Today’s show on Ujima began with me interviewing local writer, Jonathan L Howard, about his new book, Carter & Lovecraft (which I reviewed here). We talked a fair amount about Lovecraft the man, about the World Fantasy Awards and the controversy surrounding the trophy, and about how and why Lovecraft might be relevant today.
Next up was Emma Newman. She couldn’t make it into the studio (too busy) so we did a pre-record over Skype. Emma and I talked mainly about Planetfall (which is excellent): about 3D printing, small isolated communities, mental illness and the need for diverse characters in books. We also talked a bit about Emma’s year of horror, about Tea & Jeopardy, and about the forthcoming Split Worlds live role-playing game and masked ball (tickets for which are available here).
You can listen to the first hour of the show here.
The second hour began with Sheila Ollis from The Brigstowe Project talking about the current state of the AIDS epidemic, both in Zimbabwe and among immigrant communities in Bristol. While it is good to know that AIDS is now survivable, it was clear from talking to Sheila that there is still a very long way to go, especially in communities were myths about the disease are still widely believed.
Finally I welcomed my colleague, Andreeja, and Nick Young from The Creative Youth Network. Nick is directing a modern re-imagining of Cinderella using the young people from CYN as his cast and crew. Andreeja, as well as working for Ujima, is the social media guru for CYN. Nick and I could probably have talked for a very long time about fairy tales, and I did send him away with a recommendation to read Cat Valente. Along the way we referred to this article in Bristol 24/7, and I had a bit of a rant about this particular show at the Hippodrome.
You can listen to the second hour of the show here.
The playlist for today’s show was:
- Lucky Star – Labi Siffre
- Tokyo – Lianne La Havas
- Take the A Train – Duke Ellington
- We were Rock n Roll – Janelle Monáe
- Hound Dog – Big Mama Thornton
- Together Again – Janet Jackson
- Independent Woman Part I – Destiny’s Child
- Unstoppable – Lianne La Havas
I was particularly pleased to play Big Mama Thornton. Her version of Hound Dog was #1 on Billboard for seven weeks in 1952, selling almost 2 million copies. But because that Presley guy covered it no one remembers her any more.
My next show is going to be on December 30th. I rather suspect that no one will want to be on it and I’ll just play music for two hours, but if anyone is keen to be interviewed let me know. I can do pre-records on Skype so it doesn’t matter where in the world you are.