In this Season 2 Finale, Matt and Liam spend some time looking back at Season 2 of the Utopian and Dystopian Fictions podcast and chatting about what's to come in Season 3, before then discussing a very seasonal topic for this Halloween Special: Dystopia and Horror!
We talk about the relationship between these two genres by focusing on two short stories (among other texts): Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' (1948) and Ray Bradbury's 'The Veldt' (1950). Both these texts, we suggest, straddle the line between Dystopia and Horror, and we talk about how and why one might fall more on the dystopian side and the other might fall more on the horrifying side.
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Stefano Gualeni, a Full Professor at the Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta.
In our conversation with Stefano, we draw on his varied professional expertise as a philosopher, game designer, and writer of fiction to discuss all things related to utopias and dystopias, play, and fictional games. In doing so, we cover ideas Stefano discusses in Fictional Games: A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play (2022) and his most recent novel What We Owe The Dead (2025).
You can find out more about Stefano and his work here: https://gua-le-ni.com/ - you can even play some of his games on his website too, so do give them a go!
Matt also has a new book out! You can find Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction here: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781836244790
We also want to bring your attention to ‘Teaching Utopia’, a public repository of syllabi, reading lists, and teaching materials about utopia and dystopia housed on Zotero. There are two ways to contribute. You can upload them directly to Zotero yourself after joining the group library entitled “Teaching Utopia” (https://www.zotero.org/groups/6069510/teaching_utopia/library). Or you can contribute by filling out a brief Google Form (https://tinyurl.com/teachingutopia). If you have any trouble, you can contact Sophie Cardin – who created and manages the repository – via email at sophie.cardin@politics.ox.ac.uk or on Bluesky @sophiecardin.bsky.social. Sophie is a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where she studies utopia and the history of Yiddish political thought.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Daniel Jenkin-Smith, who teaches at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and is an expert in English and French literature of the long 19th century. Daniel also co-hosts the spectacular Save Me From My Shelf Podcast.
In our chat with Daniel, we turn our attention to the topic of bureaucracy: what are its origins, is it fundamentally utopian or dystopian, and where does it feature in utopian and dystopian texts? With reference to Kafka's The Trial, Morris's News from Nowhere, and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, among other works, our chat features a number of insights on the utopian and dystopian genres.
Daniel's book, The Rise of Office Literature: Bureaucratization and Aesthetics in Britain and France, 1810-1900 (2025) is published by Bloomsbury.
The Save Me From My Shelf podcast can be found on Spotify and all other good podcasting services.
Daniel can also be found at dcjenkin-smith.bsky.social
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Athira Unni, an Independent Scholar who holds a PhD in English from Leeds Beckett University.
In our conversation with Athira, we discuss postcolonial dystopian fiction, with a particular emphasis on South Asian and Caribbean texts. Here, Athira notes how dystopian texts from these regions reflect multiple layers of oppression. She also suggests that something which sets postcolonial dystopias apart from Western dystopian traditions is that they focus on independence, rather than revolution. Our conversation also focuses on social reproductive theory, a framework which Athira examines throughout her work, and how reading utopian and dystopian texts with this theory in mind generates new insights.
You can find out more about Athira and her work here: https://athiraunni.owlstown.net/
You can read Athira's paper, 'Social Reproductive Labor and Uto/Dystopia: An Analysis of Leila, Midnight Robber and Woman World' here.
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with andré carrington, an Associate Professor in the English Department at the University of California, Riverside.
In our conversation with andré, we discuss speculative fiction and the emerging opportunities for Black writers in this genre across a range of literary modes. Here, andré offers unique insights, blending his role as an academic, critic, fan, and literary editor. Here, we question who gets to imagine the future, how they are able to express their imaginings, and what happens as a result of these imaginings.
You can find out more about andré and his work here: https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/andrc
You can find andré's Speculative Blackness here: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816678969/speculative-blackness/
And you can buy The Black Fantastic here: https://www.loa.org/books/the-black-fantastic-20-afrofuturist-stories-paperback/
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Jordan Carroll, a writer, editor, and scholar who holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of California, Davis.
Our discussion with Jordan primarily centres on his most recent book, Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (University of Minnesota Press, 2024), which reveals the alt-right’s project to claim science fiction and - by extension - the future. Here, we discuss the relationship between the alt-right and science fiction (and how and why the alt-right might choose to appropriate or misread the genre), science fiction as a colonialist genre, and the nebulous, ever-changing nature of the alt-right in the contemporary moment.
You can find out more about Jordan and his work here: https://jordanscarroll.wordpress.com/
And you can buy Speculative Whiteness here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speculative-Whiteness-Science-Alt-Right-Forerunners/dp/1517917085
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Eve Smith, a novelist who writes speculative thrillers, mainly about the things that scare her. Her novels have been reviewed in The Guardian, The Times and New Scientist.
Described by Waterstones as ‘an exciting new voice in crime fiction’, Eve’s debut thriller, The Waiting Rooms, set during an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award. It was followed by Off-Target, about a world where genetic engineering of children is routine.
Her third novel, ONE, set in a climate-ravaged Britain where a one-child policy is enforced, was longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association’s Best Novel Award. Her latest thriller, The Cure, is about the accidental discovery of a cure for ageing which is hijacked by obsessives who will risk anything to cheat death. The Times review said: “Smith’s novel is a commentary on the contemporary... a thought-provoking thriller with much to say about our obsession with looking youthful.”
Eve’s previous job took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places.
You can find Eve on her website, on X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok. You can order The Cure here.
A huge thanks to Eve for coming on to the podcast, and also to her publishers at Orenda Books for reaching out and sending us proof copies of The Cure.
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Ruth Houghton - a Senior Lecturer at Newcastle Law School - and Aoife O'Donoghue - a Professor in Law at Queen's University, Belfast.
Our conversation with Ruth and Aoife covers many topics. We talk about the relationship between law, legal theory, and utopianism, we find out more about Ruth and Aoife's collaborative work, we discuss the Barbie movie, and we cover a broad range of feminist utopias and other utopian works!
You can find out more about Ruth and Aoife's Utopian Reading Group here: https://bsky.app/profile/ruthhoughton.bsky.social/post/3lkpu4ctzbs2x
Read their work on feminist manifestos and global constitutionalism here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-constitutionalism/article/introduction-to-special-issue-feminist-manifestos-and-global-constitutionalism/D0C5ABABA20BCDD0F7378051047BE3B4
Find their article (together with C. R. G. Murray) on Gerwig's Barbie here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4714697
And find their work on utopias, colonialism and international law here: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/publications/utopia-as-no-place-utopias-colonialism-and-international-law
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Nathan Waddell, a Professor in Twentieth Century Literature in the English Literature Department at the University of Birmingham.
We chat with Nathan about how he first came to researching utopianism and how he came to teach and write about dystopias. We ask him about what interests him about dystopias, which brings us to a discussion of 'elegance'. Our discussion eventually changes focus to George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a text which Nathan is incredibly familiar with. We talk about how it might be considered 'ground zero' for the dystopian tradition, before thinking about the myths which surround Orwell's classic work.
You can find out more about Nathan and his work here: https://drnjwaddell.co.uk/
You can find his 'Reading Orwell' podcast here (as well as on all good podcasting platforms): https://drnjwaddell.co.uk/reading-orwell
You can find Nathan's inaugural lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF_cqY0IVuY
And last, you can find out more about A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, Nathan's upcoming trade book, here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/a-bright-cold-day/
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we speak with Diletta De Cristofaro, an Assistant Professor in the Humanities Department at Northumbria University.
We chat with Diletta about apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictions in this interview, paying particular attention to ideas relating to temporality, permacrisis, and key texts such as Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven (2014). We conclude with a discussion of Diletta's current work, which centres on the cultural politics of the sleep crisis.
You can find out more about Diletta and her work here: https://www.dilettadecristofaro.com/
Diletta's monograph The Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Novel (2020) can be found here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-postapocalyptic-novel-9781350085794/
See 'Station Eleven and Twenty-First-Century-Writing', a special collection published in Open Library of Humanities Journal here: https://olh.openlibhums.org/collections/437/
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
Join Matt and Liam for a Christmas special! In this episode, we recap Season 1 of the podcast, talk about some plans for Season 2, and then chat about Christmas in relation to dystopian texts and utopianism.
In this episode, we speak with Heather Alberro, a Lecturer in Sustainability at the University of Manchester.
We chat with Heather about Green Utopianism, a type of utopianism that straddles both the literary and the social-critical, and invites us to ask not only how we can improve the world for humanity, but for non-humans as well. Heather discusses social movements and literary texts alike in this lively interview, as well as her rich publication track record.
You can find out more about Heather and her work here: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/heather-alberro
Read Heather's article on H. G. Wells here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328722000544
Read 'Utopian and Dystopian Explorations of Pandemics and Ecological Breakdown', featuring a chapter from Matt, here: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003345770/utopian-dystopian-explorations-pandemics-ecological-breakdown-heather-alberro-emrah-atasoy-nora-castle-rhiannon-firth-conrad-scott
And find Heather's latest monograph, 'Terrestrial Ecotopias', here: https://www.peterlang.com/document/1436617
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com
In this episode, we interview Dr Sebastian Mitchell, a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Birmingham.
We chat with Sebastian about the origins of utopia, beginning with Sir Thomas More's text, before discussing how the utopian genre has changed and evolved over time, with particular reference to the ostensible "black hole" of the eighteenth century.
You can find out more about Sebastian and his work here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/english/mitchell-sebastian
If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com.
In this episode, we interview Heather McKnight, Independent Scholar and Co-Founder of the Magnetic Ideals Collective.
We chat with Heather about what utopia means to her, the relationship between utopia and activism, and how this manifests in the work of the Magnetic Ideals Collective.
You can find out more about Heather and the Magnetic Ideals Collective here: https://www.magneticideals.org/home/people-2/heather-mcknight/
If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com.
In this episode, we interview Sean Seeger, Senior Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of Essex, England.
We chat with Sean about what 'utopia' and 'utopianism' mean to him, question whether utopias really are perfect, and find out more about his conception of 'utopian pessimism'!
You can find out more about Sean here: Sean Seeger | University of Essex
And you can read his article about 'The Postcritical Utopia' here: The Postcritical Utopia | Utopian Studies | Scholarly Publishing Collective
If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com.
In this episode, we interview Daniel Varndell, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Winchester, England.
We chat with Dan about where his interest in utopia came from, about whether utopias are static, and the relationship between utopia and film, where Dan argues that film itself is a utopian mode.
You can find out more about Dan here: Dr Daniel Varndell - University of Winchester
If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com.
In this episode, we interview Raffaella Baccolini, Professor of American Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Bologna, Italy.
One of the leading figures in utopian studies, we chat with Raffaella about what 'utopia' means to her and how she got involved in the area, her thoughts on Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and N. K. Jemisin's "The Ones Who Stay and Fight", and her upcoming work.
You can find out more about Raffaella here: Raffaella Baccolini — University of Bologna — Home Page (unibo.it) If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com.
