Tales from the Drum

Done It Duncan is our first person of the week. Duncan is a resident of Ankh Morpor, and according to Carrot, the worst thief in Ankh Morpork. He's also the best informant, though, since it's all a game designed to get him a night in a warm cell and a hot meal. "It wasn't the Der Brys gang which knocked over Portin's warehouse. It was me!" Thank you for your inadvertent public service, Mr. Duncan-- as Carrot might put it.

Be the first to email us at our new address: [email protected]. You never know what might happen!!

Thanks for listening. 
GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind how y'all go. 

Here it is—a structured Pratchips format: (!)

Mondays—a Discworld book

Tuesdays—a Discworld Person (aka character)

Wednesdays—a Discworld place (aka place)

Thursdays—a Discworld thing (oh baby this one covers a lot of ground)

Today’s book, selected by random number generation, is Interesting Times. Check it out. And let me know how you like this format vis-à-vis the previous freeform approach. 

You can reach me at [email protected]. 

The Turtle Moves

GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind How You Go

This week we consider wizardry and witchcraft on the Disc. Specifically, we look at how they are portrayed over time in the series. Wizards and wizardry begin and end as buffoonish. They are comic relief.

Witchcraft, on the other hand, is serious business, and we learn more and more about this as time goes on. Ultimately, we realize that, at least day-to-day, wizardry is superfluous, and witchcraft important, and often vital to the lives of the inhabitants of the Discworld. 

Remember that we have two contests going on: The Portal Poetry Contest, and the Name That Show Contest. Deadline for entries for each contest is NEXT FRIDAY, August 20th.

        The Poetry Contest is your chance to get creative, and to maybe win a custom episode of the Portal just for you. Send you poems to me at [email protected], and I will read them on the show (unless you’d rather I didn’t). I’ll also select three winners from among the entries, and those three winners will each receive their own custom episode. You aren’t limited to one poem—send is as many as you’d like. 

        The Name the Show Contest also has a deadline of September 20th, and as with the Haiku Contest you can send in as many name suggestions as you want. My decision as to the winner will be final, and alas! the winner will have to sign a legal thingie transferring rights to the name to Medieval Gnome Productions.

        The goal is simple: to come up with a new name for the show which is more likely to attract Terry Pratchett/Discworld fans and readers. The name does not have to include the word portal. Check the names of other Discworld-related podcasts if you need some inspiration.

        The winner of this contest will be announced on October 1st (the last episode for season 10.) The prize for this contest is a copy of the brand-new book, The Ankh-Morpork Archives. The book won’t be published until August 10th, but I have pre-ordered a copy for our lucky contest winner.

        So tell me, what should the new name for this show be? 

And, PLEASE send me some new questions for Granny! You can ask her anything.

You can send your emails to me at [email protected].

You’re also invited to come join our Discord community, Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions! Just go to the main Discord page and enter “Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions.” Alternatively, you can use this link: https://discord.gg/45JxBKUYuA. Btw, it costs nothing to join the server, and there’s a lot of exclusive content on there.

You can also pop onto our Patreon page if you’re in the mood to underwrite the efforts of Medieval Gnome Productions (or just want to see some more exclusive content). There’s also patron-only content there. Here’s the URL. 

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true

GNU Terry Pratchett 

The Turtle Moves

Mind How You Go

Sometimes you just need to hear from the master.

You can reach me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

The Turtle Moves

GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind How You Go

Thinking engine, thinking brain dog. Huh. 

You can reach me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

The Turtle Moves

GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind How You Go

When it comes to technomancy, you can't beat Hex!

You can reach me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

The Turtle Moves

GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind How You Go

Not a very appetizing combination, certainly. But misery loves company, so I will tell you about earworms, with the flimsy excuse that I get Disworld-line earworms. This one, currently, is bedeviling me: "Jimmy Tropes is in trouble, though. He's up a tree in Hyde Park."

Also a few words about Tiffany Aching's frying pan, and a few more words about Hex. Hey, I've only got 180 seconds! 

[email protected]

Bethany is a listener, Patreon subscriber, and member of our Discord community (thanks, Bethany!) who recently requested/suggested a show about how technology affects the Disc’s inhabitants. And yes, it affects them; i.e. it has an effect on them. Affect/effect is a tricky one. (Chorus: Get on with it!!!)

So, here it is. From Twoflower’s iconograph to Dick Simnel’s Iron Girder, a look at how the Disc responded to, and was affected by technology over the course of the books. 

Remember, you have until August 20th to get your suggestion for a new title for the podcast to me. Winner will receive a copy of The Ankh-Morpork Archives, a book so brand-new it hasn’t even been published yet. L-space, quantum, and all those thingummies. 

August 20th is also the deadline for submissions to the Portal’s first-ever poetry contest. First it was haiku, then it was limericks and haiku, and now—what the heck—it’s any poetic form you’d like to use. Just make sure your poetry is about the Disc and/or Sir Terry and/or fantasy fiction in general. Winner of this one gets a custom episode, recorded exclusively for him/her/them. 

And, PLEASE send me some new questions for Granny! You can ask her anything.

You can send your emails to me at [email protected].

Go check out our new site at podpage.com/witches-and-wizards-portal!

You’re also invited to come join our Discord community, Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions! Just go to the main Discord page and enter “Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions.” Alternatively, you can use this link: https://discord.gg/45JxBKUYuA. Btw, it costs nothing to join the server, and there’s a lot of exclusive content on there.

You can also pop onto our Patreon page if you’re in the mood to underwrite the efforts of Medieval Gnome Productions (or just want to see some more exclusive content). There’s also patron-only content there. Here’s the URL. 

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true

GNU Terry Pratchett 

The Turtle Moves

Mind How You Go

There apparently is an anthropomorphic personification of the Creator of the Disc. He’s a little old man who carries the universe around in a sack. Maybe. Rincewind meets him twice, and he’s a bit different the second time. But then, who isn’t?

You can reach me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

The Turtle Moves

GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind How You Go

In the beginning, say the dwarfs, Tak wrote the world. He then wrote the dwarfs. Millenia later it became known throughout dwarfdom that Tak also wrote the trolls. This put an end to what then became recognized as a fratricidal vendetta… at least for the time being. 

You can reach me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

The Turtle Moves

GNU Terry Pratchett

Mind How You Go