Podcast

SteamPunk Spectacular #6

Jake von Slatt — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 13:56

The latest SteamPunk Spectacular podcast is out!

This transmission brings you an assortment of oddments, including a sartorial and historical lesson from Sir Brandon Fitzroy Hill, Master of Blades and Hats; and, notably, a partial reconstruction of a most educational conversation with Jake Von Slatt himself ( I am quite hopeful that the rest of that Maurice will be successful in rescuing the rest of that conversation from the damaged communication cylinder). As always, Correspondent Chris Fisher provides the latest in happenings both corporeal and virtual.

Steampunk Spectacular #4

Jake von Slatt — Fri, 08/29/2008 - 06:41

Steampunk Spectacular #4 is out at last!

Podcast: Steampunk Panel at ReaderCon

Jake von Slatt — Thu, 07/31/2008 - 20:33

Many of you likely read the Steampunk Panel at ReaderCon story on io9 about a week ago. We were fortunate to hear about this ahead of time and offered to podcast the discussion here and we're very pleased and grateful that the panelists accepted our offer!

Thanks especially to Mike for connecting the dots so that we could bring you this Steampunk Panel at ReaderCon Podcast (MP3)

Readercon is an annual, literary science fiction convention in Burlington, Massachusetts. This year, it included a panel on steampunk, recorded for podcast here.

The four panelists were:

Mary Robinette Kowal - a professional puppeteer who moonlights as a writer
Holly Black -- a bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children,
Liz Gorinsky - an editor at Tor Books
Sarah Micklem - a graphic designer and writer.

The description of their panel read:

Steampunk and Beyond: What Would a "Gibson Chair" Look Like? Steampunk, originally just an SF subgenre, is now also a burgeoning underground design movement. There's precedent for this: modernism was not only a literary movement, but had artistic, musical, architectural, and design wings as well.

Is the steampunk design movement an essentially fluky outgrowth of our fascination with all things retro? Or could other F&SF subgenres sprout their own design branches as well? Could the creation of actual, useful, physical objects lead to better-imagined literary art? How close is the relationship between the visually striking artifacts of steampunk and the literature that spawned them, anyway?

However, in the usual way at Readercon, their fascinating discussion ranged far beyond the specific questions asked, touching on steampunk's predecessors and many aspects of its own past, present, and future. The audience asked many informed questions.

The podcast adds up to fifty minutes of intense, fun engagement with the movement.

The Heather Gold Show

Jake von Slatt — Tue, 04/29/2008 - 16:34

On Saturday May 3, Cap'n Robert of Abney Park, Libby Bulloff of SteamPunk Magazine and I will be on The Heather Gold Show which will be streamed live from the main stage at Maker Faire. From Heather's site:

How can you be authentic to yourself and part of a (sub)culture?

Through the lens of Steampunk, a meta-subculture that is currently at its tipping point of growth, we explore the inevitable question a subculture faces as it grows from disparate DIY roots. Who and what belongs? Can it transform permaculture?

Conversating with Heather are computer and car modifier Jake von Slatt, Abney Park's Captain Robert and SteamPunk Magazine editor, wearable art creator, and artist Libby Bulloff.

I finally tracked down the two parts of the show and embedded them here for you. There is an audio issue with the first part, it drops out near the begining but then comes back in at the 7:35 mark. The first vid is nearly an hour and the second is about 22 minutes.

Click through to watch the videos