This episode is all about endings. We contemplate finishing moves – what makes good endings, and why are so many ending so very bad. We discuss our favourite endings, and why they work for us. And then look at the bad – and the terrible – to work out why they fail to engage with …
In this special Summer Edition episode, we contemplate the past year & what we liked and didn’t like. We look at our current pop culture pet peeves, have a rant or two, and discuss what we are looking forward to in future episodes. You can listen to this episode on our website, or you can …
Episode 18: Fanfic, Trauma, and Cancellations – 2022 in review Read More »
In this year’s Halloween episode, we are joined again by our friend Fred as we look look at the perennial horror trope, the vampire. Flip throws out the claim that modern vampires are no longer scary, leading to them being ‘de-fanged’. We discuss the history of fanged fiction, from Polidori’s novel The Vampypre, through to …
Episode 17: De-fanged – Scary vampires are SO last century Read More »
In this episode, we finally dive into the massive fantasy genre. We explore the ideas in Gail Carriger’s book The Heroine’s Journey as an alternative story structure to the more well known hero’s journey, and how that works in different fiction formats We also look at Farah Mendelson’s four different types of fantasy – portal …
Episode 16: Heroines, Witchers, Dragons and Heists – Beyond the Monomyth Read More »
In this episode, we examine the often-overlooked moments before an impending apocalypse, which have a special drama of their own. And we are here for that drama… do people come together in the face of impending doom, or do they crumble under the weight of inevitable disaster? We look at different types of impending doom …
Episode 15: Nukes, Supernovas, Meteors & Pandemics – Welcome to the Pre-Apocalypse! Read More »
Or: The Long Year Reviewed In this episode, we contemplate what we are calling the ‘long year’ of the pandemic, and assess if we have reached the goals that we set way back in our first episode. We also look at pet peeves in pop culture, literature of the pose, why lit fic and …
Episode 14: Scandi Noir, Reality TV, Remakes & Pandemic Brain Read More »
In this space-inspired episode of Pod Culture [Oz], we joined by special guest Marta Troicka as we discuss Nick’s claim that all modern space movies suck. We look at three different types of space movies, spacecraft as a form of public transport, and space stories as frontierism. You can listen to this episode on our …
Episode 13: Rockets, Billionaires & Space Cowboys Read More »
In this year’s Halloween episode, Dave throws out the theory that “Ghosts are NOT horror”, and challenges Nick and Flip to prove or disprove it. We discuss ghosts with unfinished business, ghosts with curses, Japanese ghosts specifically, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. So, what is your take on ghosts as horror? That’s almost tautological: …
In this fairy tale inspired episode of Pod Culture [Oz], we joined by romance novelist Renee Dahlia as we discuss how fairy tale tropes can be translated across into fiction. We explore how fairy tale retellings are used in modern stories, which fairy tales are most popular, the connection between fairy tales and romance, and …
“Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?” In the second part of this long-promised Westworld-inspired episode of Pod Culture [Oz], we are once again joined by our friend Fred (previously seen in Episode 2: Omega Point, sensates and space cannibals) as we discuss how artificial intelligence tropes are used in fiction. We explore …
Episode 10: Rampancy of the Artificial Mind Pt 2 Read More »
