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In this final fourth part of our Thud! trilogy, Liz and Ben are rejoined by designer and educator Matt Roden. As we wait for the biscuits to arrive, we turn our attention to this month’s agenda items: the 2005 Discworld short story “A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices”, and squeezing in a bit more discussion of Thud!
Every Thursday the senior faculty of Unseen University have a committee meeting, during which they do very little except wait for the biscuits and tea to arrive - much to the annoyance of Ponder Stibbons. But this week, Ridcully announces that their latest magical mishap has annoyed the Patrician - and as a result, they have a few questions to answer from one A. E. Pessimal, newly appointed “Inspector of Universities”...
Written for the Times Higher Education Supplement and published a few months before Thud!, this very short story draws on Pratchett’s own experience on a committee. Does it tally with yours? Are you a Ponder, a Ridcully, or a Pessimal? Do you agree with Matt’s characterisations of the other faculty members? Plus we get back into Thud! - are we off the mark with our thoughts about whether it’s copaganda? What is Pratchett trying to say about religious extremism, if anything? And what Discworld cocktail would you make? Join the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat63.
Guest Matt Roden was here just two months ago for #Pratchat61 discussing Thud! He is still the Creative Learning Manager for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, as well as an accomplished graphic designer and educator. There are now even more photos of his dog on his Instagram at @matthewrodeo.
You'll find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.
We’re easing into the year slowly with another short story for February, this time one of Pratchett’s earliest: “Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor” from his time at the Bucks Free Press in 1974. Its available in both A Blink of the Screen and The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner. Send us your questions about it using the hashtag #Pratchat64, or via email, which you can send to [email protected].
Oh, and don’t forget to check out the all-new Pratchat Reading Challenge for 2023! All the details are on our website, and you’ll also find it on the StoryGraph. -
With China’s military and economic power continuing to grow, Katie Stallard speaks to Joshua Kurlantzick, a journalist and fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, about Beijing’s ambition to become an information superpower. They discuss his new book, Beijing’s Global Media Offensive: China’s Uneven Campaign to Influence Asia and the World, and the reach – and limits – of that campaign, as well as why he predicts TikTok’s days in the US are numbered.
Read more:
China’s new foreign minister and the taming of “wolf warrior” diplomacy.
How Xi Jinping views the world.
Nixon in China: the complicated legacy of a week that changed the world.
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Designer and educator Matt Roden delves deep under Ankh-Morpork with Liz and Ben as they unravel the mystery of the penultimate City Watch book, 2005's Thud!.
As the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley approaches, the dwarfs and trolls of Ankh-Morpork find their ancient enmity stirred up - not least by Hamcrusher, a conservative leader of the "Deep Down" dwarfs, who has preached hatred against the trolls. But now Hamcrusher's dead - not that the other deep downers want the Watch to know about it - and Vimes must solve the puzzle of his murder before tensions explode across the city. On top of that, he's also been sent a government inspector, he's had to take on the Watch's first vampire, someone's stolen the most talked-about painting in town - and he has to get home at 6 o'clock sharp, every night, to read Where's My Cow? to his infant son...
While most Watch books have a mystery that needs solving, none so far have felt as much like a contemporary thriller as Thud! There's an awful lot going on, with politics, religion, art and history all in the mix. Is it too much for one book? Are there threads that get dropped along the way? Is Pratchett having his cake and eating it too with his fantasy abstractions of real world issues? And who do you think should star in Discworld legal drama The Good Dwarf? Join in the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat61 on social media!
Guest Matt Roden is a graphic designer, educator and the Creative Learning Manager for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Matt has a long history with storytelling and education; he helped set up The Ministry of Stories in London, and was the first volunteer and a long-running Storyteller with Sydney's Story Factory. You can follow Matt on Instagram (where you can see photos of his dog) at @matthewrodeo.
As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.
We apologise that this episode has gone out much later than planned. While our schedule has gotten a little out of whack, we'll still be continuing our "Thud! trilogy" next episode with our special crossover with sibling Pratchett podcast The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret. We'll be joined by Jo and Francine to discuss Where's My Cow?, the hottest children's book in Ankh-Morpork! Plus we have plans to extend our Thud! trilogy to four parts - details coming in our very next episode. -
The Last Of Us on HBO is a HUGE hit already getting a season 2. Bri revisits the classic show One Tree Hill. Poker Face created by Rian Johnson (Knives Out) is a masterpiece of mystery of the week TV now streaming on Peacock
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The Never Heard Of It Podcast covers the good, the bad, the weird in streaming movies. B movies, Cult Classics, and Indie Film we watch it all!
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