Radio Free Dystopia
A podcast about what we learn when facts and dystopian fiction start to look the same. Join dystopian novelist Toby Ball, journalist Meg Heckman and assorted guests as they talk about authoritarianism, free speech, environmental decay and what it means to commit acts of resistance. Also: Power, privilege, freedom and – perhaps most importantly of all – hope.
Episodes
The season one finale was supposed to be about The Handmaid's Tale and some soon-to-be released dystopian movies, but Toby and Meg decided to talk about #Charlottesville instead. P.S. You'll notice that this episode is short. That's because we'd like you to spend some time listening to a few podcasts that will help you better understand structural racism in America. Meg talks about this a bit in the episode, but here are some link...
It's peak summer reading season, so Toby and Meg spent some time thinking about why books with dystopian themes appeal to young adults. They get help from YA author Susan Moger and Book Riot contributor Liberty Hardy. Also: Actual kids with great book suggestions, a look ahead to new dystopian titles coming this fall and a tangent about a little New Hampshire town with a (very) interesting history. #YA #reading #dystopia
The relationship between human beings and technology is ripe with dystopian undercurrents - so ripe that Toby and Meg talked to two guests instead of the usual one. Together, they ponder parallels between modern technology and This Perfect Day, a 1970 technocratic dystopian novel by Ira Levin. Also: Wardrobe advice from Alexa, emerging issues in civil liberties and a whopper of a News from Dystopia segment.
P.S. We're still lo...
Propaganda is a key ingredient in dystopian narratives. It's also present in many aspects of real life. To learn more, Toby and Meg talk to award-winning filmmaker and author Paul Fischer. His book - A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power - is a fascinating look at how the North Korean regime builds and rebuilds its own version of reali...
If you want to avoid dystopia, you're going to need plenty of independent journalists. Why else would so many great works of dystopian fiction make a point of describing how the press has been muzzled, marginalized or eradicated?
To learn more, Meg and Toby talk to Clay Wirestone, the news editor at the Topeka Capital-Journal in Topeka, Kansas and a writer whose work has appeared in Mental Floss and many other places. We discuss...
Is Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale feminist? Hell yes! But it's also a story about patriarchy, misogyny and a society built around state-sanctioned rape. Toby and Meg get help exploring these themes and others from Dr. Robin Hackett, an associate professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Robin's specialities include literary modernism, Virginia Woolf, feminist theory, qu...
Secret messages and subversive communication are nothing new, but when social media gets added to the mix things get interesting. Toby and Meg get help understanding this phenomenon from Mark S. Luckie, the former head of media for Reddit and, before that, manager of journalism and media for Twitter. They discuss the real-life rise of rogue and alt Twitter accounts, plus how Toby uses secret messages in his own novels. Also: The b...
Can two plus two ever equal five? Math professor Mike Nothnagel helps Toby and Meg run the numbers and discuss why alternative facts are great for fiction and horrible for democracy. Also includes references to #hamilton, #pizzagate, #startrek and, to Toby's dismay, clocks.
Toby, Meg and guest host Clark Knowles talk about how themes of resistance shape three very different dystopian novels and how fictional narratives are helping real-life protestors define their cause. Photo credits: (L) Alisdare Hickson via Flickr; (R) Sage Ross via Wikimedia. Both images used under Creative Commons 2.0. #dystopian #resist
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