In this episode of Critical Friends, the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, Dan Hartland is joined by the outgoing editor of Foundation, Paul March-Russell, and the founding editor of the Harare Review of Books, Jacqueline Nyathi. They discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism. Where has it gone? How do writers express it? And what are its pitfalls?

⁠Paul's review of When There Are Wolves Again by E. J. Swift⁠

⁠Jacqui's review of The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed⁠

⁠Jacqui's essay, "Collective Dreaming: The Schrödinger's Cat Approach to Framing Futures"⁠