Wool-Shift-Dust does Dune

At long last, the original Dune novel breakdown series begins in earnest! Following up on their episode about the author Frank Herbert and creation of the book, this episode dives into the beginning of the story itself:
After an opening discussion of the significance and nuance of the overall story with David from the Lorehounds, where they lay the foundations for key vocabulary and themes (00:26:11), including the complexities of Paul Atreides, the balance of powers in the universe, and how the timeline of Dune relates to our own, Elysia and Luke break down the first 10 chapters of the novel (00:48:20), the first half of Book 1 (of 3): "Dune" – just through the hunter-seeker incident.

Warning: We do spoil key plot points in this book, and certain plot points of the follow-up books. Frank Herbert front-loaded those spoilers into this opening section himself, so we're pointing them out and talking about how it all connects.

Key places, characters, groups, and other vocab discussed this episode...
• Paul Atreides: Mau'dib, Kwisatz Haderach (more titles to come)
• The Bene Gesserit: Missionaria Protectiva, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, truthsayers, the gom jabbar, the Voice, the Litany Against Fear
• The Corrino Empire: Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, Princess Irulan (writer, Bene Gesserit), the Sardaukar (Imperial army), Salusa Secundus (Sardaukar home planet)
• The balance of power: The Landsraad (Great Houses) / CHOAM Company, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit – weapons & protection: shield belts, kinjal knife, lasguns, kanly (formal blood fued) – religion: the Butlerian Jihad (ancient war against thinking machines), the Orange-Catholic Bible
• House Atreides: Caladan (water planet), Duke Leto (father), Lady Jessica (mother, Bene Gesserit), Thufir Hawat (Mentat: sapho juice), Dr. Wellington Yueh (Suk Doctor), Duncan Idaho (Swordmaster, ambassador to the Fremen), Gurney Halleck (Warmaster, baliset player)
• House Harkonnen: Giedi Prime (planet), Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (suspensor suspendors), Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (nephew, heir), Pieter de Vries (Mentat, ambassador to Arrakis),
• House Fenring: The Count and his wife Margot (Bene Gesserit) – Previous inhabitants of the palace in Arrakeen, now swapped and in control of Caladan
• Arrakis (planet: "Dune"): Spice melange, Arrakeen (capital city), the Weirding Room, Fremen culture, crysknife, Shai-Hulud (sandworm), stillsuits
• Fremen (people): Shadout Mapes (head housekeeper), Liet-Kynes (Planetary Ecologist, Judge of the Change), Chani (Kynes' daughter)

Coming up in this series...
• Dune, the novel: Books 1b, 2, and 3
• Ranking the novel's most iconic scenes
• Jodorowsky's Dune
• Dune 1984
• The Dune games
• Syfy's Dune
• Villeneuve's Dune trilogy
• Dune: Messiah (the novel)

Get in touch
Email us: [email protected]
Find us on Bluesky: @elysiacb & @lukemiddup
Or on the Lorehounds Discord: https://discord.gg/gM5VhTea2T

Find us also on the podcasts... 
The Lorehounds (Elysia)
The Star Wars Canon Timeline Podcast (Elysia)
It Could Be Said (Luke)

Produced by Elysia Brenner
Published by The Lorehounds
Explore the Lorehounds network for more book / film / TV / game / music podcasts

Intro & outro music: "Magnetic Universe" by Adrian Earnshaw & Benedict Roff-Marsh
Additional SFX from Freesound.org

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It is time for Luke and Elysia's 2025 Christmas Carol adaptation blitz to come to a close with five of the most fun movies of the bunch, from the first ever Christmas special through the Great Depression and the Old West to love in the Aussie airline air to an underexplored history of Uganda.
Watch the films yourself, or let them recap them for you, pointing out all the best and/or most ridiculous bits.

Films discussed this episode:
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962) – YouTube mini doc
An American Christmas Carol (1979) 
Ebenezer (1998) 
Christmas Above the Clouds (2025) 
Christmas Karma (2025)

This year's Christmas Carol classics (already released): Scrooge (1913), Scrooge (1935), The Stingiest Man in Town (1956), The Stingiest Man in Town (1975), Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
Dark Christmas Carols (already released):  FX's A Christmas Carol (2019) vs. Carol for Another Christmas (1964)

Catch up on the "five staves" of last year's Dickens specials...
I – It all begins with the short opening notes episode, which sets the stage for all our Dickens Christmas coverage
II – The Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, and an audio drama of his short story "The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" (Supercast, Patreon)
III – Many of the most classic classic Christmas Carol adaptations
IV – An intermezzo on Dickens' life and the creation of this tale
V – Finally, our first round-up of cinematic twists on the classic tale

2023 holiday special: The It's a Wonderful Life / Knife multiverse

Join the Book Club
On Supercast: https://woolshiftdustbookclub.supercast.com/ (The Silozen level is equivalent to Patreon benefits)
Or Patreon: https://patreon.com/WoolShiftDust 

Email us: [email protected]
Find us on Bluesky: @elysiacb & @lukemiddup
Or on the Lorehounds Discord: https://discord.gg/gM5VhTea2T

Find us also on the podcasts... 
The Lorehounds (Elysia)
The Star Wars Canon Timeline Podcast (Elysia)
It Could Be Said (Luke)
Explore the Lorehounds network for more book / film / TV / game / music podcasts

Produced by Elysia Brenner
Published by The Lorehounds

Intro & outro music: "Land of Ice and Snow" by HygieusMusic
Additional SFX from Freesound.org & Ovani Sound

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Elysia and Luke's A Christmas Carol discussion takes a darker turn in this lore-down between the Guy Pearce-starring, BBC co-produced 2019 version – which adds some grimer touches to Scrooge's tale – and the 1964 Twilight Zone-like variation created to advertise the importance of the UN at a time when the US and world in general were on the brink of one war and fully entering another. They'll give you all the history, psychology, and sociology you need to get more out of these two tales of existential dread.

Note: Apologies for the mic issues in this episode, but we hope you enjoy the history and psychology deep dives!

Films discussed this episode:
 FX's A Christmas Carol (2019) 
Carol for Another Christmas (1964)

The promised links:
Explore "hopepunk" with Elysia and Nevermind the Music
Luke's book: The Powell Doctrine and US Foreign Policy (Military Strategy and Operational Art) (Amazon)
Abigail Thorn reads A Christmas Carol for charity

This year's Christmas Carol classics (already released): Scrooge (1913), Scrooge (1935), The Stingiest Man in Town (1956), The Stingiest Man in Town (1975), Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
This season's final episode: More Christmas Carol Twists – Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), An American Christmas Carol (1979), Ebenezer (1998), Christmas Above the Clouds (2025), Christmas Karma (2025)

Catch up on the "five staves" of last year's Dickens specials...
I – It all begins with the short opening notes episode, which sets the stage for all our Dickens Christmas coverage
II – The Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, and an audio drama of his short story "The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" (Supercast, Patreon)
III – Many of the most classic classic Christmas Carol adaptations
IV – An intermezzo on Dickens' life and the creation of this tale
V – Finally, our first round-up of cinematic twists on the classic tale

2023 holiday special: The It's a Wonderful Life / Knife multiverse

Join the Book Club
On Supercast: https://woolshiftdustbookclub.supercast.com/ (The Silozen level is equivalent to Patreon benefits)
Or Patreon: https://patreon.com/WoolShiftDust 

Email us: [email protected]
Find us on Bluesky: @elysiacb & @lukemiddup
Or on the Lorehounds Discord: https://discord.gg/gM5VhTea2T

Find us also on the podcasts... 
The Lorehounds (Elysia)
The Star Wars Canon Timeline Podcast (Elysia)
It Could Be Said (Luke)
Explore the Lorehounds network for more book / film / TV / game / music podcasts

Produced by Elysia Brenner
Published by The Lorehounds

Intro & outro music: "Land of Ice and Snow" by HygieusMusic
Additional SFX from Freesound.org & Ovani Sound

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

'Tis the season for the many flavors of A Christmas Carol to rear their heads – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Luke and Elysia sort the wheat from the chaff (and all the in betweens) in their second round of tackling the classic adaptations.

Films discussed this episode:
Scrooge (1913) – silent short
Scrooge (1935) – first feature-length talkie
The Stingiest Man in Town (1956) – "lost" (and found) TV musical – album version: Spotify (without narration), Deezer
The Stingiest Man in Town (1975) – Rankin/Bass animated short – YouTube doc short
Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) – the animated one with Jim Carrey

Coming next episode: Dark Christmas Carols: FX's A Christmas Carol (2019) vs. Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
This season's final episode: More Christmas Carol Twists – Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), An American Christmas Carol (1979), Ebenezer (1998), Christmas Above the Clouds (2025), Christmas Karma (2025)

Catch up on the "five staves" of last year's Dickens specials...
I – It all begins with the short opening notes episode, which sets the stage for all our Dickens Christmas coverage
II – The Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, and an audio drama of his short story "The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" (Supercast, Patreon)
III – Many of the most classic classic Christmas Carol adaptations
IV – An intermezzo on Dickens' life and the creation of this tale
V – Finally, our first round-up of cinematic twists on the classic tale

2023 holiday special: The It's a Wonderful Life / Knife multiverse

Join the Book Club
On Supercast: https://woolshiftdustbookclub.supercast.com/ (The Silozen level is equivalent to Patreon benefits)
Or Patreon: https://patreon.com/WoolShiftDust 

Email us: [email protected]
Find us on Bluesky: @elysiacb & @lukemiddup
Or on the Lorehounds Discord: https://discord.gg/gM5VhTea2T

Find us also on the podcasts... 
The Lorehounds (Elysia)
The Star Wars Canon Timeline Podcast (Elysia)
It Could Be Said (Luke)

Produced by Elysia Brenner
Published by The Lorehounds
Explore the Lorehounds network for more book / film / TV / game / music podcasts

Intro & outro music: "Land of Ice and Snow" by HygieusMusic
Additional SFX from Freesound.org & Ovani Sound

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ayesha from the Every Sci-Fi Film Ever podcast joins Elysia for a look at the classic Universal Monsters films Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), discussing everything from on-set drama and injuries to Hollywood's new decency codes – to, of course, how the films both do and do not adapt the book they're based on.
As they dissect the philosophy and filmmaking behind these movies, they also set the stage for that period of mad-scientist filmmaking, and give an overview of how the adaptations of this story have gone from there – up to a preview of the new Guillermo del Toro movie Frankenstein (2025) and Maggie Gyllenhaal's upcoming The Bride! (2026).

Frankenstein on Every* SciFi Film Ever:
6. Frankenstein Goes To Hollywood
12. Mad Scientists: Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll & Boris Karloff

The 1st Frankenstein film (1910, 13 min)

1931 & 1935 film short docs:
"The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made A Monster"
"She's Alive! Creating the Bride of Frankenstein" 

Frankensteins on Film (Letterboxd list)

Get in touch
Email: [email protected]
Bluesky: Elysia 
Lorehounds Discord: https://discord.gg/gM5VhTea2T
Explore the Lorehounds network for more book / film / TV / game / music podcasts

Produced by Elysia Brenner
Intro & outro music: “Castle of Dread” by Jaccob
Additional Music & SFX from Freesound.org & Ovani Sound

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy