Freelance writer and journalist Ben Riley joins Liz and Ben for a magical history tour as Susan Sto Helit teams up with a couple of monks to stop time...er...stopping in the twenty-sixth Discworld novel: 2001's Thief of Time. In Ankh-Morpork, a mystery woman tasks the odd but talented Jeremy Clockson to build a clock so accurate it can measure the tick of the Universe. In mountain monastery of Oi Dong, Lu-Tze, sweeper of the History Monks, gains a new apprentice: the unmotivated but gifted Newgate "Lobsang" Ludd. And in his domain, Death senses that the Auditors of Reality, grey entities who count every atom, are once again seeking to curb the chaos of life. He recruits his granddaughter Susan to help find the son of Time. If they can't, he'll have to get the old band back together and ride out for the end of the world - at precisely one o'clock, this Wednesday... Pratchett brings back a string of old favourites for this action-packed romp through...well, not quite through time, but it's certainly "about" time. It's the last book to properly star Susan Sto Helit, and for that matter Death; it brings back Lu-Tze, the sweeper who nudged Brutha in the right direction back in Small Gods; and Nanny Ogg is here too, in her first major appearance since the last Witches book, Carpe Jugulum. Oh, and there's a main character named Lobsang, and we know all about that name... Is this what you were hoping for in a third outing for Susan? How do you feel about the fate(s) of Lobsang and Jeremy? Where do you land on having an in-universe excuse for continuity errors in Discworld? And are the monkish wisdom jokes okay because they're based more on kung fu movie tropes than actual Tibetan culture, or is it still a bit on the nose? Join the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat48 on social media! Guest Benjamin Riley (not to be confused with Spider-Man clone Ben Reilly) is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist. He's written for Junkee, SBS Online, PopMatters, Overland, the Star Observer and many other publications. Ben also works in AIDS research and in HIV and sexual health policy, organises queer community events, and co-hosted and produced the queer political podcast Queers with Simon Copland from 2015 to 2019. (You can still find old episodes in most podcast directories and via the Queers acast page.) For more on what Ben's up to, follow him at @bencriley on Twitter or hit up his website at benjaminriley.com.au. In other Ben news, the videogame Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown, written by a certain Ben McKenzie, is now available on Steam! As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site. Next episode we take another little breather - it's been a long lockdown here in Melbourne, folks - to read a Pratchett short story: his take on Arthurian myth, Once and Future! It was originally published in 1995 in the collection Camelot, but like most of his short fiction you can find it in A Blink of the Screen. Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat49, or via email to chat@pratchatpodcast.com. And yes, we are planning something a little different and special for our fiftieth episode in December - watch our website and social media for news on that soon!

Pratchat

#Pratchat48 – Lu-Tze in the Sky with Lobsang

Science comedian and public health nerd Alanta Colley joins Liz and Ben on their second trip through Discworld into Roundworld, as they join Rincewind and the wizards of Unseen University in Pratchett's second collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen: 2002's The Science of Discworld II: The Globe. While on a team-building exercise in the woods near Unseen University, Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully and his faculty are accidentally swept along when something makes its way through the Discworld into Roundworld. That something turns out to be elves - nasty, parasitic lifeforms who feast on the imagination and emotions of others. Roundworld - the universe in a bottle created by the wizards' experiments, which somehow runs without any magic - has been altered by their presence. Now the wizards - including Rincewind, the long-suffering Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography - have to find a way to get rid of them without dooming the local human population in the process... Having entirely missed humankind in The Science of Discworld, the wizards are back for another go! And so are science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen - but this time, they don't want to explain cosmology, basic physics and the history of the Earth, but instead sell you on the idea that storytelling is the essential ingredient that makes humans...human. Are we really Pans narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee, rather than Homo sapiens, the "wise man"? Is it wise to write a popular science book with an author who will guarantee the book will be read again twenty years later - and to include some "cutting edge" science, no less? What do a debunked psychological experiment, the term "overcommitment", and filthy explanations of fairytales have to do with it? And who's this shrewd and world-wise street wizard named Rincewind, and can we have some more of his adventures please? Let us know what you think using the hashtag #Pratchat47 on social media, and join in the conversation! Guest Alanta Colley is a comedian, science communicator and storyteller whose solo shows include Parasites Lost (about parasites), Days of Our Hives (about beekeeping) and The Origin of Faeces (you can probably work that one out yourself). She also wrote and performed the "comedy experiment" You Chose Poorly with our own Ben McKenzie. Since 2017 Alanta has also been the host and producer of Sci Fight, a series of comedy science debates; both Ben and Liz have been guest speakers, along with previous Pratchat guests Anna Ahveninen (#Pratchat35) and Nicholas J Johnson (#Pratchat38). You can hear Ben and Anna's last appearance on Sci Fight in this episode of the Climactic podcast, or see the first online debate for Melbourne Science Gallery on YouTube here. Visit scifight.com.au to sign up to the mailing list, and you can find Alanta as @lannyopolis on Twitter and Instagram, via Facebook or at alantacolley.com. You can find out more about what Liz has been writing by following her as @ElizabethFlux on Twitter or Instagram. As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site. Next episode we read one of the few precious Discworld novels left to us, though luckily we got a little preview this time around; yes, we're joining up with Susan, Death and the history monks for the very timely Thief of Time, which we'll be discussing with journalist Ben Riley! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat48, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

#Pratchat47 – A Finite Number of Shakespeares

Writer and editor Deanne Sheldon-Collins joins Liz and Ben as they return to the infinite worlds of the Long Earth to discuss Pratchett's second collaboration with Stephen Baxter: 2013's The Long War. It's now ten years since anti-stepping extremists nuked natural stepper and explorer Joshua Valienté's home town of Madison on the original "Datum" Earth. Joshua has since settled down with pioneer Helen Green and become mayor of Hell-Knows-Where, a thriving town established more than a million steps West of the Datum. But Sally Linsay, fellow far stepper, soon arrives to ask Joshua for help. Trouble is brewing in the Long Earth: humanity's relationship with the species they call "trolls" is deteriorating. Tensions are rising between the American government and the far-flung colonies in its "footprint" on other worlds. And on another world barely visited by humans, other species make plans to push the humans back where they came from... The multi-threaded cosy travelogue continues in (probably) Pratchett's second-longest novel. More Earths, more characters, and more non-humans! A sense of potential disaster looms in every other chapter, while the characters and narrative ponder humanity's relationship with Earth, and the ways in which society might respond to twenty-five years of unlimited resources and living room. Does this still feel like Pratchett to you? What did you think of the women in the novel - especially Joshua's "young wife" Helen? Did you enjoy the various side treks to weird worlds with strange creatures, or did they just leave you wanting more time with the trolls, kobolds, elves and weirder denizens of the Long Earth? And, perhaps most importantly: will you stick with the series and see where it's going next? Use the hashtag #Pratchat46 on social media to join the conversation! Guest Deanne Sheldon-Collins is an editor and writer who's been an active part of Australia's speculative fiction scene for a decade or so. Deanne has worked for Aurealis magazine, Writer's Victoria, the National Young Writer's Festival and Speculate, the Victorian Speculative Fiction Writers Festival, where she has been co-director with previous guest Joel Martin since 2019. While Deanne's current work isn't really publicly available, she'd like you to know that you can find out more about Speculate - including the recently announced Speculate Prize - by following the festival on Twitter at @SpecFicVic, or joining their mailing list via specfic.com.au. As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site. Next episode it's time to restart the experiment as we shake up the globe that is the wizards of Unseen University's Roundworld experiment! Prepare to mix science and magic in The Science of Discworld II: The Globe, which we'll be discussing with science comedian, Alanta Colley! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat47, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

#Pratchat46 – The Helen Green Preservation Society

With the ei- the twice-fourth Australian Discworld Convention postponed until next year, Liz and Ben fired up their crystal balls to project themselves live for the one-day online event, Nullus Anxietas: The Lost Con! In this special one-hour mini-episode, we revisit the very first book discussed on the podcast: the fifteenth Discworld novel, 1993's Men at Arms! You can of course listen to #Pratchat1 again if you like, though we've included a few important excerpts in this revisit episode. As well as discussing the book in the light of everything we've read (and everything that's happened) since, we reminisce about figuring out how the podcast would work, and answer some questions posed by the live online audience. Has your opinion of Carrot/Angua changed over time? Is Cuddy's death still too upsetting to think about? What other names and Discworld-specific words are we pronouncing wrong? We'd love to know...except maybe that last one! Use the hashtag #PratchatNALC on social media to join the conversation. Intrigued by the idea of a Discworld fan convention? You should be! Old-school fan conventions are few and far between, and we'd love you to support one of the few left in Australia. Find out more about Nullus Anxietas, the Australian Discworld Convention, and get your early bird membership (attending or supporting) to Nullus Anxietas 7A, at ausdwcon.org. You can also follow the convention on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site. Huge thanks to everyone who attended the convention, those who listened to us live and asked questions, and to the other panelists - there were some amazing discussions and great fun to be had by all! Especially big thanks once again to the massive team of hard-working volunteers and committee members at Nullus Anxietas, especially the "Man with the Vote", Steve Lewis, and question wrangler Danny Sag. We'll see you all - in person we hope - for for the rescheduled Nullus Anxietas 7A in 2022! This is the closest thing we've done to a live show since our appearance at the last Nullus Anxietas convention, but the online format seemed to work pretty well. We'll look into the possibility of doing our more online live events in future - let us know if that's something you'd like to see!

#PratchatNALC – Twice as Alive

Surprise! In the great Australian tradition of Christmas in July, Liz and Ben are joined by writer and literary horror fan Penelope Love to discuss Pratchett's short story "Twenty Pence, With Envelope and Seasonal Greeting", first published on the 16th of December, 1987. It's Christmas Eve, 1843, and the driver of a missing Mail Coach is discovered lying in the snow in Wiltshire. A local doctor determines he is scared out of his wits, but nonetheless records the coachman's horrifying tale of passing through a weird rectangular portal. He and his passengers strayed from the world we know into others filled with nightmares: strangely glittering snow, terrifyingly flat London streets, monstrous giant animals and nonsensical language... Written in the style of Victorian horror fiction from authors like M R James, H P Lovecraft and A C Doyle*, with a side order of Dickens, this story was inspired when Pratchett glanced at his shelf full of Christmas cards. Despite the ridiculous premise, he plays it totally straight, with phrases that could have come straight from The Call of Cthulhu and other works of the era he's emulating. But in 1987, people still sent Christmas cards. Does the story still work now, when we have to think a bit harder to recall the kinds of things printed on those ineffable pieces of cardboard? Can we be spooked and made to laugh at the same time? And does the old-school "horrors humankind was not meant to know" genre still make our blood run cold in this age of smartphones, satellite imagery and Google? Use the hashtag #Pratchat45 on social media to join the conversation! Guest Penelope Love is a writer best known for her short fiction, and her work on roleplaying games, most notably Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, based on the works of H P Lovecraft. Penny is also part of the team at Campaign Coins, who make gorgeous metal coins and counters for use with roleplaying and other tabletop games. You can find Penny's collections of comic fantasy stories about "The Three Dungeoneers" via the Campaign Coins website, and also look up Penny's author page on Amazon to find many of Penny's other works. Penny is on Twitter as @PennyLoveWrites, or you can follow @CampaignCoins for more on their projects. As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site. Next episode, as previously advertised, we’re going West and/or East again as we head back into the Long Earth with The Long War - this time joined by writer and editor, Deanne Sheldon-Collins! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat46, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com * With apologies to Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle.

#Pratchat45 – Hogswatch in Grune

For the second time - and coincidentally for another of the books in The Long Earth series - we've made a change in our schedule! Our next book will still be The Long War, as announced in #Pratchat44, but we're postponing that until August. Our forty-fifth episode, #Pratchat45, will instead discuss Pratchett's 1987 short story, "Twenty Pence, With Envelope and Seasonal Greeting". Listen or read on for more information; and we've included a short (silly) out-take from an old episode as a little thank you treat. Please get your questions in for the short story using the hashtag #Pratchat45, or for The Long War using the hashtag #Pratchat46. As usual you can send them via social media, or by email to chat@pratchatpodcast.com. Because Ben can't help himself, here are a few brief episode notes: The Long War is probably Pratchett's second or third longest book. It's 500 or 512 pages, depending on the edition - we don't have a word count - but using the page count as a rough guide his longest novel is Unseen Academicals, which clocks in at 514 or 533 pages in its paperback editions. This is considerably longer than his earlier works, which are short by comparison to most fantasy novels. (You can find some amazingly detailed stats on the earlier Discworld books up to The Amazing Maurice on The L-Space Web; and yes, Ben is now very keen to try and complete this work for all of Pratchett's novels. Stay tuned...)Melbourne's latest lockdown lasted two weeks, from May 28 to June 10, 2021. Many restrictions remain in place at the time of recording, including limits on the number of visitors to private homes.You can get information about and tickets to The Lost Con, which is happening online on Saturday July 3rd, 2021, at the Australian Discworld Convention website.The out-take is from #Pratchat12, "Brooms, Boats and Pumpkinmobiles", featuring guest Jackie Tang and discussing Witches Abroad.Echidna spines are not actually hair, but they are made of the same protein, keratin. We previously mentioned this in #Pratchat36, but there are two kinds of keratin: alpha-keratin, which is found in all vertebrates, and beta-keratin, found only in reptiles and birds. Echidna's spines are made of a harder form of alpha-keratin, similar to the keratin in human fingernails - and surprisingly, using conditioner on your nails (and presumably echidna spines) supposedly makes them stronger and healthier, not smoother!We previously discussed Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzerelli, the 50s greaser with a heart of gold from classic 1970s sitcom Happy Days, in #Pratchat10. (He's the character who originally - and literally - "jumped the shark".)The social media network Vine, owned by Twitter, allowed users to post six-second looping videos. It operated from 2012 to 2016, when it was shut down for new uploads; the archive of old content remained until 2019 (though you can still see stills of videos if you follow a Vine link). You can find compilations of some of the best Vine videos on YouTube - please tweet us your favourites! (For contrast, TikTok launched in 2017, though it is the international version of the Chinese original, 抖音 (Douyin), which began operation in 2016.)Ben is remembering Marutaro the Pygmy Hedgehog, who was indeed a Vine superstar in around 2014. They were one of two hedgehog finalists in the Animal category for the 8th Shorty Awards in 2015. Thanks as always to all our listeners, and especially to our subscribers.

A Short Announcement re: The Long War

We've waited two and a half years for its 35th anniversary, but finally Joel Martin rejoins Liz and Ben to resolve the Discworld's first (and most literal) cliffhanger in The Light Fantastic, the second Discworld novel, first published on the 2nd of June, 1986. When we last saw them, failed wizard Rincewind, Twoflower the tourist and Twoflower's magical Luggage - a living chest on legs - had fallen over the Rim of the Discworld. But instead of tumbling forever through space, they mysteriously find themselves in the Forest of Skund, surrounded by talking trees, gnomes and gingerbread cottages. The senior wizards of Unseen University - including Chancellor Galder Weatherwax, and the second of his Order, Ymper Trymon - soon discover what's happened: the Octavo, the Creator's book of spells, wants to keep Rincewind alive. One of its spells is inside his head, and all eight need to be read to avert an impending apocalypse heralded by an ominous red star... While the usual story is that Pratchett only returned to the Discworld because The Colour of Magic proved popular, he did set himself up for a sequel by dropping his protagonists off the edge of the world. Unlike its predecessor, The Light Fantastic has a pretty straightforward plot about averting the end of the world - but that doesn't stop Pratchett from parodying everything from fairytales to druidic sacrifices and the conventions of fantasy writing. Plus this book introduces some concepts, and especially characters, who will come back later, including a certain no-longer-human Librarian, Death's adopted daughter Ysabell, and octogenarian barbarian Genghiz Cohen. (The rest of the supporting cast are less fortunate...) Does this feel like a "real" Discworld book yet? How do we reconcile these versions of Death and Ysabell with the ones we come to love later? Is it really a bad idea to start with the early books - or is it fun to begin with the early versions of ideas Pratchett would later develop more fully? And what on the Disc happens to Rincewind between this book and Sourcery? Use the hashtag #Pratchat44 on social media to join the conversation! Guest Joel Martin is a podcaster and writer who has joined us twice before: way back in #Pratchat14 to discuss The Colour of Magic, and then again in #Pratchat31 for The Long Earth. While his podcasts are currently on hiatus, there's soon to be exciting news regarding his speculative fiction writers festival, Speculate! You can watch for Speculate news on Twitter at @SpecFicVic, and join the festival's mailing list via specfic.com.au. Find Joel online at thepenofjoel.com or on Twitter at @thepenofjoel. As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site. Next episode we go back to another second book of a series, as we take a little break from the Discworld. Yes, it's book two of Pratchett's five novel collaboration with Stephen Baxter, The Long War! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat45, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com

#Pratchat44 – Cosmic Turtle Soup

Welcome to a new tradition: the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we will release a bonus episode discussing topics selected by our Eeek tier subscribers. This year, the topics are: How would Ankh-Morpork deal with COVID-19?What would happen if Granny Weatherwax was head of Unseen University - or if Angua commanded the Watch?Are golems alive? (For that matter, is fire alive?)How has Pratchett and/or the Discworld informed our personal philosophies?If Pratchett had kept writing the Discworld series, would it have evolved into science fiction?

Eeek Club 2021

Poet and writer Sally Evans joins Liz and Ben as they rejoin Tiffany Aching for a trip up into the mountains to meet the next generation of witches in A Hat Full of Sky, the 32nd Discworld novel, first published in 2004. Note that while this episode discusses a book for younger readers, it does contain swearing and we discuss concepts only appearing metaphorically in the book, including puberty and (briefly) masturbation. Parents may wish to listen first before listening with their wee big ones. Tiffany Aching's life is all change: she's off into the mountains to apprentice with Miss Level, a research witch who even other witches find a bit weird. She's left behind her home, her family, and everything she's ever known. Even the Nac Mac Feegle - the drinking, fighting pictsies who've become her fierce protectors since she was briefly their Queen - aren't coming with her. Tiffany soon finds that fitting in among other new witches, and learning the craft, are far harder than anything she's done before. And that's before the one bit of magic she knows brings her to the attention of a hiver - a bodiless, mindless, invisible creature looking for someone with power to inhabit... While a certain other magical young person was attending a school of magic and magic (as the copyright lawyers insist we call it), Pratchett's own Tiffany Aching sets out on a very different journey of discovery. While only 11, she must grapple with her own burgeoning powers (barely under her control), new social dynamics, the affections of someone who is merely less annoying than he used to be, and all the perils of growing up, including the monster in your own head... Is this book too grown up for 11-year-olds? Does Pratchett have a high estimation of young people? Are we on the money about the metaphors? How great would it be to have an ondageist? And are the Feegles still fun, or has Tiffany already outgrown them? Er...so to speak. Use the hashtag #Pratchat43 on social media to join the conversation! Guest Dr Sally Evans is a poet and researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. As part of her PhD, Sally created four chapbook-length sequences of poetry, including a modern reworking of The Odyssey by Homer, and giving Fifty Shades of Grey the blackout poetry treatment. You can hear Sally talk Mad Max: Fury Road on the apocalyptic fiction podcast Catastropod, hosted by previous Pratchat guest Marlee Jane Ward, and follow her on Twitter at @SalacticaActual. Next episode we fulfil our stupidest promise: yes, two and half years after we discussed The Colour of Magic, and around 35 years after its first publication, we finally resolve Pratchett's most literal cliffhanger. Join us as we read the second ever Discworld novel, 1986's The Light Fantastic! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat44, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com You'll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

#Pratchat43 – Big Wee Hag: Far Fra’ Home

Author, editor and journalist Stephanie Convery returns to Pratchat as newspapers and conspiracy hit Ankh-Morpork in the same week! It's The Truth, the 25th Discworld novel, first published in 2000. William de Worde has made a reasonable living writing a monthly newsletter for notables, keeping them informed of goings on in Ankh-Morpork. But when he's nearly run over by Gunilla Goodmountain's new movable type printing press, he soon begins producing a different kind of "paper of news" - one that anyone can buy on the street, full of the important stories of the day. Before long "the Ankh-Morpork Times" - soon employing writer Sacharissa Cripslock and vampire iconographer Otto von Chriek - is a hit...and has ruffled a few feathers. But William has a powerful drive to spread the news, only intensified when Lord Vetinari is found unconscious next to a horse loaded with money after supposedly having stabbed his clerk. The Patrician being arrested for attempted murder and embezzlement is big news, of course - but is it the truth? Pratchett cut his teeth as a writer as a journalist, and had for many years used his work as inspiration - but nowhere as directly as in the 25th Discworld novel, which introduces the Disc's first newspaper journalists, William de Worde. Apart from William, the novel also brings us the Times' staff, most notably Sacharissa and Otto, who pop up in many future books, and the unforgettable "New Firm" of Mr Pin and Mr Tulip - plus the triumphant return of Gaspode! The books also draws on sources as broad as Shakespeare, the history of printing, Watergate and Pulp Fiction for inspiration, references and jokes, while still packing in themes as serious as public interest, prejudice, class privilege and...well...the truth. Is it weird seeing Vimes as a secondary character through the eyes of a journalist? Do you wish the staff of the Times had more books of their own? Where do you come down on the debate over public interest vs "of interest to the public"? Share your truth with us via the hashtag #Pratchat42 on social media, and join the conversation! Guest Stephanie Convery is a freelance writer and Deputy Culture Editor for Guardian Australia. Since she was last a guest on this podcast (discussing Mort way back in #Pratchat2, "Murdering a Curry"), Stephanie has published her first book: After the Count, a critically acclaimed "history and interrogation of boxing as art and a cultural examination of sport", framed around the death of boxer Davey Browne following a knockout in the ring. You can check out Stephanie's work at Guardian Australia, or follow her on Twitter at @gingerandhoney. We're planning to be part of the line-up for the Australian Discworld Convention's online event, The Lost Con, on Saturday 3rd July, 2021. More details on that soon! We'd also love to know if you want us to do an episode about The Watch television series, and whether you'd support Ben making a similar podcast about the works of Douglas Adams. Next time we're jumping ahead into the future as we continue to spread out Tiffany Aching's story: yes, it's time to grab A Hat Full of Sky! We'll be joined by writer and poet, Sally Evans. Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat43, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com You'll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site. This month (April 2021) you can also help raise money for Meals on Wheels in the US as part of the #Reviews4Good initiative! We'll respond and double the donation, too. Just review the show (or an episode) on Podchaser.

#Pratchat42 – Truth, the Printing Press and Every -ing

Educator Dr Charlotte Pezaro joins Liz and Ben on a trip to the South Pelagic, where they find tsunamis, gods and science in Nation, Pratchett's standalone young adult novel from 2008. Mau is returning from his rite of passage when a huge wave washes over his island Nation, killing everyone he has ever known. He is all alone, stuck without a soul between the states of boy and man. Lost in his despair and anger at the gods he now isn't sure he believes in, he's ready to give in to the dark water until he meets Daphne, the only survivor from a "trouserman" ship flung into the Nation by the wave. As they learn each others' customs and languages, and other survivors gradually begin to arrive, Mau and Daphne must both reckon with the gods and ghosts of the Nation's past - and work hard to ensure it has a future... Pratchett's own proudest achievement, and winner of multiple of awards, Nation presents an alternate universe where things are a little bit different in some ways...and considerably different in others. Pratchett examines his favourite themes of belief, death, imperialism and science through a new lens, in a tale of loss, growing up, and asking big questions. Is this Pratchett's magnum opus? Does inventing an entire universe next door make it okay for a white Englishman to tell a story about South Pacific Islanders with the serial numbers filed off? Why did he split Australia in half ? Tell us by using the hashtag #Pratchat41 on social media to join the conversation! Guest Dr Charlotte Pezaro is an educator with a PhD in pedagogy and years of science and technology communication experience. Charlotte is also a qualified primary school teacher, and works with other teachers to help them improve their skills. You can find out more about Charlotte at charlottepezaro.com, or follow her on Twitter at @dialogicedu. Next time we're heading back to Ankh-Morpork for a tale of journalism, vampirism and authoritarianism, the 25th Discworld novel: 2000's The Truth! We'll be joined by returning guest, writer and deputy culture editor for Guardian Australia, Stephanie Convery. Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat42, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com You'll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

#Pratchat41 – The Adventures of Crab Boy and Trouser Girl

Comedian Richard McKenzie returns to get a bit gothic as he, Liz and Ben head to Überwald to discuss The Fifth Elephant in the room...by which we mean the twenty-fourth Discworld novel, published in 1999. As Ankh-Morpork and its neighbours embrace modern semaphore technology, trouble is brewing among the dwarfs. A new Low King is soon to be crowned in Überwald - and not everyone is happy with the choice. The Patrician selects just the right "diplomat" for the job: the Duke of Ankh, Sir Samuel Vimes. He reluctantly agrees to face vampires, werewolves, Igors and dwarf politics in a place where his Watch badge holds no sway. He's not going alone - though Sergeant Detritus (a troll) and Corporal Cheery Littlebottom (the first openly female dwarf) are not likely to be popular with the traditional dwarfs of Überwald. Luckily he also has diplomatic attaché Inigo Skimmer, and his strongest ally: his wife, the Lady Sybil Ramkin... After exploring one vampire family from Überwald in Carpe Jugulum, Pratchett takes Sam Vimes out of his comfort zone and into the lands of the fabled fifth elephant, while making far fewer references to the Luc Besson film than you'd expect. With Carrot and Angua off on a B-plot, and Colon, Nobby and the rest of the Watch left behind in the C-plot, it's also a chance for background characters Detritus, Cheery and Lady Sybil to shine. The novel also expands on the culture of vampires, werewolves, Igors and especially dwarfs, building the foundations for many future novels. It's a great read for a Discworld fan - but would The Fifth Elephant make a confusing introduction to the series? Was this Sybil's finest hour, or were you left wanting more of her? Does a beloved character do a murder? If so, is it okay? And did Carrot really need to be there, or was he just a Gaspode enabling device? Tell us by using the hashtag #Pratchat40 on social media to join the conversation! Returning guest Richard McKenzie is hopefully back to hosting trivia twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, at the Cornish Arms on Sydney Road in Brunswick, Melbourne. He and Ben devised the Dungeons & Dragons themed impro comedy show Dungeon Crawl, which now usually appears at Melbourne games expo PAX Aus. He also appears in the lineup of ensemble comedy shows The Anarchist Guild Social Committee and Secondhand Cinema Club. A a quick reminder that you can order Collisions, the short story anthology from Liminal Magazine, from your local bookshop! It includes Liz's story "The Voyeur" and fifteen others. The link also has some online sources if you need 'em. Next time we're reading something very different: Pratchett's standalone, non-Discworld young adult novel from 2008, Nation! We'll be joined by educator Charlotte Pezaro. Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat41, or get them in via email: chat@pratchatpodcast.com You'll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

#Pratchat40 – The King and the Hole of the King

We're kicking off the Year of the Beleaguered Badger with something a little different: an international guest, and a short story! Unofficial Pratchett biographer Marc Burrows joins us from the UK to discuss the third Discworld short story: 1998's The Sea and Little Fishes! Without much else but the carefully applied annoyances of Nanny Ogg to occupy her time, Granny Weatherwax is ready to win the annual Witch Trial - just as she does every year. But Lettice Earwig, self-appointed leader of a sort of witch committee, has decided this is discouraging new witches, and asks Granny not to participate. She also tells Granny to try being "nice" - and the worst part is, Granny appears to be taking her advice... Very long for a short story, The Sea and Little Fishes delves into the relationship between two of Pratchett's most beloved characters, and introduces people and concepts he'd later expand upon in the Tiffany Aching novels. In a sense it's a story in which almost nothing happens, but then that's largely the point - someone like Granny Weatherwax hardly has to do anything at all to move mountains. Where did you read it? What do you think of the title? And how long can a story be while still being considered "short"??? Let us know! Use the hashtag #Pratchat39 on social media to join the conversation. Guest Marc Burrows is a writer, musician and comic. His articles and reviews about music and culture have appeared in The Guardian and a variety of other publications, but he's currently best known as the author of the first, unofficial Terry Pratchett biography, The Magic of Terry Pratchett, which you can learn all about at askmeaboutterrypratchett.com. He is also a member of the band The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, and has two upcoming non-fiction books about music. The best place to find Marc online is as @20thcenturymarc on Twitter and Instagram, and you can sign up to his newsletter "The Glom of Nit" via tinyletter.com. You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site. We plan to cover short stories once or twice a year to help us all keep up with the schedule, in part because our original plan - to cover them as live shows - hasn't worked out this last year. But next month it's back to the Discworld novels, and the Watch, with The Fifth Elephant - and we're welcoming back one of our earliest guests, Richard McKenzie! Send us your questions via email, or social media using the hashtag #Pratchat40. Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book - and maybe make a few more live episodes like this? You can support Pratchat for as little as $2 a month and get subscriber bonuses, like the exclusive bonus podcast Ook Club!

#Pratchat39 – All the Fun of the…Fish?

Writers, comedians, magicians and con-men experts Nicholas J Johnson and Lawrence Leung join us as we meet the distressingly named Moist von Lipwig in his 2004 debut, the 33rd Discworld novel, Going Postal! Con-man Moist von Lipwig (aka Albert Spangler) thinks he's come to the end of the line when he's hanged by order of Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. But while the world believes him hanged, the city's tyrant has actually saved him for something bigger: he wants Moist to revitalise the city's derelict post office. It seems like a hopeless task with no chance of success or escape, what with the mountains of mail, unsatisfactory staff, golem parole officer, and the communications monopoly of the Grand Trunk Sempahore Company, run by the piratical Reacher Gilt. But every con-man needs a challenge... Pratchett's first Moist book is a great in to the Discworld at large, with a gripping self-contained story of new technology vs old, capitalism vs the public good, and one man's lifetime of criminal habits vs his better nature. As well as Moist himself, it introduces such memorable characters as Mr Pump, Stanley the pin collector, and the one and only Adorabelle Dearheart. (Everyone in this book has an amazing name.) It's not a short book, and we struggle to cover all its themes, twists and turns. Do you love Moist von Lipwig? Could you get over his name? Could you operate a Clacks tower? And just how deep did Vetinari's plan go, anyway? Join the discussion using the hashtag #Pratchat38. Guest Nicholas J Johnson is an author, magician and expert in scams and swindles, earning himself the nickname "Australia's Honest Con-Man". His new children's book, the "autobiographical" Tricky Nick, features magic and time travel and all sorts, and is available now from Pan Macmillan. Find out more about Nick's live performances and workshops at conman.com.au, or follow him on Twitter at @countlustig. Guest Lawrence Leung is a comedian, screenwriter and actor, known to Australian audiences from his roles in Offspring and Top of the Lake, and his own shows including Lawrence Leung's Choose-Your-Own-Adventure and Maximum Choppage, and the feature film Sucker. Find out all the latest about Lawrence, including when you can catch his live-streamed comedy shows, at lawrenceleung.com, or you can follow him on Twitter at @Lawrence_Leung. The full show notes and errata for this episode will be added to our web site later in the month. Our plan to cover Sir Terry's short fiction was via live shows, but since that hasn't worked out for us this year, in January we're going to discuss 1998's short witches story, The Sea and Little Fishes. We'll also be welcoming our first international guest: Marc Burrows, author of the Pratchett biography The Magic of Terry Pratchett! Send us your questions via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat39.

#Pratchat38 – Moisten to Steal

Author Will Kostakis returns to face time travel, unexploded bombs and a tangle of timelines in the final Johnny Maxwell book, 1996's Johnny and the Bomb! When Johnny and his misfit friends look after homeless eccentric Mrs Tachyon's shopping trolley, they soon discover she has a complicated relationship with time. Johnny, Yo-less, Wobbler, Bigmac and Kirsty travel back to World War II, on the eve of the "Blackbury Blitz". Johnny knows bombs are meant to destroy Paradise Street - but can he and his friends do anything about it? Do they even have the right? And how will they get back ho- hang on. Where's Wobbler? Pratchett's first book focussing on time travel also touches on the worries of teenagers, local history, racism, sexism and the nature of fate and destiny. It might seem weighty for a children's book, but children think about this stuff all the time! Did you follow all the time travel shenanigans? How do you think Pratchett's handling of these issues compares to modern middle grade fiction - or even his own previous Johnny books? And if you could go back in time, would you try and change things for the better? Join the discussion using the hashtag #Pratchat37. Returning guest Will Kostakis is a writer and award-winning author. Since we last saw him in #Pratchat18, "Sundog Gazillionaire", he's published his first fantasy YA novel, Monuments, and its sequel, Rebel Gods. His new novella, The Greatest Hit, is out now from Lothian Children's Books as part of the Australia Reads initiative. Find out more about Will at willkostakis.com, or follow him on Twitter at @willkostakis. You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site. As mentioned at the end of this episode, the fiction anthology Collisions from Liminal Magazine is out now, featuring Liz's story "The Voyeur"! Order it from your local bookshop. And we also announced that the Australian Discworld Convention in Sydney has had to be postponed from 2021 to 2022. Find out more at ausdwcon.org. Next month we see out the year with a favourite, as we time travel about ten Discworld books ahead to meet Moist von Lipwig in Going Postal! We've invited two experts on con artistry to discuss it with us: writer and magician Nicholas J Johnson, and comedian and actor Lawrence Leung! Get your questions in via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat38.

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