
Pratchat
186 FOLLOWERS
Join writer Elizabeth Flux and comedian Ben McKenzie on their six-year mission to read every Terry Pratchett novel**, one a month, and discuss them with special guests, puns, listener questions, and footnotes! Plus we also cover short stories, nonfiction, games, and adaptations. Episodes are released on the 7Ath of each month; the next book is listed at pratchatpodcast.com and announced at the..
Pratchat
1w ago
Our recording of #Pratchat83 was delayed at the last minute, so our discussion of The Ankh-Morpork Archives and The Discworld Almanak will have to wait until later in the month - hopefully around the 25th February. But subscriber Molokov suggested it might be fun to discuss some of the other, less book-like Discworld merchandise available, so in this shorter bonus episode, Ben does just that! We’d love to hear about your favourite merch, official or fan-made! Drop us a line and/or a photograph using the hashtag #PratchatMerch on social media, via email, or chat to us via our subscriber Discord ..read more
Pratchat
1M ago
Liz and Ben are joined by guest Dr Tansy Rayner Roberts PhD (Classics) to chat about fashion, faith, food...oh, and football. Yes, join us for an episode that goes well into extra time (i.e. it’s over 3 hours long) as we discuss Terry Pratchett's 37th Discworld novel, Unseen Academicals. The Wizards of Unseen University are still recovering from the Dean’s defection to become Archchancellor of rival Brazeneck College, but they have a bigger problem: if they don’t field a foot-the-ball team, they’ll lose the bequest that supplies most of their dinners. But the sport has become lawless and viole ..read more
Pratchat
2M ago
Puzzlers and previous guests Nicholas J Johnson and Lawrence Leung return to play and discuss Leonard Boyd and David Brashaw's 2015 board game Clacks, based on Terry Pratchett's 33rd Discworld novel, Going Postal. Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig has come up with a plan to prove the Ankh-Morpork postal service is still relevant - a race against the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company! The Grand Trunk has a monopoly on the “Clacks”, a system of optical telegraph towers which transmit messages using patterns formed by a grid of six lights - surely they can beat a man on a horse? But the Grand Trunk ..read more
Pratchat
2M ago
Writer, filmmaker and creative director Lucas Testro joins Liz and Ben on a trip down under to the Other Place as we discuss Terry Pratchett's first ever published short story, 1963’s “The Hades Business”. Shady advertising man Crucible arrives home to find none other than old Nicholas Lucifer waiting for him in his study. But he hasn’t come to take him to eternal damnation. Instead, the Devil has a business proposition for Crucible: he want to make the public conscious, Hell-wise... At age thirteen (actually fourteen), the young Pratchett scored full marks for this story as a school assignmen ..read more
Pratchat
2M ago
This month we welcome back the very game Steve Lamattina as we put on our witch’s hats, grab our brooms and head out into Lancre to solve problems in Martin Wallace's The Witches, the fourth official Discworld board game. As Tiffany Aching or one of her fellow apprentice witches, you’ll run around Lancre solving problems big and small with headology and magic, helped by an assortment of local characters. But it’s not just about getting the highest score - you’ll also need to watch each other’s backs or everyone in the kingdom could lose! Be sure to stop and share tea, or you might end up a cac ..read more
Pratchat
3M ago
Author and poet* Dr Laura Jean McKay joins Liz and Ben for two of Terry Pratchett’s short stories about intelligent animals: “Hollywood Chickens” (1990) and “From the Horse’s Mouth” (1972). In 1973 Hollywood, a truck full of chickens overturned on a busy highway, depositing a population of chickens on the verge. A decade and a half later, scientists try to piece together the story of how they developed and evolved in pursuit of a very specific goal... In the town of Blackbury, rag and bone man Ron is amazed to discover that his carthorse, Johnno, can talk. Will their relationship be forever ch ..read more
Pratchat
4M ago
Inequality reporter Stephanie Convery returns on a trip with Liz and Ben into the world of banking, high finance and monetary theory in Terry Pratchett's thirty-sixth Discworld novel, 2007’s Making Money. The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running very smoothly - which has left Moist von Lipwig, reformed con-man and Postmaster General, at a loose end. But he resists the Patrician's offer of a new job revitalising the Royal Mint and Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork. The bank’s current owner is a Mark 1 Feisty Old Lady who knows her rich family are out to get her - and her little dog, too. But despi ..read more
Pratchat
4M ago
Unfortunately some scheduling issues pushed back our recording of #Pratchat80, and unfortunately we aren’t going to be able to bring you that discussion of Making Money until until October. But it has been a very long time since we talked about Going Postal, so Ben thought you might like a recap to tide you over - plus a discussion of some of his favourite Discworld book covers, prompted by subscriber Ian! We’d love to hear about your favourite covers, from any of the various editions of Pratchett’s works! Let us know about them using the hashtag #Pratchat79A on social media, or get in touch v ..read more
Pratchat
4M ago
We had very little wriggle room this month, so when we couldn't record at the scheduled time, we had to postpone our episode about Strata. To make sure you’re not left hanging, Ben has conjured up this bonus episode on his own! He’ll discuss the latest news in the world of Terry Pratchett - and there’s surprisingly a lot - and also have a quick chat with Danny Sag, Vice-Chair of Nullus Anxietas, the Australian Discworld Convention, to talk about what makes fan conventions - and Nullus Anxietas - tick. Which of the upcoming Pratchett projects has you most excited? Are there any specific short s ..read more
Pratchat
6M ago
Recorded live at the Australian Discworld Convention in Tarntanyangga (Adelaide), Karen J Carlisle and Tansy Rayner Roberts join us on stage to discuss short fiction, Death and the (sort of) last of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld short stories, 2004’s “Death and What Comes Next”. Somewhere in time and space, a philosopher lies on his deathbed...and Death has come to collect. Only the philosopher isn’t convinced he’s real, or that any of this is even happening. Will “quantum” and cats in boxes be enough of an argument to dissuade Death from his job? Created for the now defunct Time Hunt puzzl ..read more