Utopian and Dystopian Fictions

In this bumper episode, we are joined by Jacqueline Dutton, a Professor in French Studies at the University of Melbourne, celebrate Matt's latest publication, and announce a competition!Our conversation with Jacqueline covers a variety of topics, all of which are unified by a throughline of utopia(nism) and place. To begin, we chat about the dystopian qualities of Aboriginal author Alexis Wright's books Carpentaria (2006) and The Swan Book (2013), drawing on Jacqueline's chapter in Matt's book (more on that below), and discuss how and why the concept of utopia is problematic in Indigenous contexts. Our conversation then turns to the topic of utopia and place, including a location called Utopia in Australia and the utopian (or dystopian) elements of wine. In closing, Jacqueline shares how the concept of utopia differs across different cultural imaginaries, using examples from across Francophone and Japanese traditions.You can find out more about Jacqueline on her University of Melbourne profile, and if you're interested in finding out more about the utopianism of wine, you can find Wine, Terroir and Utopia: Making New Worlds (2020) here.~~~In the introduction, we celebrate Matt's latest book, Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature (2026), published by SUNY Press. Matt's book contains chapters written by several friends of the podcast, including Jacqueline's 'Indigenizing the Critical Dystopia: Alexis Wright's (Post)Apocalyptic Imaginaries in Carpentaria and The Swan Book'!Would you like to win a copy of Wastelands and Wonderlands? Then enter our competition! To enter, you need to:Comment on this episode (Spotify or Apple Podcasts), quote post our competition post on BlueSky, and / or repost with your thoughts on the competition post on Matt's LinkedIn account, writing:Letting us know what your favourite UADF episode is and why.Sharing something that you have read, watched, or listened to as a result of listening to the podcast.Bluesky and LinkedIn only: tagging a friend who might enjoy UADF!You can enter the competition up to three times (once by commenting on this episode, once via Bluesky, and once via LinkedIn). Entries close on 23:45pm (UK time) on May 17th 2026, after which we will put all names into a hat, draw a winner, and announce who won in the introduction to our next episode!Matt has also recently appeared on the A Meal of Thorns podcast, where he talks about Ernest Cline's Ready Player One (2011). You can listen on Spotify and Apple Music - after listening to this episode, of course!~~~If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we are joined by Daniel Olivas, who - as well as having a successful career as a lawyer in California - is an acclaimed author of several works of prose fiction, poetry, dramatic texts, and non-fiction.Our conversation with Daniel draws on his perspective as an attorney within the American legal system, writer, and grandson of Mexican immigrants. Central to this chat is a discussion of his novel Chicano Frankenstein (2024), a dystopian novel that imagines a future in which corpses are reanimated, have their memories and identities wiped, and are used to supplement America's labour force. Although clearly dystopian, Chicano Frankenstein is, at its heart, a tender, funny novel that explores how we find or make meaning in our lives.As we discuss in our interview with Daniel, his reanimated characters can be seen as stand-ins for immigrants - or indeed any marginalised figure in modern society - and as such our conversation oscillates between a close literary discussion and broader social commentary, particularly with reference to American politics.As a guest, Daniel is equal parts profound and entertaining, and we feel lucky to count him among the podcast's close friends, as he's been following along since our inception!You can find out more about Daniel on his website here and you can follow him on Bluesky at @[email protected]. You can also read his article, 'Howling Into the Wind: On 41 years of Writing About the Abuses of the Immigration System' here.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode we are joined by two guests, Taylor Cavallo (an Instructor at the University of Minnesota) and Mark Gatto (Assistant Professor in Critical Organisation Studies at Northumbria University). Our conversation with Taylor and Mark centres on the topic of work, drawing on their academic, professional, and personal experiences, and examines the dystopian and utopian elements of real and imagined work practices. We open by discussing how work is presented in the television shows Severance (2022+) and The Handmaid's Tale (2017-2025), and go on to talk about real-world work policies around things like parental leave may have utopian or dystopian bearings.We discuss Taylor's and Mark's publications throughout this episode. Taylor's article, 'Beyond the womb: a mosaic of organizational advocacy for reproductive justice' (2023), co-authored with Nicole Dillard, can be found here. You can find Mark's book, Parents at Work: A Dystopian ‘Fictocriticism’ to Subvert Patriarchal Organisations (2023), here, and his article, 'Parenthood demands: resisting a dystopia in the workplace' (2020), here.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Paul E. Hardisty, an environmental scientist, keen conservationist, and novelist known first for his 'Claymore Straker' series and, most recently, 'The Forcing' trilogy - a series of dystopian fiction with an ecological emphasis that has been called 'provocative and insightful, visceral and terrifying'.We speak with Paul about The Hope, the final instalment of 'The Forcing' trilogy, which came out on January 29th 2026! Called a 'superbly handled tale of struggle and survival in a maimed world' by The Times, The Hope is set in the near-future, where climate collapse, famine, and war have ravaged the world. It features sixteen-year-old Boo Ashworth, a girl with the remarkable ability to perfectly recall anything she had read previously, who fights to save her loved ones and bring hope to a broken world.You can find Paul on the Orenda Books website, Facebook, Substack, and X. You can order The Hope here.You can read the Australian National Outlook - the report we discussed with Paul that sets out how Australia can move towards a more sustainable future - here.Paul's non-fiction recommendations are:In Hot Water: Inside the Battle to Save the Great Barrier Reef, by Paul E. HardistyThe Golden Spruce, by John ValliantNatural Capitalism, by Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Paul HawkenLess is More: How Degrowth will Save the World, by Jason HickelA huge thanks to Paul for joining us on the podcast, and to his publishers at Orenda Books for reaching out and sending us proof copies of The Hope.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

We begin Season 3 of the Utopian and Dystopian Fictions Podcast by chatting with Amy Brookes, an architect and Associate Lecturer at the University of Reading.In our conversation with Amy, we turn our attention to the intersections between architecture, utopianism, and speculative fiction. Drawing on literary texts, theoretical ideas, and real-world practice, we have a far reaching discussion in which we discuss the utopian impulse behind architectural practice (and the debate within the field of architecture about whether architects are utopianists) and the insights that reading speculative fiction may reveal to architects, among other topics.Amy's love for speculative fiction really comes across in this interview, with her interview possibly containing the most varied list of references to speculative texts to date!You can find out more about Amy and her work here.And you can read her most recent paper, 'Held in common: science fiction and collective spaces' here.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this Season 2 Finale, Matt and Liam spend some time looking back at Season 2 of the Utopian and Dystopian Fictions podcast and chatting about what's to come in Season 3, before then discussing a very seasonal topic for this Halloween Special: Dystopia and Horror!We talk about the relationship between these two genres by focusing on two short stories (among other texts): Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' (1948) and Ray Bradbury's 'The Veldt' (1950). Both these texts, we suggest, straddle the line between Dystopia and Horror, and we talk about how and why one might fall more on the dystopian side and the other might fall more on the horrifying side.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Stefano Gualeni, a Full Professor at the Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta.In our conversation with Stefano, we draw on his varied professional expertise as a philosopher, game designer, and writer of fiction to discuss all things related to utopias and dystopias, play, and fictional games. In doing so, we cover ideas Stefano discusses in Fictional Games: A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play (2022) and his most recent novel What We Owe The Dead (2025).You can find out more about Stefano and his work here: ⁠https://gua-le-ni.com/ - you can even play some of his games on his website too, so do give them a go!Matt also has a new book out! You can find Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction here: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781836244790We also want to bring your attention to ‘Teaching Utopia’, a public repository of syllabi, reading lists, and teaching materials about utopia and dystopia housed on Zotero. There are two ways to contribute. You can upload them directly to Zotero yourself after joining the group library entitled “Teaching Utopia” (https://www.zotero.org/groups/6069510/teaching_utopia/library). Or you can contribute by filling out a brief Google Form (https://tinyurl.com/teachingutopia). If you have any trouble, you can contact Sophie Cardin – who created and manages the repository –  via email at [email protected] or on Bluesky @sophiecardin.bsky.social. Sophie is a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where she studies utopia and the history of Yiddish political thought.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Daniel Jenkin-Smith, who teaches at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and is an expert in English and French literature of the long 19th century. Daniel also co-hosts the spectacular Save Me From My Shelf Podcast.In our chat with Daniel, we turn our attention to the topic of bureaucracy: what are its origins, is it fundamentally utopian or dystopian, and where does it feature in utopian and dystopian texts? With reference to Kafka's The Trial, Morris's News from Nowhere, and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, among other works, our chat features a number of insights on the utopian and dystopian genres.Daniel's book, The Rise of Office Literature: Bureaucratization and Aesthetics in Britain and France, 1810-1900 (2025) is published by Bloomsbury.The Save Me From My Shelf podcast can be found on Spotify and all other good podcasting services.Daniel can also be found at dcjenkin-smith.bsky.socialIf you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Athira Unni, an Independent Scholar who holds a PhD in English from Leeds Beckett University.In our conversation with Athira, we discuss postcolonial dystopian fiction, with a particular emphasis on South Asian and Caribbean texts. Here, Athira notes how dystopian texts from these regions reflect multiple layers of oppression. She also suggests that something which sets postcolonial dystopias apart from Western dystopian traditions is that they focus on independence, rather than revolution. Our conversation also focuses on social reproductive theory, a framework which Athira examines throughout her work, and how reading utopian and dystopian texts with this theory in mind generates new insights.You can find out more about Athira and her work here: https://athiraunni.owlstown.net/ You can read Athira's paper, 'Social Reproductive Labor and Uto/Dystopia: An Analysis of Leila, Midnight Robber and Woman World' here.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with andré carrington, an Associate Professor in the English Department at the University of California, Riverside.In our conversation with andré, we discuss speculative fiction and the emerging opportunities for Black writers in this genre across a range of literary modes. Here, andré offers unique insights, blending his role as an academic, critic, fan, and literary editor. Here, we question who gets to imagine the future, how they are able to express their imaginings, and what happens as a result of these imaginings.You can find out more about andré and his work here: https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/andrc You can find andré's Speculative Blackness here: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816678969/speculative-blackness/ And you can buy The Black Fantastic here: https://www.loa.org/books/the-black-fantastic-20-afrofuturist-stories-paperback/If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Jordan Carroll, a writer, editor, and scholar who holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of California, Davis.Our discussion with Jordan primarily centres on his most recent book, Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (University of Minnesota Press, 2024), which reveals the alt-right’s project to claim science fiction and - by extension - the future. Here, we discuss the relationship between the alt-right and science fiction (and how and why the alt-right might choose to appropriate or misread the genre), science fiction as a colonialist genre, and the nebulous, ever-changing nature of the alt-right in the contemporary moment.You can find out more about Jordan and his work here: https://jordanscarroll.wordpress.com/ And you can buy Speculative Whiteness here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speculative-Whiteness-Science-Alt-Right-Forerunners/dp/1517917085 If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Eve Smith, a novelist who writes speculative thrillers, mainly about the things that scare her. Her novels have been reviewed in The Guardian, The Times and New Scientist.Described by Waterstones as ‘an exciting new voice in crime fiction’, Eve’s debut thriller, The Waiting Rooms, set during an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award. It was followed by Off-Target, about a world where genetic engineering of children is routine.Her third novel, ONE, set in a climate-ravaged Britain where a one-child policy is enforced, was longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association’s Best Novel Award. Her latest thriller, The Cure, is about the accidental discovery of a cure for ageing which is hijacked by obsessives who will risk anything to cheat death. The Times review said: “Smith’s novel is a commentary on the contemporary... a thought-provoking thriller with much to say about our obsession with looking youthful.”Eve’s previous job took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places.You can find Eve on her website, on X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok. You can order The Cure here.A huge thanks to Eve for coming on to the podcast, and also to her publishers at Orenda Books for reaching out and sending us proof copies of The Cure.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Ruth Houghton - a Senior Lecturer at Newcastle Law School - and Aoife O'Donoghue - a Professor in Law at Queen's University, Belfast.Our conversation with Ruth and Aoife covers many topics. We talk about the relationship between law, legal theory, and utopianism, we find out more about Ruth and Aoife's collaborative work, we discuss the Barbie movie, and we cover a broad range of feminist utopias and other utopian works!You can find out more about Ruth and Aoife's Utopian Reading Group here: https://bsky.app/profile/ruthhoughton.bsky.social/post/3lkpu4ctzbs2xRead their work on feminist manifestos and global constitutionalism here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-constitutionalism/article/introduction-to-special-issue-feminist-manifestos-and-global-constitutionalism/D0C5ABABA20BCDD0F7378051047BE3B4Find their article (together with C. R. G. Murray) on Gerwig's Barbie here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4714697And find their work on utopias, colonialism and international law here: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/publications/utopia-as-no-place-utopias-colonialism-and-international-lawIf you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Nathan Waddell, a Professor in Twentieth Century Literature in the English Literature Department at the University of Birmingham.We chat with Nathan about how he first came to researching utopianism and how he came to teach and write about dystopias. We ask him about what interests him about dystopias, which brings us to a discussion of 'elegance'. Our discussion eventually changes focus to George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a text which Nathan is incredibly familiar with. We talk about how it might be considered 'ground zero' for the dystopian tradition, before thinking about the myths which surround Orwell's classic work.You can find out more about Nathan and his work here: https://drnjwaddell.co.uk/ You can find his 'Reading Orwell' podcast here (as well as on all good podcasting platforms): https://drnjwaddell.co.uk/reading-orwellYou can find Nathan's inaugural lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF_cqY0IVuYAnd last, you can find out more about A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, Nathan's upcoming trade book, here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/a-bright-cold-day/If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Diletta De Cristofaro, an Assistant Professor in the Humanities Department at Northumbria University.We chat with Diletta about apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictions in this interview, paying particular attention to ideas relating to temporality, permacrisis, and key texts such as Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven (2014). We conclude with a discussion of Diletta's current work, which centres on the cultural politics of the sleep crisis.You can find out more about Diletta and her work here: https://www.dilettadecristofaro.com/ Diletta's monograph The Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Novel (2020) can be found here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-postapocalyptic-novel-9781350085794/ See 'Station Eleven and Twenty-First-Century-Writing', a special collection published in Open Library of Humanities Journal here: https://olh.openlibhums.org/collections/437/ If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠[email protected]

Join Matt and Liam for a Christmas special! In this episode, we recap Season 1 of the podcast, talk about some plans for Season 2, and then chat about Christmas in relation to dystopian texts and utopianism.

In this episode, we speak with Heather Alberro, a Lecturer in Sustainability at the University of Manchester. We chat with Heather about Green Utopianism, a type of utopianism that straddles both the literary and the social-critical, and invites us to ask not only how we can improve the world for humanity, but for non-humans as well. Heather discusses social movements and literary texts alike in this lively interview, as well as her rich publication track record. You can find out more about Heather and her work here: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/heather-alberro Read Heather's article on H. G. Wells here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328722000544 Read 'Utopian and Dystopian Explorations of Pandemics and Ecological Breakdown', featuring a chapter from Matt, here: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003345770/utopian-dystopian-explorations-pandemics-ecological-breakdown-heather-alberro-emrah-atasoy-nora-castle-rhiannon-firth-conrad-scott And find Heather's latest monograph, 'Terrestrial Ecotopias', here: https://www.peterlang.com/document/1436617 If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on [email protected]

In this episode, we interview Dr Sebastian Mitchell, a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Birmingham. We chat with Sebastian about the origins of utopia, beginning with Sir Thomas More's text, before discussing how the utopian genre has changed and evolved over time, with particular reference to the ostensible "black hole" of the eighteenth century. You can find out more about Sebastian and his work here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/english/mitchell-sebastian If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using [email protected].

In this episode, we interview Heather McKnight, Independent Scholar and Co-Founder of the Magnetic Ideals Collective. We chat with Heather about what utopia means to her, the relationship between utopia and activism, and how this manifests in the work of the Magnetic Ideals Collective. You can find out more about Heather and the Magnetic Ideals Collective here: https://www.magneticideals.org/home/people-2/heather-mcknight/ If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using [email protected].

In this episode, we interview Sean Seeger, Senior Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of Essex, England. We chat with Sean about what 'utopia' and 'utopianism' mean to him, question whether utopias really are perfect, and find out more about his conception of 'utopian pessimism'! You can find out more about Sean here: Sean Seeger | University of Essex And you can read his article about 'The Postcritical Utopia' here: The Postcritical Utopia | Utopian Studies | Scholarly Publishing Collective If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using [email protected].

In this episode, we interview Daniel Varndell, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Winchester, England. We chat with Dan about where his interest in utopia came from, about whether utopias are static, and the relationship between utopia and film, where Dan argues that film itself is a utopian mode. You can find out more about Dan here: Dr Daniel Varndell - University of Winchester If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using [email protected].

In this episode, we interview Raffaella Baccolini, Professor of American Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Bologna, Italy. One of the leading figures in utopian studies, we chat with Raffaella about what 'utopia' means to her and how she got involved in the area, her thoughts on Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and N. K. Jemisin's "The Ones Who Stay and Fight", and her upcoming work. You can find out more about Raffaella here: Raffaella Baccolini — University of Bologna — Home Page (unibo.it) If you enjoyed what you listened to, please let us know! You can follow the podcast, rate it, and send us an email, using [email protected].