Official OLS Episodes – One Last Sketch
61 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -A Preternatural Experiment
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Episodes
Episode 56 – That Was Just Cloud Talk, Man
April 21, 2024 17:18 - 28.3 MBWe have only good things to say about The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (2021), though that doesn’t extend to the term “hopepunk” used in the marketing copy. Is this post-apocalyptic novella set in Alberta the best specifically Canadian piece of science fiction out there? We make the case that it is. Download … Continue reading Episode 56 – That Was Just Cloud Talk, Man
Episode 55 – Slay, Queen
February 28, 2024 16:00 - 23.7 MB90s fantasy is back, baby! We discuss The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (2019). Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song
Episode 54 – Fungus Among Us
January 31, 2024 16:00 - 27.5 MBWill we survive the fungal infestation that lurks beneath Toronto in The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan (2023)? This horror/near-future science fiction/fantasy novel is packed with ideas and has plenty of relevant criticism of the direction Canada is heading, but doesn’t bring things together in a satisfactory way for the three of us. We talk … Continue reading Episode 54 – Fungus Among Us
Episode 53 – 2023 Year in Review
December 29, 2023 16:00 - 35.3 MBIn the dying days of 2023, we came together to reflect on the best things that we read, watched, listened to and played this year. Tune in to the end for our “dishonourable mentions” as well, where we consider…the opposite. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song
Episode 52 – Terraforming Moose
November 12, 2023 17:07 - 30.5 MBWe wrap up our 2023 book club with a recent release, The Terraformers (2023) by Annalee Newitz. This throwback to the fix-up novel explores a lot of big ideas about ecology, biology and society, but do all the many, many elements work together as a whole? And what’s up with all the references to Canada? … Continue reading Episode 52 – Terraforming Moose
Episode 51 – Quack, Quack
August 31, 2023 16:00 - 26.5 MBA working-class memoir? In this day and age? We sit down to discuss Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022) by Kate Beaton. Warning: Includes mentions of sexual assault and workplace harassment. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song
Episode 50 – Parable of the Podcasters
August 01, 2023 17:00 - 24.5 MBWe talk about Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia Butler, which begins in the far-future year of 2024. And yet somehow, this still seems like a shockingly plausible representation of what next year could like. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s website Source of our theme song
Episode 49 – A Labyrinth-like Conversation
April 05, 2023 16:33 - 22.8 MBWe 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
Episode 48 – 2022 End of Year Spectacular
December 24, 2022 03:35 - 27.1 MBJust 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:
Episode 47 – An Episode for the Cybernetic Age
November 13, 2022 21:18 - 26.3 MBWe 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
Episode 46 – Book People
October 07, 2021 03:57 - 30.5 MBDespite 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
Episode 45.5 – Dealing with Disney
April 30, 2021 04:18 - 16.9 MBA 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
Episode 45 – Eat, Pray, Live Deliciously
November 25, 2020 14:30 - 34 MBAfter 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
Episode 44 – Toss a Coin To Your Wiedźmin
August 23, 2020 18:57 - 38.7 MBMarie 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 … Continue reading Episode 44 – Toss a Coin To Your Wiedźmin
Episode 43 – Step Aside, Dune
May 20, 2020 01:31 - 36.1 MB…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
Episode 42 – The Law of Equivalent Exchange
April 02, 2020 05:29 - 27.6 MBRecording 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
Episode 41 – Fullmetal Cybersix
March 24, 2020 01:45 - 28.7 MBWe 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
Episode 40 – Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures
November 24, 2019 18:40 - 26.6 MBWe finally talk about Bone. Download the Podcast (archive.org page) Marie’s new website Source of our theme song
Episode 39 – A Natural History of Two Maries
February 27, 2019 03:04 - 24.9 MBMarie 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
Episode 38 – Wherefore Internet?
April 15, 2018 02:55 - 29.5 MBWe 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
Episode 37 – Celebrating Le Guin
January 31, 2018 01:42 - 15.5 MBA 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
Episode 36 – Year in Review, 2017 Edition
December 30, 2017 21:40 - 30 MBSo 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 … Continue reading Episode 36 – Year in Review, 2017 Edition
Episode 35 – Unfinished
October 06, 2017 04:35 - 29.2 MBIn 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
Episode 34 – The Rule of Names
September 07, 2017 03:29 - 24.1 MBWe 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
Episode 33 – We are all Barbarians Now
July 13, 2017 03:26 - 29.7 MBWe 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. … Continue reading Episode 33 – We are all Barbarians Now
Episode 32 – Heaven is (No Longer) for Real
July 08, 2017 01:50 - 15.6 MBWhat 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
Episode 31 – Cartoons that Happen to come from Japan
June 25, 2017 00:23 - 25.1 MBJapan 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
Episode 30 – Wrapping up 2016
December 31, 2016 17:45 - 21 MBI 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
Episode 29 – Thank you for your childhood
June 26, 2016 17:00 - 26.7 MBThe 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
Episode 28 – Web series galore
May 26, 2016 01:15 - 26.5 MBThe 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 … Continue reading Episode 28 – Web series galore
Episode 27 – No matter how I look at it, it’s you guys’ fault this podcast isn’t popular!
April 19, 2016 04:49 - 18.7 MBWe’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 … Continue reading Episode 27 – No matter how I look at it, it’s you guys’ fault this podcast isn’t popular!
Episode 26 – Get Urras back to Anarres
October 25, 2015 17:05 - 24.3 MBWe 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
Episode 25 – Historical-Feminist-Klezmer-Shtetl-Magic Realist-Musical Radio Drama
October 10, 2015 17:34 - 10.6 MBA 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
Episode 24B – Xim’s Big Day Out
August 26, 2015 01:57 - 24.1 MBAfter 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: … Continue reading Episode 24B – Xim’s Big Day Out
Episode 24A – Send in the Griffons
August 26, 2015 01:41 - 14.5 MBThe 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.
Episode 23 – Two for One
August 17, 2015 23:44 - 20.3 MBOur 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 … Continue reading Episode 23 – Two for One
Episode 22 – It’s a Gamma World (After All)
August 12, 2015 20:05 - 35.5 MBThe 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.
Episode 21 – Dungeoneering Edition
August 05, 2015 21:26 - 40.8 MBI 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.
Episode 20 – Stuff Teenagers Read (Past Tense)
July 27, 2015 03:31 - 41.6 MBYoung 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 … Continue reading Episode 20 – Stuff Teenagers Read (Past Tense)
Episode 19.5 (?) – Voluntour-de-force!
June 10, 2015 00:15 - 26 MBCross-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
Episode 19 – The Man in the Pod Castle
March 21, 2015 03:01 - 32 MBIt’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 … Continue reading Episode 19 – The Man in the Pod Castle
Episode 18 – The Long and Rambling Conversation of Dune
November 22, 2014 01:10 - 34.9 MBFrank 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
Episode 17 – A Podcast for Leibowitz
November 11, 2014 21:08 - 30 MBScience! 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
NotAnEpisode – Dracula Unedited
October 25, 2014 16:22 - 26.6 MBWe 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
Episode 16 – A Very Disappointing Evening
October 21, 2014 03:02 - 30.7 MBWe 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
Episode 15 – A Lot of People Look Alike
July 08, 2014 02:35 - 24.1 MBWe 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
Episode 14 – Battle Hatchers of Dragonland
April 21, 2014 03:18 - 18.8 MBAlternative 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
Episode 13 – Brown Girl in the CanLit Scene
March 22, 2014 23:54 - 18.4 MBWe 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
Episode 12 – The Podcast of the New Sun
January 12, 2014 00:22 - 26.6 MBTo 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
Episode 11 – Nursery Crimes
January 05, 2014 01:34 - 14.4 MBThree 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