PODCAST · history
Ex Urbe Ad Astra
by Ada Palmer
Historian and novelist Ada Palmer and author and vocateur reader Jo Walton interview other fiction authors, historians, scientists, editors, and friends, interspersed with bonus episodes where they discuss topics such as history, gelato, and the craft of writing.
Episodes
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra #13 - The Florentine Renaissance with Larry Rothfield
In this episode, Ada and Jo speak with historian Larry Rothfield about the political nuances of 15th century Florence, and the shifting perspectives of the Renaissance to come since then.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra #12 - Pacing with Ken Liu
In this episode, Ada and Jo discuss the merits of good pacing across a range of story lengths with Hugo and Nebula award-winning author, Ken Liu.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra #11 - The Problem of Evil in Narrative with Alexis Shotwell
In this episode, Ada and Jo speak with Alexis Shotwell about the issues that arise from ill-intentioned characters, and the moral questions they present to readers.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra #10 - Setups and Payoffs with Jon Evans
In this episode, Ada and Jo speak with Jon Evans about the remote research versus travel, short stories, beleivability, and setting up shocking twists for striking payoffs.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra #9 - Stopping Reading
In this episode, Jo and Ada discuss a number of reasons to put a book down without finishing.
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Politics in Disability and Fiction with William Alexander
Award winning children's author William Alexander joins Jo and Ada to talk about using politics and disability in fiction for children and adults.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 7: Shakespeare And Language, With Writer Greer Gilman
Greer Gilman has been writing stories set in Cloud, her Northern mythscape, for a quarter of a century. Her books are written for the ear, as much as for the understanding. Like the earliest stories, they are meant to be sung. Greer Gilman website
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How Writing Is Like Fencing, With Writer Max Gladstone - Part 2
Note to Patreon backers: You received this episode on January 12, 2022, but due to an oversight, it was never posted here. Normally you hear episodes a week in advance, but this one you received seven months in advance! Thank you to everyone for your patience. This is conclusion of the interview....
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 5: Writing The Near Future, With SF Writer Naomi Kritzer
Note to Patreon backers: You received this episode on November 10, 2021, but due to an oversight, it was never posted here. Normally you hear episodes a week in advance, but this one you received eight months in advance! Thank you to everyone for your patience. This episode is brought to you by...
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Ep. 4, Part 2: Chapters
This is the second half of a conversation between Ada Palmer and Jo Walton, about writing chapters. This was a two-hour conversation, so our previous episode had the first hour, and this episode has the second hour.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Ep. 4, Part 1: Chapters
This is the first half of a conversation between Ada Palmer and Jo Walton, about writing chapters. This was a two-hour conversation, so this episode has the first hour, and the next episode will have the second hour.
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Bonus Ep. 3, Part 2: The Author-Reader Contract
This is the final half of a conversation between Ada Palmer and Jo Walton, about how an author can craft the early part of a novel to set up the reader's expectations about what kind of a book to expect. This was a two-hour conversation, so our previous episode had the first hour, and this…
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Ep. 3, Part 1: The Author-Reader Contract
This is part one of a conversation between Ada Palmer and Jo Walton, about how an author can craft the early part of a novel to set up the reader's expectations about what kind of a book to expect. This was a two-hour conversation, so this episode has the first hour, and the next episode will be...
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How Writing Is Like Fencing, With Writer Max Gladstone - Part 1
This episode is brought to you by Perhaps The Stars, the fourth and final novel in the Terra Ignota series, available now from (referrer links) Amazon, Barnes And Noble, Books-A-Million, Apple Books, and Indiebound. Anything you can call "writing" (science fiction, fantasy, screenwriting, comics,...
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 4: Bright and Dark Ages with historian and journalist David Perry
David Perry is a freelance journalist covering politics, history, education, and disability rights. He was a professor of Medieval History at Dominican University from 2006-2017, and now works as an academic advisor in the history department of the University of Minnesota. His scholarly work...
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 3: Hopepunk and positive futures with writer Ruthanna Emrys
Ruthanna Emrys is an author of science fiction and fantasy such as The Innsmouth Legacy series and Deep Roots, which are hopeful Lovecraftian fantasy, and the forthcoming A Half-Built Garden, a hopeful science fiction novel of first contact. Ruthanna Emrys Patreon "Reading The Weird" column on...
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Ep. 2: Manga for non-manga readers
This will probably become a series of occasional bonus episodes in which Ada Palmer and Jo Walton discuss manga and anime with an eye to its innovations, cultural norms, and wider implications for the media landscape. - Gender and age marketing categories in manga. - Translation of Japanese...
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 2: Mars & How To Help Science Fiction Writers With Science, With Astrogeologist Jonathan Sneed
Jonathan Sneed is an astrogeologist and expert in Mars wind and erosional science. He also consults with science fiction authors, and has the skill of giving the sort of answers to science questions that are useful when writing fiction. Numerous topics covered include - open questions in Mars...
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Episode 1: Complicity
In this bonus episode, Ada Palmer and Jo Walton have a craft of writing discussion of complicity, i.e. when and how the author gets the reader or audience on the side of characters they would not expect to root for, and how that can be used in fiction.
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Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 1: Speculative Resistance With Writer Malka Older
Novelist and political scientist Malka Older, author of Infomocracy and its sequels, shares an interest with Ada Palmer in the development of political systems. With Jo Walton providing examples from her broad knowledge of the history of F&SF, they discuss speculative political systems…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Historian and novelist Ada Palmer and author and vocateur reader Jo Walton interview other fiction authors, historians, scientists, editors, and friends, interspersed with bonus episodes where they discuss topics such as history, gelato, and the craft of writing.
HOSTED BY
Ada Palmer
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Ex Urbe Ad Astra have?
Ex Urbe Ad Astra currently has 20 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Ex Urbe Ad Astra about?
Historian and novelist Ada Palmer and author and vocateur reader Jo Walton interview other fiction authors, historians, scientists, editors, and friends, interspersed with bonus episodes where they discuss topics such as history, gelato, and the craft of writing.
How often does Ex Urbe Ad Astra release new episodes?
Ex Urbe Ad Astra has 20 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Ex Urbe Ad Astra?
You can listen to Ex Urbe Ad Astra on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Ex Urbe Ad Astra?
Ex Urbe Ad Astra is created and hosted by Ada Palmer.
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