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PODCAST

What Mad Universe?!?

Adam Prosser and Philip Rice

Action! Excitement! Horror! Romance! Thrills and Chills! Swords and Sorcery! Rockets and Rayguns! Hosts Adam Prosser and Philip Rice take a journey through the history of SF, Fantasy, horror, and pulp fiction. Every 2 weeks one of us, alternating back and forth, selects a book or book series from the late 18th century up to the present to look back on, discuss, and examine. Some of them have left an indelible mark on pop culture; some of them are forgotten echoes of what might have been...all

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All Episodes

00:00:56

Chapter 132 Promo

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/09/24

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

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00:55:55

S5E131 -Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: The Grave...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/09/10

Well that's a grim title for a goofy episode...but it is part of our Discworld series, after all, and in particular it's our episode on the books Pratchett wrote about Death, the Grim Reaper, the End of Things. He's a nice guy when you get to know him, really! We're once again joined by James "Ing" English (Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/u3109397 ) to talk about the briiiiight siiiide of death (whistles)Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils

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01:12:02

S5E130 -Chapter One Hundred and Thirty: The Power Of...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/08/27

Sometimes a bear is just a bear. And sometimes the bear is the avatar of the ineffable divine, serving as a sign that it's time to reconquer your lost empire. The trick is knowing which is which. We attempt to solve this conundrum in the latest WMU?!? on Richard Adams' Shardik, a fantasy novel--or is it? About a bear who is a god--or is he? So many questions. Can we at least know if he pees in the woods?Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad

en-US

00:01:21

Chapter 130 Promo

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/08/20

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

en-US

01:12:48

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine: The 13th Witch!

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/08/13

The next in our new series on the supernatural universe of Anne Rice tackles the very strange Mayfair Witches series, where things get...uncomfortable. But hey--it is horror! Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick Additional music: "Dance

en-US

00:56:44

S5E128 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: The...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/07/30

The second episode we've done this season confirming a flat world is VERY different from Terry Pratchett, as we delve into the deserve-to-be-better known works of Tanith Lee, which are recently getting more attention for unfortunate reasons (she was a clear influence on a certain famed fantasy writer who's been accused of some troubling allegations, which we discuss in the episode). Lee's mythopoetic fables recall Lord Dunsany and form a fascinating mosaic centered around a devil...for whom you

en-US

00:01:02

Chapter 128 Promo

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/07/23

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adams Patreon Phils Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

en-US

00:53:24

S5E127 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Hail to...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/07/16

On this episode we confront another wildly unlikely Sci-Fi scenario: a fascist takeover of the United States! I mean, what a crazy idea! Author Sinclair Lewis knew it would never happen, that's why it's called It Can't Happen Here! But in these enlightened and stable times we live in, it's interesting to look back and see what people thought might happen on the eve of World War II. Come listen in before it's placed on the list of morally abhorrent materials and rightfully banned by our Glorious

en-US

00:01:23

Chapter 127 Promo

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/07/09

Adams PatreonPhilips Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

en-US

01:42:52

S5E126 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six: Cruel and...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/07/02

The second episode of the new season of What Mad Universe?!? is another return to Terry Pratchett's Discworld. We're once again joined by James Reilly-English to focus on Rhincewind, the wizards of Unseen University, and Pratchett's logically illogical metaphysics of the Discworld itself.Adams Patreon Philips Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky Philips Bluesky Adams Bluesky What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme

en-US

00:01:23

Chapter 126 Promo

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/06/25

Adams PatreonPhilips Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter Philips Bluesky Philips Twitter Adams Bluesky Adam's Twitter What Mad Universe on Facebook What Mad Universe on Instagram What Mad Universe RSS Feed Engineer/Producer: Alex Ross Theme song by Jack Feerick (c) 2025 Adam Prosser and Philip Rice. Music (c) its respective creators. Used under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 International License.

en-US

01:03:42

S4E125 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five: The...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2025/06/18

What Mad Universe?!? has returned from the grave! In this episode, we look at one of the lynchpins of modern pop culture--the interconnected horny goth supernatural universe of Anne Rice, the world that launched a thousand ships and may be the origin point for a huge chunk of internet culture! And yes, Philip's going to read every single book and report back to us in another of our patented ongoing multi-part serieses! In this one, we look at the foundational books, Interview With The Vampire and

en-US

01:15:28

S4E124 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four: The...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/11/13

Once again we come to a great historical turning point, acolytes of adventure, with the arrival of our fourth season finale! We're once again discussing Terry Pratchett with our friend James "Ing" Reilly-English, and this time it's the "Industrial Revolution" books about how technological and cultural change comes to the Discworld. At the center of it all: Moist Von Lipwig, con artist turned renaissance man, the guy who's destined to be a historical figure whether he wants to be

en-US

01:04:23

S4E123 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three: The...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/10/16

Episode NotesOh, for a simpler time, when men were men, women were women, and everyone had PTSD from World War One. We hearken back to that time with The Ship Of Ishtar, by A. Merritt, a pulp fantasy (exactly 100 years old this year!) that may have influenced the likes of Robert E. Howard and dabbles in philosophy and mythology, as well as revealing some weird dark subconscious strains in both the author and American society in the 1920s. Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week

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01:22:03

S4E122 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Two: Land...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/09/25

Who needs that Harry Potter jerk?!? Terry Pratchett dipped his toe into the "YA series about a kid learning magic" pool a few years later in his Discworld series about teen witch Tiffany Aching. We're joined once again by pal Ing to dissect this series, which includes Pratchett's final novel.Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam's Patreon Phil's Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter Philip's

en-US

00:45:37

S4E121 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One: Seeds of...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/09/04

Pulp genre fiction has produced some monumental successes (from a financial POV), and today we're tackling probably the second-biggest after Stephen King: Michael Crichton. His career as a novelist of the Campbell "hard Sci-fi" school got started in properly in 1969 with the first novel released under his real name, The Andromeda Strain. We look at this particular book and the movie that adapted it in the latest episode, and examine when "hard SF" becomes a gloss over...something

en-US

00:40:17

S4E120 -Chapter One Hundred and Twenty: Stand and...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/08/14

Episode NotesHistorical adventures with swashbuckling, alternate identities, and criminals with a heart of gold seem to have been inescapable in early 20th century pulp, and Georgette Heyer's "The Masqueraders" is a fine example of the form. This one adds another common trope: cross-dressing! Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam's Patreon Phil's Patreon What Mad Universe?!? on Bluesky What Mad Universe?!? on Twitter Philip's

en-US

00:59:32

S4E119 -Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen: Red Moonrise!

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/07/24

We've talked before about how plainly world events have informed the subtext (and sometimes the regular-text) of classic SF, and The Moon Maid, a late-career offering from Edgar Rice Burroughs, proves that in spades. The politics that engulfed the world in the mid-1920s are on full display here in this seemingly escapist pulp fantasy, in which thinly-disguised Moon Communists invade America. Choose your side, citizen!Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early! Adam's

en-US

00:47:00

S4E118 -Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen: The Wonder...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/07/03

Continuing from last week's theme of "advanced mutants walk amongst us", we're looking at an entirely different take on a similar premise, one that's entirely more sympathetic to the supposedly non-human subjects. In Wilmar Shiras' "Children of the Atom", the super-intelligent kids are more benign...mostly. Though the perils of raising kids who might someday conquer the world comes with its own pitfalls. Is the answer psychology and superior educational practices? The future will

en-US

00:58:21

S4E117 -Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: The Life...

What Mad Universe?!? ·

2024/06/19

They're everywhere! They're better than you! They can tinker with your brain! They'll inherit the Earth! And trying to stop them makes you into a monster! It's a common assortment of tropes from SF, with a subtext touching on everything from a Freudian fear of your children to even darker, frequently racist conspiracy theories. Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt, seems to be ground zero for popularizing these ideas in Science Fiction, and today we're diving into it, so listen before it's mysteriously deleted

en-US

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