In the preface to Les Fleurs du mal, Baudelaire indicated that boredom is the truest suffering, andthis idea later became central to the fin de sicle movement, an era of decadence in which artificema

When it comes to science fiction and particularly dystopian science fiction doctors are either the saviours of humanity with their invaluable medical knowledge, or they are the villains, using a l

Folklore and fairy tales can sometimes be inextricably bound up with religion. In the Grimms own collection of fairy tales, the Devil turns up and so do angels. The Peasant in Heaven as well as Th

For this weeks episode, Lucy and Charlotte thought theyd take the opportunity to talk about something they have a passion for: folklore. In particular, the ballad of the Singing Bone, which is Aarne

Its a standard rule of writing that if you want your protagonist to look heroic and competent, youve got to get a powerful and menacing antagonist. In the past, writers have used AI as an overwhelmi

I went a little bit left-field with the introduction to this episode, but I was weirdly excited by the fact that there was a major event in politics on the day Id planned to discuss politics on the p

In this episode, I am really excited to talk about a book I was invited to read last year. The premise drew me in immediately the last of humanity fighting to exist above an inhospitable earth the

Speculative fiction is no stranger to exploring issues of colonialism, particularly in science fiction, from first contact stories to wars over territories. While many such stories are extremely black

Horror works best when its relatable. The best protagonists in a horror story are those that are just like us: theyre sensible, trying to scrape by, possibly raise families, and make the most of lif

Fairies and fairy stories have fascinated us for centuries. They have been present in British art and literature certainly from the 1600s, with the earliest mention being dated as the 13thcentury.Bu