Galactic Suburbia

In which there is gallivanting, schlepping, recycling and rejoicing - cos a Galactic Suburbia baby is on the way! News Conflux Update: Alex's Report, Alisa's Report, Everyone Else's Wrap Ups Ditmar winners (and associated awards) announced. Through Splintered Walls Art Exhibition Aurora Award ballot - Canada’s Ditmars? Shirley Jackson Award shortlist Culture Consumed ALEX: Iron Man 3; Oblivion; Cloud Atlas ALISA: The Adventures of Alyx, Joanna Russ TANSY: A Song of Ice Fire update, Flower and Weed by Margo Lanagan Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

Alex Tansy discuss the Stella, the Shadows, behaving badly on the internet, criticising criticism of the Hugo criticism, and whether the suck fairy has visited Farscape, the Star Wars Thrawn trilogy, or The Mists of Avalon. News The Stella Prize announced its winner last night at a glittery ceremony. Carrie Tiffany won the $50,000 prize for her second novel Mateship with Birds and promptly gave back $10,000 to be awarded to her fellow shortlistees. Classy! Australian Shadows Award - and the skulls go to... Seanan McGuire talks about perceptions about self-promotion and the Hugos We also wanted to draw attention to the post Seanan linked to, "Language Myth #6 - Women Talk Too Much." Particularly this quote by Dale Spender: "The talkativeness of women has been gauged in comparison not with men but with silence. Women have not been judged on the grounds of whether they talk more than men, but of whether they talk more than silent women." Hugh Howey - The Bitch from Worldcon post In response: Tobias Buckell - Don’t Punch Down Chronos Awards - for SF Fantasy professional fan works coming out of the state of Victoria. Eisner Award shortlists - nice to see Saga Hawkeye nominated, but Tansy particularly wants to draw people's attention to the categories for comics graphic novels aimed at children. Mind Meld - favourite women writers in genre (Also - books you savour vs books you devour) Culture Consumed ALEX: Farscape season 1; Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command, Timothy Zahn; Rapture, by Kameron Hurley; Sky is Calling, The Impossible Girl (Kickstarted album) TANSY: Game of Thrones Season 2; Swordspoint the audiobook, The Mists of Avalon, Coode Street Podcast episode 140 featuring Nalo Hopkinson. Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which awards are dissected into itty bitty bits and eaten with relish. Tasty tomato relish. HUUUUGGGOOOOOOS! Ditmars Solstice Awards This looks like a short podcast, but it isn't. No culture consumed for you! Which does mean that Alex will have read ALL THE BOOKS by the time we join you again. Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which Alex eats fig frangipane made by her friend Dan... and Alisa and Tansy are bad at birthdays. If you eat cake while eating this podcast, let us know what kind! HAPPY BIRTHDAY US WE ARE THREE! News TIPTREE AWARDS Random House and their new digital only imprints - specifically Hydra. SFWA response to Hydra letter Random House responds NOTE: Since we recorded this, revisions have been made to the Random House imprint contracts. Culture Consumed ALISA: the life of a publisher... TANSY: A Game of Thrones (the book) and nothing else ever again because THERE ARE MORE BOOKS. ALEX: Warehouse 13, season 1; Shadow Unit (http://shadowunit.org); Arc 1.4; The Triangle; Anita Sarkeesian’s first Tropes vs Women in Video Games Since we recorded this, Sean the Blogonaut has also posted about his thoughts on rape threats gender issues in "grimdark" fantasy. Note from the Silent Producer:  The mp3 file initially uploaded for this issue was NOT the final version (there was a dropout in the audio at around the 1 hour mark). The latest upload has rectified this.  Sorry folks. Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which we celebrate the real beginning of awards season, taste honey and launch Alisa into her new world as PhD student of publishing... News Nebula shortlist SF Signal Nebula post (with unfortunate comments and awesome responses) Stella Prize longlist with special appearance by our own Margo Lanagan. The Kitschies winners announced Interesting link found after recording: Lavie Tidhar on the Kitschies diversity Libba Bray on misogyny at the Oscars Also, go read NK Jemisin talking about race, misogyny Quvenzhané Wallis with "Fantasy fans, where’s your outrage?" We didn't discuss that one on the podcast because - well, what can we possibly say as three white women that Jemisin didn't say a million times more effectively? Read her instead. Thoraiya Dyer interviewed for Cosmos Magazine about how becoming a full time mum was actually great for her writing career. Splashdance Silver back in e-edition - Tansy's first novel, now celebrating its 15th anniversary. Culture Consumed ALEX: Etiquette and Espionage, Gail Carriger (http://randomalex.net/2013/02/14/etiquette-and-espionage/); The Chains that you Refuse, Elizabeth Bear; Rainbow Bridge, Gwyneth Jones; Caprica. TANSY: Perfections, Kirstyn McDermott; For Darkness Shows the Stars, Diana Peterfreund ALISA: The Honey Month, Amal El-Mohtar New Segment: Diary of a Publisher - it's our duty (and that includes all our listeners) to keep Alisa honest as she walks away from her dayjob to take up the challenge of a PhD in creative publishing. Mind the flannel! It's our birthday next fortnight - have cake ready for when you listen! Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which we reveal the winner shortlist of the Galactic Suburbia Award for activism and/ or communication that advances the feminist conversation in the field of speculative fiction in 2012. NEWS Hugo Nominations close on Sunday, March 10, 2013 Chronos Awards also open: http://continuum.org.au/c9/chronos-awards/ Stranger with My Face Women in Horror Film Festival - 7-10 March in Hobart, Tasmania Glitter and Madness Kickstarter - last days to support this anthology project! CULTURE CONSUMED ALISA: Editing - Asymmetry by Thoraiya Dyer; A Trifle Dead by Livia Day; reading the country you have never seen: essays and reviews by Joanna Russ ALEX: Saga, Brian K Vaughan; Band of Gypsys, Gwyneth Jones; The James Tiptree Award Anthology vol 2. TANSY: Cabin in the Woods, Small Blue Planet, “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal (novelette) Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which Alex touches Troy with her bare hand, Alisa discovers that the best part of Paris is not the part that's underground, and Tansy cheats on both of them for love of Doctor Who (it was inevitable, really). WHAT WE DID ON OUR SUMMER HOLIDAY! Alex: Turkey and Egypt Alisa: Honeymoon in Paris Tansy: adventures on the internet including the article "Historically Authentic Sexism in Fantasy. Let's Unpack That" syndicated on Tor.com, selling Wet Shirt Mr Darcy for the Deepings Dolls, and Verity! (a Doctor Who podcast) Hugo Nominations close on Sunday, March 10, 2013. We'll be making recs over the next few episodes, though in the mean time check out Tansy's post on Hugo Recs for Best Graphic Story. The Galactic Suburbia Award: for activism and/ or communication that advances the feminist conversation in the field of speculative fiction in 2012 - to be announced in 2 weeks, get your nominations in quick! Check out last year's winner and honours list to see the type of thing we want to hear about, or be reminded of! Culture Consumed: TANSY: Eureka Seasons 1-4; Captain Marvel by Kelly Due DeConnick, Dexter Soy Emma Rios; Saga by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples. ALISA: The entire series of The Closer, Tara Sharp 1: Sharpshooter and 2: Sharp Turn. ALEX: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (the movie); Zendegi, Greg Egan; The Telling, Ursula le Guin... and how many books in total? Yes, Alisa really ran a book on this one. AND!! Alisa’s exciting news!! Happy Birthday to the Silent Producer, who totally missed us while we were away, and got a brand new episode to edit as his birthday present. Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which Alisa recovers from the brainsplosion that is World Fantasy Convention, Alex finally reads THAT Margo Lanagan story, and Tansy travels in three kinds of time. News The WFC Report Stop Reviewing Movies with Strong Female Leads! at the Mary Sue at Jezebel at Bitch Fake Geek Girls Unite: Mary Sue Coverage 1 2 3 The New Statesman Peter M Ball Pledges His Allegiance to the Fake Geek Army What Culture Have we Consumed? Alisa: Dexter S6 and S7; Episodes 2; In Treatment S1; The Shield S1; Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman; Hair Side, Flesh Side, Helen Marshall Alex: Singing my Sister Down, Margo Lanagan; some Kij Johnson, from At the Mouth of the River of Bees; One Little Room, KJ Parker; Holmes Sherlock, Eleanor Arnason Tansy: The Diviners, Libba Bray; All New X-Men #1; Chicks Unravel Time edited by Deborah Stanish LM Myles. Don't forget to send us nominations for the GS Award: for activism and/or communication that advances the feminist conversation in the field of speculative fiction in 2012. Check out our sibling podcast, Galactic Chat - in the latest episode, Sean interviews Joe Abercrombie. We are running away for summer! Back at the start of February! Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us.

In which a new listener is born, Canada gets a Stella too, and we review a bunch of great stuff including Black Widow, Infidel, Swordspoint and Big Finish's special releases. News Baby Announcement: Daniel Wessely is born! WFA winners announced Genrecon! Tansy talks Genrecon on the Voyager blog And again on her own blog Jason Nahrung on what he got out of Genrecon Neil Gaiman’s new Doctor Who episode will feature the Cybermen, Warwick Davis Tamzin Outhwaite. Boing Boing io9 Canada is getting a Stella too - theirs is the Rosalind! Women in Horror article Galactic Chat - Rowena Cory Daniells What Culture Have we Consumed? Alex: Infidel, Kameron Hurley; The Deep (BBC series) (http://randomalex.net/2012/11/06/the-deep-a-bbc-submarine-series/); Black Widow, Marjorie Liu; and books on women’s suffrage... (I might have lied about the free ebooks! Sad) Tansy: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth, Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner; Big Finish Specials: UNIT Dominion, Love and War by Jacqueline Rayner Paul Cornell; Voyage to Venus; Dorian Gray Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which Tansy Alex talk sexism, steampunk, Samuel Delaney and tiny baby Avengers fighting tiny baby X-Men. Also, feedback from listeners! News Pornokitch on the Mammoth Best New Horror introduction Twelfth Planet Press announces Best YA SF anthology - Alisa Tehani reading for this in 2013 and we hope it doesn't break them. The Fantasy Pin-Up Calendar Thing The Calendar itself Tansy's post - when fantasy art embarrasses us all Skepchick asks us to Please Stop Making Calendars NK Jemisin on her involvement in the project Sexism in the Skeptic Community - what happened after she spoke out What Culture Have we Consumed? Alex: Edge of Infinity, ed. Jonathan Strahan; Babel-17, Samuel Delaney; The Contrary Gardener by Christopher Rowe in Eclipse Online Tansy: Wilful Impropriety, Ekaterina Sedia (ed); Hawkeye #1-3, Matt Fraction, David Aja; "A-Babies Vs. X-Babies" one-shot written by Skottie Young with art by Guruhiru FEEDBACK Suzy McKee Charnas story at SnackReads Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which Feminism 101 meets Aussie politics for a battle of the bands! News Julia Gillard and the Sexists of Doom The Speech (and bonus Penny Wong Interview) Commentary in the New Yorker @vodkandlime talks about the response to the Gillard speech Ben Peek on the failings of the mainstream media British Fantasy Awards: special squeeage for Angela Slatter, first Australian to win one. Jonathan Strahan and Nightshade Book launch Eclipse Online Strange Horizons Fundraising Drive is on Crikey looks at author earnings and advances. What Culture Have we Consumed? Alex: Deathless, Catherynne M Valente; Arc 1.3; Hydrogen Sonata, Iain M Banks; Looper; abandoned: Armored (ed John Joseph Adams) Tansy: The Outcast Chronicles, Rowena Cory Daniells; Unspoken, Sarah Rees Brennan; Wild Mary: A Life of Mary Wesley by Patrick Marnham, Under My Hat edited by Jonathan Strahan. Also GAME OF THRONES Alisa: The Future is Japanese (ed Nick Mamatas); Looper; Death’s Daughter, Amber Benson; Casual Vacancy J K Rowling; Studying Men and Masculinities, David Buchbinder Next Episode: feedback probably Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which we admire our Hugo pins, discuss the narrative around bestseller authors like JK Rowling, and take on the idea of what a Best Of anthology actually means. News HUGO PINS Trifle Club The Casual Vacancy released - are you going to read it? Giveaway from ages ago - copy of Showtime goes to Terry Frost for Joshua York from George R R Martin's Fevre Dream New Giveaway for Kaaron Warren’s Through Splintered Walls. Tweet, comment, email or Facebook us about your favourite Australian ghost story OR your favourite female vampire. Paul Kincaid in the LA Review of Books suggests that SF is tired. Reviewer, heal thyself? He also talks on this subject at the Coode Street Podcast. Aurealis Awards reminder: submit your books and stories now. What Culture Have we Consumed? Alisa: Soft Apocalypse, Will McIntosh, SportsNight ( Newsroom) Tansy: Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan; Marvel Heralds; Outer Alliance Episode 24 Changing the Conversation with Julia Rios, Nnedi Okorafor, Jim C Hines Sofia Samatar. Alex: Battleship (http://randomalex.net/2012/09/27/battleship/); The Forever War, Joe Haldemann; City of Illusions, Ursula le Guin (http://randomalex.net/2012/09/27/city-of-illusions/); The Shapes of their Hearts, Melissa Scott (http://randomalex.net/2012/09/27/the-shapes-of-their-hearts/); Nova, Samuel Delaney Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

The post-Hugo edition! In which stats are chewed and swallowed, rebels become the government, the secret (true) history of Wonder Woman is revealed and Alisa joins another cult. News Hugo Awards: The Winners, the Ustream and the Stats (you can download the stats pdf at the bottom of the page that links to) Caroline Symcox on coming out as Christian to SF Fans coming out as SF fan as a curate. Another Wonder Woman TV show in development - this one may contain some Wonder Woman. Further discussion on conventions, creepers safe spaces Genreville We Don't Do That Anymore And the SF Signal Podcast Science books written for girls, or possibly "girls". What Culture Have we Consumed? Alisa: Newsroom; Getting Things Done podcast, David Allen Alex: Outcasts; Heir to the Empire, Timothy Zahn; Midnight Lamp, Gwyneth Jones Tansy: How to Train Your Dragon audiobook; To Spin a Darker Stair (Fablecroft); The Twelve Labors of Wonder Woman; Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which we talk trolling, internet pile-ons and Twittiquette (it's a word, right?) as well as Weird Tales, Analog, heavy metal, straight white YA dystopias and (this may shock you) Joanna Russ. News Announcing the brand new Last Short Story podcast starring (so far) Jonathan and Mondy. Tansy visits the Panel 2 Panel podcast to talk about comics with Kitty. TPP event at Melbourne Writers Festival and Alisa's Woman Achievers Award Alisa's report and Jason Nahrung's report. The Weird tales dramah: Round up of links Jeff VanderMeer's take on it. In happier news, Ann VanderMeer now editing at Tor.com Stanley Schmidt steps down from Analog When authors go bad (on social media) and reviewers get burned. What Culture Have we Consumed? Alisa: Glory in Death J D Robb; trying to read Matched by Ally Condie, Outer Alliance podcast on the lack of queerness in YA dystopias Tansy: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; What Women Want by Nelly Thomas; Big Finish Audio - Invaders From Mars by Mark Gatiss The Chimes of Midnight by Robert Shearman (2002) Alex: Metal Evolution; We Who Are About to..., Joanna Russ; CSZ special on Joanna Russ; The Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which we suffer post-Olympics slump but make up for it by talking about sport in SF/F: from coyote baseball, holodeck racquetball and the points system of Quidditch to the history of sport in Doctor Who. And don't forget that Buffy was a cheerleader! News World Fantasy ballot released. Mythopoeic Awards include Delia Sherman and Lisa Goldstein New Science Fiction Awards Database Website by Mark R Kelly (Locus) Kirstyn McDermott makes Jason Nahrung a mug based on Alex’s GS review of Salvage New Galactic Chat: Sean interviews Trudi Canavan Readercon Apology sets the standard. Feedback: Sean Kitty on the harassment at cons issue. What Culture Have we Consumed? Alex: Existence, David Brin; all of Planetary, by Warren Ellis; Caliban’s War, James SA Corey Tansy: “Foundlings” by Diana Peterfreund in Brave New Love; Shooting the Poo 14 (Sherlock Holmes) 15 (Alien movies part 1) Alisa: Coode St Podcast Ep 112 featuring Genevieve Valentine, and... reading unapologetically is a life skill! Pet Subject: Sports in SF/F The tennis match Alisa refers to is this one with Billie Jean King. Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!