Colm and Steve watch Ridley Scott’s The Fifth Elephant with Harrison Ford as Vimes, Rutgar Hauer as Wolfgang and, eh, Imelda Staunton as Lady Margolotta. Well, not quite, but have a listen and you’ll see what we’re getting at here. We went to Uberwald expecting fat and uncovered a gem instead.
Tag Archives: discworld
Hogfather – The Inner Baby-Sitters Club Christmas Special
Happy Hogswatch, one and all! In honour of the occasion, Steve and Colm are joined by their old friend, Rose to talk about the dark roots that run beneath the blossoming Yuletide cheer, and how Pratchett shines a light on them with characteristic aplomb. They also discuss best and worst Discworld villains (hint: one of the best ones was in this book), their childhood fears and why humans need fantasy.
Click here or else get a bag of bones in your Hogswatch stocking!
Feet of Clay – Go Ahead, Bake My Clay, Punk
Steve and Colm join the City Watch for their third outing, wherein there’s a conspiracy to oust the Patrician in favour of a puppet king… again. Is Pratchett re-visiting this plot a good thing? Listen and find out! You’ll also get a rambling discussion on trans-gender, trans-humanism and trans-legal justice (and Colm ranting about Oliver Cromwell a bit).
Click here or be subjected to a barrage of terrible heraldry puns!
Maskerade – A Fight at the Opera
Steve and Colm join the Lancre Witches as they journey to Ankh-Morpork to explore the curious and contrary world of opera. They (the hosts, not the Witches) discuss how Pratchett handled the tricky business of returning to Granny and Nanny after the climatic brilliance of Lords & Ladies, how body image and confidence are explored through Agnes/Perdita, and the tantalising tease of a Witches/Watch crossover!
Interesting Times – Aurientalism
Colm & Steve travel to the Aurient to tackle Rincewind’s return in Interesting Times. They ramble on about legacy, colonialism, revolution and an absolutely epic finale. They’ve reached the stage in the series where there’s a lot of comparing Discworld books with Discworld books (and also the point where they fawn over the UU Faculty and Twoflower a lot).
Click here or be nailed upside-down to one of the principal supporting pillars of the Brass Bridge!
Soul Music – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Death’s Club Band (With Rocks In)
Colm & Steve rock (and/or roll) out with a rambling discussion about grief, rebellion, growing up, and the opposition between art and commerce. There’s also much chuckling over music references and and occasional bad impressions of the voice actors from the animated adaptation.
Men At Arms – Affirmative Action Heroes
Colm and Steve return to the streets of Ankh-Morpork to discuss the second installment of the City Watch sub-series. Their bumper discussion takes in gun/gonne control, racism/speciesist discrimination, dog/wolf identity and dom/sub relationships.
Lords and Ladies – The UnFair Folk
Colm and Steve join Granny, Nanny and Magrat as they return to Lancre to deal with folk memory fear mongers, the Elves. Their discussion takes in how this book follows on magnificently from what’s been established in the previous Lancre witches books, how Lancre itself feels realer and more lived in here, and comparing Elves to the Internet, celebrities, aliens and much more besides.
Small Gods – Nobody Expects the Omnian Quisition!
Colm & Steve journey deep into the desert (of the mind) and re-emerge as literary prophets, rambling about theology and tortoises. Their discussion takes in the opposition between flexibility and certainty, the character development (and occasional strange turns) of Brutha and Vorbis, and a veritable holy war about how to rank the book.
Witches Abroad – Foreign Vacations & Fairytale Vocations
Steve and Colm leap back into the Discworld and accompany the Lancre Witches as they on holiday to the New-Orleans-meets-Disneyland city of Genua. Their discussion includes fawning over the wonderful chemistry between the three central characters, the restrained and ambiguous way Pratchett depicts magic, and the strange treatment of the good-bad binary.
Radio Morpork 