Two Chairs Talking

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.

Episode 22: The best publishing house in Old North Australia

In this special episode, Perry and David speak to Rob Gerrand, Bruce Gillespie and Carey
Norstrilia Press Interview
How Norstrilia Press got started
Coming up with the name
Philip K. Dick - Electric Shepherd
Stanislaw Lem article sets off controversy
The Altered I (workshop book)
Rob Gerrand's involvement
The View From the Edge
Moon in the Ground by Keith Antill
Other SF publishers in Australia
Typesetting
Sales and Distribution
Roles of Carey, Bruce and Rob
Dancing Dragons by Damien Broderick
Transmutations
Stellar Gauge - Dreaming Dragons - Roger Zelazny poems
Academic studies of SF in the U.S.
Dreaming Dragons
Lavington Pugh by Jay Bland
Getting Reviews
The Plains by Gerald Murnane
Dreamworks anthology
An Unusual Angle by Greg Egan
In the Heart or in the Head by George Turner
Landscape with Landscape by Gerald Murnane
Funding problems
Down Deep scandal
Looking back on it
The role of Hyland House
Wind-up
Image: the logo of Norstrilia Press against a starry background (composite created by David Grigg).

Episode 21: A beautifully illuminated blueprint

David and Perry discuss 1961, an amazingly good year for science fiction:
Hugo Time Machine (1961)
Novel nominees
Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
Deathworld by Harry Harrison
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jnr
Other books which might have been nominated
Short Fiction nominees
Need by Theodore Sturgeon
The Lost Kafoozalum by Pauline Ashwell
Open to Me, My Sister by Phillip Jose Farmer
The Longest Voyage by Poul Anderson
Other possible nominees
Windup

Episode 20: Don’t need no Saturn V rockets

Perry and David discuss:
Follow-ups
What we've been reading
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
The Lost City of Z by David Grand
Nova Mob - Ian Mond's recommendations
Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan
Ordinary People by Sally Rooney
Voices by Ursula Le Guin
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
The Shelflife of Zora Cross - Interview with Lucy Sussex
Interstellar - the movie
What we have planned
Image from Interstellar movie poster. Copyright Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures. Used here for review purposes only (fair use).

Episode 19: Perplexed by hailstones

David and Perry discuss:
Best movies 2019 -- Perry
Avengers - Infinity War
Captain Marvel
All Is True
Knives Out
John Wick Chapter 3
Best Movies 2019 -- David
Mortal Engines
First Man
Re-watched movies
Best TV 2019 --Perry
Game of Thrones
For All Mankind
Mr Mercedes
Best TV -- David
For All Mankind
Morning Wars
Good Omens
The Boys
Goliath
Trying to keep up
The Hugo Time Machine -- 1960
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine
Short Fiction nominees
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Twilight Zone
The Outsider by Stephen King
Wind-up
Photo of hailstones by Hornbeam Arts on Flickr.

Episode 18: Food for the soul

Our longest episode yet! Perry and David discuss the Australian bushfire crisis and look back at the best books they read in 2019:
Australian bushfire crisis
Overview of 2019 reading -- David
Overview of 2020 reading -- Perry
SF and Fantasy -- David
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Power by Naomi Alderman
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North
SF -- Perry
Blackfish City
Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Embers of War by Gareth Powell
Honourable Mentions -- Perry
Honourable Mentions -- David
Fantasy -- Perry
Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Fire And Blood by George R. R Martin
Witchmark by C. L. Polk
Literary Fiction -- David
Standard Ebooks
Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells
Middlemarch by George Eliot
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
Honourable Mentions -- David
Literary Fiction -- Perry
To the Islands by Randolph Stowe
Possession by A. S. Byatt
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Plains by Gerald Murnane
Honourable Mentions -- Perry
Horror -- Perry
Experimental Film by Gemma Files
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
The Outsider by Stephen King
Crime/Thriller -- David
The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon
Moskva by Jack Grimwood
Crimson Lake and Redemption Point by Candice Fox
Honourable Mentions -- David
Crime -- Perry
Sands of Windee by Arthur Upfield
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Kill Shot by Garry Disher
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
Redemption Point by Candice Fox
Honourable Mentions -- Perry
Best Thriller/Spy -- Perry
Smiley's People by John Le Carre
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
Young Adult -- David
The Secret Commonwealth by Phillip Pulman
Fever Crumb trilogy by Phillip Reeve
Young Adult -- Perry
Gifts by Ursula K Le Guin
Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
Anthologies and Single-Author Collections -- Perry
The Years Best Science Fiction : 33rd Annual Collection Edited by Gardner Dozois
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2 Edited by Neil Clarke
The Best SFandF of the Year: Volume Eleven Edited by Jonathan Stahan
Short Fiction by H. G. Wells
The Overneath by Peter S. Beagle
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
The Custodians and Other Stories by Richard Cowper
Novellas -- Perry
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Time Was by Ian Mcdonald
Perihelion Summer by Greg Egan
Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds
Honourable Mentions -- Perry
Non-Fiction -- David
Blockbuster by Lucy Sussex
Doing Justice by Preet Bharara
South by Ernest Shackleton
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee
A Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald
Honourable Mentions -- David
Non Fiction -- Perry
On Writing by Stephen King
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Sagaland by Kari Gislason and Richard Fidler
Underland by Robert Macfarlane
The Shelf Life of Zora Cross by Cathy Perkins
Honourable Mentions -- Perry
Best Overall -- David
Best Overall -- Perry
Looking forward to -- David
Looking forward to -- Perry
Food for the soul
Wind-Up
Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels

Episode 17: Fiery the angels fell

David and Perry discuss:
Taking a break/Next Year
The perils of Alternate History
Alternate histories in general
The Plot Against America
Lord Darcy Books by Randall Garrett
Recent Reading
Witchmark
The Sudden Appearance of Hope
Hugo Time Machine 1959
A Case of Conscience by James Blish
Who? by Algis Budrys
The Big Front Yard by Clifford Simak
That Hell-Bound Train by Robert Bloch
The Man Who Murdered Mohammed by Alfred Bester
Blade Runners
Blade Runner - Original
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Tears in the Rain
Fiery the angels fell
Versions of the film
Blade Runner 2049
Arrival (the movie)
Sicario
Ryan Gosling
First Man
Wind-up
Image by William Blake