Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction

Jan 31 2025 48 ep. 59 mins 20
Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction Podcast artwork

Stars and Swords is a weekly podcast dedicated to the exploration, analysis and celebration of genre fiction.

  Arts  Fiction
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The Silmarillion 4: Arda Marred

Jan 31 2025 93 mins  
This week, we continue our unit on The Silmarillion and discuss the Days Before Days, time and space (and calendars and maps), and the paradox of free will.

Pop Quiz: The Valaquenta

Jan 26 2025 7 mins  
In this special bonus episode, test your knowledge of the Valar and the Maiar, the relationships between them, and a few other things besides!

The Silmarillion 3: Acquainted With Grief

Jan 24 2025 100 mins  
This week, we continue our unit on The Silmarillion and discuss the Valaquenta, spheres of authority, intertexting already and The Diagram.

The Silmarillion 2: Void And Flame

Jan 18 2025 115 mins  
This week, we continue our unit on The Silmarillion and discuss the Ainulindalë, aesthetics and philosophy, the subcreative process and the Secret Origins of Melkor.

The Silmarillion 1: From The Shores Of Faery

Jan 11 2025 54 mins  
This week, we begin our unit on J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumous work of mythology and history, and discuss reading strategies, layers of narrative and the creative impulse.

Prince Caspian 3: Making Good On Macbeth

Jan 02 2025 120 mins  
This week, we overcome treachery to win the war in chapters ten to fifteen of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian and discuss the Narnian timeline, fear as an alienating force, and the worst of Susan.

Prince Caspian 2: The Return of the King(s and Queens)

Dec 28 2024 107 mins  
This week, we assemble our forces and call for help in chapters five to ten of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian and discuss the medieval perspective on past and future, the oracular power of centaurs, and the difference between beasts.

Prince Caspian 1: Do You Remember?

Dec 20 2024 97 mins  
This week, we return to Narnia with the first five chapters of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian and discuss politics and persecution, fairytale and fantasy, and Edmund's 2024 slang.

Dracula 8: And Also With Blood

Dec 12 2024 109 mins  
This week, we conclude our horror unit and our discussion of Bram Stoker's Dracula with logical fallacies and the limits of rationality, Dracula as a feminist text and Bram Stoker's Best Joke.

Dracula 7: The Bloofer Lady

Dec 06 2024 98 mins  
This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and discuss the overlooked Van Helsing, the second death of Lucy Westenra, and the compilation of the novel by the characters in the novel.