Be The Serpent

On this week's episode, we're joined by glamorous guest star Naomi Novik to talk about magical boarding schools and the purposes of structured education. The tentpoles this week are A Deadly Education and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Note: This episode has been edited to include a content warning just after the introduction. Please check the transcript for the full text.

What We’re Into Lately

Will Darling Adventures series by K.J. Charles

The Sugared Game by K.J. Charles

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Niccolò series by Dorothy Dunnett

The Spring of the Ram by Dorothy Dunnett

The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

Freeport by Maldoror_Chant

Event Horizon by MonstrousRegiment

Provenance by Ann Leckie

Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie

Scum Villain fanfic

Motherland: Fort Salem

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Legend of Korra

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

Scum Villain animated series

The Untamed fanfic

Other Stuff We Mentioned

A Twitter thread and Goodreads review by @newamsterdame

“Racism vs Rep: Missteps of Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education” by Larissa Irankunda

Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Organization for Transformative Works

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Time-Life books

Wizards and Witches by Brendan Lehane

Tortall Series by Tamora Pierce 

Welcome to Night Vale podcast (specifically Episode 15: Street Cleaning Day)

Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce

Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin. 

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

My Life as a Background Slytherin by Emily McGovern

Transfigurations by Resonant

"House Proud" by astolat

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin

Be the Serpent Episode 1: False Utopias and… Robot Sex??

“Victory Condition” by astolat (and the quote: ‘the empire of unsheathed knives’)

The Husbands And Wives Show aka Person of Interest

For Next Time

What We Do In the Shadows (2014 film)

Transcription:

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you to our team of scribes -- each of you is a gentleperson and a scholar.

On this week's episode, we're taking a break to answer questions submitted by our listeners and play a fun game! It's the Extravaganza! \o/

What We’re Into Lately

Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

Down to Agincourt series by seperis

The Game of God by seperis

How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin

What the Water Gave Me by iesika

Knock Down the House

Blaseball

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Qantas Lounge at Heathrow International Airport

The 10th Circle of Hell, ie Newark Liberty International Airport

Supernatural fandom

Hannibal fandom

“What the Water Gave Me” by Florence + the Machine

Muffuletta sandwiches

“I Am All Love Blaseball (And You Can Too)” by Cat Manning

Welcome to Night Vale

Haikyuu

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Yuri!!! on Ice crossovers

Lagaan

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

This guy with magnets in his nose

Catalyst by Jennifer Mace

“In the Salt Crypts of Ghiarelle” by Jennifer Mace in Silk and Steel 

Sorting Hat Chats

Macey dearly missing Sentinel AUs

Yoon Ha Lee

Haikyuu!! anime

Alex’s love for the entire fictional nation of Arasht

Four Pillars Modern Australian gin

Roku gin

The Botanist gin

Fic Author Feuds on fic sites of old

Hugo Award Winning Archive Of Our Own

Campaign Skyjacks

Chloe Ting’s ab workout videos

The Chant Literary Universe (CLU) by Alexandra Rowland

Claire Rousseau’s YouTube Channel

Shmanners Podcast

Captain Awkward 

Am I The Asshole (AITA)

Buzzfeed Unsolved

Mythbusters

For Next Time

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. A hundred thousand thank you to  our wonderful team of scribes!

On this week's episode, we're putting on some mood lighting, we're pouring a glass of wine, and we're talking about some sexy things. And also about sex when it's more funny than sexy. The tentpoles for this episode are: “Favorite” by astolat, Sense8, particularly episode six of season one, and The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite.

What We’re Into Lately

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

The House of Niccolò series by Dorothy Dunnett

Niccolò Rising by Dorothy Dunnett

Game of Thrones fanfic

Skyjacks

Slippery Creatures by K. J. Charles

Love and Luck

Caravan

Flyest Fables

Supernatural Sexuality with Dr Seabrook

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Cockney rhyming slang

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

The Decemberists

Think of England by K. J. Charles

Merlin

Grey’s Anatomy

Historical Genital Euphemism Timeline

Feminine Pursuits series 

Homestuck

"Victory Condition" by astolat

Freya’s debut A Marvellous Light, out in 2021 from Tor.com publishing

The Curious Case of Victorian pornography

A serious seven minute discussion about kink

Sex politics

For Next Time

Nothing! It's the Extravaganza! We're answering listener questions and playing games!

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you as always to our beautiful, ever-meticulous team of scribes!

On this week's episode, we are pondering the nature of mortality -- and immortality! We're discussing demigods and other sorts of very, very long lived folks. The tentpoles for this week are The Old Guard, The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, and “The god of scraped knees.” by spqr.

What We’re Into Lately

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield

Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

Fiyah, issue 15

Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher

Campaign: Skyjacks

Other Stuff We Mentioned

WorldCon

Feminine Pursuits series by Olivia Waite

Alice Payne series by Kate Heartfield

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Annihilation

The Adventure Zone

The Decemberists

Our Opinions Are Correct

Episode 39 of Be the Serpent

Claire Rousseau’s Youtube channel

Finding Faeries by Alexandra Rowland

Hercules

The Witcher television show

Star Wars prequels

Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

Mad Max: Fury Road

Atomic Blonde

Smallville

A Memory Called Empire

Yoon Ha Lee’s books

Good Omens

Good Omens TV adaptation

The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

MXTX

Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Keanu Reeves definitely Not being immortal

For Next Time

"Favorite" by astolat

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you as always to the eternal beloveds of our hearts: the team of scribes who made this possible!

On this week's episode, Macey gets her feet tangled in her cardigan, Freya tries to convince everyone to submit Extravaganza questions via 5-star iTunes reviews, and Alex is very tired. Oh, and we're also doing a deep-dive on a single tentpole: The Witcher tv show!

What We’re Into Lately

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

The Wild Dead by Carrie Vaughn

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Naruto fanfic

Rookie Goo Hae-ryung

“this river runs to you” by sundiscus

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Prince of Tennis 

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn

Bobbin lace-making

variolation

Dragon Age

Shrek

“Toss a Coin to Your Bitcher” by Suzanne Walker

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Queer Eye

Baby Shark

Person of Interest

The waning droning quality of a hurdy gurdy

Miles Vorkosigan

Robin Hood

Galavant

Chant Bullshit, courtesy of Alex’s book series

Gossip Girl

Macey’s eternal dedication to Scum Villain fanfic

The Sorting Hat Chats podcast episode on The Witcher

For Next Time

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson.

Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you a thousand times to our wonderful team of scribes, who make this possible!

On this week's episode, we’re discussing soulmates and soul bonds! Everyone have your assigned buddy? Remember to hold hands so nobody gets lost! The tentpoles for this episode are Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert, Fated by maydei, and “Deconstruct” by flowercity.

What We’re Into Lately

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

“Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders” by Aliette de Bodard

Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri

The Terror

Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm

The Balance arc of The Adventure Zone

The Adventure Zone graphic novel series

The Old Guard

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Hanahaki Disease

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

Dominions of the Fallen trilogy by Aliette de Bodard

Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Good Omens television series

Lucifer television series

Consolation Songs by Iona Datt Sharma et. al

Uncanny magazine

saltwashed by Jennifer Mace

Pon farr

Star Trek

T’hy’la

The Untamed

The Witcher

Heaving Bosoms Podcast

Ice Planet Barbarians series

Yuri!!! On Ice

Loveless

Pacific Rim

Red String of Fate

Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura

Haikyū!! by Haruichi Furudate

“five snapped heartstrings” by welcometothehumanrace

‘Fan, Sword and Flame’ by TentacleBubbles

The Fast and the Furious

“Victory Lane” by astolat

The First Cow

For Next Time

The Witcher

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. A thousand thank-yous to our incredible team of scribes!

On today's episode we're talking about Harry Potter, the unbearable TERFness of JK Rowling, and the power of fanfic to reclaim and transform problematic canons: We're doing a deep-dive on the fanfic "Transfigurations" by Resonant!

What We’re Into Lately

Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson

The Letdown TV series

Pink Slip by Katrina Jackson

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

What married people do by Shamelesscooper, a Scum Villain/Untamed crossover fanfic

The Black Calhouns by Gail Lumet Buckley

The 1619 Project

TorCon 2020 panel: A Whole Universe in Pages — Worldbuilding for SFF

The Devil In America by Kai Ashante Wilson

Watchmen miniseries on HBO

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

"White Bears in Sugar Land: Juneteenth, Cages, and Afrofuturism" essay by Tochi Onyebuchi

"I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream: The Duty of the Black Writer During Times of American Unrest" essay by Tochi Onyebuchi

Queer Eye

Good Omens

Other Things We Mentioned

Juneteenth

Black Lives Matter

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

The Stabby Queer Ladies Anthology, Silk & Steel 

Kerin Cunningham’s Kickstarter

My Chemical Romance

The Unbearable TERFness of J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Witchmark by C. L. Polk

Lumos by birdsofshore

The Untamed

Star Trek

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae

Eclipse by Mijan

A Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Alexander the Great’s sex life

tissue of silver by fearlessdiva

Maya’s Harry Potter fics

Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you to our amazing team of scribes, as always!!

On this week's episode, we're looking at a selection of small scenes from several different pieces of media: The Expanse, Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon, an Alexander the Great documentary, K. J. Parker’s Devices and Desires, and Bujold’s The Warrior’s Apprentice.

What We’re Into Lately

Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

The Accidental Warlord and His Pack by inexplicifics

Queen’s Play by Dorothy Dunnett

Desdemona and the Deep by C. S. E. Cooney

Other Things We Mentioned

The Great Emu War

BBC Sherlock

GlitterShip

Game of Thrones

Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

Dragon Ball Z

Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

The Poison Wars series by Sam Hawke

The Expanse

“CQB”

Regeneration by Pat Barker

Black Sails 

The Far Side of the World

Jingo by Terry Pratchett 

Just war theory

Aubrey & Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian

Firefly

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliot

Star Wars

Misethere by astolat

K.J. Parker

‘On Sieges’ short essay by K.J. Parker

The Witcher television series

Bioware

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Origins

Overpowered Mages

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Documentary about the rise of the Ottoman Empire

Edge of Tomorrow 

Ender’s Game film

Age of Sail

Honor Harrington series by David Weber

Riftwar Cycle: The Empire Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist

Magician trilogy (Riftwar Saga) by Raymond E. Feist

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

A Deeper Season fanfic series by lightgetsin & sahiya

Diplomatic Relations by Maldoror_Chant

Sacrifices fanfic series by Lightning on the Wave, a 3.6 million word arc

For Next Time

Transfigurations by Resonant (Harry Potter fanfic)

Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. Hail to the scribes, our conquering heroes!!

On this week's episode, we're doing a whirlwind survey of the six finalists from this year's Hugo Award for Best Novel: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The City In the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders, and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow!

What We’re Into Lately

Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons

A Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons

John Wick

John Wick: Chapter 2

John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum

The King: Eternal Monarch

Kung Fu Hustle

The Untamed

The Great

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Kung Fu Panda

Be the Serpent Episode 54

The Magicians

Fullmetal Alchemist 

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Agatha Christie vibes

Skeleton Puzzle-Solving video games

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders 

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

John Scalzi

For Next Time

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. We're definitely nominating our transcription team for the Serpents' Award For Best Scribes. ;)

On this week's episode we're kicking back to discuss some of the beloved fantasy books of our youth, including The Circle of Magic series, the Abhorsen series, the Dark Is Rising series, and others!

What We’re Into Lately

The Spare by Miranda Dubner

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee

Unholy Union by NeverwinterThistle

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

The King: Eternal Monarch

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Marissa Lingen

John Wick

Teen Wolf fandom

Big Wolf on Campus fandom

Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

The Untamed

Burnout by Emily Nagoski

Glitch

Slack

The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

The Grey King by Susan Cooper

Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Brigadoon musical

Young Wizards series by Diane Duane

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce

Sandry’s Book, by Tamora Pierce

Tris’s Book, by Tamora Pierce

Daja’s Book, by Tamora Pierce

Briar’s Book, by Tamora Pierce

The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge

Linnets and Valerians, by Elizabeth Goudge

The Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix

An Untamed/Abhorsen crossover

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

Diana Wynne Jones

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

The Wind Singer trilogy by William Nicholson

David Eddings

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

The Acorna series by Anne McCaffrey

The Crystal Singer series by Anne McCaffrey

Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey

The Belgariad Series by David Eddings

The Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

The Wolves Chronicles series by Joan Aiken

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Rick Riordan Presents

For Next Time

The six finalists for this year's Hugo Award for Best Novel:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you to our beloved scribes, as always, and welcome to the new additions to the scribing team: Kate, BananaLord, Eli, and Marita!