Podcast

#Pratchat45 – Hogswatch in Grune

Leave a Comment

Surprise! In the great Australian tradition of Christmas in July, Liz and Ben are joined by writer and literary horror fan Penelope Love to discuss Terry Pratchett’s short story “Twenty Pence, With Envelope and Seasonal Greeting”, first published on the 16th of December, 1987.

It’s Christmas Eve, 1843, and the driver of a missing Mail Coach is discovered lying in the snow in Wiltshire. A local doctor determines he is scared out of his wits, but nonetheless records the coachman’s horrifying tale of passing through a weird rectangular portal. He and his passengers strayed from the world we know into others filled with nightmares: strangely glittering snow, terrifyingly flat London streets, monstrous giant animals and nonsensical language…

Written in the style of Victorian horror fiction from authors like M R James, H P Lovecraft and A C Doyle*, with a side order of Dickens, this story was inspired when Pratchett glanced at his shelf full of Christmas cards. Despite the ridiculous premise, he plays it totally straight, with phrases that could have come straight from The Call of Cthulhu and other works of the era he’s emulating.

But in 1987, people still sent Christmas cards. Does the story still work now, when we have to think a bit harder to recall the kinds of things printed on those ineffable pieces of cardboard? Can we be spooked and made to laugh at the same time? And does the old-school “horrors humankind was not meant to know” genre still make our blood run cold in this age of smartphones, satellite imagery and Google? Use the hashtag #Pratchat45 on social media to join the conversation!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:46 — 36.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Penelope Love is a writer best known for her short fiction, and her work on roleplaying games, most notably Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, based on the works of H P Lovecraft. Penny is also part of the team at Campaign Coins, who make gorgeous metal coins and counters for use with roleplaying and other tabletop games. You can find Penny’s collections of comic fantasy stories about “The Three Dungeoneers” via the Campaign Coins website, and also look up Penny’s author page on Amazon to find many of Penny’s other works. Penny is on Twitter as @PennyLoveWrites, or you can follow @CampaignCoins for more on their projects.

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Next episode, as previously advertised, we’re going West and/or East again as we head back into the Long Earth with The Long War – this time joined by writer and editor, Deanne Sheldon-Collins! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat46, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

* With apologies to Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle.

#Pratchat44 – Cosmic Turtle Soup

Leave a Comment

We’ve waited two-and-a-half years for its 35th anniversary, but finally Joel Martin rejoins Liz and Ben to resolve the Disc’s first (and most literal) cliffhanger in The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett’s second Discworld novel, first published on the 2nd of June, 1986.

When we last saw them, failed wizard Rincewind, Twoflower the tourist and Twoflower’s magical Luggage – a living chest on legs – had fallen over the Rim of the Discworld. But instead of being lost in space, they mysteriously land back on the Disc in the Forest of Skund, surrounded by talking trees, gnomes and gingerbread cottages. The senior wizards of Unseen University – including Chancellor Galder Weatherwax, and scheming second-in-command Ymper Trymon – soon discover what’s happened: the Octavo, the Creator’s book of spells, wants to keep Rincewind alive. One of its spells is inside his head, and it’s needed to avert an impending apocalypse heralded by an ominous red star…

While the usual story is that Pratchett only returned to the Discworld because The Colour of Magic proved popular, he did set himself up for a sequel by dropping his protagonists off “THE EDGE”. Unlike its predecessor, The Light Fantastic has a pretty straightforward plot about averting the end of the world – but that doesn’t stop Pratchett from parodying everything from fairytales to druidic sacrifices and the conventions of fantasy writing. Plus this book introduces some concepts, and especially characters, who will come back later, including a now ex-human Librarian, Death’s adopted daughter Ysabell, and octogenarian barbarian Genghiz Cohen. (The rest of the supporting cast are less fortunate…)

Does this feel like a “real” Discworld book yet? How do we reconcile these versions of Death and Ysabell with the ones we come to love later? Is it really a bad idea to start with the early books – or is it fun to begin with the early versions of ideas Pratchett would later develop more fully? And what on the Disc happens to Rincewind between this book and Sourcery? Use the hashtag #Pratchat44 on social media to join the conversation!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:18:37 — 63.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Joel Martin (he/him) is a podcaster and writer who has joined us twice before: way back in #Pratchat14 to discuss The Colour of Magic, and then again in #Pratchat31 for The Long Earth. He’ll be back for The Long Mars (#Pratchat57) and The Long Cosmos (in 2024). His speculative fiction writers festival, Speculate, wrapped up in 2022, and his podcast The Morning Bell is on hiatus, though you can find links to episodes where Liz and Ben appear at the bottom of our Episodes page. Find Joel online at thepenofjoel.com or on Twitter at @thepenofjoel.

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Next episode we go back to another second book of a series, as we take a little break from the Discworld. Yes, it’s book two of Pratchett’s five novel collaboration with Stephen Baxter, The Long War! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat45, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

Eeek Club 2021

Leave a Comment

Welcome to a new tradition: the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we will release a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our Eeek tier subscribers.

This year, the topics are:

  • How would Ankh-Morpork deal with COVID-19?
  • What would happen if Granny Weatherwax was head of Unseen University – or if Angua commanded the Watch?
  • Are golems alive? (For that matter, is fire alive?)
  • How has Pratchett and/or the Discworld informed our personal philosophies?
  • If Pratchett had kept writing the Discworld series, would it have evolved into science fiction?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:27 — 46.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

A big thank you to all our subscribers for making Pratchat possible, but especially to our Eeek Club contributors: Karl, Catherine, Soren, Jess and David, and Frank!

You’ll find detailed notes and errata for this episode on our website.

Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book – or even choose a topic for next year’s Eeek Club? You can support Pratchat by subscribing for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus stuff, including the exclusive supporter podcast Ook Club! Click here to find out more.

Eeek Club 2022

1 Comment

It’s a second instalment of the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we release a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our “Eeek” tier subscribers.

This year, the topics are:

  • What was good, fun and enjoyable about The Watch?
  • Is Vimes a Cynic, a Stoic, or an Epicurean?
  • What was Granny Weatherwax and Ridcully’s relationship like, and why didn’t it continue?
  • What pop culture would you have liked to have seen referenced in a Discworld novel?
  • What moments from the series hit you personally because of a personal experience?
  • If democracy came to Ankh-Morpork, what political parties would we see?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:58 — 47.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

A big thank you to all our subscribers for making Pratchat possible, but especially to our Eeek Club contributors: Graham, Frank, Cath (and Eddy), Steph, Jess and Ellie, Karl and Soren!

You’ll find detailed notes and errata for this episode on our website.

Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book – or even choose a topic for next year’s Eeek Club? You can support Pratchat by subscribing for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus stuff, including the exclusive supporter podcast Ook Club! Click here to find out more.

Eeek Club 2023

Leave a Comment

It’s a third instalment of the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we release a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our “Eeek” tier subscribers.

This year, the topics are:

  • What are your ultimate actor castings for Discworld characters?
  • Is there a Discworld equivalent of podcasts?
  • What are your possible Discworld reading orders, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
  • How would social media work on the Discworld?
  • Do women carry the physical and mental load of the Discworld?
  • Which Discworld characters would you love a “Where are they now” update for?
  • What would the Discworld be like if Terry were creating it today, and how would you help him?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:16 — 36.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

A big thank you to all our subscribers for making Pratchat possible, but especially to our Eeek Club contributors: Frank, Jing, Graham, Karl, the Caths, Jess and Ellie, Nathan and the others who didn’t send in questions this year.

You’ll find detailed notes and errata for this episode on our website.

Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book – or even choose a topic for next year’s Eeek Club? You can support Pratchat by subscribing for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus stuff, including the exclusive supporter podcast Ook Club! Click here to find out more.

#Pratchat43 – Big Wee Hag: Far Fra’ Home

Leave a Comment

Poet and writer Sally Evans joins Liz and Ben as they rejoin Tiffany Aching for a trip up into the mountains to meet the next generation of witches in A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett’s 32nd Discworld novel, first published in 2004.

Note that while this episode discusses a book for younger readers, it does contain swearing and we discuss concepts only appearing metaphorically in the book, including puberty and (briefly) masturbation. Parents may wish to listen first before listening with their big wee ones.

Tiffany Aching’s life is all change: she’s off into the mountains to apprentice with Miss Level, a research witch who even other witches find a bit weird. She’s left behind her home, her family, and everything she’s ever known. Even the Nac Mac Feegle – the drinking, fighting pictsies who’ve become her fierce protectors since she was briefly their Queen – aren’t coming with her. Tiffany soon finds that fitting in among other new witches, and learning the craft, are far harder than anything she’s done before. And that’s before the one bit of magic she knows brings her to the attention of a hiver – a bodiless, mindless, invisible creature looking for someone with power to inhabit…

While a certain other magical young person was attending a school of magic and magic (as the copyright lawyers insist we call it), Pratchett’s own Tiffany Aching sets out on a very different journey of discovery. While only 11, she must grapple with her own burgeoning powers (barely under her control), new social dynamics, the affections of someone who is merely less annoying than he used to be, and all the perils of growing up, including the monster in your own head…

Is this book too grown up for 11-year-olds? Are we on the money about the metaphors? How great would it be to have an ondageist? Is it just the younger Earwig devotee witches who are into appearances, or are the hats and black dresses of other witches a sign that it’s important to all of them? Are the Feegles still fun, or has Tiffany already outgrown them? Er…so to speak. Phew! So many questions this month. Use the hashtag #Pratchat43 on social media to join the conversation!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:19:18 — 64.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Dr Sally Evans (she/her) is a poet and researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. As part of her PhD, Sally created four chapbook-length sequences of poetry, including a modern reworking of The Odyssey by Homer, and giving Fifty Shades of Grey the blackout poetry treatment. You can hear Sally talk Mad Max: Fury Road on the apocalyptic fiction podcast Catastropod, hosted by previous Pratchat guest Marlee Jane Ward, and follow her on Twitter at @SalacticaActual.

Next episode we fulfil our stupidest promise: yes, two and half years after we discussed The Colour of Magic, and around 35 years after its first publication, we finally resolve Pratchett’s most literal cliffhanger. Join us as we read the second ever Discworld novel, 1986’s The Light Fantastic! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat44, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

You’ll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat42 – Truth, the Printing Press and Every -ing

Leave a Comment

Author, editor and journalist Stephanie Convery returns to Pratchat as newspapers and conspiracy hit Ankh-Morpork in the same week! It’s The Truth, Terry Pratchett’s 25th Discworld novel, first published in 2000.

William de Worde has made a reasonable living writing a monthly newsletter for notables, keeping them informed of goings on in Ankh-Morpork. But when he’s nearly run over by Gunilla Goodmountain’s new movable type printing press, he begins producing a different kind of “paper of news” – one that anyone can buy on the street, full of the important stories of the day. Before long “the Ankh-Morpork Times” – produced with the help of writer Sacharissa Cripslock and vampire iconographer Otto von Chriek – is a hit…and has ruffled a few feathers. But William has a powerful drive to spread the news, only intensified when Lord Vetinari is found unconscious next to a horse loaded with money after supposedly having stabbed his clerk. The Patrician being arrested for attempted murder and embezzlement is big news, of course – but is it the truth?

Pratchett cut his teeth as a writer as a journalist, and had for many years used his work as inspiration – but nowhere as directly as in the 25th Discworld novel, which introduces the Disc’s first newspaper journalists, William de Worde. Apart from William, the novel also brings us the Times’ staff, most notably Sacharissa and Otto, who pop up in many future books, and the unforgettable “New Firm” of Mr Pin and Mr Tulip – plus the triumphant return of Gaspode! The books also draws on sources as broad as Shakespeare, the history of printing, Watergate and Pulp Fiction for inspiration, references and jokes, while still packing in themes as serious as public interest, prejudice, class privilege and…well…the truth.

Is it weird seeing Vimes as a secondary character through the eyes of a journalist? Do you wish the staff of the Times had more books of their own? Where do you come down on the debate over public interest vs “of interest to the public”? Share your truth with us via the hashtag #Pratchat42 on social media, and join the conversation!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:29:47 — 69.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Stephanie Convery is a freelance writer and, at the time of this episode, Deputy Culture Editor for Guardian Australia. (She’s since become their dedicated inequality reporter.) Since she was last a guest on this podcast (discussing Mort way back in #Pratchat2, “Murdering a Curry”), Stephanie has published her first book: After the Count, a critically acclaimed “history and interrogation of boxing as art and a cultural examination of sport”, framed around the death of boxer Davey Browne following a knockout in the ring. You can check out Stephanie’s work at Guardian Australia, or follow her on Twitter at @gingerandhoney.

We’d love to know if you want us to do an episode about The Watch television series, and whether you’d support Ben making a similar podcast about the works of Douglas Adams.

Next time we’re jumping ahead into the future as we continue to spread out Tiffany Aching’s story: yes, it’s time to grab A Hat Full of Sky! We’ll be joined by writer and poet, Sally Evans. Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat43, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

You’ll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

This month (April 2021) you can also help raise money for Meals on Wheels in the US as part of the #Reviews4Good initiative! We’ll respond and double the donation, too. Just review the show (or an episode) on Podchaser.

#Pratchat40 – The King and the Hole of the King

Leave a Comment

Comedian Richard McKenzie returns to get a bit gothic as he, Liz and Ben head to Überwald to discuss The Fifth Elephant in the room…by which we mean the twenty-fourth Discworld novel, published in 1999.

As Ankh-Morpork and its neighbours embrace modern semaphore technology, trouble is brewing among the dwarfs. A new Low King is soon to be crowned in Überwald – and not everyone is happy with the choice. The Patrician selects just the right “diplomat” for the job: the Duke of Ankh, Sir Samuel Vimes. He reluctantly agrees to face vampires, werewolves, Igors and dwarf politics in a place where his Watch badge holds no sway. He’s not going alone – though Sergeant Detritus (a troll) and Corporal Cheery Littlebottom (the first openly female dwarf) are not likely to be popular with the traditional dwarfs of Überwald. Luckily he also has diplomatic attaché Inigo Skimmer, and his strongest ally: his wife, the Lady Sybil Ramkin…

After exploring one vampire family from Überwald in Carpe Jugulum, Pratchett takes Sam Vimes out of his comfort zone and into the lands of the fabled fifth elephant, while making far fewer references to the Luc Besson film than you’d expect. With Carrot and Angua off on a B-plot, and Colon, Nobby and the rest of the Watch left behind in the C-plot, it’s also a chance for background characters Detritus, Cheery and Lady Sybil to shine. The novel also expands on the culture of vampires, werewolves, Igors and especially dwarfs, building the foundations for many future novels.

It’s a great read for a Discworld fan – but would The Fifth Elephant make a confusing introduction to the series? Was this Sybil’s finest hour, or were you left wanting more of her? Does a beloved character do a murder? If so, is it okay? And did Carrot really need to be there, or was he just a Gaspode enabling device? Tell us by using the hashtag #Pratchat40 on social media to join the conversation!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:29:06 — 68.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Returning guest Richard McKenzie is hopefully back to hosting trivia twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, at the Cornish Arms on Sydney Road in Brunswick, Melbourne. He and Ben devised the Dungeons & Dragons themed impro comedy show Dungeon Crawl, which now usually appears at Melbourne games expo PAX Aus. Richard also appears in the lineup of ensemble comedy shows The Anarchist Guild Social Committee and Secondhand Cinema Club.

A a quick reminder that you can order Collisions, the short story anthology from Liminal Magazine, from your local bookshop! It includes Liz’s story “The Voyeur” and fifteen others. The link also has some online sources if you need ’em.

Next time we’re reading something very different: Pratchett’s standalone, non-Discworld young adult novel from 2008, Nation! We’ll be joined by educator Charlotte Pezaro. Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat41, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

You’ll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat39 – All the Fun of the…Fish?

Leave a Comment

We’re kicking off the Year of the Beleaguered Badger with something a little different: an international guest, and a short story! Unofficial Terry Pratchett biographer Marc Burrows joins us from the UK to discuss the third Discworld short story: 1998’s The Sea and Little Fishes!

Without much else but the carefully applied annoyances of Nanny Ogg to occupy her time, Granny Weatherwax is ready to win the annual Witch Trial – just as she does every year. But Lettice Earwig, self-appointed leader of a sort of witch committee, has decided this is discouraging new witches, and asks Granny not to participate. She also tells Granny to try being “nice” – and the worst part is, Granny appears to be taking her advice…

Very long for a short story, The Sea and Little Fishes delves into the relationship between two of Pratchett’s most beloved characters, and introduces people and concepts he’d later expand upon in the Tiffany Aching novels. In a sense it’s a story in which almost nothing happens, but then that’s largely the point – someone like Granny Weatherwax hardly has to do anything at all to move mountains. Where did you read it? What do you think of the title? And how long can a story be while still being considered “short”??? Let us know! Use the hashtag #Pratchat39 on social media to join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:19 — 42.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Marc Burrows is a writer, musician and comic. His articles and reviews about music and culture have appeared in The Guardian and a variety of other publications, but he’s currently best known as the author of the first, unofficial Terry Pratchett biography, The Magic of Terry Pratchett, which you can learn all about at askmeaboutterrypratchett.com. He is also a member of the band The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, and has two upcoming non-fiction books about music. The best place to find Marc online is as @20thcenturymarc on Twitter and Instagram, and you can sign up to his newsletter “The Glom of Nit” via tinyletter.com.

You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

We plan to cover short stories once or twice a year to help us all keep up with the schedule, in part because our original plan – to cover them as live shows – hasn’t worked out this last year. But next month it’s back to the Discworld novels, and the Watch, with The Fifth Elephant – and we’re welcoming back one of our earliest guests, Richard McKenzie! Send us your questions via email, or social media using the hashtag #Pratchat40.

Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book – and maybe make a few more live episodes like this? You can support Pratchat for as little as $2 a month and get subscriber bonuses, like the exclusive bonus podcast Ook Club!

#Pratchat38 – Moisten to Steal

Leave a Comment

Writers, comedians, magicians and con-men experts Nicholas J Johnson and Lawrence Leung join us as we meet the distressingly named Moist von Lipwig in his 2004 debut, Terry Pratchett’s 33rd Discworld novel, Going Postal!

Con-man Moist von Lipwig (aka Albert Spangler) thinks he’s come to the end of the line when he’s hanged by order of Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. But while the world believes him hanged, the city’s tyrant has actually saved him for something bigger: he wants Moist to revitalise the city’s derelict post office. It seems like a hopeless task with no chance of success or escape, what with the mountains of mail, unsatisfactory staff, golem parole officer, and the communications monopoly of the Grand Trunk Sempahore Company, run by the piratical Reacher Gilt. But every con-man needs a challenge…

Pratchett’s first Moist book is a great in to the Discworld at large, with a gripping self-contained story of new technology vs old, capitalism vs the public good, and one man’s lifetime of criminal habits vs his better nature. As well as Moist himself, it introduces such memorable characters as Mr Pump, Stanley the pin collector, and the one and only Adorabelle Dearheart. (Everyone in this book has an amazing name.) It’s not a short book, and we struggle to cover all its themes, twists and turns. Do you love Moist von Lipwig? Could you get over his name? Could you operate a Clacks tower? And just how deep did Vetinari’s plan go, anyway? Join the discussion using the hashtag #Pratchat38.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:24:42 — 66.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Nicholas J Johnson is an author, magician and expert in scams and swindles, earning himself the nickname “Australia’s Honest Con-Man”. His new children’s book, the “autobiographical” Tricky Nick, features magic and time travel and all sorts, and is available now from Pan Macmillan. Find out more about Nick’s live performances and workshops at conman.com.au, or follow him on Twitter at @countlustig.

Guest Lawrence Leung is a comedian, screenwriter and actor, known to Australian audiences from his roles in Offspring and Top of the Lake, and his own shows including Lawrence Leung’s Choose-Your-Own-Adventure and Maximum Choppage, and the feature film Sucker. Find out all the latest about Lawrence, including when you can catch his live-streamed comedy shows, at lawrenceleung.com, or you can follow him on Twitter at @Lawrence_Leung.

The full show notes and errata for this episode will be added to our web site later in the month.

Our plan to cover Sir Terry’s short fiction was via live shows, but since that hasn’t worked out for us this year, in January we’re going to discuss 1998’s short witches story, The Sea and Little Fishes. We’ll also be welcoming our first international guest: Marc Burrows, author of the Pratchett biography The Magic of Terry Pratchett! Send us your questions via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat39.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.