Mohanraj and Rosenbaum Are Humans

Coming onto the show is Avery Alder, a game designer bringing a queer perspective to roleplaying games. Mary Anne and Ben talk with Avery about her various projects, the interesting aspects of narrative scaffolding and restraint offered by RPGs, and the genesis of Ben and Avery's collaboration on "Dream Askew" and "Dream Apart", two games of Belonging Outside Belonging. To find out more about Aver...

Is there such a thing as good and bad writing? What place does absolutism and relativism have in the critique of writing quality? Or is it all just about reader pleasure? These are the questions that have been brought up time and time again over the years in heated debates between Mary Anne, Ben, and Jed. This time, they are bringing it to the podcast. For show notes and links visit: https://specu...

Mary Anne speaks with Kate Elliott about map making. What is the significance of having an internal map when world building? What are cultural icebergs and how can writers think about them? What types of things should be researched when building a believable world? For show notes and links visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-25-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcast, consider supporting us...

In this episode, Mary Anne brings on Ben to discuss agents. Both recount their experiences finding and working with agents, their importance to the field, proper etiquette in finding and speaking with them, and how Mary Anne should navigate her wide array of genre projects with an agent. For show notes and links visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-24-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcast,...

Mary Anne interviews Nalo Hopkinson, Andrea Hairston, and Sheree Renee Thomas about how the genre has evolved during their careers and how we can raise awareness of Black writers and their work. The four also discuss the dangers of self-selection and the importance of writing in community.  For show notes and links visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-23-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcas...

In this vulnerable episode, Mary Anne and Ben share some of their biggest failures in their writing careers. The discussion also encompasses what it's like to deal with imposter syndrome, while also bearing the weight of creative ambition.  For show notes and links visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-22-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon. You can follo...

On his second appearance on the show, Jed Hartman discusses the origins of Strange Horizons with Mary Anne and Ben, and the difficulties they encountered with establishing its reputation and bringing a diversity of voices to the field. For show notes and links visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-21-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon. You can follow us...

In the second part of their discussion, both Delia and Ellen are present to talk Shakespeare, writing style, character realism, dialogue, the queer side of the genre history, and more with Mary Anne and Ben. For show notes and links to some of Delia and Ellen's works visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-20-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon. You can fol...

Mary Anne and Ben catch up with old friends Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner. In the first half of the episode, the hosts of MRAH speak to Delia about her balladic influences, formula fiction, and the process of writing Freedom Maze. In the last half of the episode, Ellen switches with Delia to talk about her book Swordspoint, the intricacies of collaborative writing, and more.  For show notes visi...

In movies, shows, and books, the aliens often invade the biggest, most iconic cities in our world. But what if the aliens chose to inhabit a place like the US Virgin Islands? In this episode, Mary Anne and Ben interview Cadwell Turnbull on his sci-fi book, The Lesson, and what its representations of aliens, violence, language, and culture says about our own troubled history with colonialism. For s...

Join Mary Anne as she interviews Nalo Hopkinson about the exceptional use of language and vernacular in her work. To view or read the interview, you can visit the episode's show notes at https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-17-show-notes/

Stranded in the Swiss Alps, Ben reminisces with Mary Anne about their early writing in what is a sequel to the "Gamifying the Rejection" episode. The two also discuss the importance of magazines in their lives, and how starting Strange Horizons impacted budding and established writers alike in the field . For show notes visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-16-show-notes/ If you enjoy this p...

Join Mary Anne as she interviews Farah Mendlesohn about international science fiction and her latest book, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein. For show notes visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-15-show-notes/

Trapped in quarantine during the early stages of the pandemic, Mary Anne and Ben delve into their family structures through a lens of domesticity. Ben introduces and explains his chore chart, which was created earlier in his life and has developed into a well running machine. And Mary Anne asks the question of whether or not you should get a cookie for doing the right thing. For show notes visit:...

This time around, the impetus for this discussion is Mary Anne's new cookbook, Vegan Serendib, a companion piece to her previous A Feast of Serendib, an Amazon bestseller. Friends of the show, writers V.V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthan and Nayomi Munaweera are invited to the podcast to talk Sri-Lankan history, writers, and food in anticipation of Mary Anne's newest cookbook. If you want to find out more a...

Stepping down momentarily from being a co-host, Ben is interviewed by Mary Anne and Jed about his newest book, The Unraveling, a tale of social unrest in a far future society. The trio explore the themes of gender, pronouns, societal structure, parenting, and even surveillance that are brought up in Ben's story.  You can find out more about Ben's book on the Erewhon Books website , where you can f...

Friend of the podcast Liz Gorinsky arrives to share her experiences as an editor, from her early days of reading comic books, to her work at Tor.com, and finally starting Erewhon Books. Mary Anne and Ben inquire about the technical and career aspects of editing, as well as the importance of grappling with their internal editor in their own writing process. Note: Ben and Liz refer to The Unravellin...

In this episode, Mary Anne and Ben ruminate on the intricacies of writing for submission. Based on their own personal publishing experiences, the two give advice to writers young and old on how best to go about preparing for success and rejection in the field, even if it means gamifying the process. For show notes visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-10-show-notes/ If you enjoy this podcast...

Mary Anne interviews Paolo Bacigalupi about how to write fiction with a message, especially one as urgent as the ecological fate of our world and how it can impact humanity. To watch this interview and others like it at the Speculative Literature Foundation visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/portolan-project/interviews/

In the last episode, Mary Anne and Ben discussed Attack Surface with its celebrated author, Cory Doctorow. We wanted to share a special treat with our listeners in the form of the first ten minutes of the Attack Surface  audiobook, read by Amber Benson. To buy  Attack Surface  and other books written by Cory, visit https://craphound.com/shop/

Cory Doctorow — celebrated author, essayist, blogger-journalist, and human rights activist — visits the podcast to talk about privacy, security, monopoly power, the innate conservatism of AI, moral reckonings, technothrillers, and his latest book, Attack Surface,  part of a series which motivated a generation of hacktivists, thinkers, and techies to fight for freedom and equity in our increasingly...

Bonding over their complex feelings on Star Trek , Mary Anne and Ben share their thoughts on how conventions have been forced to adapt and evolve in a time where large crowds and gatherings are largely a thing of the past. Cons are an important part of Mary Anne and Ben's personal and professional lives, so will things ever be the same? For show notes visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-7-...

In his first appearance on the show, Jed Hartman converses with Mary Anne and Ben about the complexities of communication, which include everything from social mobility to ask/guess culture. As is their tendency, Mary Anne and Ben take these topics into the realm of science fiction and fantasy, asking what a realistic encounter with aliens would look like. For show notes visit: https://speculative...

A historical episode of sorts, Mary Anne and Ben talk through the the personal effects that the pandemic and lockdown were having on them and their families, two months in. The two also ruminate on their own familial and cultural health anxieties and how they've come into play during these unprecedented times.  Content note for brief discussions of domestic violence and genocide. For show notes vi...

What does it mean to be human? What do we mean when we call ourselves humanist? And what does secularism and the idea of God have to do with it all? This episode represents Mary Anne and Ben's attempts at clarifying what they mean by being humans. For show notes visit: https://speculativeliterature.org/ep-4-show-notes/ For the video version of the interview visit Mohranraj and Rosenbaum Are Humans...