Episode 15: Free Range Eggs, What Does It Mean?
In this episode I get a bit away from the wordbuilding theme and talk about what it means when your eggs say "cage free" or "free range" and how you have to watch your labeling. Enjoy.
Episode 14: Megadrought
I take a break from peasant-noble talk to dive into a very real, very critical issue for much of the western US. The ongoing megadrought. This has the ability to affect drinking water supplies for millions of people, agriculture and labor where the impacts will ripple...
What role do peasants really play?
In this episode I'm expanding on my talk of tropes and what role the working class (or in high fantasy, the peasant-class) really plays in your world. When it comes to contemporary fantasy/urban fantasy, I find these people are often as invisible as they are in our...
Episode 12: Why You Should Consider Ag In Your World Building
Why should you consider agriculture in your world building? Beyond high/epic fantasy which often has a pseudo-medieval culture, food supply issues and agriculture play an important role in your characters' back stories. I give some examples from urban fantasy, as well...
Ancient Agriculture Part 2 (6/1/21 Episode 11)
Book is currently running $40-70 on Amazon. I should have checked before recording the podcast. Sorry! In this episode of the podcast, I thank my listeners for allowing me last week off and vent a bit about my sudden math class I have to take. I'm currently...
Ancient Agriculture Part 1 (5/16/21)
Book is currently running $40-70 on Amazon. I should have checked before recording the podcast. Sorry! In this episode of the podcast, I thank my listeners for allowing me last week off and vent a bit about my sudden math class I have to take. I'm currently...
Episode 9: Agriculture’s Dual Subordination (And a Prequel to Cultural Agriculture)
In this episode, I give a bit of background on agriculture's dual subordination and get a bit academic/geeky about it. This is in preparation to talk about agriculture within the context of global history in future episodes, and I felt that this background was...
Episode 8: Can A Farm Boy Wander Off?
Well, of course he can. We're the authors here, and we can make our characters do whatever we want them to. However, that'd make for a very short podcast episode. Instead, I'm going to talk about the implications of a farm worker wandering off for adventure. This...
Episode 7: Interview with Marian L. Thorpe
In this episode I interview historical fantasy author Marian L. Thorpe. We chat about agricultural history, the animals (including horses) in her books, and her writing. We also talk chickens a bit. I hope you enjoy our conversation. In the bonus conversation...
Episode 6: Rethinking Livestock
In this episode I encourage you to think outside the box, or rather outside the field, when it comes to livestock. What about people in small spaces? How about urban livestock keeping? I discuss raising livestock like Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and B. Dubia...
Episode 5: Growing Seasons
Welcome to episode 5. Sorry for the break last week. College started up again, and the two agriculture classes I'm taking to finish the AS in Ag are pretty "busywork intensive" so I had to make sure my schedule was in order and missed out on doing an episode. This...
(SUPPORTER BONUS) More Conversation with Dan Fitzgerald
BONUS MATERIAL: As promised, during my interview with fantasy author Dan Fitzgerald, he stayed for a little longer and answered some more questions. We talked about what he wants to see in fantasy and what he's reading now. You might be surprised by some of the...
Episode 4: Interview with Dan Fitzgerald
Welcome to episode 4. In this episode I'll interview author Dan Fitzgerald, who I met at a World Building for Writers summit earlier this year. We chat about his unique low fantasy stories, The Maer Cycle, what he has coming up in the future, and about the role...
Episode 3 Spring Planning Part 2
This week I continue my discussion of spring planning with the topic of how to do you prepare the ground. Warning, this episode contains no small amount of talk about poop/manure. But it's not all crappy, I promise. I explain what I've done here on the homestead,...
Episode 2 Spring Planning Part 1
In this week's episode I talk spring planning, not just here on your homestead, but also in your fantasy and science fiction settings. I'll mention possible causes of conflict for your characters, as well as things that may impact their journeys. We discuss flock...
Fantasy Farmer Podcast, Episode 1, Season 1: Introduction
In this first episode I talk about what it means to be at the intersection of agriculture and speculative fiction, which includes sharing about my homestead, how I was introduced to fantasy, and a bit about my agriculture philosophy. I'll let you know what to expect...