Bradbury 100 - Celebrating the Life and Work of American Writer Ray Bradbury

In this episode of Bradbury 100, I review an old magazine published as a tribute to Ray Bradbury. Back in May 1963, the award-winning Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (which is still running today) published its second-ever author special, and it focused on Ray Bradbury. Join me in skimming through this landmark publication. You can find the full issue of the magazine for free on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v024n05_1963-05_PDF/mode/1up For more information, check out the show notes on my website: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2026/05/new-podcast-episode-reviewing-magazine.html

Another celebration of the 60th anniversary of the release of the feature film version of FAHRENHEIT 451... In a previous episode (https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2026/03/new-podcast-episode-fahrenheit-451-film.html), I detailed how Francois Truffaut's film had an impact on Ray Bradbury. In THIS episode I go back a few steps, and look at how Truffaut became connected to Ray in the first place. It's not an obvious story. Truffaut was no fan of science fiction, and had no knowledge of Bradbury's writings until 1960, when a friend urged him to read Fahrenheit 451. Truffaut was an extraordinary bibliophile, and delighted in Ray's book about books, and its meditation on the significance of literature in an increasingly illiterate culture. Join me as I re-trace Truffaut's steps on the way to completing his 1966 film. Check out the show notes at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 returns with another "Chronological" episode, this time continuing with the year 1945. In this year, Ray published no fewer than thirteen stories. In this episode, I cover the next five stories: Skeleton (first version), The Watchers, Dead Men Rise Up Never, Corpse Carnival, and The Dead Man. This batch of stories is once again a mix of crime stories and weird fantasy, clearly Ray's preferred genres at this time. For more information, including links to online versions of the stories (where available), please check the full show notes on my website, here: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2026/04/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html

Francois Truffaut's film of FAHRENHEIT 451 is sixty years old! In this episode I revisit the film and talk about how it came to be made, and then move on to discussing Ray Bradbury's reactions to the film. Not only did Ray review the film for the LA Times, but he also borrowed elements from the film when he later developed his own stage play of F451. Check out the full show notes at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

In this episode, a reading of Ray Bradbury's story "Skeleton" - but perhaps not the story you are familiar with... In 1945, Ray published TWO short stories with the same title, "Skeleton". The more famous of the two went on to be collected in his books Dark Carnival, The October Country, and The Stories Of Ray Bradbury. The less well known "Skeleton" just appeared in an obscure magazine and has only rarely been reprinted. The lesser known "Skeleton" is, by an accident of history, out of copyright - unlike the more familiar "Skeleton", whose copyright was diligently renewed when needed, and remains copyrighted. Check out the show notes at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 returns for 2026 with another "Chronological" episode, this time starting us off with the year 1945. In this year, Ray published no fewer than thirteen stories. In this episode, I cover the first four stories: The Poems, I’m Not So Dumb, Hell’s Half Hour, and The Tombstone. There's a mixture here of two genres still favoured as a professional short story writer, namely the detective story and the weird tale. For more information, including links to online versions of the stories (where available), please check the full show notes on my website, here: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2026/02/bradbury-100-returns-new-episode.html

Coming Soon: a new season of Bradbury 100. This short trailer gives you an idea of what to expect when the new season begins on 26 February 2026. As always, find more information on my website at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

My Chronological Bradbury series continues with the third and final look at the year 1944 - which sees Ray continue to dabble with crime fiction, but still turning his hand to SF and fantasy, completing the NINETEEN short stories he had published in that single year. The most notable story of the batch is the timeless "The Jar", a creepy yet amusing fantasy set in the Lousiana swamps. Written when Ray was just 24 years old, it was a story which maintained a fascination for readers/listeners/viewers well into the 1990s and beyond. In the full shownotes (at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/09/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html), I provide links to most of the stories mentioned in this episode, in their original pulp appearances; these versions sometimes differ slightly from the versions in Ray's books. With this episode, Bradbury 100 takes a short vacation. But it will return later in 2025!

This is the audio version of a live talk I did for Ray Bradbury's 105th birthday (22 August 2025). For more info, check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-podcast-episode-laurel-and-hardy.html

Time for another in my "Chronological Bradbury" strand, where I work through Ray Bradbury's stories in the order they were published. This time, we continue with the year 1944, which sees Ray publishing a string of crime stories alongside the more familiar fantasy and science fiction tales. As you will recall from last time, there are too many stories from 1944 for me to cover in a single episode, so this is the second of three episodes for 1944. For the full show notes - including links to online versions of some of the stories discussed - head to https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html

Time for another podcast episode - and another in my "Chronological Bradbury" strand, where I work through Ray Bradbury's stories in the order they were published. This time, we reach the year 1944, which sees Ray publishing "The Lake" - which he always said was the first "good" story that he ever wrote. It's also the year of "I, Rocket", the story which nabbed him a posthumous Retro Hugo Award for best short story of 1944. For more details - and links to online versions of the stories covered in this episode - check out the shownotes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/07/time-for-another-podcast-episode-and.html

Here's another new podcast episode, picking up the "Chronological Bradbury" thread once more, with the remaining Ray Bradbury stories which were first published in the latter part of 1943. I cover five stories in this episode, completing the total of eleven stories Ray published in that year. All of the stories are available online within archived copies of the original pulp magazines. The stories are: Doodad (Astounding, September 1943) And Watch the Fountains (Astounding, September 1943) Promotion to Satellite (Thrilling Wonder Stories, fall 1943) The Ducker (Weird Tales, November 1943) King of the Gray Spaces (aka R is for Rocket) (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1943) If you visit my website for the shownotes, you'll find direct links to the stories as they appeared in the original pulp magazines: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/07/heres-another-new-podcast-episode.html

This episode of the Bradbury 100 podcast is something of a partner to the last episode where I looked at Ray Bradbury's stories from the year 1943. You may recall I talked about "The Wind". Well, in this episode, I look at that story in more detail - and give a reading of the entire, original version. What you will hear is the first-ever published version of the story, taken from Weird Tales magazine. This is before Ray re-wrote it for inclusion in his first book, Dark Carnival (1947). Incidentally, the revised version of "The Wind" is the version you will find in all of Ray's books. After that Weird Tales appearance, Ray didn't give the original version any further outings. Comparing the two versions is quite fun, and something of a lesson in how to improve a story by re-writing. After I've read the story, I give a comparison of the two versions. If you want to read the story for yourself, you can find the Weird Tales issue online, here: https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v36n10_1943-03_ATLPM-Sas/page/n3/mode/2up Next time: I cover the rest of Ray's stories from 1943! Don't forget to check out my website at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 podcast time! And it's another of my "Chronological Bradbury" series, this time covering the year 1943. This is the year when Ray broke all his previous records, by having no fewer than eleven stories published in professional magazines - in contrast to the mere two published in 1942. This is also the year that Ray became 23 years old. It's remarkable to me that a 22-year-old could write a story like "The Wind", "The Crowd" or "The Scythe". All three of these classics were published before his 23rd birthday. To be fair, not every Bradbury story of 1943 is a timeless classic. Some of them are quite pulpy! But all of them are interesting. In this episode, I cover roughly half of 1943, and I'll cover the remainder of the year in a future episode. The stories I feature this time are: The Piper (Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1943) The Wind (Weird Tales, March 1943) Gabriel's Horn (co-written with Henry Hasse (Captain Future, Spring 1943)) Subterfuge (Astonishing Stories, April 1943) The Crowd (Weird Tales, May 1943) The Scythe (Weird Tales, July 1943) For links and more detail, check out the shownotes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/06/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html

Bradbury 100 - episode 65 - Radio Classics: Dimension X / X Minus One by Bradbury 100 podcast by bradburymedia.co.uk

Sometimes the podstreams just cross, and this episode is a prime example. When Colin Kuskie, co-host of my other podcast suggested reviewing It Came From Outer Space, the classic 1953 science fiction movie created by Ray Bradbury, it was right up my alley - and so this new episode of Bradbury 100 is a crossover with the new episode of Science Fiction 101! The discussion ranges from Bradbury's contribution to the screenplay to the quality of the 3D, and takes in your humble hosts' views on whether or not screen creatures should be revealed or concealed. For more information, check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/05/new-podcast-episode-it-came-from-outer.html

Bradbury 100 is back with a new batch of episodes! This time: an interview with Orty Ortwein, author of THE FIRST GEEKS, which examines the early days of organised science fiction fandom. And guess who was there? Ray Bradbury, of course. At around eighteen years of age, he joined the Los Angeles chapter of the Science Fiction League, and became firm friends with animator Ray Harryhausen and super-fan Forry Ackerman. For more information on THE FIRST GEEKS and other items mentioned in the episode, check out the show notes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/05/new-podcast-episode-first-geeks.html

Bradbury 100 Returns - 1st May 2025! by Bradbury 100 podcast by bradburymedia.co.uk

In this episode, I look at the relationship between two greats of genre fiction: Ray Bradbury and his friend Leigh Brackett. Brackett is perhaps best remembered today as one of the screenwriters of STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - but long before that she co-wrote THE BIG SLEEP and RIO BRAVO for Howard Hawks. Earlier still, she was a prolific writer of science fiction and crime fiction. And, crucially for this podcast: she was Ray Bradbury's mentor during the early years of his professional career. For more on Leigh Brackett and Ray Bradbury, check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/02/new-podcast-episode-ray-bradbury-and.html

Here's another new episode of my Bradbury 100 podcast. This time, I look at the early years of Ray Bradbury's professional career, which saw him not only mastering the craft of short story writing and putting together his first book, but branching out into media - in particular, getting his stories and scripts onto national radio shows such as CBS's SUSPENSE. Over a span of a dozen years, Suspense produced no fewer than eleven shows based on Bradbury stories, with some of the stories being produced multiple times. I argue that this early media presence - which included a number of stories previously unpublished - helped cement Bradbury's growing popularity and reputation. I have a playlist of full versions of all of Bradbury's SUSPENSE episodes in the shownotes on my website at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/01/ray-bradbury-on-radio-suspense.html

A few weeks ago, there was a new episode of The Simpsons which was entirely based on the works of Ray Bradbury. "Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes" is not the first time Ray has been referenced by the show. In fact, the number of Bradbury allusions across all of The Simpsons (i.e. on TV, in comics, and in books) now totals: thirteen. In this episode I detail them all! Many of them are represented by audio clips. But there are a few gags which are purely visual, including the comic-book and book appearances, and so I'll present some of those on my website. Check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2024/12/ray-bradbury-and-simpsons.html

"Lazarus Come Forth" (1944) is one of a handful of early Ray Bradbury stories to have slipped into the public domain. It's also one of two Bradbury stories set on board a "morgue ship" - a space ship that cleans up after space battles, collecting dead astronauts to (presumably) bring them back home for proper burial or cremation. In this episode, I bring you the background behind the story, and a complete reading of it. Enjoy! For more episodes of Bradbury 100, check out my website at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

As well as writing his famous novels and short stories, Ray Bradbury wrote extensively for the stage. In this episode I explore Ray Bradbury as playwright, looking at his one-act plays and his full-llength adaptations of his own novels. You can find the full shownotes on my blog, here: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2024/11/new-podcast-episode-ray-bradbury-on.html

This is the audio from my 2024 livestreamed version of the podcast, which went out over Facebook and Youtube. If you want the full effect, you can find the VIDEO recording of the livestream on YouTube, at: https://youtube.com/live/SBGtfPQZYBw

Ray Bradbury's first-ever book, DARK CARNIVAL (1947) has been re-published. For the first time, it is available in paperback and ebook editions. In this episode I go through the story behind Dark Carnival, and review the new editions. For more information, check out the show notes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2024/03/new-bradbury-100-episode-dark-carnival.html

In my occasional series of "Chronological Bradbury" episodes, we reach the year 1942. This was Ray Bradbury's first full year as a professional writer, and the year he broke through to two of the leading science fiction and fantasy pulp magazines: Astounding Science Fiction, and Weird Tales. So it's an important year, although he only published two stories in that year. For full shownotes, visit my website: www.bradburymedia.co.uk

For Christmas this year, I bring you a bumper double-length episode of Bradbury 100! Member of the "Science Fiction Book Club" Facebook group provided questions about Ray Bradbury for me to answer. So this whole episode is given over to my ponderings on some terrific questions. For more details, check the full show notes at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

In this new episode of Bradbury 100, I explore FUTURIA FANTASIA - the fanzine that Ray Bradbury produced when he was a teenage science fiction fan. The first issue of Futuria Fantasia, published when Ray was eighteen years old, catches him just before he heads off to New York for the first-ever World Science Fiction Convention. In that first issue, he is very much focused on "Tecnhnocracy", a movement which promised to turn science fiction into political reality. For more information, check out the shownotes at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

In my occasional series of "Chronological Bradbury" episodes, we reach the year 1941. Ray Bradbury makes his first professional sale, appearing in pulp science fiction magazine SUPER SCIENCE STORIES! For full shownotes, visit my website: www.bradburymedia.co.uk

In this episode I review three new Bradbury products that have come my way - two blurays, and one book. For full show notes, check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Welcome to the FIFTIETH episode of Bradbury 100! This is another episode in my "Chronological Bradbury" strand - where I go through Ray Bradbury's publishing history in order. We've reached the year 1940, when Ray turned 20. It's a year which sees him getting no fewer than nine pieces of fiction published in amateur magazines. He's still a year away from his first professional sale (which will come in 1941), but 1940 shows him rapidly developing his plotting, characterisation, and use of language.

This time on Bradbury 100 I talk about The New Ray Bradbury Review, the online journal I edit on behalf of the Ray Bradbury Center. Specifically, I talk about the origins of the journal - which stretch way back to 1952, and William F. Nolan's original fan publication, called simply "Ray Bradbury Review". I also pay tribute to Nolan as the first person to really study Ray's work, and I discuss his ongoing engagement with Ray as both a friend and a colleague. For the full shownotes, head to my website: www.bradburymedia.co.uk

This is another episode in my "Chronological Bradbury" strand - where I go through Ray Bradbury's publishing history in order. We've reached the year 1939, when Ray turned 19. It's a year which sees him strengthening his ties with the science fiction fan community... and getting no fewer than five pieces of fiction published in amateur magazines. He's still two years ago from his first professional sale (which will come in 1941), but his jokey science fiction vignettes are beginning to evolve into proper stories. For more information, and links to some of the stories, check out the show notes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2023/10/new-bradbury-100-podcast-episode.html

22 August 2023 would have been Ray Bradbury's 103rd birthday, so in time-honored tradition (a tradition going back a whole three years...) I did a livestreamed version of the podcast via Facebook. Here's the audio from that livestream, very slightly edited. I think most of the references to visual things will make sense from context, but if you're curious about what was onscreen while I was talking, you can always check out the full video recording over on my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/uNiqsN-amMA

In this episode, I begin a new strand: Chronological Bradbury! In this strand, I'll be going through Bradbury's publishing history in order. Sometimes I'll cover multiple stories (as with this episode), and sometimes I'll focus on a single story - depending on the significance of the story. So we begin here, with the year 1938. This is where the seventeen-year-old Bradbury gets a piece of fiction in print for the very first time: "Hollerbochen's Dilemma".

Last time on Bradbury 100, we looked at the origin of Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and its peculiar history as a film script that became a book, and then became a film script again. This time, I continue the story, examining how the film - disastrously previewed in 1982 - was rescued through some re-writing, re-shooting and re-editing. Ray claimed that he "directed" or "edited" the film doing this re-make period, rescuing it from the clutches of director Jack Clayton. But is this really true? Join me as I dig into the archives, and look for evidence of what REALLY went on.

It's forty years since the film version of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES was released! So in this episode, I take a detailed look at the origins of SWTWC, going all the way back to the short story "The Black Ferris" (1948) and working through to the shooting of the film. Bradbury wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by his good friend Jack Clayton (director of Room at the Top (1959) and The Innocents (1961). So everything must have worked out really well...

In a file in the Ray Bradbury archive, we find his proposed book projects for the years 1960-1962. While some of the titles are familiar, some of them just never came to be. Find out about these Bradbury plans in this episode! One of the proposed books was an anthology to be edited by Ray. I'll give you the full list of contents on my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

In February 2023, I gave a public talk on FAHRENHEIT 451 for Wolverhampton Literature Festival. This podcast episode is a version of that talk - minus all the visual bits and pieces, of course. (If you want to see the visuals, head over to my Youtube Channel, BRADBURY 101!)

In a 1947 issue of Planet Stories magazine, Ray Bradbury penned a humorous writer bio of himself, in which he claims that all his stories are written for him by a posse of talented professionals including Robert Heinlein. That magazine slipped into the public domain in 1975, because the copyright wasn't renewed (following the 28-year-renewal rules in operation at that time). So, I'm bringing you the full article today! For more on Bradbury, and for show notes - including a link to the 1947 Planet Stories issue - remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

What better way to melt away the winter blues than with Ray Bradbury's ROCKET SUMMER? But this episode of the podcast isn't about the familiar opening chapter of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. No, here I'm looking at Bradbury's FIRST use of the title "Rocket Summer". It's a rare 1947 short story, published just once in PLANET STORIES, and never again reprinted. You won't find it in any of Ray's books. It also has the odd status of being in the public domain, thanks to an oversight: it should have had its copyright renewed in 1975 (following the 28-year-renewal system in use at that time). But the renewal didn't happen. Because it's public domain, I can here present the entire story to you (if you can tolerate my storytelling voice...). For more on Bradbury, and for show notes - including a link to the original 1947 Planet Stories issue - remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. In this episode I discuss Ray Bradbury's Christmas-themed stories - all two of them - and some lesser known Christmas things he wrote for film and TV. "The Gift" and "The Wish" are the stories, and the screen work includes a STEVE CANYON episode, and an unlikely sequel to THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL! For more on Bradbury, and for show notes, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. In this episode I discuss Ray Bradbury's stories as adapted by EC Comics, and review the new collection of these comic strips, HOME TO STAY. For more on Bradbury, and for show notes, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. In this episode I discuss Ray Bradbury's dinosaur stories (A Sound of Thunder, The Fog Horn and more), and the book which collects them together: Dinosaur Tales. For more on Bradbury, and for show notes, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. Ninety years ago this month, Ray Bradbury's uncle Lester Moberg was murdered. Ray was twelve years old at the time, and the murder coincided with his meeting of "Mr Electrico" and his family's leaving Waukegan. In this episode I tell the shocking true story of the unsolved murder, based on official inquest documents - and speculate on "whodunnit". For more on Bradbury, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. This episode looks at the most significant month in the Bradbury calendar: October! Ray published three books related to that month, ensuring that he will always be associated with spooky season. His short story The October Country collects his scariest stories; his novel Something Wicked This Way Comes shows what happens when a dark carnival comes to town; and his short novel The Halloween Tree explores the history and meaning of Halloween. For more on Bradbury, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

With apologies for some variation in sound quality in this recording... Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. This full-length episode looks at Ray's essay collection ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING, and features an interview with Renee and Kim, co-hosts of writing advice podcast WORDS TO WRITE BY. Renee and Kim have worked through Ray's advice to writers, and give their verdict on it. Do Ray's writing tips actually help, and how does his advice compare to that of the various writing gurus? For more on Bradbury, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. This short episodes focuses on Ray's short story "The Exiles", also known as "The Mad Wizards of Mars". An unassuming little tale, it has clear echoes of both FAHRENHEIT 451 and THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. We look at the history and development of the story, which Ray re-wrote several times. For more on Bradbury, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. This episode features the audio from a live talk given on Ray's 102nd birthday, discussing the origins and development of Bradbury's 1957 novel DANDELION WINE and its sequel, FAREWELL SUMMER. If you'd like to see the video version, which has lots of illustrations to accompany the talk, head over to Youtube: https://youtu.be/5tDBMyYeyxs

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk. This short episode is an update, and something of a trailer for coming attractions. With Ray's 102nd birthday almost upon us, I bring news of a new LIVE episode of the podcast, and of some future episodes.