Ex Urbe Ad Astra

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 4: Bright and Dark Ages with historian and journalist David Perry

Oct 27, 2021

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 focuses on Venice,...

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 3: Hopepunk and positive futures with writer Ruthanna Emrys

Oct 13, 2021

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 Tor.com

Ruthanna...

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Ep. 2: Manga for non-manga readers

Sep 15, 2021

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 onomatopoeia...

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 2: Mars & How To Help Science Fiction Writers With Science, With Astrogeologist Jonathan Sneed

Aug 26, 2021

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 science; panspermia; wind...

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Episode 1: Complicity

Aug 19, 2021

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.