Episodes

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the staples of Christmas. As well as the original book, it’s possible to watch adaptations involving among others Bill Murray, Jim Carey, Patrick Stewart, and (mine and Megan’s favourite) Michael Caine. It has even been used for specials like Doctor Who. This iconic story has been […] The post Scrooge reimagined first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

We constantly discuss themes, stereotypes and assumptions in popular culture, but we don’t often stop to look more closely at the way those issues are expressed. I’m talking about language, and its ability to explore ideas in a highly nuanced way. Phrases like “bad language”, “common parlance” – even “trigger warning” – all carry social […] The post Language & Power – with Genevieve Cogman first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Or ‘Extraneous Fangirling’ as I subtitled this episode while editing it. And in truth there is a fair bit of fangirling, but there’s also a lot of critical reflection to go with it. Because when we looked back at the books and shows we enjoyed as kids, we found some unsettling similarities. We remembered female […] The post Childhood Heroines first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Just in time for Halloween, we spoke to author Vivian Shaw about everyone’s favourite “monster” – the vampire! Immortal vampires have occupied the human imagination for centuries. Whether you prefer the Twilight, Buffy or Bram Stoker type, don’t expect them to turn to dust any time soon. We talked to Vivian about her Greta Helsing […] The post Reclaiming the vampire – with Vivian Shaw first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Women have always played important roles throughout history, yet too often they are written out of official histories. We have touched on this before on our podcast, referencing essays like Kameron Hurley’s ‘We Have Always Fought’. This cultural pattern has effectively made women invisible – we have been silenced and marginalised. V.E. Schwab’s new novel, The […] The post The invisibility of women with V.E. Schwab first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

There are some genre tropes that are ubiquitous in fantasy, from the ensemble quest to overthrowing a dark lord. Magical schools are yet another trope we have come to know and love. Whether you are a fan of early narratives like Le Guin’s Wizard of Earthsea or appreciate the darker elements of more contemporary entries […] The post A magical education with Naomi Novik first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Humanity is intrinsically bound up with nature and the natural world. We are its creatures, we depend on it for survival, we fear it, love it, deify it…and we’ve become quite good at killing it. Ours is a complex relationship as old as the species. And people have been documenting this relationship – first in […] The post Into the Wood – with Emily Tesh first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Variously listed as a horror, comedy and fantasy film by different websites, one thing is certain: Cabin in the Woods, by Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, defies easy labelling. Is this a send-up of the horror genre in the style of Scary Movie? Is it a rumination on choice and self determination? Or does it […] The post The Cabin in the Woods: horror, comedy & choice first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Many of our favourite narratives feature outsiders. They might be alone by virtue of the burden of prophecy, come from the wrong side of the tracks, or simply don’t adhere to behaviour and interests their society expects of them, we see these tropes pop up all over the place. After all, following an outsider protagonist […] The post Aberrant and broken magic with Melissa Caruso first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

The Story of Silence is based on a 13th century French chivalric romance, distinguished by its prominent discussion of gender. Reimagined by Alex Myers, we found it to be a compelling exploration of transgender identity in an oppressively binary medieval society – and we just had to talk to Alex about it! At its heart, […] The post Gender in Chivalric Romance first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Traditional stories of mermaids describe the creatures as beautiful maidens who sing sweetly as they lounge on rocks and comb their long, flowing hair… but like sirens, mermaids lure sailors to their death with their beauty and song. The less popular of the merfolk, mermen, were not blessed with the beauty of their feminine counterparts, […] The post Mermaids with Beth Cartwright first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

We have long been obsessed with the chosen one. This ubiquitous archetype has spawned thousands of heroic narratives involving a prophecy and a great evil to be overcome. But in recent years, we’re seeing less and less of the standard trope, and more subversions, which have contributed to the rise of the antihero, and the […] The post Deconstructing the Chosen One – with Veronica Roth first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Entrenched racism is all around us. This is not a new phenomenon nor the first time racism has been headline news – and yet we have a seemingly incredible ability to forget the atrocities committed daily as long as they aren’t at the top of the news cycle. We can’t continue being intermittently outraged before […] The post Addressing our biases first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

You know the drill, you are alone in the middle of a foggy field and there’s no one within miles… except the person following you. There’s no one coming to help you. Isolation is an ever-present theme in horror fiction, one that has become part of reality for many of us recently. But isolation doesn’t […] The post Horror and isolation with Melinda Salisbury first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Well, it’s that time again: 80s family film funtime! Today we are looking at 1988’s Willow, starring Warwick Davis and Val Kilmer, directed by Ron Howard with a story by George Lucas. But first, let’s set the scene. It is a time of dread. Seers have foretold the birth of a child who will bring […] The post Back to the 80s: Willow first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Monster. Freak. Beast. These words are often thrown around, but what do we really mean when we use them? What is a monster? Why are they so central to our narratives? Like many of the issues we discuss on this podcast, the idea of monstrosity features built-in sexism. Male and female-coded monsters are often given […] The post Gendering monsters first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

When we pick up a book, we know we’re going to be told a story. We trust the author or, in the case of first-person POV the narrator, to tell us the truth. We might be reading about vengeful ghosts or glorious dragons that take our imagination to the very limits of creativity, but we […] The post Narration and ambiguity with Camilla Bruce first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Speculative fiction has always been a genre that challenges traditional views and established ways of seeing. We regularly discuss how the worlds that genre authors create are arenas in which it’s possible to tackle social narratives away from conventional models. But no genre can really be said to straddle fantasy and reality like magical realism. […] The post Finding the magic in magical realism – with Natasha Pulley first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

It has long been obvious that our world’s power structures are set up to benefit men, so how does women’s power play out in our narratives? What happens when women are suddenly given a power they are usually deprived of? Menna Van Praag joins us to discuss power in its gendered form. Is there enough […] The post Power through a gendered lens with Menna Van Praag first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Cosmic horror is an unhelpful term by itself. HP Lovecraft himself is quoted as saying that: The fundamental premise [of cosmic horror is] that common human laws and interest and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large.’ But Wikipedia seems to bring this down to a more personal level when it states: […] The post Cosmic horror with Premee Mohamed first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

The three of us are children of the 80s and like many of our generation, we love to revel in nostalgia. For us, this has meant revisiting some of our favourite fantasy films of that decade: Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride… and now Ladyhawke. Ladyhawke was released in 1985 to fairly average reviews. The […] The post Back to the 80s: Ladyhawke first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Here on BtGS, we regularly discuss how female characters in SFF are depicted on-screen. From the infamous bikini armour to simply being absent from male-centric narratives – women have had their fair share of problematic portrayals. But is the tide turning? Joining us to help answer this question is award-winning director Kate Madison. Texts mentioned […] The post Onscreen representation of women with Kate Madison first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

There needs to be a serious fucking cultural conversation about the storytelling desire to turn everyone into an edgy badass that thinks all problems are best solved with violence and what the overwhelming prevalence of that narrative is doing to our brains. Alex Acks We want to start that cultural conversation right here on Breaking […] The post Rethinking the Badass with Alex Acks first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Beauty and the Beast is amongst our best-known fairytales, enduring and enchanting in equal measure. But beneath its romantic exterior lurks a darker story, one that various writers have explored over the years. For the first episode of 2020, we are joined by bestselling author, Brigid Kemmerer, whose newest book, A Heart So Fierce and […] The post Reinventing the Fairytale with Brigid Kemmerer first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.