We're not quite hip enough for hip crime vocab, are you? On this episode of the Hugo and Nebula Readership podcast, the two sisters are reading the groundbreaking dystopia Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner - it won the Hugo for 1969.   Give us a listen. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:51 Book’s Blurb which has no plot synopsis... 02:48 so we attempt one ourselves 05:40 History Lesson  12:26 General discussion and big theme  17:28 Dystopias and all that 23:50 Donald and/or Norman? 28:02 Chad C. Mulligan and the HipCrime Vocab 29:32 The Shiggies  31:57 … and we circle back to Chad C. Mulligan 34:40 John Brunner and the future 37:50 The Begi stories 41:20 Five Questions   Music by Carl Miles

Hugo and Nebula Readership Podcast

Stand on Zanzibar

This is the podcast where two sisters are reading their way through the Hugo and Nebula awarding novels in order.  La, Lo or Le? In this episode, we discuss The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany. The Einstein Intersection won the Nebula for 1968. This tale of aliens and tangled human mythology was a challenging read for the two sisters who ultimately found the main character, Lobey,  to be the best part.    Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:55 Book Jacket Read 05:45 History Lesson 09:01 Big Themes: Deep thinking about otherness  12:00 La, Lo or Le: what does it all mean - a summary of sorts 19:43 Kage: fancy pronunciation rules 23:53 Chapter intros: Why, why, why 28:53 Kid Death and the battle at the end  35:33 Opulent parties (and the Dove) 37:54 Ambiguous ending 40:32 Four Questions   Music by Carl Miles

The Einstein Intersection

Who is Sam? This is the podcast where two sisters are reading their way through the Hugo and Nebula awarding novels in order. In this episode, they discuss The Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny which won the Hugo award for 1968. The general theme for the discussion will be us questioning everything we think we read in the book.    Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:44 Book’s Blurb  04:03 History Lesson  08:47 Big Questions: so many questions 12:54 The Characters: who has what name when  19:00 General confusion: which last a while 25:13 The battles: loops and reincarnations  28:52 Feminist Rant  34:52 Religion: Mix and match parables and accelerationism 42:50 Hellwell 44:00 The Ending: more confusion and potty jokes and murder mysteries 54:24 Four questions    Music by Carl Miles

Lord of Light

Would you choose to be supersmart? This podcast episode is all about the seminal Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. If you are of a certain age you undoubtedly had it as required reading.  The two sisters cast their minds back and struggle to remember when they actually read the book but are fairly certain they had previously read it in some form or other.  The book tied with Babel-17 by Delany for the 1967 Nebula. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:45 History Lesson  04:15 Okay, did we or didn’t we?  06:14 General Discussion, starting off with the usual - what’s the big theme 10:06 Would you choose to be supersmart? 15:33 We continue our ongoing discussion of the presentation of women characters in  Science Fiction in the late 20th century. (We do cover other characters too, to be fair) 23:00 Algernon the foreshadowing mouse 30:07 More character discussion, just to make sure we cover everyone. We’ll get there.    40:55 Four Questions and what did you love about reading this book?  Music by Carl Miles

Flowers for Algernon

This episode of the podcast covers Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17. A new author for both sisters, Delany’s 1967 Nebula winner was a record-breaker in many ways, have a listen to learn more. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 02:04 Book’s blurb  03:13 History lesson  07:47 General discussion of themes working through the plot 31:29 More major themes discussion  38:07 Transport world and Dan 43:24 Our first female protagonist  48:12 Lit Crit hats on 52:44 Space operas 55:52 Could it be a movie?  59:36 Four questions and the best part Music by Carl Miles

Babel-17

In this episode of the podcast, the two sisters discuss the Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the final Hugo Award for Science Fiction Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein.  Written in 1966, this is probably one of his more well-known novels for adults, but how did it compare in our opinion? Have a listen. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:29 Book jacket read 03:16 History lesson  06:45 General discussion: big ideas, main ideas, all that jazz 12:28 Worldbuilding 15:28 We love Mike 23:48 The wise old man 29:31 Wyoh and the Heinleinein archetype 37:25 Line marriages 46:10 Mort the Wart and the second part of the book 53:29 Four Questions and a happy ending Music by Carl Miles

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

This episode finds the sisters reading ..And Call Me Conrad (also known as This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny. It tied with Dune for the 1966 Hugo.  A SF/Mystery/Spy/Classical Mythology story packed with (un)forgettable characters that we have a great time discussing. But did we like the book? Have a listen and find out. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:50 Book’s Blurb - Actually the inside of the front cover, if you’d like to be technical 04:45 History Lesson  08:27 General Discussion: We tackle the big theme first and give it up quickly 16:00 The “New Wave” writers 20:45 The Character breakdown  39:20 Four Questions  45:35 What’s our favorite thing    Music by Carl Miles

This Immortal

In this episode, the two sisters discuss the iconic Dune by Frank Herbert.  It won both the Hugo and the Nebula in 1966. Yes, it is the First Nebula award ever given out and both of us agree with the awards committees on this one; Dune is a damn fine book.  Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:53 Book Blurb, but not really from the book 03:03 History Lesson   05:43 General Discussion: We start with the big themes 11:27 Worldbuilding 18:32 Side discussion: World religions 19:45 The Ecology of Dune 23:25 Female Power  29:27 The mix of technology and fantasy elements  34:42 Character Breakdown 40:03 Four Questions  - our new format   Music by Carl Miles

Dune

In this rather short episode, the two sisters discuss The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber.  Not only did technical problems bring us to an early finish, neither of us could honestly say we liked the book very much.  Take a listen to find out why.     Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:12 Book Jacket 03:06 History Lesson 05:36 General Discussion: How many story lines can you handle? 10:48 Ann attempts to explain the character breakdown and outline the book  18:13 The Ending - such as it is 20:50 Five Questions 24:45 Background of the upcoming Nebula Awards   Music by Carl Miles

The Wanderer

This episode the two sisters, Alice and Ann, read Waystation AKA Here Gather the Stars by Clifford D. Simak.  The book won the Hugo in 1964 and even though Simak was a new author to both sisters he was a hit. Listen to here about why both sisters enjoyed the read.   Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:49 We tweak the podcast format and read the book’s blurb   04:00 The History Lesson 09:27 General Discussion  15:07 The Way Station method of space travel 18:06 Aliens, so many aliens!  20:50 Simak predicts the future  23:38 Simak as a writer and his characters  35:08 Religious discourse and the sisters are a bit confused  43:06 The most confusing characters of the book (lots of confusion here) 49:37 Five Questions   Music by Carl Miles

Way Station

This time the sisters, Ann and Alice, podcast about the Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick now a TV series of the same name on Amazon Prime.  Are they the same? Give us a listen and find out.      Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:11 History Lesson  08:35 Book’s Blurb  10:09 General Discussion: and we start off with the lessons learned and big ideas 13:21 Alice attempts a better plot summary 18:32 We tackle the book within a book puzzle  24:23 The Mysteries of the I Ching 30:21 The Asian Culture in the book 34:35 Plotting oddities and the character discussion 43:47 The Man in the High Castle v. The Man in the High Castle 46:06 Five Questions 32:35 A most positive ending    Music by Carl Miles

The Man in the High Castle

In this podcast, the sisters tackle the iconic Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. Much discussed by sister Alice in other book groups it is not a fan favorite of either sister but in the end, it has much to offer the serious SF reader. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:12 History Lesson  09:19 Book’s Blurb  10:08 General Discussion  17:41 A little bit of family history  20:04 Heinlein as a writer 22:55 The Characters 33:54 Twenty-First Century goggles  40:15 Ann cannot pronounce Deus Ex Machina 41:10 Five Questions   Music by Carl Miles

Stranger in a Strange Land

The Baker sisters have made it through all the books that have won retro hugos or regular hugos through 1959. They take a break from regular episodes to reflect on their experience of the books of that decade and to check on how they are doing with their goals both on a project and personal level.    Time codes:  03:12 Ann provide a synopsis of the failed The Big Time recording 07:27 Order of favorite books 08:27 Top four books discussed 17:12 Manifesto review 21:21 Personal goal review 23:15 Looking forward to the 1960s 29:56 Vocabulary 31:10 Summary review of the era

The 1950s in Review

This is the 8th podcast for the two Baker sisters as they read through the Hugo award winning novels.  This time they are reading Heinlein's first official win (not a retro win) Double Star which was first published in 1956.  Both sisters enjoyed the novel and did a double take on Heinlein. Ha! You see what I did there?     Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:22 History Lesson  03:50 General Discussion  07:20 Alice Reads the Book’s Blurb  08:15 Alice discusses the lessons learned  12:31 Ann and the aliens  21:32 We segue into actors and acting stuff:  27:01 Alice and the Farley File  29:29 We discuss Penny  33:00 Alice reviews the other characters  37:33 Five Questions    Music by Carl Miles

Double Star

In this episode, the Baker sisters covers the Hugo award winner They’d Rather Be Right by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley. It was serialized in the magazine Astounding and then won the Hugo, yes - we’ve returned to the regular Hugos again, for best novel in 1955.  It was a low point for the sisters who struggled with the whole thing in general, but they did laugh a lot.     Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:15 History Lesson 03:36 General Discussion  10:20 Alice creates a Book Blurb  11:26 Alice discusses the lessons learned  15:47 We end up discussing the writing and structure of the book  21:47 Alice brings up the problems with the character Joe  25:05 We tackle the ‘science’ in the book  29:43 Ann tries to figure out how the authors choose the title  32:24 Alice does a quick character review  40:03 Five Questions    Music by Carl Miles

They's Rather Be Right

Sisters Alice and Ann attempt to read their way through all of the Hugo and Nebula award winning books. Alice is a mother of one who is trying to get back in the habit of regular reading and who credits her sister Ann with for her love of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres. Ann, a mother of two, has been and still is a voracious reader who hopes to improve her skill at book discussion.

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Hugo and Nebula Readership Podcast

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