Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.

On 16 November 2021, Phil gave a live talk on The Illustrated Man for the University of Wolverhampton's ARTSFEST ONLINE. In this episode of Bradbury 100, we present a lightly edited version of that talk. (The video will also be made available on Youtube in the near future.)

Please enjoy as we celebrate the seventieth birthday of the Illustrated Man. He's aged well!

Bradbury 100 - episode 27 - The Illustrated Man at 70!

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.

This episode looks at some of the greatest movies NEVER made, as Phil discusses Ray Bradbury's unfilmed screenplays for THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. If you thought Rock Hudson was the first and last word on the CHRONICLES on screen, think again: from the 1950s through to the 1990s, Ray Bradbury wrote a number of scripts for planned film versions of his classic science fiction book.

Unfortunately, none of these came to fruition...

Bradbury 100 - episode 28 - the best Martian Chronicles films never made

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.

This episode looks at Ray Bradbury's OTHER Martian stories, stories about Mars and Martians which are NOT included in his THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES.

I review each of the un-chronicled martian tales, and figure out where they fit into the mythos of The Martian Chronicles. Be ready for some surprises!

Bradbury 100 - episode 30 - Bradbury's OTHER Mars Stories

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.

This episode features the audio from a live talk given on Ray's 102nd birthday, discussing the origins and development of Bradbury's 1957 novel DANDELION WINE and its sequel, FAREWELL SUMMER.

If you'd like to see the video version, which has lots of illustrations to accompany the talk, head over to Youtube: https://youtu.be/5tDBMyYeyxs

Bradbury 100 - episode 32 - Dandelion Wine live talk

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.

This episode looks at the most significant month in the Bradbury calendar: October! Ray published three books related to that month, ensuring that he will always be associated with spooky season. His short story The October Country collects his scariest stories; his novel Something Wicked This Way Comes shows what happens when a dark carnival comes to town; and his short novel The Halloween Tree explores the history and meaning of Halloween.

For more on Bradbury, remember to check out my website, www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - episode 35 - Ray Bradbury's October

In February 2023, I gave a public talk on FAHRENHEIT 451 for Wolverhampton Literature Festival. This podcast episode is a version of that talk - minus all the visual bits and pieces, of course. (If you want to see the visuals, head over to my Youtube Channel, BRADBURY 101!)

Bradbury 100 - episode 42 - Literacy, Censorship & Burning Books: Fahrenheit 451 at 70

It's forty years since the film version of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES was released! So in this episode, I take a detailed look at the origins of SWTWC, going all the way back to the short story "The Black Ferris" (1948) and working through to the shooting of the film.

Bradbury wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by his good friend Jack Clayton (director of Room at the Top (1959) and The Innocents (1961). So everything must have worked out really well...

Bradbury 100 - Episode 44 - Film/Book/Film: Writing SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

Last time on Bradbury 100, we looked at the origin of Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and its peculiar history as a film script that became a book, and then became a film script again.

This time, I continue the story, examining how the film - disastrously previewed in 1982 - was rescued through some re-writing, re-shooting and re-editing. Ray claimed that he "directed" or "edited" the film doing this re-make period, rescuing it from the clutches of director Jack Clayton. But is this really true?

Join me as I dig into the archives, and look for evidence of what REALLY went on.

Bradbury 100 - Episode 45 - Rescuing SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

For Christmas this year, I bring you a bumper double-length episode of Bradbury 100!

Member of the "Science Fiction Book Club" Facebook group provided questions about Ray Bradbury for me to answer. So this whole episode is given over to my ponderings on some terrific questions.

For more details, check the full show notes at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - Episode 54 - Q&A Special

Ray Bradbury's first-ever book, DARK CARNIVAL (1947) has been re-published. For the first time, it is available in paperback and ebook editions.

In this episode I go through the story behind Dark Carnival, and review the new editions.

For more information, check out the show notes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2024/03/new-bradbury-100-episode-dark-carnival.html

Bradbury 100 - Episode 56 - Dark Carnival Paperback and Ebook First Editions

As well as writing his famous novels and short stories, Ray Bradbury wrote extensively for the stage. In this episode I explore Ray Bradbury as playwright, looking at his one-act plays and his full-llength adaptations of his own novels.

You can find the full shownotes on my blog, here: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2024/11/new-podcast-episode-ray-bradbury-on.html

Bradbury 100 - Episode 58 - Ray Bradbury on Stage

"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.

In this episode, I bring you the background behind the story, and a complete reading of it.

Enjoy!

For more episodes of Bradbury 100, check out my website at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - Episode 59 - "Lazarus Come Forth"

A few weeks ago, there was a new episode of The Simpsons which was entirely based on the works of Ray Bradbury. "Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes" is not the first time Ray has been referenced by the show. In fact, the number of Bradbury allusions across all of The Simpsons (i.e. on TV, in comics, and in books) now totals: thirteen.

In this episode I detail them all!

Many of them are represented by audio clips. But there are a few gags which are purely visual, including the comic-book and book appearances, and so I'll present some of those on my website. Check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2024/12/ray-bradbury-and-simpsons.html

Bradbury 100 - Episode 60 - Ray Bradbury and The Simpsons!

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

I have a playlist of full versions of all of Bradbury's SUSPENSE episodes in the shownotes on my website at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/01/ray-bradbury-on-radio-suspense.html


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

In this episode, I look at the relationship between two greats of genre fiction: Ray Bradbury and his friend Leigh Brackett.

Brackett is perhaps best remembered today as one of the screenwriters of STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - but long before that she co-wrote THE BIG SLEEP and RIO BRAVO for Howard Hawks. Earlier still, she was a prolific writer of science fiction and crime fiction. And, crucially for this podcast: she was Ray Bradbury's mentor during the early years of his professional career.

For more on Leigh Brackett and Ray Bradbury, check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/02/new-podcast-episode-ray-bradbury-and.html

Bradbury 100 - Episode 62 - Ray Bradbury and Leigh Brackett

Bradbury 100 Returns - 1st May 2025!

Bradbury 100 is back with a new batch of episodes! This time: an interview with Orty Ortwein, author of THE FIRST GEEKS, which examines the early days of organised science fiction fandom. And guess who was there? Ray Bradbury, of course. At around eighteen years of age, he joined the Los Angeles chapter of the Science Fiction League, and became firm friends with animator Ray Harryhausen and super-fan Forry Ackerman.

For more information on THE FIRST GEEKS and other items mentioned in the episode, check out the show notes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/05/new-podcast-episode-first-geeks.html

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

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.

For more information, check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/05/new-podcast-episode-it-came-from-outer.html


Bradbury 100 - episode 64 - It Came From Outer Space

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

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)

For links and more detail, check out the shownotes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/06/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html

Bradbury 100 - episode 66 - Chronological Bradbury 1943

This episode of the Bradbury 100 podcast is 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: https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v36n10_1943-03_ATLPM-Sas/page/n3/mode/2up

Next time: I cover the rest of Ray's stories from 1943!

Don't forget to check out my website at www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100 - episode 67 - "The Wind"

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. The stories are:

    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)

If you visit my website for the shownotes, you'll find direct links to the stories as they appeared in the original pulp magazines: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/07/heres-another-new-podcast-episode.html


Bradbury 100 - episode 68 - Chronological Bradbury 1943 (continued)

Time for another podcast episode - and 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.

For more details - and links to online versions of the stories covered in this episode - check out the shownotes at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/07/time-for-another-podcast-episode-and.html

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

Time for 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.

For the full show notes - including links to online versions of some of the stories discussed - head to https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html


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

This is the audio version of a live talk I did for Ray Bradbury's 105th birthday (22 August 2025). For more info, check out the show notes at: https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-podcast-episode-laurel-and-hardy.html

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

My Chronological Bradbury series continues with the third and final look at the year 1944 - which sees Ray continue to dabble with crime fiction, but still turning his hand to SF and fantasy, completing the NINETEEN short stories he had published in that single year.

The most notable story of the batch is the timeless "The Jar", a creepy yet amusing fantasy set in the Lousiana swamps. Written when Ray was just 24 years old, it was a story which maintained a fascination for readers/listeners/viewers well into the 1990s and beyond.

In the full shownotes (at https://bradburymedia.blogspot.com/2025/09/new-podcast-episode-chronological.html), I provide links to most of the stories mentioned in this episode, in their original pulp appearances; these versions sometimes differ slightly from the versions in Ray's books.

With this episode, Bradbury 100 takes a short vacation. But it will return later in 2025!

Bradbury 100 - episode 72 - Chronological Bradbury 1944 (part 3)

Bradbury 100 is a podcast celebrating the centenary year of American writer Ray Bradbury.

Presented by Phil Nichols of bradburymedia.co.uk, each episode will explore an aspect of Bradbury's life or work, and feature an interview with someone influenced or inspired by Ray.

Guests will include authors, musicians and more - fans, friends and scholars of Bradbury.

Music credit: purple-planet.com

Bradbury 100

Trailer for Bradbury 100

Bradbury 100 - Celebrating the centenary year of American writer Ray Bradbury. Phil Nichols from the Bradburymedia website brings you episode 01 of the podcast, which looks at Bradbury in relation to science fiction, and interviews novelist Steven Paul Leiva - who worked with Ray, knew him personally, and organised a major city-wide celebration of Ray in Los Angeles in 2010

Bradbury 100 - Episode 01 - with author Steven Paul Leiva

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the centenary year of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.  Episode 2 discusses the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies - a museum and archive which holds Ray Bradbury's personal papers, his many awards, and many of his personal effects. Our interview guest is Jason Aukerman, who manages the Center in Indianapolis.

Bradbury 100 - Episode 02 - with Jason Aukerman of the Bradbury Center

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the centenary year of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.  Episode 3 discusses the city of Waukegan, Bradbury's childhood hometown. Our interview guest is Sandy Petroshius, who heads the Ray Bradbury Experience Museum, due to open in Waukegan on the one-hundredth anniversary of Ray's birth.

Bradbury 100 - Episode 03 - with Sandy Petroshius of the Ray Bradbury Experience Museum

Bradbury 100 - celebrating the centenary year of American writer Ray Bradbury, presented by Phil Nichols of Bradburymedia.co.uk.

Episode 4 discusses Ray Bradbury's house, particularly as seen through the camera of Elizabeth Nahum-Albright, whose photographic exhibition "I Saw It At Ray's House" is available to view online throughout August 2020.

And listen out for an announcement about next week's episode of the podcast, which will be released on Ray Bradbury's 100th birthday!

Bradbury 100 - Episode 04 - with photographer Elizabeth Nahum-Albright

Bradbury 100 is a podcast celebrating the life and work of American writer Ray Bradbury, brought to you by Phil Nichols of www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Bradbury 100

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