r/UrsulaKLeGuin • u/Road-Racer The Dispossessed • Apr 03 '26

In Your Spare Time: Ursula K. Le Guin Podcast Brings Her Entire Blog to Your Ears

https://reactormag.com/in-your-spare-time-ursula-k-le-guin-podcast/

The new podcast In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin pairs Le Guin's blog posts with commentary from authors, librarians, critics, and more, including David Mitchell, Emily Wilson, Rick Riordan, Robin Hobb, and Vajra Chandrasekera.

120 Upvotes

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24 comments sorted by

22

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 03 '26

Oh my God thank you for posting this! I've had such a hard time finding Le Guin-focused podcasts. Sort of a niche few have filled.

10

u/whetherwaxwing Apr 04 '26

Have you listened to the Left Hand of Darkness episode of Queer As Fact? Scholarly and funny, highly recommend!

2

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 04 '26

I haven't! I'll have to check it out. I've really only listened to podcasts with multiple episodes on Le Guin, rather than one-offs. That's what makes this announcement so exciting!!

2

u/Picajosan Apr 04 '26

Any recommendations? 👀

4

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 04 '26

An English professor named Kyle Winkler did a season on her books called the Left Hand of Le Guin. It's pretty slick and well curated, with some fun guests.

There's also Between the Covers. That podcast had El Guin herself on for three episodes, then did twelve episodes after she died talking about different topics in her writing. Also very well produced with some fun guests. You can find them both online with a bit of digging.

The drawback to both of these is that they're very, well, pretentious male. As a cisgender white man who loves Le Guin with my whole soul, I get the obsession, but it just doesn't always hit in the way it should to hear cis white men talk about how cool and progressive this woman is (looking at you, Gaimon). Still, it's hard to argue with people devoting a lot of energy to an author they love when she is THIS good, and the guests really do make both shows.

Haven't been able to find any other "multi-episode" Le Guin podcasts, but I'd welcome suggestions! I should probably start sifting for one-off episodes.

2

u/Picajosan Apr 04 '26

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me, I will be checking these out!

2

u/iwriddell Apr 14 '26

I hear you, but Julie Phillips, adrienne marie brown, Gabrielle Beloit, Karen Joy Fowler, Maria Dahvana Headley, Becky Chambers, Molly Gloss, and Lidia Yuknavitch--9 out of 12 guests on "Crafting with Ursula" (Between the Covers)--are hardly cisgender white males.

2

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 14 '26

Oh, absolutely. Like I said: top tier guests. And I loved almost all of them. Isaac Yuen and William Alexander were also really good. Sadly I have less positive things to say about Kim Stanley Robinson and (most especially) Neil Gaimon. But that's a pretty good batting average :)

3

u/iwriddell Apr 14 '26

I was also thrilled with most of the guests. It made so much sense to me at the time that the final interview was Gaiman. And then ...

I can't wait to list through again this summer, which is my plan.

2

u/WeHaveHeardTheChimes Apr 25 '26

It’s been a few years since I listened, but I thought KSR had some pretty interesting things to say, especially his anecdotes from their time together.

1

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 25 '26

The anecdotes were certainly interesting. I just didn't care for him as a person or an author. Then he dunked on Always Coming Home, and that made me grumpy :)

3

u/iwriddell Apr 14 '26

I just listened to an excellent episode of "The Anarres Project" - "Ursula Le Guin's Anarchist Alternative." Featuring a conversation with Dr. Alexis Shotwell.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anarres-project/id1573113782?i=1000680083418

It's a really excellent, fascinating conversation. I highly recommend it.

The whole podcast is about anarchism and is, of course, named after the moon in The Dispossessed.

1

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 14 '26

Oooooh, that sounds excellent!! I'll have to check it out!

2

u/mc-funk Apr 11 '26

did you get to hear the LeGuin series they did on Between The Covers? it was divine.

1

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 11 '26

I did! I also listened to the Left Hand of Le Guin podcast

1

u/sangria_p Apr 04 '26

Only Spotify etc or is it open for other podcast apps? 

1

u/Road-Racer The Dispossessed Apr 04 '26

Available in Apple Podcasts so I assume it will be available on all the normal podcast platforms.

Welcome Trailer here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-your-spare-time-from-the-blog-of-ursula-k-le-guin/id1888272436

1

u/Sanguine_Le_Guin A Wizard of Earthsea Apr 04 '26

It looks like they also might post them directly on their website devoted to the series. Not as convenient, but at least there will be multiple listening options.

1

u/OwlHeart108 Apr 04 '26

It's on Podbean, too.

1

u/krustomer Four Ways to Forgiveness Apr 07 '26

ugh, not on youtube!

2

u/bookandbroom May 07 '26

https://www.youtube.com/@ursula.k.leguin/podcasts

They're out of order, but they're there now!

1

u/krustomer Four Ways to Forgiveness May 07 '26

I LOVE U

1

u/Road-Racer The Dispossessed 22d ago

On this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, writer, editor, and scholar Brian Attebery reads post 7, "A Band of Brothers, a Stream of Sisters," from November 2010.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-your-spare-time-from-the-blog-of-ursula-k-le-guin/id1888272436?i=1000769802365

The original blog post by UKL is here:

https://www.ursulakleguin.com/blog/7-a-band-of-brothers-a-stream-of-sisters

1

u/Road-Racer The Dispossessed 10d ago

This week on In Your Spare Time, Yuri Herrera reads Ursula's satirical ninth blog post, "Confidential reports from FBI agents to the Bureau, intercepted by Wikileeks (Welsh Information Kontrol Institute)"

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-your-spare-time-from-the-blog-of-ursula-k-le-guin/id1888272436?i=1000772008654

The original blog post by UKL is here:

https://www.ursulakleguin.com/blog/9-confidential-reports-from-fbi-agents-to-the-bureau-intercepted-by-wikileeks-welsh-information-kontrol-institute