Why do we read fiction? Why do we care so passionately about nonexistent characters? And what underlying mental processes are activated when we read? Professor Lisa Zunshine, Bush-Holbrook professor of English at the University of …
Litopia After Dark
The net’s foremost literary salon: our weekly flagship show
The Agent Vs. The Amazon Women on the Moon
First came the fireball – searing its way through the Midwestern skies, turning night into day and scaring the bejesus out of the simple-minded but fundamentally good folk of Garrison Keillor country. Then came the …
The Hero’s Journey In Wet Socks
In an era when everyone is talking about “the death of the humanities”, cognitive approaches to literature just may be the Next Big Thing that rescues college literature departments from the institutional death of a …
Lord Mandelsauron Upsets Everyone Again
In Parliament’s dying days, the UK’s Digital Economy Bill will be pushed into law next week – without a full Parliamentary debate, and without most people fully understanding the sweeping measures it contains (e.g. disconnection …
Yeastiality And Your Rising Platform
How far do authors have to go to promote themselves on today’s web? Have we pulled the curtain back too far? Does knowing more about an author help to build their readership – or does …
Are These Bollocks Necessary?
If you frown on bad language, you’re going to hate tonight’s show: it richly merits its explicit tag in iTunes this week. So don’t say we didn’t warn you! “Why do people not mind reading …
Yes, We’re Talking About Twilight & Harry Potter Again
Could our literary culture be shaping our genetic inheritance? A startling idea; but in this week’s show, special guest Dr. Susan O’Doherty discusses surprising new evidence suggesting that that the accelerating pace of cultural change …
When Titanic Floats and Ice Sinks
It’s a welcome return tonight for New York publisher Philip Turner, whose lustrous credits include works by Barack Obama, Senator George Mitchell, the bestseller IBM and the Holocaust – and the massively controversial book by …
I Was A Teenage Plagarist
Another fast-paced, witty & thought-provoking show tonight – with panellists Martyn Daniels, Eve Harvey, Donna Ballman and Dave Bartram, how could it be otherwise?
Donna is outraged by a brazen-faced teenage plagiarist from Germany; …
Writing Drunk and Banging For Nickels
After bartenders, writers are more likely to die from cirrhosis of the liver than any other profession. Drugs of all kind have been intimately, and often destructively, involved in the writing process: the list of …
Word Wars for Fun and Profit
You’d think it was hard enough just being a writer, wouldn’t you? However, an increasing number of writers are voluntarily choosing to make their lives even tougher – by choosing to vanquish their own, personal, …
Will The iPad Save Publishing?
In what is arguably the most significant week in publishing this decade – maybe even this century – we’re giving Apple’s newly launched iPad a rigorous examination – and coming to a surprising verdict – …
Celebrity Iguana Rehab
Is online book piracy a good or bad thing for authors? Whichever it is – can we really do anything about it? And what it’s got to do with Cory Doctorow’s sperm count (quite a …
Back To Work
Right! Rip the decorations down, shape up and let’s get serious. Party time’s over (but it was a good one, wasn’t it?). It’s a new year and arguably a new decade – we’re all business …
The Party To End All Parties!
No matter how many Christmas parties you may go to over the festive season, one thing is certain – you’ll never encounter anything quite as spectacular as Litopia After Dark’s annual bash. Featuring Donna Ballman, …
Easy way: just click the PLAY button under each show. 
Simply fill in the form under each show and bingo! You’re a critic!
Litopia receives no public funding. For the price of a latté a month, you can keep us going. 
Litopia is the winner
of the first Golden Twits Award for excellence in social media. 
