Two Chairs Talking

Episode 32: The Masks We Wear

Perry and David talk about what they've been watching lately and discuss:
Coronavirus news (01:32)
Ad Astra (09:33)
Yesterday (09:13)
The Mandalorian - Disney Plus (07:58)
Tales from the Loop - Amazon (15:21)
The Old Guard - Netflix (14:08)
Graphic novels as source for movies (01:35)
War of the Worlds - SBS/Canal Plus (01:37)
Illustration from The Mandalorian is copyright Disney Corporation, used here for review purposes (fair use).

Episode 31: Through a dark glass

David and Perry talk about their recent reading, both good and bad; and special guest W. H. Chong talks about Ghost Species by James Bradley.
Coping with the pandemic (01:20)
Locus Awards (04:38)
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore (07:55)
Astounding by Alec Nevala-Lee (04:49)
Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller (00:43)
The Second Sleep by Robert Harris (03:30)
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jnr (01:15)
The Thing Itself by Adam Roberts (05:11)
Wings Above the Diamantina by Arthur Upfield (05:43)
Silver by Chris Hammer (11:53)
Ghost Species by James Bradley (36:24)
Discussion with W. H. Chong (33:09)
Literature or SF? (02:05)
Wind-up (01:27)
Photo by Akshar Dave from Pexels

Episode 30: The many trouser-legs of time

Perry and David are joined by Dr. Lucy Sussex to talk about alternate history novels. In particular, they discuss those alternate timelines in which the Axis powers won the Second World War.
COVID-19 Restrictions (00:26)
How libraries are dealing with the pandemic (03:08)
Restrictions at aged care facilities (00:52)
Great time to catch up on books and TV (00:21)
Alternate History fiction (02:33)
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore (00:07)
Lord Darcy series by Randall Garrett (00:28)
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon (00:11)
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinson Kowal (00:20)
What if Hitler had won? (01:02:35)
Swastika Night by Katharine Burdekin (06:43)
Small Change trilogy by Jo Walton (06:39)
Among Others by Jo Walton (01:22)
Dominion by C. J. Sansom (05:13)
The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad (01:30)
SS-GB by Len Deighton (06:48)
Fatherland by Robert Harris (07:33)
Bosch series by Michael Connelly (01:28)
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (07:10)
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (17:08)
Image from Pexels.com

Episode 29: Omphalistic Hugosity

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Brian Robert Middlemiss (20 July 1930 - 5 June 2020).
David and Perry talk about the shorter fiction nominees for the 2020 Hugo Awards, and then take the Hugo Time Machine back to 1962, when Stranger in a Strange Land won Best Novel.
Dedication to Brian Middlemiss (03:26)
Awards season (00:46)
Nebula Awards (01:40)
Locus Awards (02:10)
Hugos 2020 Short Fiction (00:41)
Hugo Voting Package (01:16)
Novelettes (14:56)
Away With the Wolves by Sarah Gailey (01:23)
For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll (01:35)
Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin (02:09)
The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye by Sarah Pinsker (01:58)
The Archronology of Love by Caroline M. Yoachim (02:49)
Omphalos by Ted Chiang (04:42)
Short Stories (11:24)
Blood Is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon (01:02)
And Now His Lordship Is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas (01:49)
As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang (01:21)
A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde (01:31)
Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen (02:06)
Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix E. Harrow (03:24)
The Hugo Time Machine~1962 (01:01)
Special awards (02:26)
Handbook of Science Fiction and Fantasy~Donald Tuck (01:31)
Novels (29:28)
Second Ending by James White (03:32)
Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye (04:06)
Planet of the Damned by Harry Harrison (03:10)
Time Is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D. Simak (05:16)
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (13:03)
Short Fiction (12:06)
Status Quo by Mack Reynolds (01:49)
Lion Loose by James H. Schmitz (01:24)
Scylla’s Daughter by Fritz Leiber (01:31)
Monument by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. (02:32)
Hothouse series by Brian W. Aldiss (04:26)
Other categories (02:12)
Windup (01:20)
Photo by Bill Kasman on Flickr

Episode 28: Mastering the Dragons

Perry and David discuss the upcoming Hugo Awards, and David discusses with Rob Gerrand their mutual love of the work of Jack Vance.
Hugo Award nominees 2020 (34:18)
Fiction categories (01:24)
Novel category (00:28)
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley (03:33)
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders (04:26)
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (03:11)
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (03:43)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (00:45)
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (00:48)
Hugo Voting Package (00:31)
The Deep by Rivers Solomon (01:01)
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (01:23)
Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang (01:23)
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark (01:09)
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (01:10)
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (03:17)
David's Reading (08:23)
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (04:04)
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philipa Pearce (04:03)
Interview with Rob Gerrand (35:02)
About Jack Vance (01:37)
Rob's introduction to Vance (00:27)
Tschai tetralogy (00:37)
Demon Princes novels (04:30)
David's introduction to Vance (00:29)
The Dragon Masters (01:31)
Demon Princes series (02:37)
Bad Ronald (00:16)
The View from Chickweed's Window (02:08)
Big Planet (01:05)
Emphyrio (00:23)
The Blue World (00:45)
Lyonnesse (04:14)
Vance Integral Edition (05:38)
Ebooks based on the VIE (01:53)
The Languages of Pao (01:44)
Lyonnesse (01:21)
Vance's Crime Novels (01:46)
SF Writers and crime writing (00:16)
Frederick Brown (00:19)
Madball~Frederick Brown (00:15)
Night of the Jabberwock~Frederick Brown (00:03)
The Screaming Mimi~Frederick Brown (00:16)
The Fabulous Clipjoint~Frederick Brown (00:13)
Windup (02:41)
Image based on the illustrations by Jack Gaughan to “The Dragon Masters” by Jack Vance, Galaxy August 1962.

Episode 27: TV or Not TV?

David and Perry talk about science fiction on television, picking out a few favourites among a vast array of available material:
The Expanse (Amazon Prime) (16:33)
The Outsider (HBO/Foxtel) (07:40)
For All Mankind (Apple TV+) (12:01)
Star Trek: Picard (Amazon Prime) (30:55)
Interview with Rose Mitchell and Andrew O'Rorke (26:37)
Tales from the Loop (Amazon Prime) (02:12)
Next episode (00:34)
Wind-up (00:29)
Photo by Burak K from Pexels

Episode 26: Now We Are One

Perry and David celebrate the first anniversary of this podcast by each talking about the best five books they've ever read.
Our podcast anniversary (01:18)
Tribute to Mervyn Binns (02:51)
Choosing our five favourite books (00:33)
Visited by the Suck Fairy (01:18)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (12:47)
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (08:27)
How we chose these books (02:00)
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (07:22)
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (08:19)
The Tango Briefing by Adam Hall (09:20)
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett (09:06)
Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond(07:13)
The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough (06:38)
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (09:29)
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (08:46)
Honourable mentions (03:27)
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Episode 25: Kings of Infinite Space

David and Perry, together with special guests W. H. Chong and Paul Carr, talk about how they first started to become SF/Fantasy readers, and in Paul's case, how he got into the space industry.
Coping with social distancing (01:38)
New Zealand World SF Con goes virtual (02:25)
Hugo Awards short list (02:07)
How we became SF/Fantasy readers (00:40)
Perry's introduction to the field (05:27)
Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid Blyton (00:35)
Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting (00:24)
Astounding/Analog magazine (03:44)
David's introduction to the field (08:06)
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton (01:04)
The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit (02:18)
Cities in Flight by James Blish (00:55)
Kings of Space by W. E. Johns (00:44)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (00:39)
The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke (00:20)
Isaac Asimov (00:58)
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg (01:01)
Our next episode (01:58)
Interview with W. H. Chong (50:50)
Interview with Paul Carr (24:13)

Episode 24: Noir is the New Black

In a special Crime episode Perry and David, with special guest Dr. Lucy Sussex, discuss:
Social distancing
Clarification
Follow-up - Nebula Awards Voting
Gone By Midnight by Candice Fox
Hades, Eden, Fall by Candice Fox
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
November Road by Lou Berney
Peace by Garry Disher
Books we're looking forward to
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Hugo nominated novellas and novels
A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
Our plans)

Episode 23: Stocking up for the Apocalypse

David and Perry discuss:
The Coronavirus Epidemic
How we rate books
Touch~Claire North
Hugo Awards for 2020
A Memory Called Empire~Arkady Martine
Infinite Detail~Tim Maughan
The Wicked Girls~Alex Marwood
The Mermaids Singing~Val McDermid
The Ten Thousand Doors of January~Alix E. Harrow
Daemon Voices~Philip Pullman
Clockwork~Philip Pullman
I Was a Rat~Philip Pullman
Blue Moon~Lee Child
Interview with Lucy Sussex
The Arsonist~Cloe Hooper
Kinglake-350~Adrian Hyland
The Wasp and the Orchid~Danielle Clode
Viv Albertine
Patrick Parker's Progress~Mavis Cheek
Farthing, Ha'Penny, Half a Crown~Jo Walton
Swastika Night~Katharine Burdekin
Generation Loss~Elizabeth Hand
Peace~Gary Disher
Interview with W. H. Chong
Black Leopard, Red Wolf~Marlon James
Red Moon~Kim Stanley Robinson
Lanny~Max Porter
Grief is a Thing With Feathers~Max Porter
Best SF of the Year~Strahan
Blackfish City~Sam J. Miller
The Wandering Earth collection~Liu Cixin
On the Beach~Neville Shute
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel~Alexander Chee
In the Garden of Beasts~Eric Larsen
Agency~William Gibson
The Rain Heron~Robbie Arnott
Windup.