Episodes

  • Charlaine Harris on cozy mysteries, True Blood, extreme fans, and the thrill of cross-genre storytelling
    Jul 13 2025

    Charlaine Harris is one of the biggest names in dark fantasy and cozy mysteries, responsible for an impressive number of long-running series since the early 90s, including the smash hit Southern Vampire Mysteries, which were adapted into HBO's critically acclaimed show True Blood. Her first mystery series, Aurora Teagarden, has been adapted into 21 beloved TV films at last count, and her more recent Midnight, Texas trilogy was made into a wonderful series on NBC. In addition to other great series such as Lily Bard and Harper Connelly, she's done numerous short stories for highly enjoyable anthologies featuring many of the most popular writers in her genres, and her latest alternate history series, the wild-west-meets-the-Romanovs Gunnie Rose, is concluding this month, with the final volume, The Last Wizards' Ball, coming out on July 22nd. Charlaine is a wonderful worldbuilder and a lovely person, and it was so nice speaking with her today about her long-running and exciting career.


    Links

    Keep up with Charlaine's latest work and events on her official site.


    The Last Wizards' Ball can be pre-ordered on Kobo or Amazon now. The full series is available on Kobo and Amazon as well.


    Charlaine has contributed to and edited many great anthologies, but my personal favorite will always be Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. I cannot recommend this one enough.


    I also absolutely love and highly recommend the Southern Vampire Mystery series, which has such a great Southern Gothic paranormal vibe, so if you haven't read it (even if you've seen True Blood), it's an absolute must-read. Find hard copies at any bookstore or the ebooks on Kobo and Amazon.


    And of course she's got many other books, series, and stories to enjoy, with hard copies also available in bookstores or on Kobo and Amazon.


    Happy reading!

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    53 mins
  • Sion Ifan on on the importance of Welsh language productions, the draw of crime series, and stepping behind the camera
    Jul 10 2025

    Sion Ifan is a fantastic Welsh/English bilingual actor and director whose latest works behind the camera include the intense 6-part murder mystery Cleddau/The One That Got Away and the fun family sci-fi show Y Goleudy/The Lighthouse. He also directed half the episodes of Creisis/Crisis, a great emotional drama about mental health, and is one of the directors on the upcoming series Still Waters. On screen, he gave an absolutely devastating performance as the lead antagonist in the final season of the must-see crime noir drama Craith/Hidden and was wonderful in the psychological thriller Bregus as well as many other series. In addition, he is an accomplished theatre actor, with recent credits including Oberon in an epic bilingual production of A Midsummer Night's Dream a few years back. I've really enjoyed his work over the years, and it was thrilling speaking with him in depth about the Welsh entertainment industry and the use of Welsh in mainstream media.


    Cleddau / The One That Got Away

    Trailer: Welsh | English
    Streaming: Amazon | Acorn TV | Apple | ABC iview


    Craith / Hidden - Season 3

    Trailer: Welsh | Bilingual
    Streaming: Amazon | Acorn TV | Apple


    Creisis / Crisis

    Trailer: Welsh
    Streaming: BBC iplayer


    Merched Parchus

    Streaming: YouTube

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    38 mins
  • Siôn Alun Davies on minority languages, the psyche of bad guys, and the collaborative nature of filmmaking
    Jul 9 2025
    Siôn Alun Davies is a talented Welsh/English bilingual actor from Cardiff, best known internationally as the likeable Detective Owen Vaughan from the crime noir series Craith/Hidden. Most recently, he joined the cast of prison drama Bariau/Inside for season 2 as the antagonistic new senior corrections officer Simon Firth, and played Jamie in the intense murder mystery series Cleddau/The One That Got Away. He was also wonderfully creepy in the folk horror film Gwledd/The Feast and has appeared in many other productions, including Steeltown Murders, Hinterland, Sandman, and Brittania. It was a real pleasure speaking with him today about his Welsh language background, his training and craft, entering the mental space of his characters, and what he enjoys most about his work.Craith / HiddenTrailer: Season 1Streaming: Amazon | Acorn TV | AppleCleddau / The One That Got AwayTrailer: Welsh | EnglishStreaming: Amazon | Acorn TV | Apple | ABC iviewBariau / InsideTrailer: BilingualStreaming: Amazon | Acorn TVGwledd / The FeastTrailer: WelshStreaming: Amazon | AMC | YouTubeSteeltown MurdersTrailer: EnglishStreaming: Amazon | AMC | Acorn TV | YouTube | AppleDim Ond Ti a Mi / Nothing But You and MeStreaming: Welsh
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    55 mins
  • John Peel on Doctor Who, the publishing industry, and the absolute joy of being a writer
    Jul 9 2025

    John Peel is an accomplished and beloved author who has published an extraordinary number of books over the decades, going all the way back to the original Doctor Who series, which he has written many tie-in books for. He’s also done novelizations of and tie-ins for plenty of other major franchises, including Star Trek and James Bond. However, to me, he will always be one of the top old-school kidlit authors, having written a variety of highly imaginative and enduring horror and fantasy series for young readers, which I still enjoy even now in my 40s. He was one of my earliest childhood inspirations when I first started writing my own horror and fantasy stories long ago, and it was an absolute pleasure to connect with him today to discuss his many, many years in the publishing world.


    John's latest book, Unstoppable, has just been released.


    You can check out lots of his other work here.


    And some of his Doctor Who audiobooks as well:

    River of Death

    The Third Monsters Collection

    The Chase

    The Mutation of Time


    My personal favorites are the Foul Play books, the Diadem series, the Dragonhome trilogy (aka Jane Eyre with dragons), and the Shockers books.


    Enjoy!

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    1 hr and 1 min