podcast

Fantastic Transmissions E005 – Walk Like a Mountain by Manly Wade Wellman

Episode 5 of Fantastic Transmissions is about Walk Like a Mountain by Manly Wade Wellman. Walk is a tale of Appalachain fantasy, of a giant who dwells on a cliff over the holler, and how our heroic balladeer John treats with this strange relic. In this episode, I talk about some history of giant folklore – in America and Britain – and also talk about Manly Wade Wellman and some of the myths surrounding white Appalachian identity.

Podbean: https://bookshelfstudios.podbean.com/e/episode-005-walk-like-a-mountain-by-manly-wade-wellman/

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-005-walk-like-a-mountain-by-manly-wade-wellman/id1341102133?i=1000407581320&mt=2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Dfcqrw5tydb6mcr2kjpilx4llp4?t=Episode_005_-_Walk_Like_a_Mountain_by_Manly_Wade_Wellman-Fantastic_Transmissions

The intro music is sampled from Clyde Borly and His Percussions, off the album “Music in Five Dimensions.” The rest of the music in the podcast was created by Blue Dot Sessions. Their work can be found on the Free Music Archive under a Non-Commercial Attribution License. You can also find all their tracks at www.sessions.blue.

Links and references can be found at the bottom of the post!

(more…)

Fantastic Transmissions E003: Daughters of Khaton by Merril Mushroom

Episode 3 of Fantastic Transmissions is about Daughters of Khaton by Merril Mushroom. Daughters, a 1987 novella published by Lace Publications, is not your typrical SFF entry. Merril Mushroom, the author, is and was a lesbian and feminist activist in the South. Daughters comes from a tradition of radical lesbian and feminist thought. We explore the central theme of the story – fear and facing fear – and discuss Merril’s background as a lesbian woman growing up during the nightmarish reign of the Johns Committee.

Podbean: https://bookshelfstudios.podbean.com/e/episode-003-daughters-of-khaton-by-merril-mushroom/

iTunes: https://t.co/ZjJg0PDODo

Google Play: https://t.co/6Zp0sfwJ1i

The intro music is sampled from Clyde Borly and His Percussions, off the album “Music in Five Dimensions.” The rest of the music in the podcast was created by Blue Dot Sessions. Their work can be found on the Free Music Archive under a Non-Commercial Attribution License. You can also find all their tracks at www.sessions.blue.

Links and references can be found at the bottom of the post.

(more…)

Fantastic Transmissions E002: Quest of the Starstone by C. L. Moore

Episode 2 of Fantastic Transmissions is about Quest of the Starstone by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner. Quest is the first collaborative work between queen of sword-and-sorcery C.L. Moore and her eventual husband, Kuttner. We talk about the stylistic quirks of the early days of pulp fiction, examine the collaborative prowess of Moore and Kuttner, and lament for Moore’s slip into obscurity.

Podbean: https://bookshelfstudios.podbean.com/e/episode-002-quest-of-the-starstone/

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-002-quest-of-the-starstone/id1341102133?i=1000402176576&mt=2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/D3vohqxn3j37k5gbamma2w7pduy?t=Episode_002_-_Quest_Of_The_Starstone-Fantastic_Transmissions

The intro music is sampled from Clyde Borly and His Percussions, off the album “Music in Five Dimensions.” The rest of the musc in the podcast was created by Blue Dot Sessions. Their work can be found on the Free Music Archive under a Non-Commercial Attribution License. You can also find all their tracks at www.sessions.blue. The clip of Green Hills of Earth is from episode 10 of the radio program Dimension X, first broadcasted by NBC on June 10, 1950, and now available from the Smithsonian Institution’s Radio Spirits series.

Fantastic Transmissions is a non-commercial project.

(more…)

Fantastic Transmissions E001 – It’s A Good Life by Jerome Bixby

Episode 1 of Fantastic Transmissions is about Jerome Bixby’s 1953 short story, It’s A Good Life. It’s A Good Life is the story of a young boy with horrific psychic powers who holds an entire town under his sway. We examine how Bixby’s style complements his narrative, compare the story to its Twilight Zone adaptation, and talk about the themes of totalitarianism and narcissism.

Podbean: https://bookshelfstudios.podbean.com/e/episode-001-its-a-good-life-by-jerome-bixby/

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fantastic-transmissions/id1341102133#

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Dwv7eiu7klgkfhdae5cnhjtbeai?t=Episode_001_-_Its_a_Good_Life_by_Jerome_Bixby-Fantastic_Transmissions

The intro music is sampled from Clyde Borly and His Percussions, off the album “Music in Five Dimensions.” The rest of the musc in the podcast was created by Blue Dot Sessions. Their work can be found on the Free Music Archive under a Non-Commercial Attribution License. You can also find all their tracks at http://www.sessions.blue. Audio from episode 73 of The Twilight Zone is the property of CBS.

Fantastic Transmissions is a non-commercial project.

(more…)

Introducing Bookshelf Productions!

 

Some of you young folks might remember a little thing called Bookshelf Studios. This was my (MM’s) YouTube channel back in the day, when Minecraft LPs were all the rage and kids were wearing bell-bottom jeans and putting yellow onions on their belts. VK: Wait, so you’re telling me the 200 hour Minecraft LP I just made isn’t all the rage anymore?? Sigh…

Some of you OTHER folks might remember M&M Game Time, the wildly successful NYT-ranked-bestselling (I even heard people calling it “better than Serial”)* podcast that my pal Mikell VK and I ran together. The podcast has been radio silent for a while now, as we both got busy with real life stuff.

* this is a lie

But we have missed the public eye, the media circus, the spectacle. Also we play a lot of video games and stuff. So we’re resurrecting/restructuring M&MGT as part of the larger umbrella of Bookshelf Productions! Why keep the Bookshelf name, I hear you cry? Great question!  It’s simple: everything we plan on talking about could theoretically reside on a Bookshelf at some point in its life. Our job it to take it off that shelf, whether it be the latest video game, the newest book, the latest movie, or, in the future, the latest holographic video experience.

(more…)