Biblio Banter

Special episode of Biblio Banter is set to show you books as you have never seen them before. Scary books and books about fear: Ellen, Erin, Laura and Natalia are discussing what to read and learn for Halloween and gloomy autumn days. Tune in to find out about Edgar Poe, Gothic literature, anthropodermic bibliopegy, books on toilet paper rolls, and more fun book historian stuff. Episode cover image by siala from Pixabay

In this episode, we flag bad reading practices and try to figure out the who, what, why of "bad" reading. Please reach out on Twitter and/or Instagram to let us know your own bad reading habits!

On the next episode of Biblio Banter we discuss "bad" reading practices. Or are they? Here's a pre-listen.

In the new episode of Biblio Banter podcast Natalia is interviewing a BookTuber Faye from FayesParallelStories! Are you ready to read for 24 hours straight? How about 48? Or a month of reading Victorian novels with numerous strangers on the Internet? BookTube offers these and much more. Give us a listen! Don't forget to visit our blog or Instagram, leave your comments, likes, thumbs up or whatever your favorite podcasting platform has!

Star Trek: Voyager's episode "Author, author" (episode 20, season 7) is in the focus of our discussion of copyright, artificial intelligence, holonovels and publishing! Is digital book a book? Can algorithms be creative? What does interactive storytelling of the future look like? We also play a hilarious game of choosing who of the characters of Star Trek franchise we would be stranded in Delta Quadrant, take to Riza or throw out of airlock. Hard choices ahead! Like, subscribe, comment! Visit our blog bookhistorypodcast.home.blog

Coming Soon!!! In this episode, Natalia, Erin, Ellen, and Laura practice social distancing via Skype to finish up our three-part discussion on how the future of the book is depicted in Star Trek. Holonovels, publishers, and the autonomy of AI (who doesn't love the doctor in Voyager???) are pondered as we analyze the episode  "Author, Author" of Star Trek: Voyager (Episode 20, Season 7) from the purview of book history.

We take a closer look at one storyline using Leslie Howsam's four-point  definition of the book in Part 2 of our Star Trek-themed episodes. In  "The Royale" (Season 2, Episode 12 of Next Generation), the Enterprise  investigates a planet after finding debris from a NASA shuttle and three  crew members enter the plot of a second-rate novel. The sad history of  astronaut Colonel Richie surfaces along with his diary and a copy of Hotel Royale,  which the crew uses to escape from this weird world of alien atonement.  Bookish elements abound in this episode! Listen to our discussion and  play along with our game of Star Trek Mad Libs!

In this episode, we use Leslie Howsam's definition of the book to discuss how books (or a particular book) is used in episode 12, season 2 of Star Trek the Next Generation (The Royale). Listen to the promo now and watch for the full episode coming soon!

This episode launches a series of discussions that allow us to embrace our love of Star Trek.  We boldly go where other book historians have gone before and tackle  "the future of the book." Spoiler alert: even in the twenty-fourth  century, the printed book is still not dead! For more information, please visit our blog at www.bookhistory.podcast.home.blog You can find us on Twitter @BanterBiblio Our email is bibliobanter@gmail.com

Have a taste of what is coming up on the next episode of Biblio Banter, which will launch a series of discussions that allow us to embrace our love of Star Trek.  We boldly go where other book historians have gone before and tackle  "the future of the book." Spoiler alert: even in the twenty-fourth  century, the printed book is still not dead!  If you enjoy our podcast, please click "follow" wherever you prefer to listen! We welcome constructive feedback. Biblio Banter is a labor of love, but we want to make it enjoyable for our listeners, so feedback helps! Feel free to email us at bibliobanter@gmail.com, or contact us on Twitter @BanterBiblio. Visit our blog for more information and other episodes http://bookhistorypodcast.home.blog/

In the new special episode of Biblio Banter Natalia interviews Annika, Tim and Anton about their studies in Digital Humanities. Together they try to define Digital Humanities and its place in the larger picture of the filed of study, revisit game Font or Cheese (see episode 4: Tittle*ating Typography) and discuss some good books. Visit our blog for more information and other episodes http://bookhistorypodcast.home.blog/

In 1822, when Thomas Frognall Dibdin’s account of George John Earl Spencer’s mansion (castle?) was published, he wrote: …sofas, chairs, tables, of every commodious form, are of course liberally scattered throughout the room. The bay-window looks into the pleasure-garden, or rather into a luxuriant shrubbery; where both serpentine and straight walks invite to a ramble among larches elms and oaks…Upon the whole, if must be confessed that this room, both within and from without, has a character peculiarly BOOKISH – and such as we might suppose to belong to a well-endowed monastery. - from Thomas Frognall Dibdin, Aedes Althorpianae: or An Account of the Mansion, Books, and Pictures, At Althorp; The Residence of George John Earl Spencer, K.G. to which is added A Supplement to the Bibliotheca Spenceriana (London: Shakespeare Press, 1822), I, 20-31). Thankfully, in order to be bookish, a place doesn’t have to resemble a “well-endowed monastery”, in fact, private libraries and book collecting (bibliomania, in fact) became quite the rage in the late 1800s – and the propensity for all the trappings of the “bookish” has continued into our times. In today’s episode of Biblio Banter we discuss some of our favorite bookish places, and play “Would You Rather…” from the places noted in the advertising pamphlet for the Atlas Obscura book Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders. Biblio Banter was created by the four of us to spread our enthusiasm and interest in the field of book history/book studies. It is a labor of love. We welcome any feedback, comments, discussions, follows, ratings and shares. Find our blog at bookhistorypodcast.home.blog and follow us on Twitter @banterbiblio Thanks for listening!

On the next episode of Biblio Banter we discuss...Bookish Places! Have a listen for a preview.

In the new episode of Biblio Banter, Ellen interviews Laura and Natalia about the student journal, Satura, they started in the beginning of 2018. A lot of bragging and (bitter)sweet memories ensue.  Enjoy this episode! And don't forget to like and comment ;)

Episode 9 of Biblio Banter is almost there! What to expect? This Promo will give you a hint. Likes and comments are more that welcome ;) HVqP8dqXMDDPUGej42xZ

A blurb is, to quote Gelett Burgess, who invented the term in 1907, "a  flamboyant advertisement" found on the front and back covers of books. Do we need blurbs? Do we like blurbs? And can blurbs help you make up a convincing first line of book that fools your friends?? We play the Book Game from Bookstr and discuss the history and usefulness of book blurbs. Fun fact: this is the first episode of Biblio Banter that we recorded. 

Libraries, cats, manga, wampum belts, and more! In this episode, we discuss the 2019 conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing (SHARP), where Laura and Ellen presented papers on the theme of Indigeneity, Nationhood, and Migrations of the Book. We then play a self-made Happy Families-style game inspired by the conference's talks and location. 

Alohomora! In this episode, we unlock the conversation on anniversary editions, publishers, and paratext. Oh, and we play a game.

From inside joke to temporary exhibition, in this episode Laura and Natalia interview graduate student Laura Schmitz-Justen about her project "(Re)Covering Rebecca: A Critical Look at the Cover Design History of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca."

Does anyone care about or even notice typography? We do! In this episode, we discuss our favorite fonts, controversial typefaces, and how type choices affect us as consumers and readers. Check out our blog (link in bio) to find out a fun typography fact about our tittle*ating title!

Our first guest! Just around the corner, on June 5th, the 2019 winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction will be announced. We gladly welcome Dr. Simon Rosenberg to the podcast for a discussion about this and other book prizes.

We look into the seriously odd illustrations in medieval manuscripts for today's discussion and game.

In the very first episode of Biblio Banter, Erin, Natalia, Ellen, and Laura talk about the big questions: Just what is book history? (Or is it book studies?) What is a book? And why is book smuggling so exciting? We then fill in the blanks of Robert Darton’s influential Communications Circuit in a game inspired by the classic (and wacky) 1970s game show Match Game.