Apologies for our tardiness but we're BACK! This episode covers an astounding novel about family, luck, love and the small things that make a huge difference in life - Toni Jordan's Nine Days. This is an extra special one because we spend it in conversation with the AUTHOR HERSELF!! A massive thank you to Toni for joining us and giving us incredible insight into her creative process and her intentions with this book - suffice to say we were a little star struck. 

As the vaccine roll-out for the current pandemic begins to pick up, we talk about another (fictional yet equally terrifying) plague - the Georgia Flu of Emily St John Mandel's Station 11. This was an incredible novel to work through - especially in the current context - and forced us to reconsider the meaning of civilisation, art, family and memory. Station 11 begs the question...if the world as we knew it were to end, what about it would you most miss? Our answers included coffee, Netflix and the sound of traffic lights - let us know what yours are on our instagram @solittletime.podcast 

Are you ready to get mad at British colonialism and everything that it stands for? Then this episode is for you! This week, Ella and I delve into Kate Grenville's incredible novel The Lieutenant. We discuss language, cultural understanding, morality and integrity while also getting very passionate about the latest season of The Crown (seriously go binge watch it now if you haven't already). This episode also features the amazing Michelle Xin - tutoring extraordinaire and MVP of the Regional Educational Support Network (RESN) - you can reach them at http://resn.org.au 

Welcome to 2021!! To kick off the new school year, we are talking revolution, religion, womanhood and martyrdom with Marjane Satrapi's incomparable graphic novel: Persepolis. This text was an absolute joy to deconstruct over tea and cake so sit down, grab some sweets of your own and follow along. We were joined by the lovely Yanee Liu this week (If you want more of her wonderful insights, she can be contacted for tutoring at [email protected]) 

Enjoy!! 

Two of our favourite texts ever, this comparison looks at how much humans are capable of dissociating from, and connecting with each other in the most unlikely of ways. Whether you're in an alternate reality of modern England or exploring the grey concrete towers of the former German Democratic Republic, it turns out that humans can be terrifyingly ruthless, inspiringly resistant or hopelessly devoted to each other. Intrigued? We thought so - come take a dive into our final pairing for the year with special guest Ben of @the.englishlab and get terrified by how close humanity has come to creating its own dystopia reality... 

From the hills of Wales to the mountains of Pakistan, this comparative gives us two distinct yet heart-warmingly similar tales of activism, unity and perseverance. Matthew Warchus' Pride will have you marching in the streets and belting 80s rock while I am Malala by Malala Youfsazai gives you new optimism for the capabilities of our young and determined Generation Z. This one had us laughing, crying and vowing to upend the status quo. We hope you enjoy it too. 

Bust out your finest couture and your favourite cauldrons...this week, we are going full witch with a comparative episode of Rosalie Ham's The Dressmaker and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. We get right into small-town suspicion, reputation, herbal tea and the power of the angry/crazy female. This one was a blast to make and we hope you love it just as much. Special thanks to Ben of The English Lab for being our fabulous guest! 

What does it mean to be colonised? Moreover, what does it mean for a whole way of life to disappear beneath the ideals of foreigners? This week, we try our best to answer these big questions as we talk China Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Yes -  the writer in whose company the prison walls fell down. This text is so beautiful and complex - it gave voice to Igbo culture in a time when Western literary canon wrote off all colonised people as obscure and uncivilised and for this, we are eternally grateful. It was our honour to analyse such an exceptional text and we hope you love it too. 

Get pumped: It's time to Eu-RIP-ides into some Greek tragedy this week! Assisted by the lovely Laura of @educatinglaura - a powerhouse of knowledge on the subject, we are diving into Euripides' Women of Troy. This is a beautiful, tragic, sometimes gut wrenching read and we can't wait to share it with you. 

Our first comparative episode, this is a pairing made in heaven. Delve into a brilliant pair of feminist inversions of literary canon where women take centre-stage after centuries of being sidelined. You can probably see why we got excited by this one. It also features the incredible Neha Sharma - ex-VCE student, writing extraordinaire and Atwood superfan - we'll explain why ; )