Canadian science fiction writer Hugh A. D. Spencer joins the lads to talk about one of his favorite bits of audio – the original radio play of The War of the Worlds.

The novel by H. G. Wells was written in the 1890s, and adapted by Orson Welles for his Mercury Theatre in 1938. Howard Koch adapted the story for the radio. Koch used the trope of the news flash to tell the story, and this led many listeners who had missed the start of the radio play to think the invasion was real.

It caused a panic.

Joe, Mark and Hugh have a great time talking about the effects of the radio play, science fiction in general, and the impact of the play on Hugh's own work.

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Joe and Mark are joined by the wonderfully original writer Tom Bradley. 3:AM Magazine describes Tom as "... one of the most criminally underrated authors on the planet."

Tom explains what it was like to be a six foot, eight-inch tall red-haired American, living in China and Japan and teaching at a number of English-language universities in both countries.

The peripatetic lifestyle allowed Tom to develop his own writing style and tackle subject matter that was not necessarily mainstream. "I think I've made about $35 in royalties in fifty years of writing," Tom jokes.

He’s worked with the artist that has inspired him: Canada's very own Nick Patterson.

They look at three of the illustrations in Family Romance, one of several books that Nick has worked on with Tom. [see below for the pictures they describe in the podcast]

These illustrations are "breathtaking in a disturbing kind of way" Joe says.

Tom describes the process of working with the artist – Nick created the illustrations and it was Tom's job to create a narrative linking the images.

They have a deep and entertaining conversation about being an exile, teaching abroad, writing, and where writers find their inspiration.

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Blair is a working stage, screen and voice actor and the president of ACTRA Alberta, the acting union for screen and voice performers.

He shares with hosts Joe and Mark some fun acting stories and how various actors pursue their art before talking about the play that still inspires him, Little Shop of Horrors.

Blair got to see the show at the age of 17 on the West End. That version starred Ellen Greene, the original Audrey on Broadway. (She also plays the character in the 1986 movie version of the show.) Blair loved the characters, the songs, the puppet that is the alien, and the chorus, which sings do-wop songs. At the end of the show, tentacles dropped from the ceiling into the audience. The whole thing blew his mind.

"This is what I want to do," Blair said after seeing the show.

For pure fun and laughs, this is an episode not to be missed!

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Joe and Mark are joined by the famed cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling, from his studio in Torino (Turin), Italy.

"I don't like doing the same thing over," Bruce says. "So, I don't write trilogies or sequels. I'm writing a lot of short fiction. I do some lecturing and consulting. I'm also the art director of an arts festival here in Turin, which is called Share Festival."

One of Bruce's projects is to re-create a working model of The Versifier, which was originally a 1959 short story by Primo Levi. In the story, a poet is offered the chance to produce more poetry faster with a machine AI. Bruce is assembling a polystyrene model which is the first step to creating a working replica.

What follows is a deep and fascinating conversation that also digs into the work of kinetic sculptor Alexander Calder, AI technology, and the human need to create art.

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Mark and Joe are joined by writer and poet Abigail Grimes to discuss the classic Ray Bradbury novel Fahrenheit 451.

Fahrenheit 451, as perhaps you know, is a warning about the dangers of totalitarian thinking and censorship.

"One of the criticisms about the book is the writing is so beautiful that it's hard to take it seriously," Abigail tells us. The gorgeous prose helps the reader get past the worst parts of horror in the book, she says.

Abigail makes a great case for why you should read Fahrenheit 451, if you haven't already. It's a fun conversation about the 1950s, how Bradbury wrote the book, and about the writer himself. We hope you'll listen in!

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Joe and Mark welcome their first return guest: writer and editor Ira Nayman!

Ira has returned to help Mark and Joe understand the importance and fun of the early Marx Brothers films, including Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932) and Duck Soup (1933).

Ira makes the convincing case that if you love Monty Python, and you haven't seen the Marx Brothers, you really should give them a try.

If you enjoy comedy, you cannot afford to miss this edifying and funny conversation.

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Author Jenn Thorson joins the lads for a discussion of the classic children’s story, Alice in Wonderland.

Jenn's latest work is set in the world of Wonderland. She writes about Mary Ann Carpenter, the White Rabbit’s former housemaid, who must solve various mysteries. Jenn has also written humour and humorous science fiction.

Mark, Joe and Jenn discuss the history of the Alice in Wonderland books and the impact they've had on our culture. It's a fascinating conversation about the nature of writing with a “dream-like” quality.

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at joemahoney@donovanstreetpress.com

Author and critic Michael Antman joins Joe and Mark for a wide-ranging discussion about visual arts and writing.

Michael started out as a poet. After switching to fiction, he's had two novels published by indie presses: Cherry Whip and Everything Solid Has A Shadow. He likes to explore themes of self-knowledge in his work, or, more accurately, "the lack of self-knowledge."

The best surrealism combines common elements of the world with the feelings we have inside our dreams. Surrealism is unexpected but never absurd, Michael says. "It makes tremendous psychological sense at a deep level."

At the age of twelve, visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, Michael first encountered the work of René Magritte. "It blew the top of my head off!" he relates.

For more information, please check out the show notes for this episode.

Re-Creative is produced by Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.

Contact us at contact@donovanstreetpress.com