Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection
18 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingIn Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection, host Oliver Brackenbury interviews special guests about notable history and new frontiers in the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and horror as found in Toronto's Merril Collection, the Western Hemisphere's largest publicly accessible archive of genre materials.
Produced by Chris Dickie. Interviews have been edited for length and content. Opinions are solely those of the speakers, representing neither the Toronto Public Library System nor the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy.
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Episodes
Climate Fiction
December 31, 2022 17:53 - 49 minutes - 56.8 MBIn his final episode as host of the podcast, Oliver chats with author Kim Stanley Robinson about Climate Fiction. KimStanleyRobinson.info Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Folklore and the Four Winds Storytellers Library
August 08, 2022 04:30 - 32 minutes - 28.3 MBOliver talks with Norman Perrin about folklore in general, and Norman's unique, privately owned, publicly accessible archive of folklore knowledge he’s run from his Toronto apartment since 1990. The Four Winds Storytellers Library on Facebook Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Beyond Lovecraft
July 25, 2022 04:30 - 48 minutes - 41.9 MBOliver talks with Scott Dorward about H.P. Lovecraft, how his legacy has been built on, and how writers might take things even further. The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, a Lovecraft & gaming podcast Scott co-hosts (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord) Scott’s Twitter Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Graphic Novels
July 11, 2022 04:30 - 31 minutes - 29.6 MBOliver talks with the man behind Beguiling Comics, Peter Birkemoe, about graphic novels. The Beguiling (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) Little Island Comics Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Alternate Histories
June 27, 2022 04:30 - 34 minutes - 28.7 MBOliver talks with author Gideon Marcus about alternate history speculative fiction. Gideon Marcus (Twitter) Galactic Journey (Twitter, Facebook) Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Norse Mythologies
June 13, 2022 04:30 - 27 minutes - 24.6 MBOliver discusses Norse mythology, and its influence on speculative fiction, with Senior Department Head of both the Merril and Osborne Collections, Sephora Henderson. The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Haunted Houses
May 30, 2022 04:30 - 35 minutes - 31.1 MBOliver talks with author Gemma Files about haunted house stories. Gemma’s Website (Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads) Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Sci-Fi Digests
May 16, 2022 04:30 - 51 minutes - 49.4 MBOliver talks with Trever Quachri, head editor at Analog magazine, about scifi digest magazines. Analog Magazine’s Website (Twitter, Facebook) Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Sword & Sorcery
May 02, 2022 04:30 - 56 minutes - 53.2 MBOliver talks with Brain Murphy, author of Flame & Crimson: A history of Sword & Sorcery, about the mighty thewed fantasy sub-genre birthed by Robert E Howard when he created Conan the Barbarian. The Silver Key, Brian’s Sword & Sorcery Blog Buy Flame & Crimson! Merril Links The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter)
Afrofuturism
March 29, 2021 10:00 - 30 minutes - 50.4 MBHost Oliver Brackenbury examines the evolution of Afrofuturism in speculative fiction with writer and educator Quentin VerCetty Lindsay. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: BSAM Quentin VerCetty “Afrofuturism Rising: The Literary Prehistory of a Movement” by Isiah Lavender III “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler “Black to the Future” essay by Mark Dery Samuel R. Delaney “The Famished Road” by Ben Okri Sun Ra June Jordan Nnedi Okorafor Nollywood “Brown ...
Selling Speculative Fiction
March 22, 2021 10:00 - 21 minutes - 32.2 MBHost Oliver Brackenbury explores the world of sci-fi/ fantasy bookshops with Chris Szego, former manager of Bakka Phoenix Books, the oldest extant science fiction bookstore in North America. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: Bakka-Phoenex Bookstore The story of the LOTR Paperback Copyright Controversy “This Body's Not Big Enough for the Both of Us” & “Meddling Kids” by Edgar Cantero “The Lies of Locke Lamora” by Scott Lynch “Fly By Night” by Francis Hardinge L...
Dystopias & Utopias
March 15, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 58.4 MBYork University's Professor Allan Weiss joins host Oliver Brackenbury for a discussion on the history of utopian and dystopian speculative fiction. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: Allan Weiss (http://www.yorku.ca/aweiss/) Thomas More's “Utopia” Platos “The Republic” H.G. Wells “The Time Machine” “The Machine Stops” by E. M. Forster “Hard Times” by Dickens Problem Novels “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin “Moon of the Crusted Snow” by Waubgeshig Rice Drew Hayden Taylo...
Canadian Speculative Fiction
March 08, 2021 11:00 - 23 minutes - 23.3 MBToronto-born speculative writer Cory Doctorow talks with host Oliver Brackenbury about Canadian sci-fi, his mentors in the genre, and his current experiences as an ex-pat author living in America. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: Cory Doctorow BoingBoing Harold and the Purple Crayon Judith Merril Bakka-Phoenix Books Futurian House Prisoners of Gravity Tim O' Reilly & Web 2.0 Tor.com “Tolerable Levels of Violence” by Robert G Collins Charles De Lint Licen...
The Pulps
March 01, 2021 11:00 - 28 minutes - 43.8 MBNeil Mechem, co-founder of Toronto's Fantastic Pulp Show takes host Oliver Brackenbury on a journey into the world of classic pulp magazines – a major source of inspiration for modern horror, science fiction, fantasy, comics, film & TV, and more! Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: Too many titles mentioned to list, but we encourage you to check out the Merril Collection... George Rozen's The Shadow Covers Galactic Central
Role-Playing Games & The Appendix N Reading List
February 22, 2021 11:00 - 48 minutes - 58 MBHost Oliver Brackenbury explores the world of role playing games and the Appendix N reading list that inspired them with master gamer and commentator Jeff Goad. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: Spellburn Appendix N Cleave-Land Podcast The Appendix N Reading List Dungeon Crawl Classic Call of Cthulhu Monster Hearts RPG Vampire: The Masquerade Wizards of the Coast Mechwarrior Shadowrun Beyond the Wall A great, free booklet on what OSR gaming is Travelle...
LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction
February 15, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 47.2 MBHost Oliver Brackenbury discusses queer sci-fi with Nebula Award-winning author Kelly Robson. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: Kelly Robinson Barrel Racing The Ozark Trilogy by Suzette Haden Elgin Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge PIercy The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin “The Female Man” by Joanna Russ James Tiptree Connie Willis “No Enemy but Time”, “The City and the Signets”, and “Brittle Innings” by Michael Bishop (Author) The Coode Street ...
The Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy
February 08, 2021 11:00 - 25 minutes - 36.8 MBIn this episode, host Oliver Brackenbury wanders the stacks of the Merril Collection with Services Specialist Annette Mocek and learns how acclaimed sci-fi writer Judith Merril transformed a small "Spaced Out Library" into one of the world's largest collections of genre fiction. Links to some of the things mentioned in this episode: The Merril Collection! Friends of Merril (Facebook & Twitter) Merril Collection at 50: Stories from the Spaced Out Library The Works of Cyril Judd, Judith's...
Teaser for Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection
January 30, 2021 16:43 - 37 seconds - 590 KBA tiny trailer for Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection, where host Oliver Brackenbury interviews special guests about notable history and new frontiers in the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and horror as found in Toronto's Merril Collection, the Western Hemisphere's largest publicly accessible archive of genre materials. Produced by Chris Dickie. Interviews have been edited for length and content.