Bradbury 100 - Celebrating the Life and Work of American Writer Ray Bradbury

Which episode should someone start with?

If you love Ray's sci-fi, I'd suggest you go with episode 30: Bradbury's OTHER Mars stories. This looks at some of his Martian tales which he DIDN'T incude in his famous book THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. If you like real crime mysteries, try episode 36: the tragic death of Ray's Uncle Lester. Otherwise, just start with episode 1 and work your way through!

Which have been your favourite episodes so far?

I most enjoy looking at abandoned film projects, so for me the best episodes are episode 28, which looks at all the film versions of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES which were never made. Another favourite is episode 26, about "The Lonely One". This is a scary fictional character in Bradbury's book DANDELION WINE - but he was inspired by a real criminal who went by that nickname. In this episode, I reveal the true identity of this man.

Which episode are you most proud of?

That's a tough one. I'm proud of the series as a whole, as it has brought together a whole community of Bradbury fans and scholars. But If I had to pick just one episode, it would be the "Death of Uncle Lester" episode. For this, I worked from legal documents from the 1930s to piece together a theory about what really happened the night Ray's uncle got killed.

What is your vision for your show?

To bring more people to the works of Ray Bradbury, and to reveal more hidden aspects of his work.

What is your favourite other podcast that isn't yours?

There are so many, but one that I've been listening to since the earliest days is the long-running SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE. It's been running with the same format for sixteen years, but never gets old!

How did you come up with the name for your podcast?

It more or less named itself, given that the concept was to celebrate 100 years of Ray Bradbury. I should perhaps change the title, now that Bradbury's birth was 102 years ago, but I like the branding (and logo), so I think I'll stick with it.

Tell us a bit about yourself

My day job is teaching filmmaking and screenwriting. When I had the opportunity of doing a PhD, I chose to study Ray Bradbury's screenwriting - something that no one had ever really done before. This brought me into close contact with all sorts of people with a Bradbury connection, and I drew on these contacts to fill the podcast with fascinating interviews. I also have another podcast, SCIENCE FICTION 101, which is something of a spin-off of this one. I just love podcasting!