Two Chairs Talking

Episode 52: Nothing is so perfect...

Perry and David take the Hugo Time Machine on an expedition to the year 1966, the year when Dune won the Best Novel award
The Big Jab (01:48)
2021 Locus Awards shortlists (04:11)
Hugo Time Machine 1966 (01:20:06)
Worldcon in 1966 (01:08)
First Nebula Awards (02:50)
Marque and Reprisal by Poul Anderson (08:36)
Stardock by Fritz Leiber (04:59)
The Day of the Great Shout by Phillip Jose Farmer (07:55)
The Doors of his Face by Roger Zelazny (05:56)
“Repent Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellision (06:21)
Comparison with Nebulas (05:05)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (04:15)
The Squares of the City by John Brunner (06:05)
Skylark DuQuesne by E. E. Smith (03:59)
Dune by Frank Herbert (09:58)
And Call Me Conrad by Roger Zelazny (08:01)
Other possible nominees (04:37)
Windup (01:01)
Image created by smithytomy - www.freepik.com

Episode 51: My Uncle Oscar had a sudden flash

David and Perry talk about television and movies. Perry discusses several films nominated for this year’s Academy Awards, and David talks about The Flash television series and a short film based on the work of Terry Pratchett.
Letters of Comment (05:25)
From Szymon Szott (02:08)
From Candice Fox (01:27)
Meeting Garry Disher (01:26)
Hugo ballot (10:51)
The Flash Season 5 (07:35)
Zack Snyder's Justice League (01:52)
Nomadland (07:37)
The Flash Season 6 (05:10)
The Father (07:58)
Troll Bridge (06:38)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (08:27)
The Current War (06:21)
Mank (04:59)
Windup (01:07)
Illustration: combines photo of an Academy Award by Davidlohr Bueso (CC BY 2.0) with a poster for The Flash series, copyright Warner Brothers (used here for purposes of review: fair use).

Episode 50: The bones of the dead

Perry and David celebrate their 50th episode of the podcast, and talk about the books they have read recently in the crime and thriller genre.
Game of Thrones anniversary (01:14)
Hugo Ballots coming (00:50)
Worldcon date change (03:19)
Game of Thrones book publication date (00:20)
Letter of Comment - comfort reading (03:04)
Crime Fiction (00:17)
Gathering Dark by Candice Fox (10:18)
Consolation by Garry Disher (06:34)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (07:57)
The Sentinel by Lee Child and Andrew Child (12:45)
Darkness for Light by Emma Viskic (09:28)
A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin (08:09)
Windup (01:22)
Illustration: "Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill" by Pieter Claesz. Thanks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Episode 49: Delving Down Under

David and Perry look at Australian literature, ranging from a book about bushrangers written in serial form in 1882 to modern science fiction.
Reading overload (00:30)
Comfort reads (01:50)
Hugo Award nominations (02:47)
Nebula Awards short list (07:58)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (00:05)
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (00:17)
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (00:22)
The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk (00:42)
Black Sun by Rebecca Rowanhorse (00:22)
Network Effect by Martha Wells (01:22)
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (03:35)
Such is Life by Joseph Furphy (04:42)
The Watch Tower by Elizabeth Harrower (08:12)
Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood (08:47)
Dispersion by Greg Egan (05:59)
The Black Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard (07:52)
Falling Towards England by Clive James (04:42)
The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (01:36)
Discussion with W. H. Chong (21:14)
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (04:03)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (02:04)
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (03:53)
Underland by Robert McFarlane (03:24)
Reading multiple genres (02:41)
Poetry (00:29)
New translation of Beowulf (01:43)
Wind-up (02:15)
Illustration: "Fire's On!" by Arthur Streeton.

Episode 48: We’re not the judges

Perry and David talk about a diverse selection of books they've been reading lately, and Perry talks to Dr. Lucy Sussex about the best books she read last year.
NASA naming of Perseverance landing spot (02:00)
Nebula Awards (06:25)
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (04:53)
Cross-cultural influence of The Beatles (01:41)
Website Galactic Journey - http://galacticjourney.org/ (08:48)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (05:54)
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (09:36)
Daria's Daughter by Linda Huber (06:28)
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (09:48)
Interview with Lucy Sussex (19:03)
Square Haunting by Francesca Wade (01:29)
Truganini by Cassandra Pybus (04:03)
Friends and Rivals by Brenda Niall (01:05)
The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale (02:29)
No Love Lost by Marjorie Allingham (01:41)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (07:22)
Windup (01:07)
Image: detail from "High Treason" by Sir John Lavery

Episode 47: Just a couple of volunteers

David and Perry discuss a recent book and television series they have both enjoyed and then move on to talk about some of their volunteer activities outside podcasting. David interviews Alex Cabal, the Editor in Chief of Standard Ebooks.
Hugo Nominations deadline (05:27)
The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John (07:40)
The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) (08:12)
Volunteering (01:28)
Perry's Work for AusLit (17:47)
David's Work for Standard Ebooks (10:07)
Perry's experience with Wikipedia (05:26)
Interview with Alex Cabal of Standard Ebooks (22:46)
Personal background, education (01:33)
What gave you the idea of starting SE? (04:06)
How did you choose which books to begin with? (02:42)
Who selects which books to work on? (02:51)
How did you decide on the appearance of the books? (02:35)
Why do you dedicate the books to the public domain? (01:59)
What do you see as the challenges for SE in future? (03:46)
Scribophile and Writerfolio (02:40)
Windup (01:18)
Photo by rawpixel.com from PxHere

Episode 46: These accusations, and these grievous crimes

Perry and David revisit the scene(s) of the crime, discussing books in a variety of sub-genres within the crime/thriller category.
Vale Yvonne Rousseau (02:21)
Locus Recommended Reading List 2020 (05:31)
Doing Crime (01:58)
Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Crosby (04:40)
The Spy Of Venice by Benet Brandreth (05:44)
The Survivors by Jane Harper (06:13)
Waiting For Elijah by Kate Wild (06:37)
The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace (05:08)
Good Girl/Bad Girl and When She Was Good by Michael Robotham (08:50)
The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (08:18)
Too Many Magicians by Randall Garrett (01:39)
Windup (01:16)
Photo by Brandon Anderson on Flickr.

Episode 45: Not Waving but Drowning

David and Perry talk about the books they've been reading lately, ranging in length from novellas to a nine-volume, almost million-word opus written entirely in the form of letters. And a rather damp theme emerges...
World SF Convention and Hugos (04:24)
Clarissa Harlowe by Samuel Richardson (05:35)
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (10:48)
The Glass Hotel by Emily St.John Mandel (07:17)
Shadow in the Empire of Light by Jane Routley (05:54)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (00:01)
The Greenwood Duology by Emily Tesh (07:35)
Silver in the Wood (01:31)
Drowned Country (04:15)
The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison (25:16)
Discussion with Lucy Sussex (20:36)
Windup (00:55)
"Not Waving but Drowning" is the title of a poem by Stevie Smith, written in 1972.
Photo by Ayyub Yahaya from Pexels

Episode 44: And I watched some stuff, too

Perry and David wind up their discussion of the best books they read in 2020 and roll on to talking about their best movies and television seen during the year.
David's Top 10 books of 2020 (04:51)
Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman
Normal People by Sally Rooney
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Truth by Peter Temple
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang
Solaris by Stanisław Lem
The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison
A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Perry's Top 10 books of 2020 (06:04)
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jnr
Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan
A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
Tango Briefing by Adam Hall
The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John
David's Top films of 2020 (04:18)
Brazil
12 Monkeys
Solaris (dir. Tarkovsky)
Yesterday
Time Bandits
Perry's Top films of 2020 (06:33)
Stalker
The Old Guard
Yesterday
Sometimes Always Never
Brazil
David's Top TV of 2020 (06:08)
Tales from the Loop (Mini-series)
Upright (Mini-series)
His Dark Materials (Season 1)
The Expanse (Season 4)
For All Mankind (Season 1)
Perry's Top TV of 2020 (27:32)
Food (03:00)
Food Safari Fire
Rick Stein’s Secret France
Chef’s Table : BBQ
Crime (07:39)
Criminal : UK S01 and S02
Trapped S01 and S02
The Alienist S01
Des
Giri/Haji
Horror (01:15)
The Outsider
Science Fiction (03:35)
The Expanse S04
The Umbrella Academy S02
For All Mankind S01
The Umbrella Academy S01
Other (04:55)
The Queen’s Gambit
The Test
Freeman
Best 5 of the Year (05:51)
The Queen’s Gambit
The Expanse S04
Criminal : UK S01 and S02
The Test
Trapped S01 and S02
Wind-up (02:08)
Photo: public domain

Episode 43: Yeah, I read a few books last year

David and Perry look back at the books they read during 2020 and pick their favourites in a variety of categories.
David's reading during 2020 (03:59)
Perry's reading during 2020 (08:58)
David's Best SF read for the first time (04:19)
Perry's Best SF read for the first time (06:31)
David's Best SF read again (02:15)
Perry's Best SF read again (03:25)
David's Best Fantasy (03:04)
Perry's Best Fantasy (04:09)
David's Best Alternate History (02:27)
Perry's Best Crime (05:46)
David's Best Crime (04:39)
Perry's Best Literary (06:25)
David's Best Literary (09:08)
Perry's Best Single Author Collections (05:20)
David's Best Historical Fiction (02:26)
Perry's Best Novellas (08:10)
David's Best Children's Literature (02:57)
Perry's Best Nonfiction (04:05)
David's Best Nonfiction (02:55)
Windup (01:34)
Photo by Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels