Utopian and dystopian fiction
17
MENTIONS
8
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8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 17 mentions across 8 episodes found for "Utopian and dystopian fiction".
Sep 30, 2026
Will RoseGUEST
So Christy, Theology Rocks.
Will RoseGUEST
Also, we have we have a panel that we're doing with Dystopian Literature, which will be fun.
Will RoseGUEST
Um, yeah.
Will RoseGUEST
Um, and, and your matter management, I'm hoping, uh, we wanna, I need to talk to Josh about this, but, um, we're gonna do a season two and reflecting on what that looks like and when we can record and when it's gonna go out.
Luca TrentoHOST
He's a senior lecturer in English and American literature at the University of Winchester in the UK.
Luca TrentoHOST
He is the author of four books, including Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, as well as the edited collection we are talking about today, Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature, published by State of New York, uh, Press, and about to come out, uh, in paperback.
Luca TrentoHOST
He is also the co-host of the brilliant, and I would say highly recommended, podcast Utopian and Dystopian Fiction.
Luca TrentoHOST
Uh, Matthew, uh, welcome to New Books Network.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
Thanks, Luca.
Luca TrentoHOST
Yes.
Luca TrentoHOST
For once you are the, the, the interviewee and, and the object of the interview is the edited volume that, that you recently ...
Luca TrentoHOST
the edited collection that you recently, um, published, um, which covers, um, a lot of ground, um, utopia, dystopia, films, literature, and is really a, a, a collection of both, um, very sort of all-stars in the realm of utopian and dystopian fiction as well as early career scholars, which is always, um, good to see.
Jonathan StrahanHOST
Is that something you find yourself drawn to as a way of packing and unpacking ideas? Um...
Cadwell TurnbullGUEST
So, I mean, so yes, those three stories were a part of a triptych of books called The Dystopia Triptych.
Cadwell TurnbullGUEST
It was edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey.
Cadwell TurnbullGUEST
And so, I mean, it was a project, but I think that like...
Luca TrentoHOST
He's a senior lecturer in English and American literature at the University of Winchester in the UK.
Luca TrentoHOST
He is the author of four books, including Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, as well as the edited collection we are talking about today, Wastelands and Wonderlands, Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature, published by State of New York Press.
Luca TrentoHOST
and about to come out in paperback.
Luca TrentoHOST
He is also the co-host of the brilliant and I would say highly recommended podcast, Utopian and Dystopian Fiction.
Luca TrentoHOST
Matthew, welcome to New Books Network.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
Thanks, Luca.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
It's lovely to chat to you and to be a guest as I tend to be the one doing the interviewing.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
It's nice to be interviewed.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
I think at the beginning of the podcast, we very much positioned it as challenging myths about utopia.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
That's why it's called Utopian and Dystopian Fictions, because it was these kind of invented narratives.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
But yeah, you'll know that, Luca, that utopia has a pretty bad really, you know, particularly after the midpoint of the 20th century when it comes to be associated with fascism and Stalinism.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
And blueprints in particular are often criticized as one person's vision in being imposed on everyone else, right? So as my students readily tell me, quote, you know, not quite anyone in particular, but this is the general sense of it, one person's utopia is another's dystopia, right? Now, I don't particularly agree with that, but I see where it comes from.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
I think at the beginning of the podcast, we very much positioned it as challenging myths about utopia.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
That's why it's called Utopian and Dystopian Fictions, because it was these kind of invented narratives.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
But yeah, you'll know that, Luca, that utopia has a pretty bad really, you know, particularly after the midpoint of the 20th century when it comes to be associated with fascism and Stalinism.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
And blueprints in particular are often criticized as one person's vision in being imposed on everyone else, right? So as my students readily tell me, quote, you know, not quite anyone in particular, but this is the general sense of it, one person's utopia is another's dystopia, right? Now, I don't particularly agree with that, but I see where it comes from.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
I think at the beginning of the podcast, we very much positioned it as challenging myths about utopia.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
That's why it's called Utopian and Dystopian Fictions, because of these kind of inventive narratives.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
But yeah, you'll know that, Luca, that utopia has a pretty bad reputation, really, particularly after the midpoint of the 20th century, when it comes to be associated with fascism and Stalinism.
Matthew LeggattGUEST
And blueprints in particular are often criticized as one person's vision in being imposed on everyone else, right? So as my students readily tell me, quote, you know, not quite anyone in particular, but this is the general sense of it.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
And it was my fall semester senior year.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
And I had a class on utopian literature taught by my dear friend, Professor John Rodden.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
And as I was saying about philosophy, the entire class was asking, what is a good life? What is a good society? But looking at pre-Socratic philosophers, to romance novels, to science fiction movies, to Westerns, it was just asking, how does humanity tell the story of humanity to itself? And what is a good life and what is a good society? And it was my last year in college, undergrad, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I think this is the best teacher I've ever had, apart from my parents and grandparents.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
And I ran up to John and I was like, John, I love this.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
So I ended up going to graduate school at UT Austin with John in the communications department And two things happened.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
One, I was working for Governor Ann Richards at the time as a speechwriter in her office as a press aide.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
And in grad school, I was a teaching assistant for John's Utopian Literature class.
Raphael BemporadGUEST
And that's where he introduced me to his other TA, Mitch Baranowski, who became the co-founder with me of BBMG.