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: 

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

 

 

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:

1. 1947: Riabouchinska
2. 1948: Summer Night
3. 1948: The Screaming Woman, version 1
4. 1950: The Crowd
5. 1955: The Screaming Woman, version 2
6. 1955: Zero Hour, version 1
7. 1955: The Whole Town's Sleeping, version 1
8. 1955: Kaleidoscope
9. 1958: Zero Hour, version 2
10. 1958: The Whole Town's Sleeping, version 1
11. 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: 

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