Utopian and Dystopian Fictions

• Episode 12: Jordan Carroll, Science Fiction, the Alt-Right, and 'Speculative Whiteness'

  In this episode, we speak with Jordan Carroll, a writer, editor, and scholar who holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of California, Davis.Our discussion with Jordan primarily centres on his most recent book, Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (University of Minnesota Press, 2024), which reveals the alt-right’s project to claim science fiction and - by extension - the future. Here, we discuss the relationship between the alt-right and science fiction (and how and why the alt-right might choose to appropriate or misread the genre), science fiction as a colonialist genre, and the nebulous, ever-changing nature of the alt-right in the contemporary moment.You can find out more about Jordan and his work here: https://jordanscarroll.wordpress.com/ And you can buy Speculative Whiteness here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speculative-Whiteness-Science-Alt-Right-Forerunners/dp/1517917085 If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Episode 11: Author Interview - Eve Smith, "The Cure", and Bioethics

  In this episode, we speak with Eve Smith, a novelist who writes speculative thrillers, mainly about the things that scare her. Her novels have been reviewed in The Guardian, The Times and New Scientist.Described by Waterstones as ‘an exciting new voice in crime fiction’, Eve’s debut thriller, The Waiting Rooms, set during an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award. It was followed by Off-Target, about a world where genetic engineering of children is routine.Her third novel, ONE, set in a climate-ravaged Britain where a one-child policy is enforced, was longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association’s Best Novel Award. Her latest thriller, The Cure, is about the accidental discovery of a cure for ageing which is hijacked by obsessives who will risk anything to cheat death. The Times review said: “Smith’s novel is a commentary on the contemporary... a thought-provoking thriller with much to say about our obsession with looking youthful.”Eve’s previous job took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places.You can find Eve on her website, on X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok. You can order The Cure here.A huge thanks to Eve for coming on to the podcast, and also to her publishers at Orenda Books for reaching out and sending us proof copies of The Cure.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Episode 10: Ruth Houghton and Aoife O'Donoghue, Law, Utopianism, and Feminist Utopias

  In this episode, we speak with Ruth Houghton - a Senior Lecturer at Newcastle Law School - and Aoife O'Donoghue - a Professor in Law at Queen's University, Belfast.Our conversation with Ruth and Aoife covers many topics. We talk about the relationship between law, legal theory, and utopianism, we find out more about Ruth and Aoife's collaborative work, we discuss the Barbie movie, and we cover a broad range of feminist utopias and other utopian works!You can find out more about Ruth and Aoife's Utopian Reading Group here: https://bsky.app/profile/ruthhoughton.bsky.social/post/3lkpu4ctzbs2xRead their work on feminist manifestos and global constitutionalism here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-constitutionalism/article/introduction-to-special-issue-feminist-manifestos-and-global-constitutionalism/D0C5ABABA20BCDD0F7378051047BE3B4Find their article (together with C. R. G. Murray) on Gerwig's Barbie here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4714697And find their work on utopias, colonialism and international law here: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/publications/utopia-as-no-place-utopias-colonialism-and-international-lawIf you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Episode 9: Nathan Waddell, George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four

  In this episode, we speak with Nathan Waddell, a Professor in Twentieth Century Literature in the English Literature Department at the University of Birmingham.We chat with Nathan about how he first came to researching utopianism and how he came to teach and write about dystopias. We ask him about what interests him about dystopias, which brings us to a discussion of 'elegance'. Our discussion eventually changes focus to George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a text which Nathan is incredibly familiar with. We talk about how it might be considered 'ground zero' for the dystopian tradition, before thinking about the myths which surround Orwell's classic work.You can find out more about Nathan and his work here: https://drnjwaddell.co.uk/ You can find his 'Reading Orwell' podcast here (as well as on all good podcasting platforms): https://drnjwaddell.co.uk/reading-orwellYou can find Nathan's inaugural lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF_cqY0IVuYAnd last, you can find out more about A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, Nathan's upcoming trade book, here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/a-bright-cold-day/If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠[email protected]

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• Episode 8: Diletta De Cristofaro, (Post-)Apocalyptic Fictions

  In this episode, we speak with Diletta De Cristofaro, an Assistant Professor in the Humanities Department at Northumbria University.We chat with Diletta about apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictions in this interview, paying particular attention to ideas relating to temporality, permacrisis, and key texts such as Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven (2014). We conclude with a discussion of Diletta's current work, which centres on the cultural politics of the sleep crisis.You can find out more about Diletta and her work here: https://www.dilettadecristofaro.com/ Diletta's monograph The Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Novel (2020) can be found here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-postapocalyptic-novel-9781350085794/ See 'Station Eleven and Twenty-First-Century-Writing', a special collection published in Open Library of Humanities Journal here: https://olh.openlibhums.org/collections/437/ If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠[email protected]

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