Two Chairs Talking

David and Perry look at Australian literature, ranging from a book about bushrangers written in serial form in 1882 to modern science fiction.

Reading overload (00:30)

Comfort reads (01:50)

Hugo Award nominations (02:47)

Nebula Awards short list (07:58)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (00:05)

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (00:17)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (00:22)

The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk (00:42)

Black Sun by Rebecca Rowanhorse (00:22)

Network Effect by Martha Wells (01:22)

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (03:35)

Such is Life by Joseph Furphy (04:42)

The Watch Tower by Elizabeth Harrower (08:12)

Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood (08:47)

Dispersion by Greg Egan (05:59)

The Black Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard (07:52)

Falling Towards England by Clive James (04:42)

The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (01:36)

Discussion with W. H. Chong (21:14)

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (04:03)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (02:04)

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (03:53)

Underland by Robert McFarlane (03:24)

Reading multiple genres (02:41)

Poetry (00:29)

New translation of Beowulf (01:43)

Wind-up (02:15)

Illustration: "Fire's On!" by Arthur Streeton.

Perry and David talk about a diverse selection of books they've been reading lately, and Perry talks to Dr. Lucy Sussex about the best books she read last year.

NASA naming of Perseverance landing spot (02:00)

Nebula Awards (06:25)

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (04:53)

Cross-cultural influence of The Beatles (01:41)

Website Galactic Journey - http://galacticjourney.org/ (08:48)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (05:54)

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (09:36)

Daria's Daughter by Linda Huber (06:28)

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (09:48)

Interview with Lucy Sussex (19:03)

Square Haunting by Francesca Wade (01:29)

Truganini by Cassandra Pybus (04:03)

Friends and Rivals by Brenda Niall (01:05)

The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale (02:29)

No Love Lost by Marjorie Allingham (01:41)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (07:22)

Windup (01:07)

Image: detail from "High Treason" by Sir John Lavery

Perry and David talk about a diverse selection of books they've been reading lately, and Perry talks to Dr. Lucy Sussex about the best books she read last year.

NASA naming of Perseverance landing spot (02:00)

Nebula Awards (06:25)

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (04:53)

Cross-cultural influence of The Beatles (01:41)

Website Galactic Journey - http://galacticjourney.org/ (08:48)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (05:54)

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (09:36)

Daria's Daughter by Linda Huber (06:28)

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (09:48)

Interview with Lucy Sussex (19:03)

Square Haunting by Francesca Wade (01:29)

Truganini by Cassandra Pybus (04:03)

Friends & Rivals by Brenda Niall (01:05)

The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale (02:29)

No Love Lost by Marjorie Allingham (01:41)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (07:22)

Windup (01:07)

Click here for more information and indexes.

Image: detail from "High Treason" by Sir John Lavery

David and Perry discuss a recent book and television series they have both enjoyed and then move on to talk about some of their volunteer activities outside podcasting. David interviews Alex Cabal, the Editor in Chief of Standard Ebooks.

Hugo Nominations deadline (05:27)

The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John (07:40)

The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) (08:12)

Volunteering (01:28)

Perry's Work for AusLit (17:47)

David's Work for Standard Ebooks (10:07)

Perry's experience with Wikipedia (05:26)

Interview with Alex Cabal of Standard Ebooks (22:46)

Personal background, education (01:33)

What gave you the idea of starting SE? (04:06)

How did you choose which books to begin with? (02:42)

Who selects which books to work on? (02:51)

How did you decide on the appearance of the books? (02:35)

Why do you dedicate the books to the public domain? (01:59)

What do you see as the challenges for SE in future? (03:46)

Scribophile and Writerfolio (02:40)

Windup (01:18)

Photo by rawpixel.com from PxHere

Perry and David revisit the scene(s) of the crime, discussing books in a variety of sub-genres within the crime/thriller category.

Vale Yvonne Rousseau (02:21)

Locus Recommended Reading List 2020 (05:31)

Doing Crime (01:58)

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Crosby (04:40)

The Spy Of Venice by Benet Brandreth (05:44)

The Survivors by Jane Harper (06:13)

Waiting For Elijah by Kate Wild (06:37)

The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace (05:08)

Good Girl/Bad Girl and When She Was Good by Michael Robotham (08:50)

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (08:18)

Too Many Magicians by Randall Garrett (01:39)

Windup (01:16)

Photo by Brandon Anderson on Flickr.

David and Perry talk about the books they've been reading lately, ranging in length from novellas to a nine-volume, almost million-word opus written entirely in the form of letters. And a rather damp theme emerges...

World SF Convention and Hugos (04:24)

Clarissa Harlowe by Samuel Richardson (05:35)

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (10:48)

The Glass Hotel by Emily St.John Mandel (07:17)

Shadow in the Empire of Light by Jane Routley (05:54)

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (00:01)

The Greenwood Duology by Emily Tesh (07:35)

Silver in the Wood (01:31)

Drowned Country (04:15)

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison (25:16)

Discussion with Lucy Sussex (20:36)

Windup (00:55)

"Not Waving but Drowning" is the title of a poem by Stevie Smith, written in 1972.

Photo by Ayyub Yahaya from Pexels

Perry and David wind up their discussion of the best books they read in 2020 and roll on to talking about their best movies and television seen during the year.

David's Top 10 books of 2020 (04:51)

Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman

Normal People by Sally Rooney

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Truth by Peter Temple

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang

Solaris by Stanisław Lem

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison

A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

Perry's Top 10 books of 2020 (06:04)

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jnr

Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan

A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr

The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

Tango Briefing by Adam Hall

The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John

David's Top films of 2020 (04:18)

Brazil

12 Monkeys

Solaris (dir. Tarkovsky)

Yesterday

Time Bandits

Perry's Top films of 2020 (06:33)

Stalker

The Old Guard

Yesterday

Sometimes Always Never

Brazil

David's Top TV of 2020 (06:08)

Tales from the Loop (Mini-series)

Upright (Mini-series)

His Dark Materials (Season 1)

The Expanse (Season 4)

For All Mankind (Season 1)

Perry's Top TV of 2020 (27:32)

Food (03:00)

Food Safari Fire

Rick Stein’s Secret France

Chef’s Table : BBQ

Crime (07:39)

Criminal : UK S01 and S02

Trapped S01 and S02

The Alienist S01

Des

Giri/Haji

Horror (01:15)

The Outsider

Science Fiction (03:35)

The Expanse S04

The Umbrella Academy S02

For All Mankind S01

The Umbrella Academy S01

Other (04:55)

The Queen’s Gambit

The Test

Freeman

Best 5 of the Year (05:51)

The Queen’s Gambit

The Expanse S04

Criminal : UK S01 and S02

The Test

Trapped S01 and S02

Wind-up (02:08)

Photo: public domain

David and Perry look back at the books they read during 2020 and pick their favourites in a variety of categories.

David's reading during 2020 (03:59)

Perry's reading during 2020 (08:58)

David's Best SF read for the first time (04:19)

Perry's Best SF read for the first time (06:31)

David's Best SF read again (02:15)

Perry's Best SF read again (03:25)

David's Best Fantasy (03:04)

Perry's Best Fantasy (04:09)

David's Best Alternate History (02:27)

Perry's Best Crime (05:46)

David's Best Crime (04:39)

Perry's Best Literary (06:25)

David's Best Literary (09:08)

Perry's Best Single Author Collections (05:20)

David's Best Historical Fiction (02:26)

Perry's Best Novellas (08:10)

David's Best Children's Literature (02:57)

Perry's Best Nonfiction (04:05)

David's Best Nonfiction (02:55)

Windup (01:34)

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels

Perry and David discuss the fine art of tsundoku and then fire up the Hugo Time Machine yet again to return to the year of 1965, when Fritz Leiber's "The Wanderer" won Best Novel Hugo.

Tsundoku (01:42)

Hugo Time Machine~1965 (01:01:38)

The Whole Man by John Brunner (07:26)

Davy by Edgar Pangborn (08:47)

The Planet Buyer by Cordwainer Smith (11:57)

The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (07:40)

Other possible nominees (02:52)

Short Fiction (00:58)

Little Dog Gone by Robert F. Young (05:04)

Always a Cop by Rick Raphael (04:59)

Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson (05:47)

Other possible nominees (03:54)

Taking a break (02:09)

Wind-up (01:04)

 

Photo from Pxhere.com.

Perry and David discuss the fine art of tsundoku and then fire up the Hugo Time Machine yet again to return to the year of 1965, when Fritz Leiber's "The Wanderer" won Best Novel Hugo.

Tsundoku (01:42)

Hugo Time Machine~1965 (01:01:38)

The Whole Man by John Brunner (07:26)

Davy by Edgar Pangborn (08:47)

The Planet Buyer by Cordwainer Smith (11:57)

The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (07:40)

Other possible nominees (02:52)

Short Fiction (00:58)

Little Dog Gone by Robert F. Young (05:04)

Always a Cop by Rick Raphael (04:59)

Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson (05:47)

Other possible nominees (03:54)

Taking a break (02:09)

Wind-up (01:04)

Click here for more information and indexes.

 

Photo from Pxhere.com.