Explore every episode of the podcast Realms Unknown
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realms Unknown is coming | 21 Jan 2025 | 00:02:01 | |
Alice Fraser presents the best (and occasionally worst) of Sci Fi and Fantasy, across TV & film, literature, gaming and anywhere you can get speculative. Released weekly Wednesdays, we want your thoughts and feedback - realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com A podcast from The Bugle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Severance // Rebecca Yarros // Astrobot - It's Realms Unknown! | 29 Jan 2025 | 00:40:00 | |
Alice Fraser brings your weekly enchantment, full of Sci Fi and Fantasy. This week's co-host is Tom Neenan. We cover... Astrobot - the cutest Sci Fi game there is? Rebecca Yarros and the rise of Romantasy. The return of Severance. A deep dive into 'Progression Fantasy' Affiliate links to each book: A Passion For Passion - Alice Fraser A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas Dungeon Crawler Carl - Frank Dinniman You fund what we do! https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/donate. Featuring: Alice Fraser Tom Neenan Produced by Chris Skinner and Laura Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Grimdark // Ursula K Le Guin // The Cube | 05 Feb 2025 | 00:39:15 | |
Realms Unknown is your gateway to the strange, the dark, and the mind-bendingly brilliant worlds of sci-fi and fantasy. Hosted by the incomparable Alice Fraser, with guest co-host Tom Neenan, this podcast takes a deep (and hilarious) dive into some of the genre’s greatest works—whether it’s the brutal landscapes of Grimdark, the existential horror of The Cube, the radical utopias of Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, or the timey-wimey brilliance of Doctor Who. Our store, with links to books we recommend is here: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown Support us directly: http://thebuglepodcast.com Expect sharp insights, unexpected tangents, and plenty of laughs as Alice and Tom unravel what makes these stories so enduring (and weird). Produced by Chris Skinner and Laura Turner for The Bugle, Realms Unknown is your guide to the best and strangest corners of speculative fiction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Buffy’s Return, Grimdark Fiction & Redhead Tropes | 12 Feb 2025 | 00:34:37 | |
In this episode of Realms Unknown, hosts Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton dive into the latest news in pop culture and fantasy! Get the scoop on Buffy's return with Sarah Michelle Gellar, exciting Back to the Future updates, the new video game Atomfall, and a fascinating partnership between the Ministry of Defence and sci-fi writers. They also shine a spotlight on the gritty world of Grimdark fiction, discussing epic books like Prince of Thorns, The Black Company, and Legends & Lattes. Eleanor shares her thoughts on the game Hobbs Barrow, while Alice recommends the TV series Pantheon. In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Eleanor breaks down the redhead trope in fantasy and sci-fi, touching on Gulliver’s Travels, Eddie Redmayne’s role in Jupiter Ascending, and Gimli from Lord of the Rings. Plus, Sandy convinces us to read Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold in the Convince Me to Read This Book segment! Also, don’t miss our recommendations for what to do, watch, or read this week. Tune in for a packed episode full of insightful discussions, book and TV recommendations, and much more! Buy the books we cover in this episode in our affiliate store 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Metaphysical libraries // Mickey 17 // Timestalker | 12 Mar 2025 | 00:45:40 | |
Hosts Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 8 of Realms Unknown with all the latest genre fiction based news and recommendations.
Episode 8 In this week's news, as Paapa Essiedu has been cast as Snape in the new TV adaptation of Harry Potter, Alice and Tom discuss the racial considerations of the casting and how this might play out within the characterisation. Also, Bong Joon-ho's new film Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson intrigues them both, as does it being a Warner Bros production. Metaphysical libraries are the focus of the sub-genre deep dive this week - with a whole library full of examples and recommendations to explore - see the affiliate store. We also have Trope on a Rope, with certain commonly-used phrases the source of ire this week. And find out which significant public figure popping up in Iron Man 2, Star Trek Discovery, The Simpsons and Rick and Morty makes Tom uneasy. FILMS Mickey 17 Timestalker TV Harry Potter (HBO) Dr Who - Silence in the Library + Forest of the Dead episodes GAMES The Last of Us Part II BOOKS The Library of Babel - Jorge Luis Borges Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins Thursday Next series - Jasper Fforde The Book that Wouldn’t Burn - Mark Lawrence Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend Golden Enclaves - Naomi Novik Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner, Ped Hunter and Laura Turner. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| World Book Day special - part 2 | 06 Mar 2025 | 00:37:38 | |
Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber. We offer extra shows, merch and warm fluffy feelings. Info: www.thebuglepodcast.com/donate Hosts Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner bring you the second of two child-friendly World Book Day (UK) episodes of Realms Unknown this week, with today's focusing on children's fantasy and science fiction books for ages 12-17 years old. Part 1, which looked at books for 0-12 years old, is available in your podcast feed and on YouTube. Before diving into the many great books in this episode, Chris and Alice recommend some music with a sci-fi/fantasy twist, with Janelle Monáe's 2010 album The ArchAndroid being enjoyed at the family dinner table for Chris, and Alice enjoying the storytelling of LayLow's TRINITY album, released in 2020. In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Alice brings the use of parental neglect to the table, preferring the loving and engaged parenting in books like The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, while Chris bemoans beings magically being able to just learn a language at a speed unfamiliar to a Duolingo user like himself. Chris and Alice then enthuse over a number of fantasy and sci-fi books that shaped them as teenagers, which you can find listed below and can buy in our Bookshop affiliate store, which supports your local bookshops. Age 12-17 books Loving and engaged parents The Golden Enclaves - Naomi Novik Sibling adventures Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper Narnia series - CS Lewis Gillian Rubinstein - Space Demons The Storm Keeper’s Island - Catherine Doyle Why teenagers should read fantasy Phillip Pullman - His Dark Materials Phillip Pullman - The Ruby in the Smoke Phillip Pullman - The Book of Dust Sabriel series - Garth Nix Lioness series - Tamora Pierce Terry Pratchett - Mort Terry Pratchett - Eric Galax-Arena - Gillian Rubinstein Short stories Dangerous Women - George R R Martin & Gardner Dozois More to explore Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card Dune - Frank Herbert 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| World Book Day special - part 1 | 05 Mar 2025 | 00:45:36 | |
Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber. We offer extra shows, merch and warm fluffy feelings. Info: www.thebuglepodcast.com/donate Hosts Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner bring you two child-friendly World Book Day (UK) episodes of Realms Unknown this week, focusing on children's books from 0-10 years old. The second episode, looking at books for older children, will be out on Thursday 6 March! In the regular news section, they touch on Doctor Who and Pokémon Go while detouring down memory lane, recalling He-Man, Thundercats and The Trap Door. Chris is pleasantly surprised to be enjoying the Amazon series The Rings of Power, having not taken to The Hobbit off-shoots of Lord of the Rings. While Alice is enjoying the gentle calm of toddler books such as Kuma-Kuma Chan by Kazue Takahashi and Grug by Ted Prior. In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Alice wonders where tropes of boys being ballerinas, or girls wanting to play soccer are still relevant in a more inclusive age. Chris and Alice recommend a number of books they've enjoyed both as children and as parents, which you can find listed below and can buy in our Bookshop affiliate store. Bookshop supports the local and independent book stores in your area. Age 0-5 books The Tiger Who Came To Tea - Judith Kerr Not Now Bernard - David McKee I Want My Hat Back - Jon Klassen The Gruffalo, Zog, The Smeds and the Smoos - Julia Donaldson Cautionary Tales for Children - Hilaire Belloc Meg and Mog - Helen Nicholl and Jan Pienkowski Age 5-8 books Isadora Moon and Mirabelle series - Harriet Muncaster Age 8-10 books The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster The 13 Clocks - James Thurber The Stormkeeper’s Island - Catherine Doyle Also, don’t miss our recommendations for what to do, watch, or read this week. Tune in for a packed episode full of insightful discussions, book and TV recommendations, and much more! 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Steampunk // Companion // Columns of Light | 26 Feb 2025 | 00:41:22 | |
In Episode 5 of Realms Unknown, hosts Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan leap into the latest news in pop culture and fantasy! Hear what's coming up from Guy Gavriel Kay, Jim Butcher, Game of Thrones, Mila Jovovich, and ACOTAR. They take a deep dive into this week's sub-genre of steampunk, making recommendations from film, books and games such as Mortal Engines, Cinder Spires, Bioshock Infinite, Howl's Moving Castle, and more. In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Tom explains the much-used prop of an epic city final battle featuring a column of light or energy, while Alice is baffled by sexy fights in films. Also, don’t miss our recommendations for what to do, watch, or read this week. Tune in for a packed episode full of insightful discussions, book and TV recommendations, and much more! Buy the books we cover in this episode in our affiliate store. 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Neuromancer // Cyberpunk // Basketful of Heads | 19 Feb 2025 | 00:35:25 | |
In Episode 4 of Realms Unknown, hosts Alice Fraser and Jackie Kashian dive into the latest news in pop culture and fantasy! From Ian McKewan's new 'science fiction without the science' novel What We Can Know, to new seasons of Alice in Borderland and The Handmaid's Tale, to Natasha Lyonne producing and starring in the upcoming Basketful of Heads movie. They take a deep dive into this week's sub-genre of cyberpunk, discussing books like Neuromancer, Mindstar Rising, and Ten Low. They discuss the similarities and differences with steampunk and Jackie recommends When Gravity Falls by George Alec Effinger, while Alice suggests Market Forces by Richard Morgan. In this episode’s Trope on a Rope, Jackie bemoans the Marvel trope of a female character meeting their end off a cliff, while Alice recalls the scientists trying to save the world who panic and try to open the airlock. Meanwhile, listener Elyse makes the case for reading the Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries Pathfinder RPG book. Also, don’t miss our recommendations for what to do, watch, or read this week. Tune in for a packed episode full of insightful discussions, book and TV recommendations, and much more! Buy the books we cover in this episode in our affiliate store. 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Jackie Kashian. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Post-technology // Miles Cameron // Lars Anderson archery | 19 Mar 2025 | 00:41:41 | |
Hosts Alice Fraser and Henry Fraser bring you episode 9 of Realms Unknown with all the latest genre fiction based news and recommendations.
Episode 9 In this week's news, Terry Brooks is to retire from writing the Shannara series books, with Delilah S. Dawson taking over as the new author, Sarah J. Maas’ publisher launches new sci fi and fantasy imprint, Bloomsbury Archer, and Naruto has become the most watched anime on Netflix. Henry has been enjoying Miles Cameron, with the Cold Iron trilogy and Artefact Space duology coming highly recommended. But the real big recommendation this week - from both Henry and Alice - is for everyone to marvel at the incredible archery skills of Lars Anderson on YouTube. Post-apocalypse (specifically post-technological and post-AI-collapse) fiction books are the focus of the sub-genre submarine deep dive - with a whole library full of examples and recommendations to explore - see the affiliate store. There are also games such as Horizon Zero Dawn and story-based fitness apps like Zombies Run and The Walk to explore. We also have Trope on a Rope, with Henry questioning the 'blood brothers' hand cuts, and Alice's trope gripe is female protagonists supposedly not reading the really quite obvious signs from their admirers. TV Shannara Chronicles Naruto Blue Eye Samurai YOUTUBE Lars Anderson: A new level of archery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk& GAMES Horizon Zero Dawn Zombies Run - story based running app The Walk - story based fitness app BOOKS WHAT ARE YOU INTO OF LATE? Miles Cameron - Cold Iron trilogy (Masters and Mages) Miles Cameron - Artefact Space duology POST-APOCALYPSE/POST-TECHNOLOGICAL/POST-AI-COLLAPSE Dune - Frank Herbert Shattered Sea trilogy - Joe Abercrombie A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M Miller Jr Sun Eater series - Christopher Ruocchio Anathem - Neal Stephenson Elder Race - Adrian Tchaikovsky Bee Speaker - Adrian Tchaikovsky The Hungry Gods - Adrian Tchaikovsky Cold Fire trilogy - CS Friedman CONVINCE ME Sum: Tales from the Afterlife by David Eagleman (sent in by Thomas Craven) 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Henry Fraser. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Memory modification // Klara and the Sun // Little people | 26 Mar 2025 | 00:44:08 | |
Hosts Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 10 of Realms Unknown with all the latest genre fiction based news and recommendations.
Episode 10 In this week's news, we look at the cinema release of Snow White, Wheel of Time on Amazon, and The Electric State on Netflix - starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. Hear why Tom is enjoying re-reading Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, what he thought of the film Opus, and what drew Alice to reading The Unorthodox Chronicles by James J Butcher. In this week's Trope on a Rope section you can hear the various examples of a 'special little boy' and why Tom has issue with it, and Alice discusses the trope of being able to sense someone walking into a busy room. Take a plunge in the deep dive sub-genre submarine, as Tom and Alice totally recall the various memory modification based books, films, TV shows and games. And Tom opens up an interesting conversation about the representation of little people on screen. News FILMS Snow White - cinemas The Electric State - Netflix TV Wheel of Time - Amazon What have you been into of late? BOOKS Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro The Unorthodox Chronicles - James J Butcher FILM Opus Trope on a rope TV Daredevil - Disney+ Sub genre submarine - Memory modification FILMS Bourne Identity Total Recall The Prestige Companion TV Dollhouse Severance Altered Carbon The Shining Girls - Apple TV Dr Who episode Mawdryn Undead BOOKS We Can Remember It For You Wholesale - Philip K Dick The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie Reasons to be Cheerful - Greg Egan The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes Memory - Lois McMaster Bujold GAME Soma 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Romance in sci-fi // Fantasy // Narnia | 08 Apr 2025 | 00:41:48 | |
Host Alice Fraser, and romance critic Jen Prokop from the Fated Mates podcast (space episode), bring you episode 12 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations! Please take our listener survey so we can do even better: http://bit.ly/realmsunknown-survey
Episode 12 In this week's news, rumours abound that Meryl Streep could be cast as Aslan in Greta Gerwig's forthcoming Narnia films, and Alice and Jen discuss Simon & Schuster's rebrand and 'Simon Maverick' audiobook imprint. Jen has recently been enjoying mafia romance such as The Kings of Italy series by Mila Finelli and the Perfectly Imperfect series by Neva Altaj. Alice's trope on a rope for this week is people being granted immortality and being pissed about it, while Jen takes issue with fake dating. In Mines of Urgh, Alice has a problem with her beloved The Dragonriders of Pern and then Jen sees how the heteronormative style of books of a past era, such as Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward show us how far gender and sex have come in recent years. For all of the books mentioned in the romance in sci -fi sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below! What have you been into? The Kings of Italy series - Mila Finelli Perfectly Imperfect series - Neva Altaj These Summer Storms - Sarah MacLean Romance in sci-fi Shards of Honor / Barrayar / A Civil Campaign - Lois McMaster Bujold Fiasco - Constance Fay (read Jen's article here) Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger This is How You Lose the Time War - Max Gladstone The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell Ringworld - Larry Niven Sex Criminals - Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey The Kushiel’s series - Jacqueline Carey Aurora Blazing - Jessie Mihalik 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Jen Prokop. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| The Running Man // Hyperion // Evil corporations | 01 Apr 2025 | 00:39:05 | |
Please take our listener survey so we can do even better: http://bit.ly/realmsunknown-survey Hosts Alice Fraser and James Colley bring you episode 11 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations!
Episode 11 In this week's news, Edgar Wright has finished filming his remake of The Running Man, while set images from The Odyssey, starring Zendaya and Tom Holland have been released. James has been enjoying The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Alice has been reading The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone, and they both loved Hyperion by Dan Simmons. In this week's Trope on a Rope section, James wonders if anyone has seen the 'Filbert report on Liberia'? and Alice notices all of the noir detectives getting the shit beaten out of them. The 'Convince Me' section sees listener Joyce Ketterer give the big pitch to the Tiffany Aching series of books by Terry Pratchett. And take a plunge in the deep dive sub-genre submarine, as James and Alice rattle off all manner of evil corporations in the worlds of film, games and books. News FILMS The Running Man The Odyssey What have you been into of late? BOOKS Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley Max Gladstone - The Craft Sequence Hyperion - Dan Simmons Convince Me Terry Pratchett - Tiffany Aching series Terry Pratchett - The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin Abbott Abbott Sub genre submarine - Evil corporations TV Futurama FILM The Fifth Element Tank Girl Alien Judge Dredd BOOKS Thursday Next series - Jasper Fforde Murderbot series - Martha Wells Hit - Delilah S Dawson GAMES Portal Fallout 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts or recommendations! We’d love to hear from you! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and James Colley. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| The Last of Us // Admin and bureaucracy // Limb difference | 15 Apr 2025 | 00:37:10 | |
Host Alice Fraser, and Tom Neenan bring you episode 13 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations! Please take our listener survey so we can do even better: http://bit.ly/realmsunknown-survey
Episode 13 In this week's news, Alice makes international front pages after she decides not to take a trip the US, Nanowrimo is cancelled (the organisation, not the event) and we may soon see more quality sci-fi from China. Tom has recently been enjoying the start of season two of The Last of Us, while Alice has been distracting herself from real-life dystopian futures by dipping back into the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. Tom's trope on a rope for this week is the oil pit fire scene, used way too often, while Alice's is the antisocial heroine. In Mines of Urgh, Tom is looking for positive representations of limb difference, given that it's commonly used as a signifier for evil. And listener Jen convinces Tom so convincingly to read The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, that he orders the book during the podcast record! For all of the books mentioned in the romance in sci -fi sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below! What have you been into? TV - The Last of Us Temeraire series - Naomi Novik Convince Me The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness Sub-genre deep dive: admin/bureaucracy TV Star Trek The Craft Sequence - Max Gladstone FILM Terry Gilliam - Brazil Vorkosigan Saga series - Lois McMaster Bujold FILM Alien Romulus TV Dr Who episodes The Sunmakers / Paradise Towers Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams GAME Papers Please GAME Return of the Obra Dinn FILM Shin Godzilla Tyrant Philosophers series - Adrian Tchaikovsky Landover series - Terry Brooks The Traitor Baru Cormorant series - Seth Dickinson Dagger and Coin series - Daniel Abraham Terry Pratchett FILM Amazing Grace Mines of Urgh Star Wars Good Omens 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Find us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Sentient plants // Joe Abercrombie // Kurt Vonnegut | 22 Apr 2025 | 00:37:54 | |
Host Alice Fraser and James Colley bring you episode 14 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations! It's a mushroom / plant life / flora core / sentient forest special!
Episode 14 In this week's sci fi and fantasy/real world crossover news, is there life on distant planet K2-18B, and are dire wolves making a comeback? James has been enjoying The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges, while Alice has been dipping a toe into Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson. In this week's Trope on a Rope section, the forced 'here's six months earlier' flashbacks are annoying James and Alice really wishes that people would just wear appropriate headwear in the desert. Kurt Vonnegut's use of misogyny tarnishes James' otherwise love of the author, along with fatness being used as shorthand for evil of some sort. For all of the books mentioned in the sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below! Hosts' books Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion James Colley - The Next Big Thing What have you been into? The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges Mushroom Blues - Adrian M. Gibson Sub-genre deep dive: plant life / flora core The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham War of the Worlds - HG Wells FILM Little Shop of Horrors Hyperion - Dan Simmons TV Farscape ‘Amnesty’ from Bloodchild and Other Stories - Octavia Butler TV/GAME The Last of Us The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett TV Seeds of Doom - Dr Who episode Blue Moon Rising - Simon R Green GAME Botanica GAME Strange Horticulture GAME Caves of Qud GAME Hollow Knight 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Find us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and James Colley. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Parenting // My Neighbour Totoro // Raised By Wolves | 29 Apr 2025 | 00:38:31 | |
Hosts Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner bring you episode 15 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations! This week, we're looking at actual parenting in sci fi and fantasy!
Episode 15 In this week's sci fi and fantasy news, the new trailer for Predator: Badlands is pretty fantastic and horror movie Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan is doing huge things at the box office. Chris had a really joyous time watching the stage production of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro, and enjoyed bingeing the TV series Paradise. Alice has been laid on her back reading A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso. Chris isn't keen on the trope of the thick cockney-sounding low level bad guys, and Alice notes the trope of kids being aged up and dropped back into the plot later on, or even people having previously undeclared secret children! Alice's mines of urrgh this week is the comic book Phantom which she enjoyed as a child, but has not dated well unless you're particularly keen on white saviour complex. For all of the books mentioned in the sub genre deep dive this week, please see the lists below! Alice's book Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion Chris' podcast News FILM Predator: Badlands FILM: Sinners What have you been into? THEATRE (/FILM) My Neighbour Totoro A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso TV Paradise Sub-genre deep dive: parenting TV Raised by Wolves MANGA Lone Wolf and Cub - writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima TV Sweet Tooth Heir to Sevenwaters - Juliet Marillier GRAPHIC NOVEL Saga FILM Beasts of the Southern Wild GAME God of War Tehanu - Ursula Le Guin Broken Earth trilogy - N K Jemisin The Road - Cormac McCarthy Thud - Terry Pratchett The mines of urrrgh COMIC - Phantom 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Andor // The wrong side of the law // Sleeper Beach | 06 May 2025 | 00:43:20 | |
Host Alice Fraser and fellow writer, podcaster and comedian Andrew Hunter Murray (QI, Private Eye, There's No Such Thing As A Fish) bring you episode 16 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for genre fiction tropes, news and recommendations! This week, we're looking at heroes operating outside of the law in sci fi and fantasy!
Episode 16 In this week's news roundup of sci-fi and fantasy in the real world, there's an actual working bionic hand, actor Issa Rae says she could never fall in love with a chatbot, and there's also book news of an alien abduction Rom-Com! Andrew has been enjoying the latest Star Wars series Andor and the Japanese epic kaiju film Godzilla Minus One, while Alice has been deep into reading Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen. We, of course, bring you tropes galore! Hey, remember though, guys - humans are messy and you're going to love this back story about girls cross-dressing as boys to become attractive to other girls. Alice's mines of urrgh this week is Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree, and they wonder should you edit on the fly while reading to your child and should books have newer editions without the discomfort? Host books Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion Andrew Hunter Murray - A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering News Never Let Me Go / Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro I Got Abducted By Aliens And Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-com - Kimberly Lemming What have you been into? Andor Godzilla Minus One Wake of Vultures - Lila Bowen Sub-genre deep dive: heroes operating outside of the law Firefly The Expanse Alien series Sleeper Beach - Nick Harkaway Sabriel - Garth Nix Judge Dredd Hot Fuzz Peter Pan Jungle Book Taltos - Steven Brust V For Vendetta - Alan Moore The Watchmen - Alan Moore Minority Report Star Wars Trope on a rope The World's End Independence Day Men In Black Mad Max: Fury Road Rings of Power The mines of urrrgh The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Andrew Hunter Murray. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Early sci-fi and fantasy // Foundation // Ghostbusters | 13 May 2025 | 00:40:09 | |
Host Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton bring you episode 17 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! This week, we're looking at early sci fi and fantasy! Episode 17 This week's news features the Apple TV+ series Foundation, a surprisingly sexual story about E.T. and how Margaret Attwood receiving an entertainment award may distract from similarities with current issues. Hear what Alice and Eleanor have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh. Host books Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion Eleanor Morton - Life Lessons From Historical Women News TV Foundation FILM E.T. What have you been into? The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle Dinotopia - James Gurney The Daughters’ War - Christopher Buelman The Edge Chronicles - Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell Sub-genre deep dive: early sci-fi and fantasy Frankenstein - Mary Shelley The Last Man - Mary Shelley FILM Elysium (diversion) Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - Jules Verne From the Earth to the Moon - Jules Verne The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift GAME: The Landlord’s Game The Odyssey - Homer One Thousand and One Nights / Arabian Nights Le Morte d’Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory Lud in the Mist - Hope Mirrlees The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke The mines of urrrgh FILM Ghostbusters Tintin Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Sinners // Experiments in Form // Guards! Guards! | 20 May 2025 | 00:46:12 | |
Host Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan (The Mash Report, The Hauntening) bring you episode 18 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! This week, we're looking at experiments in form! Episode 18 This week's news features the Highlander remake moving to Amazon, Sinners continuing to tear up the box office, and the sad introduction of AI-narrated audiobooks. Hear what Alice and Tom have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh. Host book Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion News FILM Highlander remake FILM Sinners What have you been into? FILM Sinners The Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells Trope on a rope Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett Sub-genre deep dive: experiments in form The Book of Good Times - Hank Green The Ship of Theseus - VM Straka This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone SCP-3008 Frankenstein - Mary Shelley Subcutanean - Aaron Reed PODCAST - The Last Post PODCAST - Revolutions WEBCOMIC - xkcd WEBCOMIC - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal PODCAST Beef and Dairy Network PODCAST Welcome to Night Vale Convince Me The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness Redshirts - John Scalzi The mines of urrrgh FILM Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom FILM Wall-E Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Gender // Scholomance // Honor Harrington | 27 May 2025 | 00:44:17 | |
Host Alice Fraser and author Patrick Lenton bring you episode 19 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! This week, we're looking at gender! Episode 19 This week's news features The Wheel of Time getting cancelled, Lilo and Stitch doing surprisingly well at the box office, and a fantasy author caught using AI to write in her own style! Hear what Alice and Patrick have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh. Host books Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion Patrick Lenton - In Spite of You News TV The Wheel of Time FILM Lilo and Stitch What have you been into? Scholomance Trilogy - Naomi Novik Blood over Bright Haven - M.L. Wang TV Andor Trope on a rope TV Charmed Sub-genre deep dive: gender The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan TV Rings of Power TV Xena: Warrior Princess Ethan of Athos - Lois McMaster Bujold The Honorverse - David Weber TV Deep Space Nine Terry Pratchett Discworld series Lady’s Knight - Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner The Bright Sword - Lev Grossman The mines of urrrgh Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Patrick Lenton. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Neurodivergent heroes // Murderbot // Guillermo del Toro | 03 Jun 2025 | 00:45:53 | |
Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 20 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! This week, it's all about neurodivergent heroes in sci-fi and fantasy! Episode 20 This week's news features Guillermo del Toro's new Frankenstein movie, the new Predator: Killer of Killers movie and is gravity proof that life on Earth is actually a simulation? Hear what Alice and Tom have been enjoying recently, which tropes they love or hate, then take a deep dive with them into early sci-fi and fantasy, and hear the things that they used to love but now make them feel a bit urrrgh. Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion Tom Neenan - The Hauntening Tom Neenan Is Not All Men News FILM Frankenstein FILM Predator: Killer of Killers FILM Mountainhead What have you been into? TV Rick and Morty Blood Song - Anthony Ryan Witch King - Martha Wells Sub-genre deep dive: neurodivergent heroes Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle TV Bones Temperance Brennan series - Kathy Reichs A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett TV Star Trek TV Red Dwarf The mines of urrrgh FILM Passengers Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Deep Dive: Tamora Pierce | 11 Jun 2025 | 00:36:18 | |
Alice is joined by Chris Skinner to discuss the work of Tamora Pierce. They also chat about Murderbot and Sarah J Maas - is Romantasy sexy enough? Search for Chris’s show Mildly Informed in your pod feed now. Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Translated works // Under The Skin // Bikini armour | 17 Jun 2025 | 00:40:20 | |
Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 22 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! Episode 22 This week's news respectfully looks at buff geek Henry Cavill's forthcoming Highlander movie, and Tom and Alice dive into all manner of good things sci fi and fantasy. This week's deep dive is all about translated works! Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion Alice Fraser - Calm World: Introduction to Meditation Tom Neenan - Zeroes - David Reed News FILM Highlander APP Zombies! Run! What have you been enjoying? FILM Under The Skin Under The Skin - Michael Faber Behooved - M. Stevenson Trope on a rope - bikini armour / warrior maiden vagina chokehold Jill Bearup - Just Stab Me Now Sub genre deep dive - sci fi and fantasy in translation The Odyssey The Iliad Beowulf - Maria Dahvana Headley Beowulf - Seamus Heany Asterix & Obelix The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem The Melting - Lize Spit ANIME Neon Genesis Evangelion TV Dark The Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko FILM The City of Lost Children Mines of Urrgh FILM Elysium FILM Mountainhead Mr Men - Roger Hargreaves Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Side characters as leads // Final Fantasy // Magician | 24 Jun 2025 | 00:38:57 | |
Alice Fraser and James Nokise bring you episode 23 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! Episode 23 This week's news covers The Odyssey, Masters of the Universe and the Highlander remake, and James and Alice dive into all manner of good things sci fi and fantasy. The sub genre deep dive is all about side characters as leads! Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion James Nokise - PODCAST The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior News FILM The Odyssey FILM Masters of the Universe FILM Highlander Ads GAME Hero’s Quest GAME Police Quest GAME Space Quest What have you been enjoying? GAMES Final Fantasy Lirael - Garth Nix Sub genre deep dive - side characters as leads PLAY Rosencratz and Guildenstein Are Dead - Tom Stoppard TV Dollhouse - Joss Whedon The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold GAME Final Fantasy XII Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold FILM Solo The Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolf TV Star Trek: Lower Decks Redshirts - John Scalzi Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan Magician - Raymond E. Feist Mines of Urrgh The Belgariad - David Eddings FILM The Sword and the Sorcerer FILM Close Encounters of the Third Kind FILM Popeye FILM Masters of the Universe Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and James Nokise. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Flintlock fantasy // 28 Years Later // Culturepunk | 01 Jul 2025 | 00:42:00 | |
Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan bring you episode 24 of Realms Unknown: your one-stop show for speculative fiction tropes, news and recommendations! Episode 24 This week's news covers the Squid Game USA spinoff, Disney suing AI image generator Midjourney, and a mother suing Disney after a Stormtrooper scared her child, causing injury. Hear what Tom and Alice have been enjoying recently, men slaps and silly old women with health issues are the tropes on the rope this week and they venture into the 'mines of urrgh'. The sub genre deep dive is flintlock fantasy - combining gunpowder-era warfare with magic! And hear the EXCLUSIVE breaking news as Tom coins what may be a brand-new genre - culturepunk. You (possibly) heard it here first! Alice Fraser - A Passion for Passion News TV Squid Game USA What have you been into of late? FILM 28 Years Later Gods of Blood and Powder - Brian McClennan FILM M3GAN 2.0 Sub genre deep dive - flintlock fiction TV Sharpe Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - K. J. Parker The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne - Brian Staveley GAME Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer TV Shadow and Bone Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo The Cardinal’s Blades - Pierre Pevel The Phoenix Guards - Steven Brust Five Hundred Years After - Steven Brust GAME Assassin’s Creed Mines of Urrgh FILM 28 Years Later FILM Severance FILM Predator FILM Snow White Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Redemption Arcs // Comics // Resident Alien | 08 Jul 2025 | 00:40:50 | |
Come journey into Realms Unknown with Alice Fraser and US comedian and podcaster Jackie Kashian for a whole world of sci-fi and fantasy recommendations, tropes and news! NEWS Isles of the Emberdark - Brandon Sanderson Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson Elantris - Brandon Sanderson The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss WHAT ARE YOU INTO? GAME Clank! GAME Lords of Waterdeep Sabriel - Garth Nix Lirael - Garth Nix Abhorsen - Garth Nix Sinister Booksellers of Bath - Garth Nix Dragonsong - Anne McCaffrey Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey Dragondrums - Anne McCaffrey The Dolphins of Pern - Anne McCaffrey A Forbidden Alchemy - Stacey McEwan COMIC The Uncanny X-Men - Gail Simone COMIC Ironwood - Bill Willingham COMIC Jack of Fables - Bill Willingham COMIC Oglaf - Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne COMIC Giant Days - John Allison TROPE ON A ROPE COMIC Thunderbolts COMIC Lucifer COMIC Secret Six COMIC 100 Bullets COMIC The Boys DEEP DIVE - redemption arcs The Chronicles of Severian the Torturer - Gene Wolfe The Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe Illusions - Richard Bach (Messiah story) Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A Heinlein (Messiah story) MOVIE Thunderbolts* MOVIE Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence COMIC - Lucifer TV Lucifer Going Postal - Terry Pratchett Hogfather - Terry Pratchett TV Resident Alien COMIC Irredeemable - Mark Waid COMIC Incorruptible - Mark Waid MINES OF URRGH FILM You’ve Got Mail FILM Pillow Talk FILM Casablanca 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Jackie Kashian. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Red Sonja // Medieval Fayres // Funny Fantasy | 15 Jul 2025 | 00:40:02 | |
Come journey into Realms Unknown with Alice Fraser and podcasting legend Chris Skinner for a whole world of sci-fi and fantasy recommendations, tropes and news! We discuss medieval fayres (jousting, anyone?), K Pop Demon Hunters and A Court of Thorns and Roses. Our Trope On A Rope is characters who learn to fight way to easily, and then the one who can land the lucky punch with zero training. We also get the ick thinking about Red Sonja. Our genre deep dive is comedy in speculative: All Discworld Books Rick and Morty Red Dwarf The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy All My Friends Are Superheroes Gideon The Ninth 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Laura Turner. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Chris Skinner. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Disguises // Superman // Quantum Leap | 22 Jul 2025 | 00:36:17 | |
Come journey into Realms Unknown with Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan for a whole world of sci-fi and fantasy recommendations, tropes and news! We discuss the use of disguises in genre fiction, the hot commie summer, and ominous portents that have double meanings. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ENJOYING? FILM Superman Buffalo Soldiers - Maurice Broaddus TROPE ON A ROPE - ominous portents that have double meanings Macbeth - William Shakespeare Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien Star Wars: The Last Jedi Deadly Education - Naomi Novik SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - disguises FILM Snow White FILM Superman A Court of Thorn and Roses - Sarah J. Maas TV Quantum Leap TV Foundation FILM Smile FILM Smile 2 TV Doctor Who - Terror of the Zygons TV Orphan Black Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Song of the Lioness series - Tamora Pierce TV Secret Invasion FILM Mission: Impossible series TV Doctor Who - World Enough and Time MINES OF URRGH FILM Johnny Mnemonic 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Arthurian legends // Perfume // The Dark is Rising | 29 Jul 2025 | 00:35:43 | |
Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton are your guides for this week as they traverse through manner of fantasy recommendations, tropes and news! They discuss Arthurian legend in fantasy (and some sci-fi), David Bowie's tights in Labyrinth, and audible sharpness (*insert your own sword noise here!*) 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS FILM The Odyssey TV Star Trek: Starfleet Academy WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ENJOYING? Perfume - Patrick Süskind The Emperor’s Blades - Brian Staveley The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam - Megan Bannen TROPE ON A ROPE - audible sharpness FILM Robin Hood SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Arthurian legends The Once and Future King - T.H. White FILM The Sword and the Stone FILM Star Wars FILM Harry Potter TV Merlin (Sam Neill) FILM Monty Python and the Holy Grail PODCAST Camlann TV The Rottentrolls TV Sir Gadabout - The Worst Knight in the Land FILM The Green Knight The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper POEM The Dragons of Dinas Emrys - Pendaran TV Merlin (BBC) COMIC Camelot 3000 MINES OF URRGH FILM Labyrinth Avalon series - Marion Zimmer Bradley 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Time loops // Bring Her Back // Time loops | 05 Aug 2025 | 00:36:58 | |
Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan are your guides for this week as they traverse through manner of sci-fi and fantasy recommendations, tropes and news! They discuss time loops in sci-fi, the tropes of hypersexualised futures and post-coital never-nudes, and whether prison 'relationships' belong in the mines of urrggh! 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS FILM Attack of the 50 Foot Woman FILM Spider-Man: Brand New Day WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ENJOYING? FILM Sinners FILM Bring Her Back TROPE ON A ROPE Hypersexualised futures FILM Blade Runner 2045 FILM Showgirls FILM Starship Troopers FILM The Fifth Element Never nudes in sexy scenes FILM Sex and the City SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - time loops FILM Groundhog Day Strange Life of Ivan Osokin - P. D. Ouspensky TV The Twilight Zone ‘Shadow Play’ FILM Edge of Tomorrow TV Russian Doll FILM Happy Death Day FILM Happy Death Day 2 U TV Doctor Who - Eve of the Daleks FILM Source Code FILM Twelve Monkeys FILM Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines The Dark Tower - Stephen King PLAY Ghost Stories FILM Triangle TV Doctor Who - Heaven Sent TV Dark MINES OF URRGH Bourne series - Robert Ludlum 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan are your guides for this week as they traverse through manner of sci-fi and fantasy recommendations, tropes and news! 🌐 Visit thebuglepodcast.com to support us and find more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Interesting POVs // Romance // Dave Bautista | 12 Aug 2025 | 00:33:13 | |
Alice Fraser is joined this week by Jen Prokop from the Fated Mates romance podcast, so expect a lot of romance recommendations and tropes! The subgenre deep dive looks into interesting uses of POV, and Jen is uncomfortable with the increasing use of violence in romance books but enjoyed the romance elements in recent films Superman and Sinners. 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS FILM Highlander TV Outlander Epic Games secures legal win against Google WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? Superman Sinners TROPE ON A ROPE Jack Reacher series - Lee Child The Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - single POV The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemison Not Your Sidekick - C.B. Lee Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie The Baby Dragon Cafe - A.T. Qureshi The Baby Dragon Bakery - A.T. Qureshi Piranesi - Susanna Clarke MINES OF EURRGH Girls and their dragons Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros Jack West Jr series - Matthew Reilly American Gods - Neil Gaiman 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Jen Prokop. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Bodies // Summer of Horror // Befuzzled kings | 19 Aug 2025 | 00:38:32 | |
Joining Alice Fraser this week is the mighty Tom Neenan (The Mash Report, The Hauntening). The subgenre deep dive this week looks at bodies / good use of embodiment - such as body swapping in Altered Carbon or Cronenbergian body horror. Tom espouses that 2025 has seen the greatest summer for cinematic horror in recent memory, discusses the trope of befuzzled kings leaving a trail of chaos in their wake, and feels a bit eurrgh about campery being shorthand for villainy. 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS FILM Red Sonja WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? FILM 28 Years Later FILM Bring Her Back FILM Weapons FILM Together Swordheart - T Kingfisher TROPE ON A ROPE Befuzzled kings and the chaos they leave in their wake Looking in the mirror, pulling at something and creating a Cronenbergian horror SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - bodies FILM Looper FILM Together TV Doctor Who - The Invisible Enemy TV Doctor Who - Into The Dalek FILM Tusk PODCAST Smodcast Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C. S. Lewis Ghost In The Shell Dune - Frank Herbert TV Alien: Earth FILM Ex Machina MINES OF EURRGH Campery to mean villainy FILM Jupiter Ascending TV Twilight FILM The Little Mermaid FILM The Lion King FILM Robin Hood FILM The Fifth Element 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Big news next week | 29 Aug 2025 | 00:00:35 | |
For complicated reasons we've taken a week off. Enjoy our many shows, and hang on for something exciting! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Paladins // Grady Hendrix // Star Wars: Starfighter | 02 Sep 2025 | 00:41:41 | |
Joining Alice Fraser this week is Realms Unknown firm favourite Tom Neenan (The Mash Report, The Hauntening). 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS FILM Star Wars: Starfighter FILM K-Pop Demon Hunters WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN INTO? Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix My Best Friend’s Exorcism - Grady Hendrix Clockwork Boys - T. Kingfisher The Wonder Engine - T. Kingfisher TROPE ON A ROPE FILM Mulan Game of Thrones - George RR Martin DEEP DIVE - the paladin Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold FILM Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves TV Doctor Who - Revelation of the Daleks COMIC Die - Kieron Gillen MINES OF URRGH Rapunzel 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Competence // Star Trek // Outlander | 16 Sep 2025 | 00:40:25 | |
Joining Alice Fraser this week is the satisfyingly and unrelentingly competent Tom Neenan! (The Mash Report, The Hauntening) 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS TV Severance TV Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning FILM The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King FILM Dune TV Twisted Metal FILM The Creator TV Outlander: Blood of My Blood WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? Star Trek: Strange New Worlds TV Only Murders In The Building The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie TROPE ON A ROPE Something has happened here… Straight to camera blogging as disasters unfold SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - competence The Martian - Andy Weir FILM The Martian FILM All Is Lost FILM Die Hard FILM The Mechanic The Expanse series - James S. A. Corey TV The Expanse FILMS The Bourne franchise Discworld series - Terry Pratchett FILM Snatch TV Doctor Who - Midnight episode TV Columbo TV Poirot TV Jonathan Creek Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch MINES OF EURGH FILM Ready Player One Cautionary Tales for Children - Hilaire Belloc 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Installing buttons // Katherine Rundell // Harry Potter | 23 Sep 2025 | 00:35:14 | |
Joining Alice Fraser this week is the brilliant Eleanor Morton! 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown Reading list to follow! 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Post-colonial Africa // Alien: Earth // District 9 | 30 Sep 2025 | 00:37:03 | |
Tom Neenan joins Alice Fraser this week for another sci-fi and fantasy packed episode of Realms Unknown! 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS TV Doctor Who PLAY Amadeus GAME Fortnite TV The Boys TV Peacemaker FILM A Nightmare On Elm Street FILM Longlegs WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING? Alien:Earth MINES OF UURGH The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins PLAY Harry Potter & The Cursed Child SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Post-colonial African sci fi and fantasy meeting Western Anglosphere markets TV Doctor Who - The Story and the Engine Rosewater - Tade Thompson (from the Wormwood trilogy) Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James FILM District 9 FILM Elysium FILM Dirty Computer - Janelle Monae Out There Screaming - Jordan Peele 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| We made a hit book, and saw none of the money! Chris and Alice Unleashed!!! B'Ankruptcy Edition | 08 Oct 2025 | 00:42:05 | |
Chris and Alice tell the story of their experiences around Alice's hit book A Passion For Passion. A book that has generated over £50,000 in sales (maybe much more), yet we have barely seen a Penny. We tell the story of the publishers Unbound and Boundless who collapsed in debt, having failed to deliver for us (and a bunch of other authors). BUT, we won't give up. We'll fight for our money, and we have released it, in full as an Audiobook, available now... https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Fan fiction // Alchemised // Alan Moore | 14 Oct 2025 | 00:31:52 | |
It's an Alice-only special this week on Realms Unknown! 📚 Buy recommended books here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS APP Sora 2 FILM Barbie WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? Damned Whores and God’s Police - Anne Summers Queen Demon - Martha Wells The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Carusso Sixteen Ways To Defend a Walled City - K.J. Parker TROPE ON A ROPE Being able to cut a chain with a sword SUB-GENRE DEEP DIVE - Fan fiction Manacled - SenLinYu Alchemised - SenLinYu COMIC The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Alan Moore Sun Eater series - Christopher Ruocchio FILM Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Licence Expired: The Unauthorised James Bond - Madeline Ashby and David Nickle COMIC Watchmen - Alan Moore COMIC Supreme - Alan Moore COMIC Tom Strong - Alan Moore COMIC Neonomicon - Alan Moore COMIC Providence - Alan Moore COMIC The Courtyard - Alan Moore COMIC Jack Staff - Paul Grist COMIC Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles COMIC Michael Fiffe - Copra Twilight series - Stephanie Meyer Fifty Shade of Grey - E.L. James A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas AUDIOBOOK A Passion For Passion - Alice Fraser. Buy NOW! 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Words of power // Magic of language // Earthsea | 21 Oct 2025 | 00:39:57 | |
Myq Kaplan joins Alice Fraser this week for another sci-fi and fantasy packed episode of Realms Unknown! 🔔 Set a reminder to watch Myq's new comedy special Rini on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0uf9i_z-Aw 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes here! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? Piranesi - Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke Antkind - Charlie Kaufman Babel - RF Kuang TROPE ON A ROPE Exhalation: Stories - Ted Chiang FILM Looper TV Buffy the Vampire Slayer SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - words of power The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin Rumplestiltskin - Jacob and Willhelm Grimm Dylan Brody - Merlyn’s Mistake GAME Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss GAME Myst TV Star Trek MINES OF URRGH COMIC/TV The Boys - Garth Ennis COMIC/TV Preacher - Garth Ennis 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel for episodes of all of our shows https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 📚 Help your local bookshop by buying the books mentioned in the show in our Bookshop affiliate store https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Myq Kaplan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Portals // Frankenstein // Vorkosigan Saga | 29 Oct 2025 | 00:36:33 | |
Tom Neenan joins Alice Fraser this week for episode 38 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast Realms Unknown! 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS COMIC/FILM/TV Something Is Killing The Children WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? FILM Frankenstein TROPE ON A ROPE A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket FILM Apocalypse Now TV Arcane FILM Doctor Who: The Movie SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Portals Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll Vorkosigan Saga series - Lois McMaster Bujold GAME Portal 2 FILM Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves TV Doctor Who - Nightmare of Eden TV Doctor Who - Timelash TV Sliders TV Stargate SG-1 The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman Hyperion Cantos series - Dan Simmons MINES OF URRGH The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Ontologypunk // RimWorld // RoboCop | 05 Nov 2025 | 00:37:18 | |
Writer and podcaster Nate Crowley joins Alice Fraser this week for episode 39 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS TV The Witcher WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? GAME RimWorld - Odyssey Queen Demon - Martha Wells TV Severance TROPE ON A ROPE FILM Jurassic Park TV Once Upon A Time SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Dead POV characters/Ontologypunk Ghost Story - Jim Butcher Rivers of London series - Ben Aaronovitch Shawn McGuire Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir Twice Dead King series - Nate Crowley The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack - Nate Crowley FILM RoboCop MINES OF URRGH The Amtrak Wars - Patrick Lilley Tomorrow When the War Began - John Marsden The Once and Future King - T. H. White 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Nate Crowley. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Villains as heroes // Plur1bus // Improvised crampons | 12 Nov 2025 | 00:39:46 | |
Tom Neenan joins Alice Fraser this week for episode 40 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? FILM Predator: Badlands Queen Demon - Martha Wells The Flashman Papers - George MacDonald Fraser TV Plur1bus - Vince Gilligan SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Villains as heroes Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card Dune - Frank Herbert FILM Jurassic Park FILM A Nightmare on Elm Street FILM Child’s Play FILM Full Metal Jacket FILM Apocalypse Now FILM Saving Private Ryan FILM Wolf Creek TV Dexter Hannibal MINES OF URRGH FILM Wanted The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen R. Donaldson FILM The Flintstones 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| George AI Martin? Is it art? | 21 Nov 2025 | 00:35:27 | |
Alice is joined by Kate Samas to discuss the latest in speculative fiction, including an accusation that the latest George RR Martin release has AI generated art. 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner, Laura Turner and Harry Gordon. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Iterations // The Running Man // King Kong | 26 Nov 2025 | 00:46:32 | |
Alice Fraser is joined this week by Tom Neenan for episode 42 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS A Feast of Crows - George RR Martin GAME Zombies, Run WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? FILM The Running Man The Will of the Many - James Islington The Strength of the Few - James Islington Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan TV Tumble Leaf SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Iterations FILM The Running Man FILM The Long Walk TV IT: Welcome To Derry FILM The Fly FILM Alien FILM Aliens FILM Nosferatu Circe - Madelline Miller Song of Achilles - Madelline Miller Stone Blind - Natalie Haynes Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik FILM King Kong MINES OF URRGH FILM King Kong TV Doctor Who - The Power of Kroll 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Choose Your Own Adventure // Fighting Fantasy // Spider-Man | 03 Dec 2025 | 00:45:28 | |
The brilliant Joz Norris joins Alice Fraser this week for episode 43 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown NEWS TV Stargate The Will Of The Many - James Islington The Strength Of The Few - James Islington WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? GAME Spirit Island Raven Scholar - Antonia Hodgson All Fours - Miranda July The 13th Witch - Mark Hayden SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Choose Your Own Adventure SHOW The Dark Room - John Robertson Fighting Fantasy series - Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone FILM Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman FILM Groundhog Day Vulcanverse - Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson To Be Or Not To Be - Ryan North Romeo And/Or Juliet - Ryan North GRAPHIC NOVEL: Star Trek: Lower Decks - Warp Your Own Way - Ryan North COMIC SERIES The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Ryan North MINES OF URRGH Spider-Man Conan series - Robert E. Howard 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Joz Norris. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Unfiction // Dinotopia // Implausibly large ribcages | 10 Dec 2025 | 00:31:31 | |
A very welcome return for SFF author Nate Crowley as he joins Alice Fraser for episode 44 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown The Twice-Dead King: Omnibus - Nate Crowley Notes from Small Planets - Nate Crowley NEWS FILM The Magic Faraway Tree Enid Blyton - The Magic Faraway Tree WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? FILM Batman TV Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Gumnut Babies - May Gibbs Wallet Babies - May Gibbs Snugglepot and Cuddlepie - May Gibbs King’s Watch series - Mark Hayden TROPE ON A ROPE Implausibly large ribcages GAME Subnautica GAME Borderlands FILM Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope FILM Godzilla vs Kong Perdido Street Station - China Miéville Shadow of the Gods series - John Gwynne Looming roar monsters SUB GENRE DEEP DIVE - Unfiction / fictional non-fiction Dinotopia series - James Gurney Expedition - Wayne Barlowe PODCAST Revolutions - Mike Duncan The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island - Weta Workshop FILM King Kong GAME Neuorocracy Notes from Small Planets - Nate Crowley MINES OF URRGH The Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson TV Wolf Hall 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Nate Crowley. 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Narnia // Stranger Things // Space Jesus | 17 Dec 2025 | 00:34:09 | |
Dive into your nearest wardrobe and enjoy Eleanor Morton and Alice Fraser on episode 45 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast Eleanor Morton - Life Lessons From Historical Women 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Eleanor Morton 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Christmas // Hogfather // It's A Wonderful Life | 24 Dec 2025 | 00:41:35 | |
Rejoice! For Tom Neenan joins Alice Fraser for a special festive episode 46 of your favourite sci-fi and fantasy podcast, Realms Unknown! 📕 'A Passion For Passion' is back on sale! https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Exciting things in 2026 // The Odyssey // Disclosure Day | 31 Dec 2025 | 00:32:32 | |
Alice Fraser is joined by Chris Skinner as they look ahead to 2026 and discuss the exciting forthcoming releases in the sci-fi and fantasy realms. 📕 'A Passion For Passion' is back on sale! https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/store/p/a-passion-for-passion-a-delirious-love-letter-to-romance ❤️🔥 Buy 'A Passion For Passion' audiobook https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/we-are-18-t6flf-5n9mc 💰 Support Realms Unknown by becoming a Team Bugle subscriber https://thebuglepodcast.com/donate 📯 Subscribe to The Bugle YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcast 📚 Buy books featured in this and other episodes https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/RealmsUnknown WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN PUTTING IN YOUR BRAIN? The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka Fire Boy - Sami Shah FILM The Grinch FILM Mary Poppins TROPE ON A ROPE FILM Disclosure Day COMING UP IN 2026 A Trade of Blood - Robert Jackson Bennett Platform Decay - Martha Wells Queen Demon - Martha Wells Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman Operation Bounce House - Matt Dinniman TV A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight FILM Twins Twelve Months - Jim Butcher TV Silo The Tapestry of Fate - Shannon Chakraborty Wolf Worm - T. Kingfisher FILM The Odyssey TV Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 TV Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen 🔔 Subscribe, like, and comment! 🦋 Follow us on Bluesky! 🎚️ Produced by Chris Skinner and Ped Hunter. Hosted by Alice Fraser and Tom Neenan 📧 Got questions, feedback, or suggestions? Email us at realmsunknown@thebuglepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||