
A critical book club from the Ancillary Review of Books. Host Jake Casella Brookins invites writers, scholars, and critics to discuss thorny works of science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres.
| Publishes | Twice monthly | Episodes | 43 | Founded | 2 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | BooksScience FictionFictionArts | |||

Greg Egan’s work exemplifies a certain kind of “hard” science fiction: not that it’s obsessed with big manly space battles, but rather that it’s using science to really dig into some complicated subjects. Eden Kupermintz, of Death // Sentence and man... more
Charles Saunders’ sword and soul narratives, pulp-fantasy-inspired tales of Black and African heroes, helped blaze a trail for the genre—but, like Saunders himself, they have a complicated and still-developing story. Jon Tattrie, author of the newly-... more
If you read Dracula and thought: “I like the ancient shapeshifting nemesis and the homoerotic subtext, but I don’t like how subtle the sexual and national anxieties are,” you’re in luck! Editor, reviewer, and scholar Marisa Mercurio is here to talk a... more
We’re closing out this strange year with a “big-picture” episode: editor & critic Dan Hartland is on to talk about trends and directions—or lack thereof—in recent speculative fiction. We talk about the interesting spread of books & awards this year, ... more
People also subscribe to these shows.





The only thing keeping me from listening to all of these in a binge is the fact that I need to catch up and read many of the novels under discussion. Broad ranging, informative, and host and guests always care about the books, even the bad ones.
There aren’t many speculative fiction review podcasts so I was so excited to find this one. I like how guests have expertise in relation to episode’s title selection and I especially enjoy the titles chosen to discuss. There is a nice mix of newer and less recent titles.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.









Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Focusing on literature within the speculative genres, hosts engage in critical discussions around various works of science fiction and fantasy, showcasing a mix of classic and contemporary titles. Recent episodes feature in-depth analyses and insights from guests who are experts in their fields, such as writers, academics, and critics. Noteworthy themes include post-apocalyptic narratives, the impact of technology on humanity, and in-depth explorations of societal issues reflected in speculative fiction. This podcast offers a unique platform for literary enthusiasts and scholars to reflect on complex topics, fostering a deeper appreciation of the genres discussed.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for A Meal of Thorns. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to A Meal of Thorns and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for A Meal of Thorns, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for A Meal of Thorns, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers A Meal of Thorns has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with A Meal of Thorns:
1. Shelved By Genre
2. A More Civilized Age: A Star Wars Podcast
3. Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones
4. Octothorpe
5. The Coode Street Podcast
A Meal of Thorns launched 2 years ago and published 43 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for A Meal of Thorns from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of A Meal of Thorns. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on A Meal of Thorns include:
1. Dan Hartland
2. Cameron Kunzelman
3. Sean Guynes
4. Eleanor McAdam
5. Timothy Moore
6. Dr. Ursula Whitcher
7. Dr. Joy Sanchez-Taylor
8. Zachary Gillan
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.