Breaking the Glass Slipper: Women in science fiction, fantasy, and horror
259 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsPodcast discussing women in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Hosted by Megan Leigh, Charlotte Bond, and Lucy Hounsom. New episodes every other Thursday.
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Episodes
Writing horror comics with Corissa Grant
July 04, 2024 11:00 - 30 minutes - 24.1 MBWe have a lot of authors on our podcast, talking about their books, what inspired them, how they’ve written them etc. Quite often they’ll get drawn into the TV series or films that inspired them [*coughs* Star Trek]. But a medium we don’t often touch upon is comics & graphic novels, even though some of […] The post Writing horror comics with Corissa Grant first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The poetry of space – with Oliver K. Langmead
June 20, 2024 11:00 - 38 minutes - 31.1 MBWhen we say the word “novel,” most of us think of a book written in prose, split into chapters and possibly parts. But every now and again, we come across novels that defy our expectations. Pratchett’s early work not only eschewed chapters – instead presenting the reader with continuous prose divided by section breaks – […] The post The poetry of space – with Oliver K. Langmead first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Secrets and killers with Kaaron Warren
June 06, 2024 11:01 - 40 minutes - 32.2 MBA few decades ago, if you said the word “Gothic haunted house novel,” the phrase would very definitely have brought to mind something with a rambling Victorian mansion, tortured heroines, mad women in the attic, sombre men, and wailing ghosts. It probably wouldn’t have brought to mind a little old lady baking scones and conducting […] The post Secrets and killers with Kaaron Warren first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Keeping it short – with Gianni Washington
May 23, 2024 11:00 - 29 minutes - 23.3 MBA short story isn’t just a novel in miniature form. It isn’t even a shortened novella. It is a creature of its own devising. There’s only time for a snapshot of reality, and in the space of a few thousand words, you have to be able to draw in a reader, make them feel for […] The post Keeping it short – with Gianni Washington first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Secret societies & the occult – with S.T. Gibson
May 09, 2024 11:00 - 38 minutes - 31 MBThe literature of our past is littered with casual gender biases. You describe someone as a “witch” and the natural assumption is that they are female. But according to Diane Purkiss, while mostly women were accused in the English witch trials, in some of the Scandinavian countries, men were in the slight majority. In fact, […] The post Secret societies & the occult – with S.T. Gibson first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The horror of space travel with SA Barnes
April 25, 2024 11:00 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MB“In space, no one can hear you scream.” It’s an iconic tagline that can be applied to so many modern stories about space travel and exploration (except, perhaps, our beloved Star Trek). Obviously, space travel in real life can be incredibly perilous, but the perils of space in fiction have moved beyond the worry about […] The post The horror of space travel with SA Barnes first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Religion, tradition, and history in fantasy with Andrew Knighton
April 11, 2024 11:07 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBReligion has been part of our society for centuries. Is it any wonder then that it can make up a large part of our fiction – from CS Lewis’s allegorical Chronicles of Narnia series to Anna Smith Spark’s Empires of Dust trilogy and the Loki books by Joanne Harris. But with so many religions the […] The post Religion, tradition, and history in fantasy with Andrew Knighton first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Yes, we’re also authors – with Lucy and Charlotte
March 28, 2024 12:00 - 36 minutes - 29.3 MBWe have a bit of an unusual episode for you today! While it is amazing that we have so many authors who want to come on the show – we feel truly honoured – we thought it was about time we returned to talking among the three of us, like it was when we first […] The post Yes, we’re also authors – with Lucy and Charlotte first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Obsessional love and vengeance with S.E. Porter
March 14, 2024 00:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBLove can last a lifetime, but revenge is forever… Love is a common driving force for novels, and it comes in many forms. It could be the pursuit of true love, or the quest to turn unrequited love into a passionate relationship. Often, it can be the loss of love that spurs a hero or […] The post Obsessional love and vengeance with S.E. Porter first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Ghosts have warm hands – with Katherine Arden
February 29, 2024 12:00 - 34 minutes - 27.8 MBThe title of this episode is taken from Will R. Bird’s memoir of World War 1, a title which also inspired that of Katherine Arden’s novel set amidst the horror of the Great War. When it comes to writing about war, past authors have glorified it with moments of pathos. Who can forget the stirring […] The post Ghosts have warm hands – with Katherine Arden first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Beneath the skin of the earth – with Nicola Griffith
February 15, 2024 12:00 - 38 minutes - 31.1 MBWelcome to our first episode of 2024. Yes, the title’s a quote from our incredible guest. As a podcast dedicated primarily to speculative fiction, we rarely find ourselves taking a deep dive into history. But the growth in popularity of both myths and retellings is bringing with it a new focus on historical periods, and […] The post Beneath the skin of the earth – with Nicola Griffith first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Othering and exoticism in fantasy with Eliza Chan
December 07, 2023 12:00 - 40 minutes - 37 MBModern fantasy owes much to J.R.R. Tolkien, including his problematic colonialist views and othering of cultures and races different from his medieval European-inspired setting. Many authors since then have used ‘historical accuracy’ as a defence against a lack of diversity in their similarly inspired settings. But even if we gloss over the fact that this […] The post Othering and exoticism in fantasy with Eliza Chan first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Community and isolation – with Jennifer Thorne
November 23, 2023 12:00 - 28 minutes - 22.9 MBWe love our folk horror. The genre has been growing in popularity these past years, and it’s not hard to see why. Writers take pastoral settings such as windswept hills or rugged sea coasts and imbue them with a sense of deep isolation. Throw in a community that seems at first utterly safe and then […] The post Community and isolation – with Jennifer Thorne first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Romancing the necromancer – with Alice James
November 02, 2023 21:40 - 41 minutes - 33.4 MBWelcome to our Halloween episode! Romance has always been big business and these days there are plenty of subgenres. Despite its popularity, however, some snobbery still exists, often dismissing romance as “women’s fiction.” But if romance is really so terrible, why does it sell so well? Are the female characters in these books still the […] The post Romancing the necromancer – with Alice James first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The dark half of the year – with Lili Hayward
October 05, 2023 11:00 - 31 minutes - 25.6 MBIt’s October, so we’re officially allowed to talk about Christmas. Sure, we’ve got Halloween first, and that’s a celebration we should all be enthusiastic about, but take a look at what books are being pushed by bookstores, Amazon, and even supermarkets, and you’ll find that Christmas stories are starting to creep in. You could say […] The post The dark half of the year – with Lili Hayward first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The power of language – with Jelena Dunato and Ioanna Papadopoulou
September 21, 2023 11:00 - 44 minutes - 35.5 MBWe often take for granted the role language plays in communicating our favourite stories. And here in the west, there exists an unspoken expectation to be able to consume those favourite stories in English. The necessity and importance of translation is a given. Writers producing work in English but for whom English is their second […] The post The power of language – with Jelena Dunato and Ioanna Papadopoulou first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
“Something a little monstrous” – with Isabel Cañas
September 07, 2023 11:00 - 34 minutes - 27.5 MBWe’re honoured to have Isabel Cañas join us on the show as she talks us through not only her fabulous new novel, Vampires of El Norte, but also her experience of breaking into publishing as a Mexican-American writer and the pressure on marginalised creators to produce something “fresh”. Mentioned in this episode: Isabel Cañas is a […] The post “Something a little monstrous” – with Isabel Cañas first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The poison salon – with Rose Biggin
August 24, 2023 11:00 - 39 minutes - 32 MBIn the preface to Les Fleurs du mal, Baudelaire indicated that boredom is the truest suffering, andthis idea later became central to the fin de siècle movement, an era of decadence in which artificemasqueraded as, or was even elevated to the status of, art. The Belladonna Invitation by Rose Bigginis a Gothic exploration of the […] The post The poison salon – with Rose Biggin first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Medical hive minds – with Hiron Ennes
August 10, 2023 11:00 - 37 minutes - 30.1 MBWhen it comes to science fiction – and particularly dystopian science fiction – doctors are either the saviours of humanity with their invaluable medical knowledge, or they are the villains, using a lack of rules to exploit the vulnerable for their own questionable ends. But why is that? Is it a case of power corrupts? […] The post Medical hive minds – with Hiron Ennes first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Exploring Jewish folklore – with Ariel Kaplan
July 27, 2023 11:00 - 26 minutes - 21.3 MBFolklore and fairy tales can sometimes be inextricably bound up with religion. In the Grimms’ own collection of fairy tales, the Devil turns up and so do angels. ‘The Peasant in Heaven’ as well as ‘The Devil and his Grandmother’ were included alongside more famous tales such as ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Rumpelstiltskin’. With the current appetite […] The post Exploring Jewish folklore – with Ariel Kaplan first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The singing bone – with Lucy Holland & Charlotte Bond
July 13, 2023 11:00 - 40 minutes - 32.4 MBFor this week’s episode, Lucy and Charlotte thought they’d take the opportunity to talk about something they have a passion for: folklore. In particular, the ballad of the Singing Bone, which is Aarne Thompson index number 780. To give it its full name, the Aarne Thompson Uther (shortened to ATU) index was created to try […] The post The singing bone – with Lucy Holland & Charlotte Bond first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The AI apocalypse with Emma Mieko Candon
June 29, 2023 11:00 - 40 minutes - 32.6 MBIt’s a standard rule of writing that if you want your protagonist to look heroic and competent, you’ve got to get a powerful and menacing antagonist. In the past, writers have used AI as an overwhelming and hostile force, while others have chosen gods. But Emma Mieko Candon has taken the unusual step of pairing […] The post The AI apocalypse with Emma Mieko Candon first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Politics and tropes in fantasy with Andrea Stewart
June 15, 2023 11:00 - 34 minutes - 27.4 MBI went a little bit left-field with the introduction to this episode, but I was weirdly excited by the fact that there was a major event in politics on the day I’d planned to discuss politics on the podcast! So please just bear with me, I promise it is all related to speculative fiction! On […] The post Politics and tropes in fantasy with Andrea Stewart first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Embracing rage in speculative fiction with Kritika H. Rao
June 01, 2023 11:00 - 42 minutes - 34.1 MBIn this episode, I am really excited to talk about a book I was invited to read last year. The premise drew me in immediately – the last of humanity fighting to exist above an inhospitable earth – the only thing keeping them safe is their city built and maintained by plants magically manipulated by […] The post Embracing rage in speculative fiction with Kritika H. Rao first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The realities of colonialism – with C.L. Clark
May 18, 2023 11:00 - 33 minutes - 27 MBSpeculative fiction is no stranger to exploring issues of colonialism, particularly in science fiction, from first contact stories to wars over territories. While many such stories are extremely black and white, the realities of colonialism are far murkier. A colonial mindset shapes not just the colonised but also the coloniser, often in unexpected ways. It […] The post The realities of colonialism – with C.L. Clark first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
After the end – with Cassandra Khaw
May 04, 2023 11:00 - 36 minutes - 28.9 MBHorror works best when it’s relatable. The best protagonists in a horror story are those that are just like us: they’re sensible, trying to scrape by, possibly raise families, and make the most of life. We empathise with people we understand. Cassandra Khaw is no stranger to the average Joe (or average Jane) as a […] The post After the end – with Cassandra Khaw first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Away with the fairies – with Heather Fawcett
April 20, 2023 11:00 - 33 minutes - 26.9 MBFairies and fairy stories have fascinated us for centuries. They have been present in British art and literature certainly from the 1600s, with the earliest mention being dated as the 13th century. But what if, in the early 1900s, the world was fully aware of and accepting of the existence of fairies? What if academics in Oxford […] The post Away with the fairies – with Heather Fawcett first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The women of Arthurian legends with Juliet E. McKenna
April 06, 2023 11:00 - 40 minutes - 32.6 MBThe Arthurian legends are named for one man, but the tales associated with the legend involve an extensive cast: Merlin, Nimue, Guinevere, Lancelot, Uther, the Lady of the Lake, Ygraine, and many more. The women within the Arthurian legends have often been side-lined in favour of their more masculine counterparts, but they offer a far […] The post The women of Arthurian legends with Juliet E. McKenna first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The myth of a fair society – with Lavanya Lakshminarayan
March 23, 2023 12:00 - 32 minutes - 26 MBWe all know the classic line from Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” As much as we might want, and strive for, a wholly equal world, it is an unlikely reality for humans. We are too flawed, too greedy, too competitive, too selfish. Speculative fiction has certainly […] The post The myth of a fair society – with Lavanya Lakshminarayan first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Haunted houses – with Grady Hendrix
March 09, 2023 12:00 - 50 minutes - 40.1 MBWe typically feature female creators on this show who write cracking female or marginalised characters, but in this episode, we talk to author Grady Hendrix, an author adept at creating female protagonists both believable and relatable. From his first book, Horrorstör, to his most recent novel, How To Sell A Haunted House, he has placed […] The post Haunted houses – with Grady Hendrix first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Exploring Xianxia – with Mia Tsai
February 23, 2023 12:00 - 33 minutes - 27 MBIf you haven’t stumbled across one of the many popular xianxia dramas on your favourite streaming service, we might have to ask if you’ve been living under a rock. Shows like The Untamed have become global sensations – and we have to admit that at least 2 out of 3 of us were swept up in its wake. Sharing […] The post Exploring Xianxia – with Mia Tsai first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Loving monsters – with Roshani Chokshi
February 09, 2023 12:00 - 39 minutes - 31.3 MBWe all know that the original versions of fairy tales are so much darker than the sanitised ones that got handed down to us by the moralistic Victorians. Some authors choose to create a story in a fairytale setting that is as brutal as the original tales themselves. But what about a tale that tries […] The post Loving monsters – with Roshani Chokshi first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
A lifetime of writing – with Jane Yolen
January 26, 2023 12:00 - 52 minutes - 42.2 MBHaving started out writing a neighbourhood newspaper which she sold to buy candy and comics, Jane Yolen is now the author of over 400 books for children and adults. Jane has also worked as an editor, written poetry, and was described by Newsweek as “the Hans Christian Anderson of American children’s literature.” We are honoured […] The post A lifetime of writing – with Jane Yolen first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
“But what if a woman wrote this?” – with Claire North
January 12, 2023 12:00 - 42 minutes - 34 MBMany of us grew up reading the myths and legends from Ancient Greece and Rome. We followed Herakles as he succeeded at one impossible task after another; we cringed when Orpheus turned round at the last moment so that Eurydice fled back into the underworld; we grinned when Odysseus outsmarted the cyclops, Polyphemus. But behind […] The post “But what if a woman wrote this?” – with Claire North first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Folk horror – with Tori Bovalino
December 15, 2022 12:00 - 41 minutes - 33.3 MBWhen the film The Blood on Satan’s Claw came out in 1971, reviewer Rod Cooper called it “a study in folk horror.” In 2003, when director Piers Haggard was talking to Fangoria magazine about his film, he also described it as a folk horror film. In the 1970s, the subgenre of folk horror was particularly popular among film makers. Known as “the unholy […] The post Folk horror – with Tori Bovalino first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Genre mash-ups: romance and crime with Freya Marske
December 01, 2022 12:00 - 46 minutes - 37.5 MBTwists and turns, red herrings and mistaken identities… are we talking about a mystery or a romance… or both? While mysteries keep us on our toes, propelling us towards uncovering the truth, romance narratives also play with the tension of the unknown. The difference is, we usually know the ‘who’ in a romance, just not […] The post Genre mash-ups: romance and crime with Freya Marske first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Myth, magic and mothers – with Shauna Lawless
November 17, 2022 12:00 - 49 minutes - 39.7 MBWe often talk about a woman in a man’s world, but what does this really mean – and is it accurate? What is a man’s world? A place where women are excluded from performing certain roles or jobs? Or are shackled to others? Is it to do with the balance of power? What power? Military, […] The post Myth, magic and mothers – with Shauna Lawless first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Feminism and noir with CL Polk
November 03, 2022 12:00 - 41 minutes - 33.1 MBPrivate detectives with a dark past and a chip on their shoulder, a mysterious woman with a hidden agenda, and bodies piling up around them. You know what we’re talking about: noir fiction. Although it is the films that are generally called noir, with their book counterparts being labelled ‘hardboiled crime’, we are going to […] The post Feminism and noir with CL Polk first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Rogues – with Ren Hutchings
October 20, 2022 11:00 - 55 minutes - 44.3 MBSome of our favourite heroes are characters who might be deemed less than heroic by society. Smugglers, reckless hot-heads, gamblers and gangsters – everything that law and order should squash at the earliest opportunity. Yet in fiction we can’t help loving them. Rogues are the ones who do the dirty work so the hero doesn’t […] The post Rogues – with Ren Hutchings first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Oppression & survival – with Sunyi Dean
August 04, 2022 11:00 - 43 minutes - 35.1 MBWhile World War 2 saw greater opportunities for women on the home front while so many working-age men were away at war, there are many more examples of hard times bringing curbs on women’s rights. We only have to read the daily news to see it in action. But why is this? If you are fighting […] The post Oppression & survival – with Sunyi Dean first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
No trope is an island – with Foz Meadows
July 21, 2022 11:00 - 56 minutes - 44.9 MBAs you’ve hopefully worked out by now, we are big proponents of the need for diverse representation in speculative fiction. And while we are certainly seeing more LGBTQ+ relationships portrayed in the genres we love, there’s still a long way to go. But what about speculative fiction romance? Romance is a genre with very entrenched tropes […] The post No trope is an island – with Foz Meadows first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Cyberpunk with Kimberly Unger
July 07, 2022 11:00 - 45 minutes - 36.9 MBThese days, ‘punk’ is added to a whole host of different genres, sub-genres, and words never before used to indicate book genres before. But there was once only one kind of literary punk: cyberpunk. Pioneered in the 1980s by authors like Pat Cadigan, William Gibson, and Bruce Sterling, cyberpunk imagined a dystopian world of advanced […] The post Cyberpunk with Kimberly Unger first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Metaphor and social commentary with Saara El-Arifi
June 23, 2022 11:00 - 49 minutes - 40 MBPlease be aware that we discuss some fairly heavy topics in this episode, including addiction, violence against children, and racially motivated violence. Also, less serious in nature but full disclosure: I reference Star Trek really early in this episode. I was proud of myself. Towards the end of this episode, we discuss some important issues […] The post Metaphor and social commentary with Saara El-Arifi first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
The haunt – with Michelle Paver
June 09, 2022 11:00 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MBIt’s easy to see why haunted houses are frightening – most of us live in a house and share a terror of what might happen if some unpleasant force took up residence there alongside us. Similarly, folk horror that is rooted in a particular place can challenge our sense of feeling safe within a community. […] The post The haunt – with Michelle Paver first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Families in horror with Priya Sharma
May 26, 2022 11:00 - 43 minutes - 35.1 MBThe best horror takes place when we are at our most vulnerable. In our house. Under our bed. The best monsters are those that we trust because they have the greatest capacity for betrayal. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that families feature so strongly in horror fiction. In this episode, we are joined […] The post Families in horror with Priya Sharma first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Women write YA?
May 12, 2022 11:00 - 39 minutes - 31.4 MBHave you ever wandered into a bookstore and found yourself baffled by the shelving of some books? Have you ever read a review that labeled a book written for adults as YA only to bemoan the amount of adult content? What do most of these erroneously shelved books have in common? They’re written by women. […] The post Women write YA? first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Curses and consent – with Heather Walter
April 28, 2022 11:00 - 54 minutes - 43.3 MBFairy tales are both timeless and personal. We see their themes and motifs repeated in stories spanning centuries. But while the characters and scenarios might be familiar, the morals change over time. The story’s message may differ depending on who is telling that story, and who is listening. In particular, women’s roles and sexuality have […] The post Curses and consent – with Heather Walter first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Rights, retellings and the Ramayana – with Vaishnavi Patel
April 14, 2022 11:00 - 46 minutes - 37.6 MBWhen Madeline Miller published Circe, it heralded the start of a new wave of feminist retellings, in which writers revisited well-known classics in order to tell the stories of those excluded from the dominant narrative. Now the popularity of mythological retellings is at an all-time high and bookshops are flooded with tales of heroic women […] The post Rights, retellings and the Ramayana – with Vaishnavi Patel first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
“Do not take me for granite” – with Amal El-Mohtar
March 31, 2022 11:00 - 53 minutes - 42.8 MBUrsula K Le Guin is the very definition of a legend. So many of us found our way to speculative fiction through her works, while others only realised later that the tropes we so loved – considered cliched now – were fresh and new when Le Guin brought them to life. When we think of […] The post “Do not take me for granite” – with Amal El-Mohtar first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.
Deconstructing Cinderella – with JJA Harwood
March 17, 2022 12:00 - 40 minutes - 32.5 MBThe tale of Cinderella – or the Cat Cinderella, or Aschenputtel – is a story that is found in many cultures throughout the world. The extraneous elements may change – sometimes there’s a ball, sometimes not, there can be murder, a nut tree, a fairy godmother or the kindly spirit of a deceased mother – […] The post Deconstructing Cinderella – with JJA Harwood first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.