Words To That Effect

Words To That Effect + Down Below The Reservoir This week’s episode, the end of Season 1, is a Christmas Special. It’s a collaboration with the disturbingly good horror podcast, Down Below The Reservoir. The result is an episode about the ghost stories of MR James, followed by an audio-drama read more...

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Whether we like it or not, the zombies are coming for us all. Films, books, computer games, comics and TV shows. From historical and mythical zombies to claims to have proven the scientific truth behind zombification. From the gruesome, cannibalistic monsters of horror, to the harmless creatures of children’s playground games. There are zombie flash mobs and parades, zombie cocktails and drinks. There’s zombie capitalism and zombie corporations. And, of course, the zombie apocalypse.

Episode 12 of Words To That Effect explores the complex cultural history of zombies, from the cane fields of Haiti to the Hollywood screen, from the mindless, shuffling undead to the concept of zombie consciousness. I am joined by Prof Roger Luckhurst, author of Zombies: A Cultural History.   

The History of Zombies from Haiti to Hollywood Whether we like it or not, the zombies are coming for us all. Films, books, computer games, comics and TV shows. From historical and mythical zombies to claims to have proven the scientific truth behind zombification. From the gruesome, cannibalistic monsters of read more...

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Cesare Lombroso was an Italian doctor and psychiatrist and he was one of the first people to really consider “criminality” a subject worthy of scientific study. His ideas were groundbreaking and, despite that the fact that he was unbelievably, spectacularly wrong, he is often referred to as the “father of criminology”.

In this episode I am joined by Prof Christine Ferguson to discuss crime and criminals, science and literature, from Dracula to Jekyll and Hyde. Why were Lombroso’s ideas so appealing? How are they connected to our own views on crime today? What if you really could tell a criminal by his or her outward appearance?

Turin in the 19th Century The northern Italian city of Turin is quite distinctive as Italian cities go. It is still Italy, so of course it has its grand piazzas and ornate churches, and pasta and pizza and cappuccinos. But whereas in so many Italian cities it is read more...

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Robinson Crusoe’s influence has been so powerful that this single work of literature has spawned an entire genre: the Robinsonade. This is the name given to those Crusoe-like stories which involve shipwreck, a desert island, and encountering a strange new society or person There are thousands upon thousands of books and films, plays and poems, tv shows and comic books which take up the Robinson theme.

Defoe’s novel has left a lasting, powerful, complicated, and often dangerous myth in the popular imagination.

In this week’s episode I talk to Dr Ian Kinane about Crusoe and the Robinsonade, about egomania and colonialism, 18th-century fiction and reality TV.

Daniel Defoe’s classic novel, The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, is without doubt one of the most recognizable stories in our culture. It is a book which has had hundreds, if not thousands, of editions. It has been translated into over 100 languages, adapted for stage and read more...

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Writers make up imaginary countries all the time, and for a variety of reasons. It’s relatively straightforward to slip in a familiar-sounding name into a part of the world your reader or viewer may not be too familiar with.

Livonia, Wallaria, Tazbekistan…They could be countries, right? But there’s one name in particular which stands out. It is the imaginary country, and the inspiration for an entire subgenre. This is the country of Ruritania. 

Imaginary Countries Writers make up imaginary countries all the time, and for a variety of reasons. It’s relatively straightforward to slip in a familiar-sounding name into a part of the world your reader or viewer may not be too familiar with. Livonia, Wallaria, Tazbekistan… They could be countries, right? But read more...

The post Episode 9: Imaginary Countries and the Ruritanian Romance appeared first on Words To That Effect.

The case of William Edward Hickman went to trial in Los Angeles in 1928. The accused was charged with the gruesome murder of a 12-year-old girl, and he faced the death penalty. The trial was reported all across the U.S. because it was the culmination of a horrific tale of murder and kidnapping which had gripped the entire nation. 

This is the story of a murder which encompasses psychiatry, heredity, and a world-famous writer.