Unseen Academicals: A Discworld and Terry Pratchett Podcast cover art

Unseen Academicals: A Discworld and Terry Pratchett Podcast

By: Joshua Bulleid
  • Summary

  • An intermittent examination of Terry Pratchett's Discworld book series from an academic perspective, hosted by Joshua Bulleid. Contact: unseenacademicalspod@gmail.com Support: patreon.com/unseenacademicals
    Joshua Bulleid
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Episodes
  • 15A - Small Gods, Part 1: Consider the Tortoise
    May 26 2024

    The first episode on Terry Pratchett's thirteenth (and best) Discworld novel Small Gods (1992), looking at religious and folkloric depictions of tortoises, the idea that gods need belief to survive as a trope of fantasy literature through influential works like those of Fritz Leiber and the Epic of Gilgamesh, as well as the early Dungeons and Dragons handbooks, the use of explicitly religious language in fantasy, comparisons to Philip Pulman's His Dark Materials series and, finally, an examination of religious animal ethics.

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    2 hrs and 17 mins
  • 14C – Pyramids, Part 2b: Egyptian Representations
    Apr 4 2024

    The third and final episode tangentially related to Terry Pratchett's 1989 Discworld novel Pyramids, providing a crash course in Egyptian fantasy and science fiction—as in written by Egyptians, rather than simply about them. We go all the way back to the beginning, talking about traditional fantasy precursors and the origins of the modern Egyptian science fiction tradition, talking about its development throughout the later part of the twentieth century and providing some (overly) close analysis of Mustafā Mahmūd's The Spider (1965) and Nihād Sharīf's The Conqueror of Time (1972), before jumping forward to the allegedly more "authentic" post-2011 Egyptian Revolution era and the currently available English translations by Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, Mohammad Rabie and Ahmed Naji, among others.


    Contact: unseenacademicalspod@gmail.com



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    1 hr and 45 mins
  • 14B – Pyramids, Part 2a: Mummy Madness
    Mar 7 2024

    Tangential mini(ish) episode, inspired by Pyramids (1989), examining mummy fiction and Western representations of Egypt from their nineteenth-century literary origins through twentieth-century film renditions and ultimate assimilation by stupid sexy vampires.

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    1 hr and 3 mins

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