The Dark Material Podcast: His Dark Materials read-along

Be warned, this episode will contain all manner of spoilers from both His Dark Materials and the Book of Dust book series, as well as Series 1 of the TV adaptation - so if you want to avoid this, cut back through to our spoiler-free readthrough of the books now…

Welcome to our introductory episode to a new series on the Dark Material Podcast: our thoughts, feelings and reflections on Series 2 of the BBC / HBO TV adaptation.

In this episode we what we know so far, the newly announced cast for season 2, what the trailers tell us and some of our hopes & fears for this adaptation!

Join us as we discuss new angel genres, get excited about new ships sailing (/flying) our way and confuse everyone with references to haggis.

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Watch yourselves some trailers! We personally recommend this EXCELLENT ONE

Also these trailers are very good, but lack Iorek - yes, we are that petty.

- Official teaser trailer

- BBC Countdown and featurette with some cast members discussing their characters

- Official Comic Con trailer

- BBC official trailer

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

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In the second half of this hefty chapter, we join Serafina, Ruta and their crack squad of SWAT witches as they fly through the new world. They encounter all sorts of…well, otherworldly things, and also see Spectres for the first time and learn the horrible details of all they can do…

Join us as we revisit Bird Corner, cast Antonio Banderas and get lost in the confusing and colourful mythology of angels!

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If you’re interested to know more about Hypoboreans, you can start here and we also definitely recommend the book The Idea of North by Peter Davidson if you’re interested in learning more about what historically was associated with the cultural idea of ‘The North’ in different times and societies.

Maybe the Mandola instrument mentioned is similar to this? Who knows…

See a picture of a snazzy little Bluethroat here!

If you want to a picture of the swaggiest, most L’Oreal advert angel EVER, then feast your eyes on this.

Here are some other interesting depictions of angels: with no physical bodies, in high status clothing of the time, or just super colourful and showing off their supernatural prowess.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

*Note: we were so excited talking to Brian that we forgot to hit record on our side at first, so our sound quality is a little worse at the beginning. It gets better from about 14mins in though, so please stick with it!

We are very excited to be interviewing Brian Fisher about his work on the TV adaptation! Brian worked on the BBC / HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials as a Lead Puppeteer and CFX (Creature Effects) Coordinator. What does that mean? Listen to find out just how many strings there are to Brian's bow, but it's not a spoiler to say that he has been involved in ALOT of different aspects of the production.

Brian was also paired with Ruth Wilson to bring That Monkey to life through puppetry and his vocal performance...thankfully, he broke character to talk to us about it. It was really fascinating to hear about the amazingly detailed and mysterious work that went into every aspect of this production, and of course everyone's (least) favourite monkey is no exception.

Many thanks to Brian for his time! We hope you enjoy listening to this episode - we're certainly looking forward to seeing more of his amazing work in Season 2…

If you want to learn more Screen Alliance Wales - which Brian mentions at the end of this interview - then you can check out their website here.

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@darkmaterialpod

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This time we follow Lee as he sifts through the collective knowledge of the ‘old Arctic hands’, searching for answers about where he can find Stanislaus Grumman.

Join us as we review ALL of human history (well, almost), geek out about ospreys and get freaked out about the earth’s magnetic field.

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We talk about general human pre-history, including some key finds in the archaeological records - such as the 50,000 yr old sewing needle, a 42,000 yr old flute and the general increase in finds around the emergence of Early Modern Humans.

Want to shudder about just how horrible the trepanning practice sounds? How about this picture of a bow drill - that should help you imagine it nicely.

Gaze into this osprey’s piercing eyes as you listen to the osprey facts section…intense!

Find it hard to picture Amy’s odd explanation of how dogs find their way through smell? This article might help.

This is a picture of the Sphinx Observatory in Switzerland, or read more here.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

In this chapter, Will and Lyra have a face-off about who is the best and most serious at deceiving people, then enjoy a couple of films at a cinema to lay low in Will’s Oxford. Once night has fallen and they can pass back through the window, they return to the safe, reassuring arms of Citigazze. But a piercing scream soon shatters the calm warm night air of their new home…

Join us as we discuss optimal amounts of slack, Iain goes on a punning rAMPage and Amy gets obsessive about the Zaire leopard.

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Here is the link to the fascinating article on melting permafrost and viruses - thank you Kathi for drawing our attention to this!

The Thaw is the film that we couldn’t quite remember the name of, where a virus attacks scientists in a remote arctic research station.

Here is the (highly photographed) and picturesque square that we think Pullman refers to in this chapter.

Fancy searching for the Alaskan window in our world? Here are the GPS coordinates that John Parry gets from Matt Kigalik, and here is the location of Lookout ridge. Or click here for a map with both points marked on it. Good luck!

You learn more about the ‘ghost ship’ SS Baychimo in this article, including some pictures of people on the boat itself on one of it’s last sightings.

If you are also intrigued by the mystery of the Zaire Leopard, then you can check out a potted history of Zaire here, more on the werecat myths here or read about some more about the dictator Mobutu Sese Soko here.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

Will and Lyra navigate the dangers of Will's Oxford. Lyra meets an unsettling man while investigating some trepanned skulls in a museum, before heading off to explore further mysteries about Dust with an overworked physicist. Will delves into the archives to learn (a little) more about the strange disappearance of his father…

Join us as we get confused about how post works, speculate about dark matter and reminisce on our favourite Oxford museums!

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A video of someone demonstrating how to use (the very fiddly) microfilm in a microfilm reader can be found here.

Some very general information about the I Ching can be found here.

A rough introduction to Dark matter here.

Here is the full letter from Keats to his brothers, which Mary Malone quotes in this chapter. You can read more on this concept of ‘Negative Capability’ that Keats wrote about here.

Here is an interesting article on the history of radar installations in the Arctic.

Continuing the Virtual Tour of Oxford:

Inside the Covered Market

Outside and inside the Natural History Museum, within which is the Pitt Rivers museum (museum within the museum!)

Display case in the Pitt Rivers Museum where Lyra sees her Arctic clothing

Photo of Philip Pullman in the Pitt Rivers Museum, with the Trepanned skulls and instruments which inspired this scene in the book.

Park which Lyra consults the alethiometer in

Denys Wilkinson Building (part of the dept. of Physics) within which the real-world LUX-ZEPELIN Dark Matter research project is housed.

You can view the wonderful collections at the Ashmolean museum online, here. If you want to view what it looks like for Will when he takes refuge here in this chapter, then you can view inside the museum here.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

We breakfast with Lyra and Pan in this strange new world, as she carefully crafts her first ever omelette with pride. Will and Lyra discuss their next move, as two strange children appear in the deserted town and explain where they are and why everything is so quiet.

Join us, as we review the weird and wonderful history of processed food, rage about toxic femininity and take you on a virtual tour of real-world Oxford!

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More on William Parry the explorer here.

Virtual tour of Will’s Oxford:

The place where will and Lyra get off the bus is here.

Viewing Balliol college from Broad street - here.

Inside one of Balliol college’s quadrangles - here.

A view of the Bodleian library from Catte Street (Lyra’s ‘Bodley’s library) - here.

A view inside one part of the sprawling Bodleian library (Duke Humphrey’s Reading room, one of the oldest parts of the library) - here.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

We join Serafina Pekkala in this chapter for a tour of the North - starting with a witch’s daemon she finds trying to get back to his human who is being held by the Oblation Board on a boat at sea. Serafina sneaks aboard to find out more and try to help her fellow witch and eavesdrops on a Magisterium meet-up with Cardinal Sturrock, Mrs Coulter and the Magisterium’s very own alethiometrist: Fra Pavel.

Join us, as we try out even more accents (offending even more different countries around the world), get excited about magic lore and freak out about permafrost.

We talk about the melting of the permafrost and female genital mutilation (FGM) this week - you can support relevant projects for these topics here and here, respectively.

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Learn more about the Taymyr peninsula here, or about Lake Taymyr here.

This is an interesting article on the magic of invisibility and we also recommend this interesting article on the history of invisibility within culture, including the psychology behind the ‘desire to be unseen’.

A bit more on ‘cheery’ or otherwise unusual depictions and personifications of death: The Danse Macabre, Baron Samedi and the Angel of Death.

If you want to learn how to read the future from a sheep’s liver (probably), why not have a look at this 3000 year old tablet from Babylonia (modern day Iraq)

If you want to learn more about the Pleistocene Park Project, you can watch this (mosquito-laden) video, or read about and donate to the project here.

Some stuff on the concept of ‘death of God’ or killing God here, here and here.

Listen to JFK’s great Moon Speech here (plus rousing music)- it’s about an idea that almost as HAAAAARD as the goal of killing God…

(Contested) research on the prominence of faith and religious belief in societies here.

You read some more about the Biblical story of the War in Heaven here.

Here and here are some interesting facts about Female Genital Mutilation, or more info about genital mutilation (and modification) in general here. We recommend the UNFPA’s ‘Born Complete’ campaign - learn more or support that project here.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

We finally made it to The Subtle Knife! This week, in a classic cliff-hanger tease, we meet an entirely new character - who is this Will guy?! We learn a little bit of an answer to that question, as we meet up with this mysterious and serious 12 year old boy, as he struggles to hide his mother from some sinister men.

Join us this week, as we discuss our EPIC new intro music, try out some 1930s voices and mispronounce some currencies.

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You can learn more about or support work to help child carers in the UK by visiting Carers UK or Action for Children.

More about Moxie, a potential namesake for the Murder Cat.

You can find here a version of the BBC Imagine programme on Philip Pullman and his writing.

You can look for your very own window to another world in our world’s Oxford - we recommend starting under the hornbeam trees of Sunderland avenue…

If - like Lyra - you want to learn more about fridges, you could start worse than starting here.

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Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickes

www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast

Twitter: @darkmaterialpod

Instagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcast

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

We’re almost there…it’s been a long time coming, but we have finally finished Northern Lights!

Turns out we still had a lot to talk about though - join us for this special episode as we discuss some of the high points, the themes and what we would add to improve the book (ok, possibly make it worse…we’re not good storytellers!)

We also go through some of your questions and comments! If you have some thoughts about the series, we’d love to hear from you so don’t hesitate to get in touch and remind us who is the other side of the podcast…

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Thank you to Lo Jatko Mührer for their questions, we highly recommend their SPOILER HEAVY essays on Nordic influences in His Dark Materials and Power Relations in His Dark Materials.

You can hear more from Dr Em Anderson in her new book, culture and poetry radio programme The Review, where she talks to different literary guests! It’s a fascinating and joyful listen, give it go!

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www.thedarkmaterialpodcast.com

@darkmaterialpod

www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcast