There’s more than a whiff of revolution in the air tonight, and it’s not all coming from our special guest, Alan Gibbons, prolific children’s author and instigator of Britain’s national campaign to stop library closures.
While pompous British politicians decide that public money should be spent on their private country estates and duck houses (yes, that’s houses – for their own, personal ducks), public libraries and school libraries face wholesale closure to save scarce public funds.
The splendid councillors of Swindon vote themselves an increase in allowances from the public treasury of £29,000… meantime, Old Town Library is slated for closure … to save £23,000.
Hypocrisy? Crass selfishness? Criminal abuse of public trust? Well, you decide as you listen to our scintillating panel who are in fine fettle this evening. Joining Alan tonight are leading Florida lawyer and Litopia Daily’s newshound, Donna Ballman… from England’s West country writer and Litopia stalwart Dave Bartram… and one half of the creative duo that produces LITOON, the beyond-brilliant cartoon strip that’s just been launched on Litopia – Richard Howse.
Topics covered (and links) from tonight’s show include:
- Why Stephen King wanted to hurt his kids – and why he wrote about it – so it wouldn’t happen
- Why jaded American tourists are flocking to Britain’s Deptford
- Naturally, we’re going to conserve some duck-house money by closing school libraries – but kids can still be forced to study with a convict-style ball and chain clamped to their ankle, available online for a reasonable £75
- And Amazon’s threat to the traditional publishing business materializes
And as for the Commissioning Meeting - well, let’s just say that Richard thinks that Alan’s sex is on fire, the seafaring petomane strikes once more and – horror on horror’s head – Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy has escaped yet again, the pesky varmint. This week’s titles are:
“The Varmint”
By Owen Johnson, 1878-1952“Vanity, All Is Vanity – A Lecture On Tobacco And Its Effects”
By J. J. Cranmer“A Voyage with Captain Dynamite”
By Charles Edward Rich“Vegetable Teratology: An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants”
By Maxwell T. Masters
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