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

 

 

Time for another Bradbury 100 podcast episode!

"Lazarus Come Forth" (1944) is one of a handful of early Ray Bradbury stories to have slipped into the public domain. It's also one of two Bradbury stories set on board a "morgue ship" - a space ship that cleans up after space battles, collecting dead astronauts to (presumably) bring them back home for proper burial or cremation.

Later in his career, Ray would dismiss these stories as being too derivative of the stories of his friend Leigh Brackett. He also completely derided the notion of a "morgue ship", saying that it would make far more sense to leave the bodies in space.

In this episode, I bring you the background behind the story, and a complete reading of it. As usual, you can listen below, or pick it up on your podcast app (check the list of podcast providers at the bottom of this post).

Bradbury 100 · Bradbury 100 - Episode 59 - "Lazarus Come Forth"

 

 

 

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