"You want to preserve your experience of the work. You want to preserve the doing of the art." ~Cadwell Turnbull

Amazing author Cadwell Turnbull joins us to dives deep into the creative process and discuss his latest book, A Ruin Great and Free. We talk about his writing journey, trilogy challenges, and approaching social issues in his books.

(This post went live for supporters on November 24, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon!)

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Links

• Cadwell Turnbull and on YouTube
• Emily St. John Mandel
• Octavia Butler
• North Carolina State University's MFA program

Evergreen Links

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— "The Journey from Ideas to Anarchy with Cadwell Turnbull" is brought to you in large part by my supporters, the Fabulists, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. November 24, 2025 | Season 21 Ep 22 | murverse.com "The Journey from Ideas to Anarchy with Cadwell Turnbull" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.