Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction

Dec 06 2024 39 ep. 52 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.

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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.

Dracula 6: All The Devils At Once

Nov 26 2024 80 mins

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and discuss Dracula's character sheet, how much wolves are better than dogs, and the fate of Lucy Westenra. What will it take for Seward to connect the dots? What is the spectrum from the noble-man to the commoner? Who really poisons the sherry?

Dracula 5: The Master Is At Hand

Nov 22 2024 91 mins

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and discuss the wreck of the Demeter, the limits of Dracula's power, and the insidious assault on Lucy Westenra. What really happens aboard the ship from Varna? How is mysticism seeping into our rational view of the world? Has our attention to the timeline finally paid off?

Dracula 4: Boh-Ghosts, Barguests, Bogles

Nov 13 2024 65 mins

This week, we overcome ill fortune to continue our unit on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. How do we listen to intuition in an age of rationality? Does the supporting cast describe the boundaries of (acceptable) Victorian society? Is work the universal cure?

Dracula 3: Tonight Is Mine

Nov 05 2024 63 mins

This week, we continue our unit on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. What are we to make of a man who lays his own table? How does the Count turn the tools of the Victorian world against English society? Does the queer reading of Dracula falter on the threshold of the gender binary?

Dracula 2: To Care Not For

Oct 31 2024 63 mins

This week, we finally resume our seasonal horror unit with the beginning of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. How are we to understand Stoker's introduction to the novel? Is Harker too stupid to live? What's worse: dragons or devils?

Dracula 1: Long Shadows

Sep 30 2024 25 mins

This week, we begin our super-spooky horror unit with an all-time classic: Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. Is it possible for a book as well-known and influential as this one to be under-appreciated? How did Dracula enter the public domain? Do we prefer Transylvania or Ultrasylvania?

Ultimate Spider-Man 2: Man Vs. Society

Sep 23 2024 51 mins

This week, we conclude our discussion of Ultimate Spider-Man, and discuss the second volume, Learning Curve. How does Peter Parker navigate the boundaries of society? How can a book stay continuity-light but bind itself to the original comic text? Is MJ or JJJ the best character in Spider-Man's supporting cast?

Ultimate Spider-Man 1: Man Vs. Himself

Sep 16 2024 46 mins

This week, we begin our discussion of Ultimate Spider-Man, and discuss the first volume, Power And Responsibility. How 2000s can a book possibly be? How does decompression change the way we interact with the text? Is Peter Parker the single best character of the last fifty years?

Binti 4: Not Not The Force

Sep 05 2024 38 mins

This week, we conclude out discussion of Nnedi Okorafor's Binti: The Complete Trilogy, and discuss the short story Sacred Fire. Why is it important to read according to the chronology of production? What's the deal with the Saturnian aliens? What, in the end, is harmony?