Backlisted Podcast
@backlisted.bsky.social
Giving new life to old books every fortnight. Bookshop.org Indie Champion 2023. Find us: backlisted.fm, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Support us: patreon.com/backlisted.
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253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
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Re: last RT. That's the last bit of praise for this week's Inventory I will force upon you, and thanks for your patience. But this essay on the Clientele is much more than a bit of 'content' for a website. To me, it's a really important piece of writing. "This machine is on." x
November 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Re: last RT. That's the last bit of praise for this week's Inventory I will force upon you, and thanks for your patience. But this essay on the Clientele is much more than a bit of 'content' for a website. To me, it's a really important piece of writing. "This machine is on." x
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Ever since my parents died, it’s felt as though I’m living in exile from my beloved childhood home. If you’ve ever felt similarly, this week’s INVENTORY is a must-read. It is a stunning piece on childhood and loss.
A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up as a Locklistener today, read about the Clientele and the ‘suburban uncanny’, support the podcast. @theclientele.bsky.social
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
November 27, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Ever since my parents died, it’s felt as though I’m living in exile from my beloved childhood home. If you’ve ever felt similarly, this week’s INVENTORY is a must-read. It is a stunning piece on childhood and loss.
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Somebody just liked me on a dating app and then asked me to review his book. I am aghast.
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Somebody just liked me on a dating app and then asked me to review his book. I am aghast.
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Over the years, I have tried and utterly failed to elevator pitch Olaf Stapleton austerely fantastic novels of ideas without coming across as an acid-fried space cadet. This is an acceptable alternative - another @backlisted.bsky.social banger and not just for Cosmic Woolybacks! #BookSky
Listened to the new @backlisted.bsky.social episode on Patreon this morning and it’s another excellent, interesting discussion. I went into the bookshop to order the book and H asked me what it was about. I tried to remember Una’s blurb and failed miserably. Advised him to just listen to Backlisted!
November 25, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Over the years, I have tried and utterly failed to elevator pitch Olaf Stapleton austerely fantastic novels of ideas without coming across as an acid-fried space cadet. This is an acceptable alternative - another @backlisted.bsky.social banger and not just for Cosmic Woolybacks! #BookSky
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This edition begins with a note from the author which may be of some interest.
@unamccormack.bsky.social
@iammilliam.bsky.social
@backlisted.bsky.social
@mdeabaitua.bsky.social
@unamccormack.bsky.social
@iammilliam.bsky.social
@backlisted.bsky.social
@mdeabaitua.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
This edition begins with a note from the author which may be of some interest.
@unamccormack.bsky.social
@iammilliam.bsky.social
@backlisted.bsky.social
@mdeabaitua.bsky.social
@unamccormack.bsky.social
@iammilliam.bsky.social
@backlisted.bsky.social
@mdeabaitua.bsky.social
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If you aren’t signed up for the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon you are missing (among other great things) Andy’s wonderful writing in INVENTORY about music, memory, and meaning. This week’s installment is really special (she says weekly, but it’s true weekly).
A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up as a Locklistener today, read about the Clientele and the ‘suburban uncanny’, support the podcast. @theclientele.bsky.social
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
November 26, 2025 at 2:32 PM
If you aren’t signed up for the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon you are missing (among other great things) Andy’s wonderful writing in INVENTORY about music, memory, and meaning. This week’s installment is really special (she says weekly, but it’s true weekly).
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
A very moving and generous account of interactions with our music. And from a fellow suburban contrarian too, which makes it all the better.
A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up as a Locklistener today, read about the Clientele and the ‘suburban uncanny’, support the podcast. @theclientele.bsky.social
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
November 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
A very moving and generous account of interactions with our music. And from a fellow suburban contrarian too, which makes it all the better.
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
It is difficult to believe, but Inventory just keeps getting better, even when tinged with a bit/a lot of melancholy as is case this week. Sign up to the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon to get these moving and insightful musical interludes from @iammilliam.bsky.social and improve your Wednesdays.
A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up as a Locklistener today, read about the Clientele and the ‘suburban uncanny’, support the podcast. @theclientele.bsky.social
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
It is difficult to believe, but Inventory just keeps getting better, even when tinged with a bit/a lot of melancholy as is case this week. Sign up to the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon to get these moving and insightful musical interludes from @iammilliam.bsky.social and improve your Wednesdays.
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I don’t mention this in the new INVENTORY but the Clientele’s version of an obscure Shack/Mick Head song called Closer is one of their most sublime, mysterious and magical recordings. You’re welcome. @backlisted.bsky.social theclientele.bandcamp.com/album/closer
Closer, by The Clientele
1 track album
theclientele.bandcamp.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I don’t mention this in the new INVENTORY but the Clientele’s version of an obscure Shack/Mick Head song called Closer is one of their most sublime, mysterious and magical recordings. You’re welcome. @backlisted.bsky.social theclientele.bandcamp.com/album/closer
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
The SF Collections at Liverpool host the Olaf Stapledon Archive. We're delighted that SFF trustee Una McCormack was able to discuss Stapledon's landmark debut novel with Matthew De Abaitua and Andy Miller. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 26, 2025 at 10:07 AM
The SF Collections at Liverpool host the Olaf Stapledon Archive. We're delighted that SFF trustee Una McCormack was able to discuss Stapledon's landmark debut novel with Matthew De Abaitua and Andy Miller. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
I like this picture too, which is the one @irishtimes.com used. Display of random @backlisted.bsky.social titles totally uncontrived, of course.
November 26, 2025 at 10:25 AM
I like this picture too, which is the one @irishtimes.com used. Display of random @backlisted.bsky.social titles totally uncontrived, of course.
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up as a Locklistener today, read about the Clientele and the ‘suburban uncanny’, support the podcast. @theclientele.bsky.social
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
November 26, 2025 at 9:21 AM
A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up as a Locklistener today, read about the Clientele and the ‘suburban uncanny’, support the podcast. @theclientele.bsky.social
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
This week: God Save the Clientele.
www.patreon.com/backlisted
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
"He asked which book I'd nominate for Backlisted ... I suggested an obscene short story he’d never heard of, about a necrophiliac pederast, brought to my attention by one of his professional rivals."
Oh, the pain of the hastily-prepared interview, repented leisurely (and wittily) by Peter Lonsdale.
Oh, the pain of the hastily-prepared interview, repented leisurely (and wittily) by Peter Lonsdale.
This is a very funny piece of writing by Peter Lonsdale in which I appear as the character of Andy Miller. It's based on an interview we did eight years ago. Thanks to @irishtimes.com for having the foresight and hindsight to run it. @backlisted.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Lessons for the would-be writer: An aborted interview with Andy Miller
Peter Lonsdale reflects on his encounter with the co-host of the Backlisted Podcast
www.irishtimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:58 AM
"He asked which book I'd nominate for Backlisted ... I suggested an obscene short story he’d never heard of, about a necrophiliac pederast, brought to my attention by one of his professional rivals."
Oh, the pain of the hastily-prepared interview, repented leisurely (and wittily) by Peter Lonsdale.
Oh, the pain of the hastily-prepared interview, repented leisurely (and wittily) by Peter Lonsdale.
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
This is a very funny piece of writing by Peter Lonsdale in which I appear as the character of Andy Miller. It's based on an interview we did eight years ago. Thanks to @irishtimes.com for having the foresight and hindsight to run it. @backlisted.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Lessons for the would-be writer: An aborted interview with Andy Miller
Peter Lonsdale reflects on his encounter with the co-host of the Backlisted Podcast
www.irishtimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:50 AM
This is a very funny piece of writing by Peter Lonsdale in which I appear as the character of Andy Miller. It's based on an interview we did eight years ago. Thanks to @irishtimes.com for having the foresight and hindsight to run it. @backlisted.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 25, 2025 at 7:53 AM
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
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What a brilliant fact - I had no idea. (For anyone else impressed by this, the letter is here: digitalheritagelab.liverpool.ac.uk/Documents/De...)
Letter from Virginia Woolf - University of Liverpool Digital Heritage Lab
Letter from Virginia Woolf, OS/H2/A32, A thank you after Stapledon sent her a copy of one of his books. She admits to not understanding its full meaning but finding it interesting anyway., We grateful...
digitalheritagelab.liverpool.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
What a brilliant fact - I had no idea. (For anyone else impressed by this, the letter is here: digitalheritagelab.liverpool.ac.uk/Documents/De...)
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I love this book, and love also that it was a major inspiration to Virginia Woolf for her thinking about time and structure in her later novels (& she wrote a fan letter to Stapledon to tell him so!)
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I love this book, and love also that it was a major inspiration to Virginia Woolf for her thinking about time and structure in her later novels (& she wrote a fan letter to Stapledon to tell him so!)
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Skyyy rockets in flight, afternoon delight...Another fantastic episode discussing a thing I had never heard of.
Reach for the stars... New @backlisted.bsky.social, LAST AND FIRST MEN by Olaf Stapledon, with @mdeabaitua.bsky.social!
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Skyyy rockets in flight, afternoon delight...Another fantastic episode discussing a thing I had never heard of.
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
Tomorrow morning I'll have Clay Pipe Music 2026 calendars, greeting cards (based on figures from European Christmas folklore), Giclee prints of @catebrooksmusic.bsky.social Lofoten, and CP accessory pouches. Available from Bandcamp and Greedbag.
November 25, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Tomorrow morning I'll have Clay Pipe Music 2026 calendars, greeting cards (based on figures from European Christmas folklore), Giclee prints of @catebrooksmusic.bsky.social Lofoten, and CP accessory pouches. Available from Bandcamp and Greedbag.
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I have this American Dover edition of Last and First Men and Starmaker.
Looking forward to listening to this episode later today.
Looking forward to listening to this episode later today.
November 25, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I have this American Dover edition of Last and First Men and Starmaker.
Looking forward to listening to this episode later today.
Looking forward to listening to this episode later today.
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
This is what @backlisted.bsky.social do so well. A fascinating discussion (to which I have now listened twice) of a book I have never heard of and still may never read.
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 25, 2025 at 11:44 AM
This is what @backlisted.bsky.social do so well. A fascinating discussion (to which I have now listened twice) of a book I have never heard of and still may never read.
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
This was brilliant and made my head spin in the best way.
Why not follow it up by immersing yourself in the film and soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman?
Backlisted favourite @andrewmale.bsky.social
wrote the liner notes which contain one of JJ’s last ever interviews. #RIP
Why not follow it up by immersing yourself in the film and soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman?
Backlisted favourite @andrewmale.bsky.social
wrote the liner notes which contain one of JJ’s last ever interviews. #RIP
November 25, 2025 at 11:27 AM
This was brilliant and made my head spin in the best way.
Why not follow it up by immersing yourself in the film and soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman?
Backlisted favourite @andrewmale.bsky.social
wrote the liner notes which contain one of JJ’s last ever interviews. #RIP
Why not follow it up by immersing yourself in the film and soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman?
Backlisted favourite @andrewmale.bsky.social
wrote the liner notes which contain one of JJ’s last ever interviews. #RIP
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
Olaf gets a brief mention in Half Man Half Biscuit's ode to The Wirral 'Oblong of Dreams'. There also seems to be a Stapledon Wood there in his honour
November 25, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Olaf gets a brief mention in Half Man Half Biscuit's ode to The Wirral 'Oblong of Dreams'. There also seems to be a Stapledon Wood there in his honour
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
this was so out of control I listened to it again straight away (join the cult of book).
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 25, 2025 at 9:21 AM
this was so out of control I listened to it again straight away (join the cult of book).
Reposted by Backlisted Podcast
We are on fire at the moment. But somehow, we’ve made another brilliant episode of @backlisted.bsky.social.
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 25, 2025 at 8:57 AM
We are on fire at the moment. But somehow, we’ve made another brilliant episode of @backlisted.bsky.social.