podcast – Page 30 – FULL CONTACT NERD

October 7, 2018August 20, 2020
Leave a Comment on Race, Gender, and Disability in Spec Fiction – “Bodyminds Reimagined” (Duke University Press, 2018) – Sami Schalk interview

Race, Gender, and Disability in Spec Fiction – “Bodyminds Reimagined” (Duke University Press, 2018) – Sami Schalk interview

Dr. Sami Schalk is an academic who studies race, gender and disability in contemporary American literature and culture. We spoke about her latest book on science and speculative fiction as it relates to her studies.

1:05 – Sami first got into speculative fiction through Octavia Butler.

3:38 – Sami talks about her book.

5:00 – Sami mentions some of the works she studied like Stigmata by Perry and other works in the field.

10:29 – Sami talks about Octavia Butler’s letters and files and the studies she was doing in disability and science.

12:34 – Sami talks about some of the history of speculative fiction by minority groups.

14:45 – Film and tv are getting better with race and gender but not with disabilities.

16:35 – Sami talks about some of the fan websites she used to do her research.

21:41 – Sami talks about which disabilities are most written about and which are not written about as much.

25:37 – Sami talks about how Octavia Butler’s works presents power in uncomfortable ways. The dynamics Butler applies are complicated.

35:50 – Sami has a professional facebook page under Dr. Sami Schalk. She also has a twitter account @drsamischalk. Readers can buy the book on the Duke University Press at a 30% discount if they use the code “E18BODYM” without the quotes.

Links of interest

https://samischalk.com/

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Sami Schalk

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, speculative fiction, disability, gender, race, Octavia Butler, literature, culture

Frankenstein art – “It’s Alive!” (GILES, 2018) – Elizabeth Denlinger interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Liz Denlinger co-curates the Shelley collection of the New York Public Library system. She has helped develop a new exhibition on Frankenstein and has put together a visual history of Frankenstein for it. We discuss the book and the exhibit.

[Note: About 38:25, I mentioned that lobby cards did not get copyright protection in the past. Of course this is for a specific date range and that rule likely has changed.]

1:13 – Liz talks about how she started studying the Shelley’s and Frankenstein.

3:14 – Liz talks about the book and how she collected the art for the book. She considered how Frankenstein looks in the book versus how he was shown on stage or screen.

8:41 – Liz talks about Mary Shelley’s exposure to the Gothic prior to writing Frankenstein.

10:52 – Liz talks about some of the images she finds the most noteworthy.

13:26 – Liz talks about elements you often find in both Gothic art and depictions of Frankenstein.

20:05 – Liz talks about how they found their images for the exhibit and book.

23:19 – Liz about the collections that were the most fun to look through for this research.

25:00 – People during Mary Shelley’s time liked spooky stuff as much as they do now.

27:10 – The American and French Revolutions inspired gothic fears among the British.

36:00 – Liz talks about what the exhibit will have.

40:10 – The exhibiton information can be found by googling “It’s Alive Morgan.”

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Elizabeth Denlinger

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, art, gothic, frankenstein, shelley, new york public library, monsters

Fantasy works and climate change – “Fire and Snow” (SUNY Press, 2018) – Marc DiPaolo interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Dr. Marc DiPaolo is an English literature academic who likes to write on pop culture. We discuss his latest book deals with climate fiction as found in sci-fi and fantasy books and video entertainment.

1:26 – Marc talks about how he got into studying genre pop culture. He got into Game of Thrones and Narnia audibooks and noted how much they get into climate and environmental issues.

3:46 – Marc talks about how these environmental themes were connected between works and authors. He looked at Philip Pullman, Octavia Butler, GRR Martin, CS Lewis and others. He also considered the Inklings, Dr. Who, Mad Max and so on. He also gets into Star Trek and Star Wars.

6:55 – He didn’t want to just do books or popular culture. He wanted to bring everything together.

11:50 – Marc talks about the inclusion of religion in this climate fiction.

15:56 – Marc talks about he did his research.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Marc DiPaolo

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, Game of Thrones, Narnia, Tolkien, Lewis, Mad Max, Octavia Butler, environmentalism, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars