Phil Nichols - Bradburymedia: 2025

Friday, August 22, 2025

New podcast episode: Laurel and Hardy and Ray Bradbury!

Today is 22nd August - Ray Bradbury's birthday! He would have been 105 years young.

To celebrate, here's a new Bradbury 100 Live! in which I discuss Ray's favourite comedy act, Laurel and Hardy. Stan and Ollie turn up again and again in Ray's stories, and I've tracked down as many appearances as I can.

I decided to do this as a visual episode - hence the Bradbury 100 Live! tag - so you could see "the boys" in action, as well as see some of Ray's words as written.

HOWEVER... the occupational hazard of using movie clips within YouTube is that you get hit with copyright strikes, even if your use of said clips falls under "fair use"...

So right now, the visual version is not viewable in some parts of the world. I'll leave it below, but don't be surprised if you can't get it to work.

But right here is the AUDIO-ONLY version (very slightly modified) - and you can of course also pick it up with any decent podcast app.

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 71 - Laurel & Hardy and Ray Bradbury

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Amazon Music - Audible - Bullhorn - Castbox - Deezer - Fountain - Listen Notes - Player FM - Pocket Casts - Podbean - Podcast Addict - Podcast Index - Podcast Republic - Podchaser - Podfriend - Podlink - TuneIn - YouTube

Thursday, August 07, 2025

New Podcast Episode: Chronological Bradbury 1944 (part 2)

Time for another podcast episode - 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.

Here are the stories in this episode, with links to the original magazine appearances where they exist. (Some of this episode's stories are from rare magazines which have never appeared as online scans, so the only way you can read them is to seek them out in books! In the episode, I tell you which books the stories can be found in.)

Killer Come Back to Me
The Long Night
Yesterday I Lived
The Trunk Lady
Bang! You're Dead!
And Then - The Silence

As always, you can grab the episode using your podcast app of choice, or find it using any of the platforms listed at the bottom of this page - or play it right here. Enjoy!

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 70 - Chronological Bradbury 1944 (part 2)

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Thursday, July 24, 2025

New Podcast Episode: Chronological Bradbury 1944 (part 1)

Time for another podcast episode - and it's 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.

There are too many stories from 1944 for me to cover in a single episode, so you can expect THREE episodes for the year in total. Here are the stories in this episode, with links to the original magazine appearances of all of them:

As always, you can grab the episode using your podcast app of choice, or find it using any of the platforms listed at the bottom of this page - or play it right here. Enjoy!

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 69 - Chronological Bradbury 1944 (part 1)

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Thursday, July 10, 2025

New Podcast Episode: Chronological Bradbury 1943 (continued)

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. Here are the stories and links:

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)

In the following year (1944), Ray will publish a total of nineteen stories. That's a lot of stories, but he still won't have reached his peak of busy-ness!

Here's the new pod - or you can find it in your podcast app of choice. As always, there's a list of direct links to the pod on various platforms down below.

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 68 - Chronological Bradbury 1943

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Thursday, June 26, 2025

New Podcast Episode: "The Wind"

Here's a new episode of my Bradbury 100 podcast, 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.

Here's the episode - and next time Bradbury 100 will be back to cover the rest of 1943!

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 67 - "The Wind"

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Thursday, June 12, 2025

New Podcast Episode: Chronological Bradbury 1943

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)

Here's the episode. Enjoy!

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 66 - Chronological Bradbury 1943

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Amazon Music - Audible - Bullhorn - Castbox - Deezer - Fountain - Listen Notes - Player FM - Pocket Casts - Podbean - Podcast Addict - Podcast Index - Podcast Republic - Podchaser - Podfriend - Podlink - TuneIn

Thursday, May 29, 2025

New Podcast Episode: Radio Classics - Dimension X / X Minus One

Here's another new episode of Bradbury 100, and this time I return to Ray's stories in the golden age of radio, looking at the classic science fiction drama series Dimension X and X Minus One.

I've mentioned these shows before on the podcast, but I figured it was time to make them the focus.

Although Ray Bradbury was himself a scriptwriter and dramatist, he didn't do any writing specifically for these two shows. And unlike the series Suspense (which I looked it in episode 61), Dimension X and X Minus One only produced adaptations of stories which had already been published.

But what terrific adaptations they were! With scripts by future Emmy Award winners Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts, these series never put a foot wrong. The scripts are pretty close to the original stories, without being simple, lazy transcriptions.

In this episode I include clips of many of the Bradbury-based episodes, the most striking of which is the run of episodes based on stories from The Martian Chronicles. But if you've never listened to a Dimension X or X Minus One in its entirety, I would urge you to do so. Go to a darkened room, and let your mind conjure up... well, something like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits... or wherever your imagination takes you.

You can find all episodes of Dimension X and X Minus One online for free. Here are the best links for them, with the best available quality:

Links to DIMENSION X episodes (via Old Time Radio Researchers website, OTRR.org)

Links to X MINUS ONE episodes (via Old Time Radio Researchers website, OTRR.org)

And here's the podcast episode. Enjoy!

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 65 - Radio Classics: Dimension X / X Minus One

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Amazon Music - Audible - Bullhorn - Castbox - Deezer - Listen Notes - Player FM - Pocket Casts - Podbean - Podcast Addict - Podcast Index - Podcast Republic - Podchaser - Podfriend - Podlink - TuneIn

Thursday, May 15, 2025

New podcast episode: It Came From Outer Space!

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.

I also express my amazement that Kathleen Hughes gets such prominent billing at the end of the film, despite having hardly any dialogue or close-ups in the film itself. I also give the real reason why she is featured in this way.

In which way? Why, in this way, of course:

Also mentioned in the episode:

The recently completed OMSI Film Festival, Oregon
Which US states have the best chance of surviving an alien invasion?
75 years of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles
Science Fiction 101 podcast
Colin's other pod, Take Me To Your Reader

I also mentioned in the episode that I would provide links to other Bradbury-related pods that Colin Kuskie and I have taken part in. So here they are - they're all episodes of Take Me To Your Reader, and consist of a comparative review of book versus movie:

Finally, here's the new episode... or look for it in your podcast app of choice (see list of possible pod sources below).

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - episode 64 - It Came From Outer Space

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Thursday, May 01, 2025

New podcast episode: The First Geeks!

The new batch of my Bradbury 100 podcast kicks off today, with an interview with Orty Ortwein, author of the book The First Geeks.

The book tells the story of three young men in the 1930s - Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen and Forrest J Ackerman - and how they joined the nascent Science Fiction League and went on to be professionals in their respective fields.

If you've listened to Bradbury 100 before, you will have heard much about Ray Bradbury the young fan, with his fanzine Futuria Fantasia. And in my "Chronological Bradbury" strand, you will have heard of his exploits as a fan writer who rapidly broke into writing professionally.

In my interview with Orty, you will hear more about this, and about how Orty conducted his research into the early science fiction world of the 1930s. And, of course, you can find out even more in his book - see the purchasing links below.

Among the things mentioned in this episode:

The First Geeks by Orty Ortwein (at Amazon US, and at Amazon UK)
FANAC, the free online archive of science fiction fandom
The Waukegan History Museum at the (thanks to Ray) famous and now-renovated Carnegie Library
Los Angeles' Clifton's Cafeteria, where science fiction fans of the 1930s hung out
Hugo Gernsback, the man who coined the term "scientifiction", later replacing it with "science fiction"

Here's the new episode...and you can also get it wherever good pods are given away (see below for a list of selected podcast platforms).

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - Episode 63 - The First Geeks with Orty Ortwein

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Bradbury 100 Podcast - new episodes coming soon!

It's been away a couple of months, but it's back: my Bradbury 100 podcast returns on 1st May 2025. Listen to the trailer for a taste of what's coming soon...

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 Returns - 1st May 2025!

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

New podcast episode: Ray Bradbury and Leigh Brackett

Time for a new episode of my Bradbury 100 podcast - and this time I focus on Ray Bradbury's friend and mentor, Leigh Brackett.

Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) was a short story writer, novelist and screenwriter. She has sometimes been called the "Queen of the Pulps" because of her substantial contribution to science fiction magazines such as Planet Stories. But she also collaborated with Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner on the screenplay for the classic movie The Big Sleep - and ended her career by writing the first draft of the screenplay for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Leigh was also Ray's mentor. He credited her with teaching him how to properly construct a story, and with influencing the stories he wrote between about 1942-1944.

All this and more is covered in the podcast, which you can play below, or find on your podcast app.

Useful links:

Watch the film The Vampire's Ghost, Leigh Brackett's first effort as a Hollywood screenwriter
Learn more about Leigh Brackett's contribution to The Empire Strikes Back in this episode of my other podcast, Science Fiction 101
Read "Lorelei of the Red Mist", the Brackett story that Bradbury finished. Can you tell where Bradbury takes over the writing?
From 16th February 2025, enjoy Planet Zoom Players' audio dramatisation (with pictures) of Leigh Brackett's Terror Out Of Space!

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - Episode 62 - Ray Bradbury and Leigh Brackett

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include:

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Ray Bradbury on Radio: SUSPENSE

Here's another new episode of my Bradbury 100 podcast. This time, I look at the early years of Ray'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.

Here's the pod:

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - Episode 61 - Ray Bradbury and Radio's SUSPENSE!

And if you'd like to hear full episodes of Suspense, here's a complete set of links to the best quality recordings, held on the Old-Time Radio Researchers website:

1947: Riabouchinska
1948: Summer Night
1948: The Screaming Woman, version 1
1950: The Crowd
1955: The Screaming Woman, version 2
1955: Zero Hour, version 1
1955: The Whole Town's Sleeping, version 1
1955: Kaleidoscope
1958: Zero Hour, version 2
1958: The Whole Town's Sleeping, version 1
1960: Zero Hour, version 3

Please subscribe to the Bradbury 100 podcast - it's totally free on all platforms. Where to find it:

Main platforms:

Apple Podcasts - Soundcloud - Spotify

Other platforms include: