The Boiled Leather Audio Hour

We’re going back to the future with part two of our all-predictions podcast series on The Winds of Winter! This time around we’re traveling to Essos to speculate as to what Volume Six of A Song of Ice and Fire has in store for our old friends, from Braavos to Meereen. What fate will befall the five POV characters currently located east of Westeros—Arya, Barristan, Victarion, Tyrion, and Daenerys? What about supporting players like Jorah Mormont, Moqorro, and Marwyn the Mage? (Forgot about him, didn’t you?) Then, of course, there’s the matter of the dragons to consider, and consider them we do. It winds up being a wide-ranging discussion of lands near and far, futures immediate and distant. Guess along with us! This episode also features an update on our fundraisers, both our emergency PayPal fund to help fix Sean’s broken laptop and our Patreon drive, where your monthly subscription/donation can help guarantee more episodes, better sound quality, topics of your choosing, and more. We greatly appreciate all our donors and patrons so far, and if you think the podcast’s worth a few bucks a month, we’d be so grateful for you to join their ranks! Download Episode 46 Additional links: Our Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour Our PayPal donation page (also accessible via boiledleather.com) Mirror. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

If fools rush in where angels fear to tread, then we’re about to pull a Patchface: We’re foolishly forecasting the events of The Winds of Winter in our new episode! The start of a series, this installment sees us attempting to predict what’s in store for the North in volume six of A Song of Ice and Fire. What fate awaits our POV characters—Bran, Davos, Melisandre, Asha, Theon, and of course Jon Snow? How will things shake out for supporting characters like Rickon, Osha, Hodor, Tormund Giantsbane, Wyman Manderly, the Reeds, and the Boltons? What will happen at Hardhome, Winterfell, the Wall? Like everyone who isn’t George R.R. Martin, we have no freaking idea, but it’s fun to guess, and our best guesses await! (NOTE: We do refer on occasion to the TWoW preview chapters Martin has published or read aloud, so be warned!) But wait, there’s more! This episode also includes the formal announcement of two new fundraising drives for the podcast. The first is our new Patreon page, where you can pledge to pitch in a few dollars a month to help keep the podcast running. The podcast will always be free, but even a little money per month will make it easier for us to record more frequently and with better equipment. There are also some cool goals and rewards, so please check it out! Our second fundraiser involves a more urgent concern: Sean’s laptop screen was recently shattered in a mishap involving his kids’ Wii controllers, and replacing it is an expensive proposition on a fulltime-freelancer’s salary. So we’re opening the coffers at our PayPal donation page. A one-time donation of any amount will help Sean revive the computer he uses to work and record—a real necessity. Again, any amount helps. Thank you so much for your generosity, and enjoy the episode! Download Episode 45 Additional links: Our Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour Our PayPal donation page (also accessible via boiledleather.com) Mirror. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

Prepare for a guided tour of The World of Ice and Fire! The co-authors of George R.R. Martin’s ambitious sourcebook for A Song of Ice and Fire — and longtime friends of the podcast — Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson join us to talk about the book, which hit stores in time for the holiday season one year ago. Beginning with a look back over TWoIaF’s reception over the past year, our chat ranges from a discussion of fanfiction to the influence of Lovecraft and Howard; the way using in-world maesters as narrators shaped the writing; the material left on the cutting room floor to avoid spoiling future stories—and the stuff inserted to lay the groundwork for them; and, of course, what’s up with the Deep Ones. And we close with the big question: Are there future collaborations on the history of the setting in store? Download Episode 44 Additional links: Mirror. Our first episode on the book. Our roundtable discussion of it with Steven Attewell and Amin Javadi. Sean’s Rolling Stone piece on the book. Sean’s essay on the Deep Ones. Stefan’s Tower of the Hand piece on the book. George, Elio, and Linda’s promotional appearance in Stockholm. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Sean and Stefan discuss the new Star Wars movie! Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Jedi mind tricked us into dedicating this episode of our A Song of Ice and Fire podcast to an entirely different fantasy franchise. How did the film fit in with larger saga? How did J.J. Abrams’s direction differ from George Lucas’s? Is Rey a Mary Sue, and if so, how does that impact the film? What the hell was up with Starkiller Base? We answer all these questions and more, including a discussion of the film’s cinematography, the performances of its actors, the pros and cons of the characters, and even a few connections to the world of Westeros. I’ve got a good feeling about this… Download Episode 43 Additional links: Mirror. Stefan’s review of the movie. Tasha Robinson’s essay on Rey. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

We’re traveling from Westeros to Nazi Germany in this unusual—and, to us, urgent—episode of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour. Why are we venturing so far afield from our usual topics of discussion and debate? Because we’ve always believed that A Song of Ice and Fire, like life itself, is best viewed through an unsparing ethical and historical lens. Lately, however, that lens has been clouded. In recent weeks, numerous right-wing politicians—most notably Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and his supporters in the United States—have distorted and repurposed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the roots of the Holocaust to suit their preexisting positions. Astonishingly, in the day since this podcast was recorded, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit. We believe this to be an act of tremendous disrespect for the dead, one that also does a grave disservice to the living. Given our personal and professional interests in this pivotal epoch in history, which have shaped our interaction with ASoIaF in ways large and small, we decided to explore the era’s real lessons as best we could. What role did privately held weaponry and paramilitary organizations actually play both in the Nazi Party’s ascent to power and the resistance against it? How should we view Europe’s failure to act in the face of Hitler’s belligerence, and Germany’s failure to capitulate in the face of certain defeat? What parallels can be drawn between the forces that fueled the war Hitler ignited and those at play in Westeros and Essos? What makes World War II different enough from other conflicts for the likes of Vietnam-era conscientious objector George R.R. Martin to say it was worth fighting? Is there such a thing as a “good war” at all? In this experiment of an episode, we try to answer those questions. Two notes before we proceed: 1) We are deeply indebted to the work of the historians Ian Kershaw and Richard J. Evans, particularly Kershaw’s two-volume Hitler biography and Evans’s Third Reich trilogy.  2) On a much lighter note, this episode (hopefully—with iTunes, god only knows) marks the debut of our brand new logo, created by Sean’s partner, Julia Gfrörer. We are in her debt. Download Episode 42 Additional links: Mirror. The work of Ian Kershaw. The work of Richard J. Evans. All Leather Must Be Boiled’s Ian Kershaw tag. Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History series on the Eastern Front. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

We’re comparing two of the biggest shows on television in this episode of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour. One of them is an adaptation of a popular staple of nerd culture—a genre work that had only appeared in print before—which has translated its bleak themes, wide scope, and controversial use of violence into a modern-day ratings blockbuster. The other is Game of Thrones. That’s right—the BLAH Boys are taking on The Walking Dead, and its current spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, by contrasting the shows and their source material to Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire. How does their treatment of violence in an unforgiving world of real and supernatural menace differ? What do the relationships between the original works by George R.R. Martin, Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard and their adaptations by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and AMC’s land of a thousand showrunners reveal about their respective ideas, ideals, aesthetics, and ethics? Which shows really deserve our moral outrage, and why? We’ll be examining all these questions and more. And one of us, at least, will be getting really freaking worked up. Enjoy! Download Episode 41 Mirror. Sean on the Fear the Walking Dead pilot. Sean on the most recent Fear the Walking Dead episode. Sean on The Walking Dead. Stefan on The Walking Dead. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

It’s ladies’ night once again for the Boiled Leather Audio Hour! We’re resuming our irregular series on the women of Westeros after over two years for an episode on a bunch of characters who break the world of Ice and Fire’s gender mold: Arya Stark, Lyanna Stark, the Sand Snakes, Arianne Martell, and Ygritte. Our topics of discussion are as diverse and varied as the women themselves: why Arya is too complex for the hero, victim, or monster labels; how Lyanna’s larger-than-life reputation suits her potential prophetic destiny; the Sand Snakes as Dorne’s answer to the #CarefreeBlackGirls movement-cum-meme; what Arianne has in common with another rebellious scion of a dynasty, Jaime Lannister; how seeing Ygritte exclusively through the eyes of the man who loves her shapes our experience; the true meaning of “strong female character”; and much more. Drop your Needle on that mp3 and tune in!  Download Episode 40 Additional links: Mirror. The “Women of Westeros” series. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

Discussing “The Dance of Dragons” and Other Elements of Late Season Five “Game of Thrones"  We’re back, and we’ve got a burning desire to discuss Stannis, Shireen, and the controversial scene that dominated the conversation around "The Dance of Dragons,” Game of Thrones Season Five’s penultimate episode! This time out, Stefan and I tackle what the Mannis’s heel turn really means for the character, the adaptation, the fandom and more. We also take a quick tour of the disappointments of Dorne, gaze into the fires and give you our predictions for the season finale (including a theory from Sean that’s either bold or batshit), and address the very nature of criticism itself. All in a tight 32 minutes and 32 seconds! Download Episode 39 Additional links: Mirror. Sean’s review of the episode. Stefan’s review of the episode. George R.R. Martin recommends Boiled Leather for your fighting about GoT needs. Sean’s piece on the four worst types of TV critics. James Poniewozik’s essay on tapping out of extreme art. “Bells for Her” by Tori Amos. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

Discussing the New “The Winds of Winter” Sample Chapter and the Start of “Game of Thrones” Season Five BLAH is back with two, count ‘em, two topics! This go-round, Stefan & Sean tackle the new “Alayne” sample chapter from The Winds of Winter and the first two episodes of Game of Thrones Season Five. What’s in store for Sansa in book six? What’s our read on GoTs05e01-02′s plotlines and performances? Listen and learn, ladies and gents! And while you do, you’ll discover some very happy news from House Sasse, as well as musical surprise or two. Enjoy! Download Episode 38 Additional links: The Alayne TWoW sample chapter. Sean’s GoT reviews. Stefan’s GoT reviews. Lyanna Sasse holds court.  Theme music via Kevin MacLeod’s Incompetech.com. Mirror.  Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. iTunes page. Sean’s blog. Stefan’s blog.

The Theory of Everything: Analyzing Popular Theories from a Narrative & Thematic Perspective A Song of Ice and Fire fans are a meticulous, scholarly lot. That first baby step into the wider world of fandom that we all take instantly introduces us to an eye-popping array of theories about past, present, and future events in the story that our fellow fans have painstakingly assembled from hints and clues embedded within the text. We all have our favorites and our least favorites, theories we think is a sure thing and theories we break out our tinfoil hats to discuss. In this episode, Stefan and I vote yay or nay on many of the biggest, coolest, and crackiest – from R+L=J to fAegon, from Tyrion Targaryen to the Bran-tichrist, from “Oberyn poisoned Tywin” to the eternal question “Where do whores go?”  – but with a twist. Our main metric: Does this theory make narrative and thematic sense? Even the most beautifully constructed theories constructed from tantalizing tidbits in the text often fall apart when theorizers focus on how but ignore the why. Would this theory make for a satisfying story? Does it support the series’ primary thematic concerns or undermine them? Does it have a point at all beyond being a secret to uncover? Forget about why Roose Bolton or Obery Martell or Varys the Spider might do whatever’s being theorized about – Why would George R.R. Martin want them to do it? This has long been the approach both of us take, and we had a blast going full-throttle with it in this episode. Hopefully, you will too. One quick note: Right at the end of the episode Stefan and I begin discussing a recently discovered note in the publicly available manuscript for A Dance with Dragons that appears to spoil a much speculated-about theory in a way neither of us are quite comfortable declaring was intentional on the part of Martin or his editor/publisher. We give ample spoiler warning at that point, so feel free to bail on the episode during those final moments if such a thing makes you uncomfortable. Mirror here. The r/asoiaf Reddit thread that contains that semi-leak spoiler mentioned above (caveat lector) here. Previous episodes here. Podcast RSS feed here. iTunes page here. Sean’s blog here. Stefan’s blog here.

The BLAH Salon: Jamelle Bouie Slate.com’s Jamelle Bouie joins us for the start of a project we’ve been planning practically since the Long Night: The BLAH Salon! In each installment of this series, we’ll be spotlighting a writer or artist whose work doesn’t normally touch on A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones but who is nonetheless a fan, exploring how the world of Westeros interests and influences them.  Our first guest in the BLAH Salon is Jamelle Bouie, staff writer for Slate. As a national political correspondent with a specific focus on race, he’s written with compelling clarity about the tumultuous, troubling year that just ended. He was also the first famous face I spotted in boiledleather.com’s followers. His insightful and enthusiastic commentary on the books, the show, along with other pop- and nerd-culture cornerstones, coupled with his insight into sociopolitics, made Stefan and I think he’d be the perfect guest for this inaugural installment. Our wide-ranging discussion hits on Slaver’s Bay, the role of Roose & Ramsay, the problem with privilege discourse, how good hip-hop and good fantasy both wear their influences on their sleeves, the bizarrely productive racism of H.P. Lovecraft, and the scene that made him a believer in George R.R. Martin’s magnum opus. Enjoy! Mirror here. Jamelle’s work at Slate here. Previous episodes here. Podcast RSS feed here. iTunes page here. Sean’s blog here. Stefan’s blog here.

Four Against the World: A “World of Ice and Fire” Roundtable feat. Steven Attewell and Amin Javadi Celebrate Cyber Monday the old-fashioned way: in boiled leather! The Boiled Leather Audio Hour is back for our second episode in one week, and once again it’s our biggest to date. Since no one episode, and no two hosts, could contain The World of Ice and Fire, Stefan and I have tapped Race for the Iron Throne’s Steven Attewell and A Podcast of Ice and Fire’s Amin Javadi to join in the discussion of George R.R. Martin, Elio M. García Jr., and Linda Antonsson’s seemingly inexhaustible world book. We tackle many of the topics we missed in our first episode on the book, and double back on a few besides.  One more note and then it’s on with the show: Thank you so much for your generous donations to BLAH’s emergency tech-crisis fund. Your support has done a great deal to help defray the cost of the new computer and software I needed to continue recording the podcast. If you haven’t already, and you’re still in a spending mood after all those hot online deals, and if you enjoy the show or the blogs enough to warrant it, you can donate via paypal here. Any amount is extraordinarily appreciated. Alright, that concludes our message from the Iron Bank. Check the links below for a host of posts and podcasts this fearsome foursome has already done on the book, then listen and enjoy! Donate here. Mirror here. Sean & Stefan’s previous BLAH episode on TWoIaF Amin interviews Elio & Linda about the making of TWoIaF for A Podcast of Ice and Fire The whole Podcast of Ice and Fire gang discusses TWoIaF Steven’s chapter-by-chapter analysis of TWoIaF Sean’s Rolling Stone article: The 10 Craziest Things We Learned from The World of Ice and Fire Stefan’s “ruminations” on TWoIaF for Tower of the Hand Previous episodes here. Podcast RSS feed here. iTunes page here. Sean’s blog here. Stefan’s blog here. Amin’s podcast here. Amin’s twitter here. Steven’s blog here.

Around the World: Discussing “The World of Ice and Fire” We’re back, and a world awaits! Released with deserved fanfare a few weeks ago, The World of Ice and Fire, the long-awaited world book by George R.R. Martin and his co-authors Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson of Westeros.org, has proven to be an extraordinarily fecund source of information, speculation, and general wonderment. That’s a pretty fair characterization of this episode of The Boiled Leather Audio Hour, as a matter of fact: No muss, no fuss, just me and Stefan the best and most baffling moments of this extensive fake history in our biggest episode yet. But before you begin, a quick housekeeping note: Stefan and I haven’t been able to record a podcast since July, as a series of professional, personal, and (most insurmountably) technical issues scuttled half a dozen different scheduled recording times. The resolution of these issues necessitated the purchase of a whole new computer and set of software, which I was happy to do, but which obviously took a hefty chunk out of the old Boiled Leather budget. So if you enjoy The Boiled Leather Audio Hour, boiledleather.com, The Nerdstream Era, or any of our assorted projects, please consider clicking here to donate a few dollars to help offset the cost of the show via PayPal. (There’s also a Donate button at the top of boiledleather.com.) You all have been so tremendously complimentary and supportive, and we’re extraordinarily grateful that you listen! Donate here. Mirror here. Sean’s Rolling Stone article: The 10 Craziest Things We Learned from The World of Ice and Fire Stefan’s “ruminations” on TWoIaF for Tower of the Hand Sean’s essay on the Deep Ones Sean betting sixty bucks that Tyrion is Aerys’s son Previous episodes here. Podcast RSS feed here. iTunes page here. Sean’s blog here. Stefan’s blog here.

We Want the Dunk: Discussing the Tales of Dunk and Egg Ser Duncan the Tall gets his turn in the spotlight in an episode nearly as big as the man himself! At long last, Stefan and I turn our attention to “The Hedge Knight,” “The Sworn Sword,” and “The Mystery Knight,” the three (and counting) A Song of Ice and Fire prequel novellas starring the inexperienced young hedge knight also known as Dunk the Lunk and his precocious, princely squire Egg. Taken together, these stories contain some of George R.R. Martin’s best writing – and his most tonally varied, too. Stefan and I go deep into the secret-strewn stories of Dunk and Egg themselves, the politics of the Blackfyre Rebellion and the aftermath that overshadows the stories’ events, the genre-pastiche elements of each story, the chemistry between the characters, our favorite and least favorite installments of the series, and what it takes to be “a true knight.” It makes for an episode thick as a castle wall, and, we hope, entertaining as a Dornish puppet show. See you at the lists! Mirror here. Previous episodes here. Podcast RSS feed here. iTunes page here. Sean’s blog here. Stefan’s blog here.

Going Rogue: Discussing “The Rogue Prince, or, A King’s Brother” Another chapter from the GRRMArillion? You betcha! Rogues, the latest cross-genre anthology edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, is out, and you know what that means: another long short story/novella set in the world of Ice and Fire and written by Martin himself. As was the case with Dangerous Women’s “The Princess and the Queen,” Martin’s contribution this time around is an excerpt from the larger history of the Targaryen dynasty eventually to be published in expanded form as Fire and Blood. And it turns out it’s a direct prequel to “The Princess and the Queen”’s tale of internecine Targaryen civil war – like, it ends the moment “TPatQ” begins. As such, it casts many of the events and characters of that story in a whole new light. And like that story, it strrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrretches the boundaries of the rubric for its inclusion in the anthology in which it appears. Is it worth it? Listen and find out! (And try not to be perturbed by the sounds of chaos in revelry in the background, as Stefan’s native Germany defeats a rival in the World Cup whilst we record. Just imagine we’re discussing this over a bowl o’ brown in the stews of Flea Bottom. I know I always do!) Stefan’s review of “The Rogue Prince” for Tower of the Hand Mirror here. Previous episodes here. Podcast RSS feed here. iTunes page here. Sean’s blog here. Stefan’s blog here.