Mysteries, her own work on The New Decameron and DC Comics Sandman story House of Whispers, and Sharon Lewis’s film Brown Girl Begins, inspired by Nalo’s novel Brown Girl in the Ring. Books mentioned include: Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson House of Whispers (#s 1-22) by Nalo Hopkinson & Dominike Stanton How Long Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin A New Decameron: Stories for a Plague Year edited by Jo Walton, Maya Chhabra, & Lauren Schiller Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler, Damian Duffy, & John Jennings      

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today one of our most important novelists, Kim Stanley Robinson, joins Gary for a chat that touches upon the challenges of maintaining a consistent narrative voice in longer works, Daniel Defoe and the origins of the historical novel, Stan’s own new monthly column for Bloomberg Green, and his forthcoming novel, The Ministry for the Future. Books mentioned include: Three Californias by Kim Stanley Robinson The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel Daniel Defoe: His Life by Paul R. Backscheider A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe   ]   

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends ten minutes chatting with Kate Elliott, who calls in from her home high on a hillside overlooking the Pacific to talk about her love of reading history, Alexander the Great, the naval history of the Second World War, the importance of reading what works for you at a time like this, and her forthcoming novel, Unconquerable Sun. Books mentioned include: Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great by A. B. Bosworth Æthelstan: The First King of England by Sarah Foot Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire by Anne F. Broadbridge Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James D. Hornfischer The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Gary chats with World Fantasy Award-winner Mary Rickert on being cautious during the lockdown, reading Dracula for the first time, the rewards of contemplating individual words and their etymologies, revisiting Ray Bradbury, and Mary’s own forthcoming work. Books mentioned include: You Have Never Been Here: New and Selected Stories by M. Rickert The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie by M. Rickert (forthcoming) Dracula by Bram Stoker House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury Thin Places by Kay Chronister    

Well, that was unexpected, wasn't it? After kicking off the Coode Street Podcast in May 2010 with no plans, no skills, and no technical knowledge, Gary and Jonathan race towards their 10th anniversary with no real plans, no skills, and pretty much no technical knowledge at all. And yet, despite being invited to desist on several occasions, they persist. Four hundred episodes. Enough rambling to get you across England and back again! Probably across Australia and back again. And along the way over 150 wonderful guests, some new friends made and old ones lost, a dubious proposition or two taken about the state of the science fiction and fantasy, seven Hugo Award nominations, and enough incredible memories to fill at least an hour of rambling and possibly a couple of lifetimes. Someone should write a book. So, with no fanfare but a lot of thanks, a guest-free 400th episode recorded in the time of Pandemic, with some thoughts on what might happen next, a short discussion of books being read, coming to you, as always, from the socially-distanced Gershwin Room, high above a temporarily shuttered Motel Six, with thanks to each and every one of you.