Official OLS Episodes – One Last Sketch

We discuss Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, and marvel at how much literature you can pack into so few pages. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie's website Source of our theme song

Just before the holidays, we’re back for a reflection on culture we experienced over the past year. Books, comics, films, TV, games – we talk about them all! Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie's website Source of our theme song Some things we mentioned:

We triumphantly re-convene after over a year's absence to talk about The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem, a book of fairy tales for robots, by robots, about robots. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Book Depository page for The Cyberiad Marie's website Source of our theme song

Despite the title, we are in fact talking about movies. But also books. Because this episode is all about adaptations! Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie's website Source of our theme song

A short discussion about Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Part of this episode references the YouTube video “Raya’s Moral ISN’T A Good Lesson to Learn” by La’Ron Readus. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

After 5 years of people yelling at me to see this film, we finally watch The Witch (2015). Books mentioned: Witches and Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft by Robin Briggs (1998). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

Marie watched the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher! Michal indulges in his teenage obsessions. We end up comparing The Witcher to Dealing with Dragons. Correction: At one point, we make it sound like Dandelion is the English translation of Jaskier. This is incorrect. Jaskier in fact means Buttercup. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website My […]

…There’s a new Kwisatz Haderach in town. We talk Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

Recording this episode cost us an arm and a leg. We talk Fullmetal Alchemist. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We were supposed to record an episode about Fullmetal Alchemist, but we got distracted by Cybersix, an animated Canadian TV show from 1999 that should not exist. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song

We finally talk about Bone. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s new website Source of our theme song

Marie talks about Marie Brennan’s Memoirs of Lady Trent series, which begins with A Natural History of Dragons. I am also present, largely to provide colour. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog (Podcast Marie, not Brennan Marie) Source of our theme song

We remember the internet being a lot more fun a decade ago. Why did our attitude change, and what major milestones did internet culture experience between now and the time we first logged on? Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Source of our theme song

A reflection on the life and works of Ursula K. Le Guin in light of her recent passing. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Cory’s blog Source of our theme song

So little of 2017 left, but just enough time to post our year in review! We discuss media we enjoyed this year, whether it was objectively good or not, including the University of Alberta murder-mystery-but-not-really-a-murder-mystery The Next Margaret, Haruki Murakami’s slow melancholy, Nausicaä  of the Valley of the Wind (again!), Roger Zelazny’s fiction, and more. Download the […]

In which we speak of books we never finished, or wish we had never finished. Normally, I would provide a list of the novels we talked about. But this time, I think it’s better if you go in blind. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Cory’s blog Source of our theme song  

We settle down to talk about another classic work of fantasy: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series, specifically the first three novels, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore. Also: dragons. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Cory’s blog Source of our theme song

We take a break from civilized life and get our barbarian groove on with a discussion of Robert E. Howard’s character Conan, focusing on the 1936 serialized novel The Hour of the Dragon. Topics include the wide-ranging influence of these stories, reprehensible anthropological themes within them, the enduring appeal of the character, approaches to world-building, and Hobbes’ Leviathan. […]

What does heaven look like? We find out by reading Steven Brust’s novel To Reign in Hell (1984). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Cory’s blog Source of our theme song

Japan makes lots of cartoons, so our planned cartoon episode ended up being all about anime junk: Kill la Kill, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Vision of Escaflowne, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Cory’s blog Source of our theme song

I already did my year-end blog post, but my usual podcast hosts haven’t, so here’s the podcast edition! We talk about all the movies, books, television shows, comics, anime and art gallery shows we enjoyed this year. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Cory’s blog Source of our theme song

The Giver by Lois Lowry is the one book on elementary/high school reading lists that Canadians our age remember fondly. Why is this, and why is the cover so darn memorable? Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Episode 26: Get Urras back to Anarres (Discussion of The Dispossessed) Source of our theme song

The internet has provided ways for artists to skirt around traditional channels to get their work out to the public; web series are one of the more ambitious examples. We chat about our favourite web series and the idiosyncrasies of the medium. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Episode 8: Eeee! Source of our theme song […]

We’re back! This time, we’re talking about adolescence, isolation and social anxiety in the anime series No Matter How I look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m not Popular! AKA, WataMote. Includes verbatim readings of entries from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and plenty of cringing. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog “Anxiety, Anger […]

We egoize about Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1974 classic, The Dispossessed. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Episode 10 – The Left Hand of Podcasts Source of our theme song Incidental Music: Danse Macabre – Big Hit 1 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

A short, impromptu review of The Witches of Lublin, the holiday radio play “by Ellen Kushner and a bunch of other people in the cast.” Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog The Witches of Lublin website  

After suffering through TSR’s gamebooks, we decide to try one that’s actually good: Ring of Thieves by S. John Ross. Dice will be rolled! Blood will spilled! Genies will be petulant! Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Get Ring of Thieves for free! Risus: The Anything RPG Incidental Music: Danse Macabre – Big Hit 1 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: […]

The Dungeoneering Edition™ reaches its conclusion (Thank God) with Circus of Fear, and there is much rejoicing. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Theme song: Five Armies by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Our ill-advised experiment drags on as we play our way through Revolt of the Dwarves and The Dragon’s Ransom. Despite covering two books, this might well be our shortest episode yet. Only one more book remains before this series draws to a definite and unavoidable close. Apologies for the intermittent background noise! Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Theme […]

The Dungeoneering Edition™ of the podcast continues with Light on Quests Mountain. (We’re sorry. We’re so, so sorry.) Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Theme song: Five Armies by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

I found a stack of TSR Endless Quest Books at the dump. After that, this podcast was inevitable. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Theme song: Five Armies by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Young Adult literature is a Thing now, but it wasn’t when Marie and I grew up! Join as as we talk about the books we read as teenagers and realize with dawning horror that we had terrible, terrible taste. Warning folks, this one’s a long one. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s blog Blog post: Underground […]

Cross-posted with Iatropexy. Thus the dueling theme songs. We watch Doc Zone’s last documentary, Volunteers Unleashed. Then…we rant. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) The documentary! (Video available for Canadians only) Pippa Biddle’s blog post: “The Problem with Little White Girls (And Boys): Why I stopped being a Voluntourist” Source of my theme song Source of Marie’s theme song

It’s 1962. Marijuana is legal in California, massive amounts of farmland was recently recovered from the Mediterranean, and human colonization of the Solar System has begun. Everything seems just peachy, if it wasn’t for the pesky fact that the Third Reich and Imperial Japan won the Second World War… A discussion of Philip K. Dick’s The […]

Frank Hebert’s Dune is one of the most influential science fiction novels of all time. Naturally, we have a lot to say about it. Download the Podcast (35 MB, right-click to save) Source of our theme song Marie’s blog

Science! Religion! History! A far-ranging discussion of Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s epic post-apocalyptic Catholic-monks-in-Utah novel A Canticle for Leibowitz. Download the Podcast (30 MB, right-click to save) Source of our theme song Marie’s blog

We watched Dracula Untold, then tried to salvage the utterly ruined evening by recording a podcast wherein I mispronounce “caricature”, Marie talks about bad anime shows, and Cory is confused. Our verdict on the film? Go read The Stress of her Regard by Tim Powers instead!   Download the Podcast (27 MB, right-click to save) Marie’s blog

We spent the last few weeks experiencing what Canadian cinema has to offer. This was the result: Download the Podcast (30 MB, right-click to save) Marie’s blog Films discussed: Ticket to Heaven Porky’s Quest for Fire The Bear Dance Me Outside Rock and Rule Heavy Metal Maelstrom A Dangerous Method Take this Waltz Edwin Boyd: … Continue reading Episode 16 – A Very Disappointing Evening

We talk about an obscure 13th-century French verse romance you’ve probably never heard of: The Romance of Eustace the Monk. Download the Podcast (24 MB, right-click to save) Source of our theme song Leah Shopkow’s prose translation of Eustace the Monk

Alternative Title: The Episode with Dragons in It. Marie and I survey classic (and not-so-classic) Middle Grade and YA literature that include dragons. Special mention goes to Patricia C. Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons, and we also brainstorm the next YA dragon epic that is sure to be a mega-bestseller. Download the Podcast Source of our theme song … Continue reading Episode 14 – Battle Hatchers of Dragonland

We discuss Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (which I already reviewed here), then get caught up in a discussion about Canada Reads and CanLit. Download the Podcast Source of our theme song Canada Reads 2008

To no one’s surprise, the blog of the New Sun posts a podcast about The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Under discussion: The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch, with some references to The Urth of the New Sun as well. Download the Podcast Marie’s … Continue reading Episode 12 – The Podcast of the New Sun

Three friends discuss “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, a creepy story about shockingly creepy children and their even more shockingly useless parents. Plus lions. Download the Podcast The story itself, as read by Leonard Nemoy Marie’s Blog Source of our theme song A very timely Wired article: “Don't Blame Social Media if Your Teen Is Unsocial. … Continue reading Episode 11 – Nursery Crimes

One year after the initially-planned recording date, we finally get around to talking about the works of Ursula K. Le Guin–specifically, The Left Hand of Darkness and The Word for World is Forest. Download the Podcast Marie’s Blog Source of our theme song

Two podcasters enter.  One podcaster leaves. In this eleventh episode, we discuss Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, and ponder over the oddity of the Capitol’s urban planning. Download the Podcast Marie’s Blog Source of our Theme Song

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries concluded this past Thursday, so naturally, Marie & I decided to babble about it.   How can two people who care not a whit for Jane Austen come to enjoy an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice so much?  Listen to find out! Download the Podcast Marie’s Blog Source of our Theme Song

A three-way discussion of Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, in which the fit really hits the Shan (tee hee hee). Download the Podcast Marie’s Blog Source of the incidental music

What, THIS scenario again? And we complete our saga, by talking about Nazis, trench warfare, and the stupidity of some reptilian space invaders. Download the Podcast Alasdair’s Ferretbrain Contributor Page Source of the incidental music

And off we go, into the wild blue yonder… Today I’m joined by a special guest, Alasdair Czyrnyj.  Join us as we take to the skies on the back of a hydrogen-filled whale to discuss the perils of the steampunk genre. Download the Podcast Alasdair’s Ferretbrain Contributor Page Source of our Theme Song

A few days (and drinks) later, Marie & I return to enthuse about Jane Yolen’s Pit Dragon Chronicles. In summary: like Pokemon, if Pokemon was good. Download the Podcast Marie’s Youtube Channel Source of our Theme Song

In an amazing turn of events, Marie & I are in the same place together, and although slightly buzzed, still manage to babble about Jo Walton’s Tooth and Claw. Download the Podcast Marie’s Youtube Channel Source of our Theme Song (“It’s Dragon Tales” by Butterfly Tea.  Rather fitting this time, don’t you think?)