The Coode Street Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 477: Ten Minutes with James P. Blaylock Jul 14, 2020

Show notes

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Today Jonathan spends ten minutes or so calling up Orange Country, California to talk to World Fantasy and Philip K. Dick Award winner James P. Blaylock about reading and writing during these strange times, the allure of crime novels, what's up with Langdon St Ives, his new novel-in-progress, and a lot more.

Books mentioned include:

The Gobblin' Society by James P. Blaylock
River's Edge by James P. Blaylock
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
Freddy's Book by John Gardner
Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
The Easy Rawlins Novels by Walter Mosely
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
City of Fallen Angels by Paul Buchanan

Episode 476: Twenty One Minutes with Peter Watts Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

With the Ten Minutes with... series complete as a daily thing, Jonathan fires up the computer and calls Hugo and Shirley Jackson award winner Peter Watts to discuss how this apocalypse is only a tiny taste of the real thing, how he's coping with working and reading right now, Jevon's Paradox, the value of depressive realism, and a lot more.

Books mentioned include:

Peter Watts is an Angry, Sentient Tumor by Peter Watts
"Incorruptible" by Peter Watts
Stealing Worlds by Karl Schroeder
Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett

Episode 475: Ten Minutes with M. John Harrison Jul 11, 2020

Show notes

One of England’s finest novelists, M. John Harrison, talks with Gary about the paradoxical insights of the poet Charles Simic, the essays of Olivia Laing, the early John le Carré novels, and his own new novel and forthcoming story collection.

Books mentioned include:

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison
Settling the World: Selected Stories 1969-2019 by M. John Harrison
Things That Never Happen by M. John Harrison
The Monster Loves his Labyrinth: Notebooks by Charles Simic
Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing
The Early George Smiley novels by John le Carré

Episode 474: Ten Minutes with Jane Yolen Jul 10, 2020

Show notes

Legendary Grand Master Jane Yolen shares with Gary some delightful personal news, as well as her advice to aspiring authors on how the lockdown can be seen as a gift to writers, the pleasures of "munchie" writing like Cat Valente or Gregory Maguire, the short stories of Theodora Goss, and Linda Barnes's Carlotta Carlyle mysteries.

Books mentioned include:

The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen
The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen
How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen
The Book of Dragons edited by Jonathan Strahan
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Carlotta Carlyle series by Linda Barnes

Episode 473: Ten Minutes with Nancy Kress and Jack Skillingstead Jul 09, 2020

Show notes

Gary spends a few minutes with Jack Skillingstead and 2021 WorldCon Guest of Honor Nancy Kress talking about reading science; Jane Austen, Star Trek, and the comforts of an orderly world; the appeal of Hollywood biographies; and revisiting old favorites like Philip K. Dick, Robert Bloch, and Roger Zelazny.

Books mentioned include:

Sea Change by Nancy Kress
The Eleventh Gate by Nancy Kress
The Chaos Function by Jack Skillingstead
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe by Brian Greene
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene
Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Mitford
The Ragman's Son by Kirk Douglas
Hello Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand by William J. Mann

Episode 472: Ten Minutes with Kij Johnson Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award-winner Kij Johnson joins Gary to talk about learning to keep focused during odd times, taking comfort in Defoe, Laurence Sterne, and horror stories, and the perks of doing historical research for a novel-in-progress set in the American Midwest in 1913, and how her "Apartment Dweller’s Guide" series of stories really needs to be a book.

Books mentioned include:

The River Bank by Kij Johnson
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith
The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' by William Hope Hodgson
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

Episode 471: Ten Minutes with Alaya Dawn Johnson Jul 07, 2020

Show notes

Today is Day 97 of ten minutes with ... and as the end approaches Jonathan is spending ten minutes or so talking with Nebula Award winner Alaya Dawn Johnson about reading and working during these strange times, moving to a new environment, the challenges in writing novels at all, and her powerful new novel, Trouble the Saints.

Books mentioned include:

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
The Wicked King by Holly Black
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön

Episode 470: Ten Minutes with Premee Mohamed Jul 06, 2020

Show notes

Today Jonathan spends ten minutes or so talking to exciting debut novelist Premee Mohamed about reading, writing, and working during the pandemic; the work of Alan Moore, Umberto Eco, and Amitav Ghosh; the experience of publishing her debut novel in 2020; and how it was to effectively collaborate with her younger self on Beneath the Rising and writing A Broken Darkness.

Books mentioned include:

Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
A Broken Darkness by Premee Mohamed
Jerusalem by Alan Moore
Chronicles of a Liquid Society by Umberto Eco
Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh

Episode 469: SF, 2020, and the Anxiety of Influence Jul 05, 2020

Show notes

Well, it's time to head back to the socially distanced Gershwin Rooms in the geographically distanced Coode Street Motels Six for Gary and Jonathan to spend an hour or so talking about science fiction and the world. Today conversation starts with a continuation of the idea that this is a Golden Age of science fiction, what characteristics might make up that age, whether you can identify great works of 21st Century SF, new work by M. John Harrison,Hugo voting opening online, and much more.

As always, we hope you enjoy the episode!

Episode 468: Ten Minutes with Tad Williams Jul 04, 2020

Show notes

Today Jonathan spends twenty minutes with the bestselling creator of Osten Ard, Tad Williams, discussing living and working during the pandemic; researching archaeology, science, and neolithic England; the work of Hilary Mantel and the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall, and his own forthcoming work, including a new Osten Ard short novel.

Books mentioned include:

The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
Empire of Grass by Tad Williams
The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams (forthcoming)
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected