The Writer and The Critic
By Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
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Podcast Description
A monthly podcast devoted mostly to speculative fiction books, reviews and the odd bit of idle gossip. Hosted by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond.
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ExplicitEpisode 16: ‘The Silver Wind’ and ‘The Courier’s New Bicycle’ | On this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond proffer a correction from Cheryl Morgan in regards to Hugo Awards eligibility before entangling themselves in more culturally appropriative knots sparked off by some very interesting feedback from Karen Lord. They also announce a list of giveaway novels in order to bribe listeners into recommending original, self-published eBooks for their newly named eBook Extravaganza ... so follow them on Twitter and start recommending! During discussion of The Silver Wind by Nina Allan (beginning at 35:30), Ian mentions this review by Martin Lewis while Kirstyn quotes from this piece by Sofia Samatar. The conversation then turns to The Courier's New Bicycle by Kim Westwood at 59:45 wherein this review by Cheryl Morgan is mentioned. Tune back in around the 01:43:00 point for final remarks. Next month, Ian and Kirstyn invite UK author Robert Shearman onto the podcast. (You may remember a discussion of Rob's most excellent story collection, Everyone's Just So So Special, on Episode 12. If you don't remember, go back and listen to it right now!) Rob has recommended Perfume by Patrick Süskind for everyone to read, while Ian Mond has picked Queenpin by Megan Abbott and Kirstyn has chosen Houses Without Doors by Peter Straub. Read ahead and join in the fun! | 16 2 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 15: ‘Redemption in Indigo’ and ‘Zoo City’ | On this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond announce a New Idea for a future episode of the podcast. They would like to spend an episode reviewing a handful originally self-published eBooks as recommended by their listeners. Whether this ends up being a Good Idea or a Bad Idea will largely depend on listener participation, so get listening and get participating. There may even be prizes involved ... more info on this next month once they work out what potential prizes they actually have to offer! After a discussion about their current (e)reading habits and changes in book buying practices, the duo then move onto talk about the two books chosen for the podcast this month. A lengthy discussion of and around -- and around and around -- Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord begins at 18:30 with the conversation about Zoo City by Lauren Beukes starting at 01:07:30. Yes, it's a long podcast this time. That's what happens with books that are interesting, intelligent and inspiring. Tune back in around the 01:57:20 point for final remarks. Next month, Ian has recommended The Silver Wind by Nina Allan while Kirstyn has picked The Courier's New Bicycle by Kim Westwood. Read ahead and join in the fun! | 27 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 14: ‘The Tiger’s Wife’ and ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ | In their very last Writer and the Critic podcast for 2011, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond ramble only briefly before leaping boldly forth into their discussion of the selected novels, both winners of the Orange Prize for Fiction in their respective years. As usual, there are significant plot spoilers for both books, so take heed of the timestamps if you wish to avoid them. Discussion of The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht begins at 05:15 and includes references to a review by Philip Hensher at The Telegraph as well as this one by Ruth Fowler at the Huffington Post. At the 35:15 mark, the two then move on to We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Kirstyn quotes from this Guardian article by Lionel Shriver and recommends the newly released film starring Tilda Swinton -- but only if you read the book first! If you've skipped ahead, please come back at for final remarks at 01:21:40. Next month -- next year! -- Ian has picked Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord while Kirstyn has chosen Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. Due to their hectic end of year schedules, neither of them have actually had a chance to read their own recommendations yet so they're each looking forward to finding out what they themselves think . . . Happy New Year! | 28 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 13: ‘Room’ and ‘The Secret History’ (plus ‘Generation X’) | This month on The Writer and the Critic, your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, find themselves in the native habitat of fellow podcaster John Richards -- one of the mighty Boxcutters team and co-writer of the soon to be screened ABC comedy series Outland. The three chat about why television kills your dreams and whether Ian is a better co-podcaster than Josh Kinal. Ian and Kirstyn would also like to congratulate all the recent World Fantasy Award winners announced in San Diego last month. In particular, their warmest wishes go to Nnedi Okorafor, who won Best Novel for Who Fears Death (featured on The Writer and Critic in Episode 11), and friend of the podcast and Galactic Suburbian, Alisa Krasnostein, who received the Special Award Non-Professional in recognition for her fabulous work with Twelve Planet Press. Yay Alisa and Nnedi! The two official books for this month are Room by Emma Donoghue -- Ian's pick -- and The Secret History by Donna Tartt -- chosen by Kirstyn. As usual, there are plenty of spoilers -- including revealed endings! -- so for those of you who wish to skip over a particular book, discussion of Room begins at 22:15 while The Secret History starts at 41:10. John Richards has chosen Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland for this episode and discussion of the book commences at the 1:09:40 mark. The three self-confessed GenXers also talk generally about the 1990's, generation x and the alleged end of history. Appropriately, they seem a little jaded. And old. Wander back at 1:28:35 for some brief but witty final remarks. The books for next month will be We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (chosen by Kirstyn) and The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht (Ian's pick), both recipients of The Orange Prize. Don't worry, there will be a return to a greater speculative fiction emphasis in 2012 -- that's a promise! P.S. Kirstyn apologises for the sketchy sound quality on Ian's mic this episode. Even if he does deserve it. P.P.S. Kirstyn also apologies for the tardiness of this podcast. She was away for more days than she was home in the past couple of months. She definitely deserved that! | 2 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 12: ‘Bluegrass Symphony’ and ‘Everyone’s Just So So Special’ | On this episode of The Writer and the Critic, your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, decide to eschew their normal thirty-odd minutes of waffle and plunge straight into a discussion of the two titles at hand, Bluegrass Symphony by Lisa L. Hannett and Everyone's Just So So Special by Robert Shearman. As both books are short story collections and also very new releases, there are no spoilers as such. But here are the time stamps anyway: 03:00 for Bluegrass Symphony (yes, that's three minutes -- they really meant it with the eschewing) and 33:00 for Everyone's Just So So Special. Final remarks kick in around 01:21:00. Kirstyn would like to disclaim that she is a judge for both the Australian Shadows and the Aurealis Awards this year, for which Lisa Hannett's stories are eligible, and therefore needs to stress that her opinions of the collection as expressed on this podcast are solely her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the judging panels for either award. Ian would like to disclaim that he loves Rob Shearman just so so much, and is therefore incapable of holding any objective opinion of his work. So there's that. The Karen Joy Fowler story that is tangentially mentioned can be read online over at Subterranean Press, while Rob Shearman's insane One Hundred Stories project lives here. Next month, Ian and Kirstyn invite John Richards from Boxcutters to be their special podcast guest. John has chosen Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland as for everyone to read, while Ian has selected Room by Emma Donoghue and Kirstyn has recommended The Secret History by Donna Tartt. They will most likely be back to their usual spoilerific form, so read ahead and join in the fun! | 6 10 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 11: ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ and ‘Who Fears Death’ | This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, briefly discuss the results of the 2011 Hugo Awards -- Ian was right! -- as well as the heartening increase in diversity of the nominated works in response to some listener feedback. Buoyed by his success in predicting that Connie Willis would take home the Hugo for best novel, Ian makes another silly startling prediction about the future of books and awards. Mention is also made of Jo Walton's excellent retrospective series in which she revisits the results of past Hugo Awards over at Tor.com. They then turn their attention to this episode's featured books, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson and Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor. Kirstyn mentions this thoughtful essay about Jackson and her work by Joyce Carol Oates. This lengthy review of the Okorafor novel by Paul Di Filippo is taken to task for being just a little bit patronising and somewhat missing of the point. The rather harrowing Washington Post article that inspired Okorafor can be found here. For those wishing to avoid spoilers and skip ahead, discussion of We Have Always Lived in the Castle begins at 14:30, while Who Fears Death starts around 52:50. Ian and Kirstyn would like to warn listeners that Who Fears Death deals explicitly with rape, female genital mutilation and sexual violence. Their review of the novel in this episode naturally involves frank discussion of those same subjects. Some very brief final remarks can be found at 01:29:30. Oh, and look, the episode of the Outer Alliance podcast is now live! OA host Julia Rios invited Ian and Kirstyn along to have a Writer and the Critic style discussion, with the recommended texts being Horn and Bleed by Peter M. Ball (chosen by Ian), "Nightship" by Kim Westwood (chosen by Kirstyn) and "The Behold of the Eye" by Hal Duncan (chosen by Julia). They talked for over three billion hours. Thankfully, Julia managed to edit the conversation down into a very succinct podcast of around two hours. She is a genius! Next episode will focus on two short story collections: Bluegrass Symphony by Lisa L. Hannett (chosen by Kirstyn) and Everyone's Just So So Special by Robert Shearman (Ian's recommendation). As both of these collections are fairly new releases, Ian and Kirstyn intend to go light on the spoilerage, but still encourage you to grab yourself copies of these fine volumes and read ahead. | 15 9 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 10: ‘The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms’ and ‘The Dervish House’ | The winners of the 2011 Hugo Awards will be announced on 20 August, so this month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, are looking at the books which have been nominated for Best Novel. Two of the nominees have already been featured books on this podcast: Feed by Mira Grant was discussed in Episode 2 and Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis in Episode 7. While you will need to go back and listen to those episodes for detailed reviews, Kirstyn and Ian do take the opportunity to finally read and respond to listener feedback from Cat Sparks in regards to Blackout/All Clear. The difference between a primary and a retrospective reading experience is examined and the duo muse on why Connie Willis is too often the subject of unfair personal attacks. The name of the beautifully horrific Willis short story that Kirstyn couldn't remember is "All My Darling Daughters". Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold is also a Hugo nominee, but Ian and Kirstyn have decided not to read this book themselves, as it's part of the Vorkosigan saga with which they have not been keeping up. Tut. Tut. Tut. However, Tehani Wessely of Fablecroft Publishing, one of their wonderful listeners, has provided a passionate and spoiler-free summary of why she believes Cryoburn should take home the gong. Thanks, Tehani! Ian and Kirstyn then move onto an in depth discussion of the remaining two nominated titles: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin and The Dervish House by Ian McDonald. Further information about the fascinating legend of Mellified Men, as featured in McDonald's novel, can be found here. If you wish to skip ahead avoid the many, many spoilers -- including the endings of both books! -- discussion of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms begins at 26:30 while The Dervish House starts around 53:30. But listen in again at the 1:21:10 mark for some final remarks about the Hugo Awards and which book(s) should win -- and also for a shock! horror! confession from Ian! Seriously, you will be aghast. Finally, the Department of Cross-Podcastination is pleased to announce that Kirstyn and Ian were recently interviewed at length by Julia Rios from the Outer Alliance podcast. Julia adopted the format of The Writer and the Critic, with the recommended texts being Horn and Bleed by Peter M. Ball (chosen by Ian), "Nightship" by Kim Westwood (chosen by Kirstyn) and "The Behold of the Eye" by Hal Duncan (chosen by Julia). The Outer Alliance episode should be up on the site by the end of August, so catch up on your reading and add the podcast to your feed. Next episode, The Writer and the Critic returns to its roots, with a discussion of just two recommended books. Ian has picked the recently published Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor while Kirstyn has chosen a beloved classic, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun! | 19 8 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 9: ‘Eclipse 4′ and ‘The Hunger Games’ (plus ‘World War Z’) | This month on The Writer and the Critic, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond navigate their way to the cosy, cat-populated abode of their special guest, Melbourne author Cameron Rogers. They talk about the troublesome life of Cam's (second) debut novel, The Music of Razors, and what he's been doing with himself since its publication, and move on to discuss a variety of topics ranging from from karma collectives to the reasons why sometimes you really do need to turn down a three-book contract. There is also wine and gingerbread men. Angry gingerbread men. Cam has recommended World War Z by Max Brooks for his book this month which results in a lively debate about zombies, cultural authenticity and gender disparity. Kirstyn made a spreadsheet -- no, really, it's far more engaging than it sounds! For those wanting to skip ahead and avoid spoilers, discussion about World War Z begins at 30:50 and ends around 56:00. Attention is then turned to the official podcast books: Eclipse 4 edited by Jonathan Strahan -- selected by Ian -- and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- Kirstyn's choice. (For those playing at home, the actress who has been cast as Katniss Everdeen in the film adaptation of The Hunger Games is Jennifer Lawrence; Kirstyn regrets her mental blank during recording and hopes this saves you all from yelling Jennifer's name at your iPods or iPod-like devices when it comes up.) There are many, many plot spoilers so if you want to skip ahead, discussion of Eclipse begins at 56:00, while Hunger Games starts around 1:30:10. Check back in at the 01:47:50 for some possibly amusing final remarks and apologies to Cat Sparks for failing to respond to her feedback yet again. Next episode, Cat, that's a promise! Next month's Writer and the Critic is a Hugo Awards special. The awards will be announced on 20 August at Renovation, so Ian and Kirstyn will be reading and discussing two books from the final ballot: Dervish House by Ian McDonald and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Two other nominated works have been previously discussed on this podcast: Feed by Mira Grant in Episode 2 and Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis in Episode 7. (The fifth Hugo nominated book is Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold, but Ian and Kirstyn have decided not to discuss this as it is part of the Vorkosigan saga with which they have not been keeping up. Listener feedback and opinions from those who have read Cryoburn, however, will be most welcome!) Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun! | 14 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 8: ‘Full Dark, No Stars’ and ‘Among Others’ (plus ‘Embassytown’) | This month The Writer and the Critic comes to you as a LIVE record from Continuum 7 -- Melbourne's own speculative fiction and pop culture convention -- with the incomparable Catherynne M. Valente as special guest podcaster. Ian, Kirstyn and Cat discuss the problems and politics involved when writers review the work of friends and the need for honesty in online opinion. Cat talks about the popular and critical response to her own work, why sad pandas make everyone else sad as well, and why she is currently taking a break from writing negative reviews on her blog. Rose Fox's recent article about the necessity for candour in reviews is also briefly mentioned. (photo: Art Bébé Promotions) The first two books up for discussion are Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (recommended by Kirstyn) and Among Others by Jo Walton (Ian's pick). This review of Among Others is pointed as being one Jo Walton herself particularly likes, whereas these two became the subject of reader vitriol over at her LiveJournal -- an incident which Cat, Ian and Kirstyn talk about at length in regards to the writing of memoir and authorial responses to critics. For those wishing to avoid spoilers and skip ahead, discussion of Full Dark, No Stars begins at 19:00, while Among Others starts around 40:50. The trio then turn their attention to the newly released Embassytown by China Mieville -- selected by Cat -- which Ian and Kirstyn possibly manage to make sound a little more boring than it actually is. You don't need a degree in linguistic theory, honest! (China himself has provided a far better summary of the book.) The discussion of Embassytown, including a rather heated debate between Ian and Kirstyn about post-colonialism, begins at 1:07:40. Check back in at the 1:35:00 mark for some (very brief) final remarks. Next month The Writer and the Critic will feature Melbourne author Cameron Rogers, who has chosen World War Z by Max Brooks for Ian and Kirstyn to read. Ian's recommended book will be a short story collection, Eclipse 4 edited by Jonathan Strahan, while Kirstyn's pick is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun! | 22 6 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 7: ‘The Resurrectionist’ and ‘Oryx and Crake’ (plus ‘Blackout/All Clear’) | This month's episode of The Writer and the Critic sees your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss the results of the recently announced Ditmar and Tin Duck Awards and dissect the almost inevitable Great Ditmar Controversy of 2011 that exploded onto the interwebs soon afterwards. For those interested in reading further, Kirstyn has blogged about the issue here and here. The books up for discussion on the podcast this month are The Resurrectionst by Jack O'Connell (chosen by Ian ) and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (recommended by Kirstyn ). Ian mentions a review by Andrew Wheeler when speaking about the O'Connell novel and Kirstyn vaguely remembers this online argument while arguing an Atwood tangent of her own. For those wishing to avoid spoilers and skip ahead, discussion of The Resurrectionist begins at 30:00, while Oryx and Crake starts around 47:00. They then turn their attention to a book which was recommended by one of their lovely listeners -- Tansy Rayner Roberts. Or maybe two books. Or possibly one book which has had a run-in with a guillotine: Black Out and All Clear by Connie Willis. Ian steals his best lines quotes extensively from this review by his new Bestest Twitter Friend, Jonathan McCalmont. Ian also gets very, very frustrated and swears quite a bit. The discussion of Blackout / All Clear begins at 1:09:09 Check back in at the 1:27:15 mark for some listener feedback and final remarks. Next month The Writer and the Critic will hit the road once again to record their first episode live in front of an actual audience at Continuum 7 in Melbourne! Their very special guest will be the brilliant and awe-inspiring, Catherynne M. Valente, who has picked Embassytown by China Mieville for Ian and Kirstyn to read. Ian's recommended book for June will be Among Others by Jo Walton, while Kirstyn has chosen Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun! | 4 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitInterim: The SwanCon36 MegaPodcast | And now for something completely different ... SwanCon36 was held over the Easter Weekend (21- 25 April 2011) and a whole bunch of Australian podcasters were in attendance. What better excuse do you need to record a special live MegaPodcast? Join Jonathan Strahan from Coode Street, Helen Merrick from Pangalactic Interwebs, Alex Pierce from Galactic Suburbia, and The Writer and the Critic's own Kirstyn McDermott to hear all about the books and films you should be reading and watching. Yes, should. And if you listen carefully you can even hear Ian Mond wailing and gnashing his teeth back in Melbourne. He really doesn't like being left out of things. Okay, sure. It's not all that different. | 27 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 6: ‘The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ and ‘Liar’ (plus ‘Above/Below’) | The Writer and the Critic elects to stay at home and rest its feet this month as your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, give you a rundown on the recently announced ballots for the Ditmar and Chronos Awards. Ian grabs a shovel ad promptly digs himself a Ditmar-shaped hole. Kirstyn highlights the emergence of the podcast as a dominant form of "fan publication" on both ballots.They then discuss gender bias in The Periodic Table of Storytelling (which is based on the TV Tropes wiki) -- not to mention gender bias on Ian's hoodie! -- as well as a related blog post by Ann Leckie. Ian laments the likely closure of Salon Futura but hopes Wizard's Tower Press (and its fine online book store) will continue. Kirstyn still refuses to buy an iPad. Above/Below by Stephanie Campisi and Ben Peek is a listener-recommended title which is comprised of two linked novellas published as a single "flip-style" book.There are very few spoilers in this review but if you haven't read the book and wish to skip ahead, the discussion begins at 39:30 and ends around 54:15. The official podcast books are The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (chosen by Ian) and Liar by Justine Larbalestier (recommended by Kirstyn). Be warned: both these discussions contains MASSIVE SPOILERS!! They begin at 54:15 for Oscar Wao and 1:20:20 for Liar. If you haven't already read the books, you may want to come back later when you have. Especially when it coms to Liar. Kirstyn and Ian are very serious about that. Look how sternly their fingers are wagging! To hear a final wrap-up, brief mention of feedback, and some very exciting podcasty news, listen in from 1:39:00. For the next episode, Ian has chosen The Resurrectionst by Jack O'Connell while Kirstyn has picked Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. In addition, they will be discussing the new split-novel/duology, Black Out and All Clear by Connie Willis, which was recommended by a listener. Whew, that's a whole bunch of words to get through! *** The Writer and the Critic adopts a book club approach to its discussion and will assume its listeners have either read the books in question or don't care if they find out that it was all but a dream in the end. There will almost certainly be spoilers, so you are encouraged to read the chosen titles ahead of time. It'll be much more fun that way and Ian and Kirstyn won't get near as many death threats! *** | 13 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 5: ‘My Name is Will’ and ‘Under the Poppy’ (plus ‘Bold As Love’) | This month on The Writer and the Critic, your valiant hosts, Ian Mond and Kirstyn McDermott, venture forth to the home of their special guest: Galactic Suburbian, Alex Pierce. Having been rewarded with red wine and orange cake, they discuss the origins of Galactic Suburbia as well as the future of its brand new sister podcast, Galactic Chat, then proceed to paddle about in the murky waters of genre and gender. Alex admits a literary crush on Alastair Reynolds. Ian confesses mild paranoia about his reading habits. Kirstyn warns that her inner feminist is pretty much permanently on the loose now. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Galactic Suburbia! Alex has chosen Bold As Love by Gwyneth Jones as her book for this month and so begins a rollicking roundtable on rock stars, romance and revolution. For those wishing to avoid spoilers -- and there are quite a few -- the discussion of this novel begins at 22:30 of the podcast and ends around 45:30. The official podcast books for March are My Name is Will by Jess Winfield, which Ian has recommended (but has a little trouble remembering), and Under the Poppy by Kathe Koja, which Kirstyn has chosen (and may or may not squee about). For your convenience once again, the starting points are 45:30 for My Name is Will and 01:00:00 for Under the Poppy. For a final wrap-up and preview of future podcasting goodness, tune back in by 01:31:30. For next month's podcast, Ian has chosen The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and Kirstyn has picked Liar by Justine Larbalestier. Plus, there will be a third, listener-recommended title: Above/Below by Stephanie Campisi and Ben Peek. And finally, a heads-up for May when Ian and Kirstyn will be discussing the Black Out / All Clear duology by Connie Willis, as recommended by another listener. With over a thousand pages between the two books, your thoughtful hosts decided to let you know well in advance. See, they really are lovely people! *** Just a reminder that The Writer and the Critic adopts a book club approach to its discussion and will assume its listeners have either read the books in question or don't care if they find out that the plucky and generously endowed heroine comes to the realisation that she is simply an avatar trapped within a highly complex but ultimately futile online multi-player gaming system. There will almost certainly be spoilers, so you are encouraged to read the chosen titles ahead of time. It'll be much more fun that way and Ian and Kirstyn won't get near as many death threats! *** | 16 3 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 4: ‘White Cat’ and ‘Last Days’ (plus ‘Death Most Definite’) | This month's episode of The Writer and the Critic sees your intrepid hosts, Ian Mond and Kirstyn McDermott, pack up their gear and travel to the gothic Victorian mansionette of their special guest: Melbourne horror writer, Felicity Dowker. The three of them discuss the recent controversy surrounding Bitch Media's list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader and the problematic removal of three books from said list. Ian mentions a blog post Kirstyn previously wrote about the issue. Talk of censorship, feminism and the complicated nature of list-making enues. Ian and Kirstyn then chat with Felicity about her own work, the flavour of horror that she writes, and why, before launching into a review of her chosen book for the month -- Death Most Definite by Brisbane author, Trent Jamieson. For those wishing to avoid spoilers -- and there are many -- the discussion of this novel begins at minute 28:00 of the podcast and ends around 49:00. You're welcome. The official podcast books for March are Last Days by Brian Evenson (recommended by Ian) and White Cat by Holly Black (Kirstyn's pick). For your convenience once again, the starting points are 49:00 for White Cat and 01:08:00 for Last Days. For a final wrap-up and some tasteless, non-book related jokes from Ian, make sure you've tuned back in by the 01:32:30 point. Note to selves: it is possibly not the best idea to imbibe wine while podcasting. Next month, The Writer and the Critic hits the road again to meet with another special guest: Alexandra Pierce from Galactic Suburbia. Alex has chosen Bold as Love by Gwyneth Jones as her recommended read. Ian has recommended My Name is Will by Jess Winfield, while Kirstyn has chosen Under the Poppy by Kathe Koja. Just a reminder that The Writer and the Critic has now adopted more of a book club approach to its discussion and will assume its listeners have either read the books in question or don't care if they find out that the protagonist falls in love with a hairless ferret only to discover in a shocking last page revelation that said ferret is actually a killer whale in disguise. There will almost certainly be spoilers, so you are encouraged to read the chosen titles ahead of time. It'll be much more fun that way and Ian and Kirstyn won't get near as many death threats! | 16 2 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 3: ‘The City and The City’ and ‘The Windup Girl’ | In this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Ian Mond and Kirstyn McDermott speak briefly about listener feedback, in particular Cheryl Morgan's musings about spoilers and the lack thereof in this podcast. They summarily decide to lift the ban on spoilers to allow more open discussion of all aspects of the books they are reviewing, including ... gasp ... endings and plot twists! Ian promises not to put his hands over his hands and make annoying humming noises while doing so. *** SPOILER ALERT *** THIS PODCAST CONTAINS SPOILERS *** Ahem. Don't say you were never warned. They also talk about the forthcoming Twelve Planets from Twelfth Planet Press and why a series of collections featuring Australian female spec fic writers is far from being a silly gesture. (And it's not just because Kirstyn is writing one of those collections!) Still on the topic of gender, the soon-to-be controversial guidelines of a new horror anthology from Ticonderoga Press are thrown on the autopsy table, with much made of the request for stories with a "masculine tone". This month books up for discussion are The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (recommended by Ian) and The City and The City by China Mieville (Kirstyn's choice), both joint winners of last year's Hugo Award for Best Novel. A review by Jonathan McCalmont by The Windup Girl is possibly badly paraphrased by Ian. For those wishing to avoid spoilers and skip ahead, discussion of The City and the City begins at 28:30, while The Windup Girl chat starts around 50:00. Check back in at the 1:19:45 mark for some brief final remarks and a preview of next month's podcast. We hope you enjoy the podcast! Next month, The Writer and the Critic travels into the world beyond Kirstyn's dining room to feature a special guest: Melbourne writer of all things dark and deliciously nasty, Felicity Dowker. Yes, that's right, a travelling podcast. Hey, it's a niche and we're claiming it. Felicity has chosen Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson for Ian and Kirstyn to read. Ian's recommended book for March is Last Days by Brian Evenson, while Kirstyn has picked White Cat by Holly Black. And don't forget, The Writer and the Critic has now adopted more of a book club approach to its discussion and will assume its listeners have either read the books in question or don't care if they find out that the protagonist dies in a horrible rice threshing machine accident on the second to last page. There will almost certainly be spoilers, so you are encouraged to read the chosen titles ahead of time. It'll be much more fun that way and Ian and Kirstyn won't get near as many death threats! | 24 1 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 2: ‘Feed’ and ‘The Red Tree’ | At the start of this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend a little time addressing some listener feedback from last month concerning social media and book recommendations. They have picked a book recommended by a listener to be read and reviewed in February but they're not telling you which one because, as Ian says, there aren't enough surprises in the world anymore. The Writer and the Critic is a proud contributor to the global surprise quotient. Then follows a very lengthy discussion about The Book Thief (one of the novels from the previous podcast) which was sparked off by a passionate and thought-provoking review of the same from Catherynne M. Valente. Free-form digressions may or may not be included. Conclusions may or may not be drawn. Ian and Kirstyn vow not to mention this particular book again for quite some time. This month's official books up for review are Feed by Mira Grant (recommended by Ian) and The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan (chosen by Kirstyn). We hope you enjoy this month's podcast. In the next episode, scheduled for late January, Ian and Kirstyn will discussion The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and The City and the City by China Miéville. | 9 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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ExplicitEpisode 1: ‘Deathless’ and ‘The Book Thief’ | Welcome to the thrilling first episode of The Writer and Critic, a monthly podcast dealing with news, books reviews and the odd bit of idle gossip. After 10 minutes of rambling where your hosts Ian Mond (he would be the critic) and Kirstyn McDermott (she would be the writer) talk about the podcasts that have inspired them (and Ian mention his ego, while Kirstyn forgets something important), the podcast then gets down to some news. This months news items include the the Elizabeth Moon controversy (cue groans from Kirstyn) and when authors go bad. Ian brings up this blog post by Martin Lewis which argues that genre review and critical blogging on the web needs to be better. Then we get to the actual core of the podcast (it only takes about thirty minutes). Kirstyn recommended that Ian read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, while Ian recommended that Kirstyn read Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (due for publication in April 2011). Much interesting conversation ensues. We hope you enjoy this first episode. It's a bit raw around the edges, and Ian could have done more research (naughty Ian), but here it is in all its raw, unedited and rambly glory! In the next episode, due mid-December, Ian and Kirstyn will talk about Feed by Mira Grant and The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan. | 13 11 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 17 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Lots of fun
Mondy and Kirstyn recommend a book to each other and then discuss it in great spoiler-y detail in this monthly podcast. They know each other exceptionally well, so even if you haven't and don't intend to read the books, the banter is very entertaining. That said, their discussion of (mostly) speculative fiction novels is incisive and interesting... especially when they have completely different opinions about the same book...
Smart & funny
Love the byplay between Ian & Kirstyn, and their intelligent conversation about not just the books at hand, but ranging far. Keep up the great work!
If you like a laugh and want to expand your SF reading...
This is one of my favourite podcasts, partly because the presenters are around my age (OK a couple of years younger) and seem to have some similar sensibilities (similar sensibilities, but not necessarily the same tastes in actual reading material which makes things more interesting). The banter is very light hearted and I've had a few laugh out loud moments (a bit embarrassing when you are walking along the street on the way to work). It is long (usually between one and a half and two hours) but only comes out monthly, so is very manageable.
This podcast is aware of the kind of gender/culture issues that are discussed on things like Galactic Suburbia (another excellent podcast well worth checking out) without being as consumed by them, which leads to a balance that I quite like.
The format of the podcast is appealing. The presenters each recommend a book to the other (and if there is a guest, the guest also recommends one), and after going through news and other idle gossip they review each of the novels, discuss themes and basically seem to have a good time. The books are usually speculative fiction, although sometimes they look at books that aren't necessarily genre but have a "genre feel" (still not sure about that concept but I'm willing to let it slide - yes, the podcast is that good!).
They are based out of Melbourne, Australia so the podcast has an Australian flavour, but it will be of interest if you don't happen to live down under.
They spoil the books they read, so if they are looking at a novel that you still want to read it might be worth checking the show notes where they kindly give time cues for the various stages of the podcast (i.e. you can see at what time they start and finish talking about a particular book).
To paraphrase, significantly alter and then horribly butcher the words of Douglas Adams - this podcast is usually interesting, often informative and outstanding for the times when it is both.
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- Free
- Category: Literature
- Language: English
- © The Writer and the Critic is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License.
