Is it important that the Hardy Boys are boy detectives?

It matters, my friends. I promise.

But don’t just take it from me! Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys podcast is excited to welcome the incredible Mimi Okabe, professor, academic, and detective fiction researcher. In this episode, Mimi joins us for a fascinating discussion on all things boy detective—her specialty.

Join us as together, we establish why the distinction between adult and youth detectives is important, why the boy detective as a concept is so fascinating, and what connects the Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes, and the wonderful world of anime. In an episode full of excitement, energy, and connection, you’re certain to leave thinking about the boy detective differently—and with it, the whole detective genre goes under the microscope

Listen now!

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Mimi Okabe is an academic, author, professor, and lover of all things detective fiction. She is an assistant professor of Japanese Language, Literature, and Culture in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at the City University of New York. Her first book, Manga, Murder, and Mystery, was the recipient of the Sixth Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize for non-fiction books. In addition to her research on detective fiction and manga, Mimi also studies—and plays—Japanese video games, looking at themes and tripes of classic detective stories being deployed in Japanese game content, as well as gender inequality within video game cultures and industries.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

How does publishing actually work? It feels like one of life’s great mysteries.

Not for much longer!

Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast is honoured to welcome the wonderfully talented Alexis Marie Chute—co founder of the independent hybrid Canadian publishing house Wild Skies Press. Alexis joins us for a fascinating discussion into publishing, which lives at the heart of all things Hardy Boys.

Learn about the different types of publishers and why the differences matter to prospective authors, what process a book goes through to take it from draft manuscript to ready-to-publish book, and what sorts of considerations go into marketing a book for a specific readership. In this episode, you’re guaranteed to find inspiration, energy, and encouragement as Alexis places publishing squarely under the Sleuth Studies magnifying glass.

This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

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Alexis Marie Chute is an artist, writer, curator, filmmaker,public speaker, mother, publisher, and so much more. She has 20 years of experience as a professional internationally exhibiting artist, with her art represented by the Art Gallery of Alberta. Alexis is a bestselling author of everything from art books to memoirs, and is the current Writer in Residence at the Edmonton Public Library. Powered by her business, Alexis Marie Productions Inc., she is the founder of Wild Skies Art Gallery and Wild Skies Press, a hybrid publisher operating out of Edmonton, Alberta.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy BoysPodcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of VolunteerAlberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

What do the Hardy Boys have to do with copyright law?

As it turns out, quite a lot.

Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast is excited to welcome professor Michael McNally for a fun, accessible, and digestible conversation about all things copyright and the Hardy Boys. Michael joins us to break down copyright law—from what is protected under copyright to whether fanfiction counts as a breach of copyright.

The answer might surprise you.

Find out how the Hardy Boys got tied up in a significant copyright battle between publishers, how a lawsuit over putting Santa hats on geese in an art exhibit set a major precedent within copyright law, and more as Michael McNally helps us better understand all things Hardy Boys and copyright.

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts!

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Michael B. McNally is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. His work sits at the intersection of policy, research and advocacy related to two issues: open education and telecommunications. He helped develop the Opening Up Copyright instructional module series, in partnership with the University of Alberta Copyright Office, that aims to make copyright information more accessible. 

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

Let’s take some time to explore one of the most prominent syndicates of the early 1900s.

Which syndicate, you ask?

The Stratemeyer Syndicate.

In this episode, Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast is excited to welcome award-winning author and educator Marilyn Greenwald. Marilyn joins us to share her insight on the Stratemeyer Syndicate, Leslie McFarlane, and the Hardy Boys, setting us up with some essential context in understanding just how the Hardy Boys books came to be.

Find out how Edward Stratemeyer felt about Leslie McFarlane’s tendency to write a bit less than the expected page count, why McFarlane took on a job writing for a syndicate he knew very little about, and even more as Marilyn Greenwald takes us on a fascinating exploration of all things Stratemeyer Syndicate and Leslie McFarlane.

Join us today, wherever you get your podcasts!

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Marilyn Greenwald is an award-winning author and educator with a PhD in communication from Ohio State University. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and other national publications. She is the author of multiple books, including The Secret of the Hardy Boys: Leslie McFarlane and the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Marilyn is a professor emerita in the University of Ohio’s E.E. Scripps School of Journalism.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

You mean to tell me that the delightful master spy J.B. Cox was only supposed to be in a few episodes of the Hardy Boys?

Friends, you’d better believe it.

In this episode, we’re joined by Atticus Mitchell: actor, composer, musician, and the man who brought J.B. Cox to life on-screen. Atticus joins us to share behind-the-scenes stories from the Hardy Boys set, talk about his own history with the books and characters, and give us some insight into the world of acting.

From discussions about the process of memorizing lines to finding out what happens when real-life injuries make their way on-screen, Atticus weaves a tale of adventure, entertainment, and genuine fun on this week’s episode of Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast.  

Listen today!

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Atticus Mitchell is an award-winning Canadian actor, musician, composer, and all-around wonderful human being. For the 2020 Hardy Boys TV series on Hulu, Atticus played master spy J.B. Cox. Atticus has also featured in Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Transplant, Star Trek, Fargo, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, and many more. For his work on the short film Iris, Atticus won the 2015 Canadian Film Festival Award for Best Actor in a Short Film. Atticus’s music can be found under his artist name, Atticus Dean, wherever you find your music.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

You mean someone can tell us everything about a Hardy Boys book down to the number of commas, prepositions, and the month and year it was printed?  

In part two of this two-part episode, statistician and Hardy Boys cataloguer Tony Carpentieri rejoins Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast to continue chatting about the Hardy Boys and his over forty-year-long process of carefully cataloguing each individual printing of Hardy Boys books.

From sharing his thoughts on the Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Super Mysteries to talking about the most valuable editions of the Hardy Boys—and whether or not they really should be that valuable at all—Tony brings energy, enthusiasm, and a strong belief in the fundamental value of Hardy Boys books as historical artifacts to this episode of Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast.

You don’t want to miss this, friends.

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Tony Carpentieri is a statistician, author, publisher, and likely the most knowledgeable person about the Hardy Boys printed editions in the world. Tony can often be found holding one printing of a Hardy Boys book in one hand, another printing in the other hand, and carefully pouring through them to find the differences. Over the last forty years, Tony has carefully catalogued every book in the Hardy Boys series and published his findings in Hardy & Hardy Investigations—now in its ninth edition—through his publishing house, SynSine Press.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy BoysPodcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

You mean someone can tell us everything about a Hardy Boys book down to the number of commas, prepositions, and the month and year it was printed?  

In this episode, statistician and Hardy Boys cataloguer Tony Carpentieri joins Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast to talk about his interest in different editions of Hardy Boys books and how that love led to an over forty-year project that became the comprehensive, over one-thousand-page book set, Hardy & Hardy Investigations.

From what it means to consider Hardy Boys books as collectibles and historical artifacts to how on earth it was possible to create such a comprehensive catalogue of different printings of Hardy Boys books, Tony takes us into his process and interest with wit, humour, and a huge amount of respect for the books that he’s spent his evenings, weekends, and retirement hours exploring.

Make sure to tune in to part one of this two-part episode!

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Tony Carpentieri is a statistician, author, publisher, and likely the most knowledgeable person about the Hardy Boys printed editions in the world. Tony can often be found holding one printing of a Hardy Boys book in one hand, another printing in the other hand, and carefully pouring through them to find the differences. Over the last forty years, Tony has carefully catalogued every book in the Hardy Boys series and published his findings in Hardy & Hardy Investigations—now in its ninth edition—through his publishing house, SynSine Press.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

What do you mean, Franklin W. Dixon isn’t a real person?

In this episode, Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast welcomes Brian McFarlane—award-winning hockey commentator, author, artist, and son of Leslie McFarlane, the first author of the Hardy Boys—to talk all things Hardy Boys, sports, and family.

From discussing his first encounter with the Hardy Boys and the moment he realized his Dad was Franklin W. Dixon to exploring how, despite his father’s seeming dismissal of the series, Leslie McFarlane really was deeply proud of the impact his words had on generations of readers, Brian shares stories rarely—if ever—heard by Hardy Boys fans.

This is one episode you’re not going to want to miss.

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Brian McFarlane is best known as a sportscaster on Hockey Night in Canada, broadcasting for the Toronto Maple Leaves, Montreal Canadians, and Winnipeg Jets between 1960 and 1995. For his decades of service to Canadian hockey, Brian was admitted into the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Order of Canada in 2020. Brian has published over 75 books on hockey that have sold well over a million copies. He and his wife Joan have been married for over 60 years. Now, at 94 years old, Brian spends his time writing, painting, and visiting with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

Canadians, this one’s for you.

In this episode, Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast welcomes Dr. Reginald Wiebe, Chair of Literature and Language at Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) for a fascinating exploration into what ties the two kids from Bayport, U.S.A. to Canada.

Spoiler alert: it’s more than you would think.

What is defined as Canadian content? What does it mean for a book to be classified as Canadian? Why does it matter if a story or author is Canadian? And—possibly most interestingly and not at all off topic—were comic books depicting crime actually illegal in Canada until 2018?

Tune into this week’s episode to find out!

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Dr. Reginald Wiebe is Chair of Literature and Language at Concordia University of Edmonton. He specializes in Canadian, postcolonial, and graphic literature, and enjoys exploring the intersections between history and fiction in Canadian literature. His book, The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel’s Moral Universe, co-written with Dr. Dorothy Woodman, explores the use of cancer in the construction in moral narratives in Marvel’s comics.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.

Librarians are radical human beings.

In the second part of this two-part episode, special guest Ariel Kleber shares just how important the role of libraries and librarians are in supporting our society’s freedom to read. From a discussion about the Hardy Boys and how they were banned in the 1950s to looking at how members of the public can challenge library content, Kyra and Ariel dive deep into  the impact of book bans in the modern day.

Do you want to know what you can do to support freedom to read? Do you have questions about the process of book challenges in school and public libraries—and how those are drastically different? Do you want to hear the most entertaining stories about Ariel using her librarian powers for good?

If you do, this is the episode for you.

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Ariel Kleber is a librarian, writer, and passionate advocate for literacy, diversity & representation, and fun in literature. She can be found on Instagram at @misskleber.

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The original theme music for Sleuth Studies: The Hardy Boys Podcast was composed by Geoff Li (https://www.geoffli.com/).

Sleuth Studies is grateful for the support of Volunteer Alberta, the GLOCAL Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Canada.