A new podcast series examines the contrasting portrayals of utopias and dystopias in literature and film.

The podcast is co-hosted by Matthew Leggatt, a senior lecturer in English and American literature at the University of Winchester, and Liam Knight from Birmingham University.

The series aims to challenge prevailing assumptions about utopias and dystopias, such as the notion that utopias are inherently dull while dystopias are more thrilling.

Mr Leggatt said: "Often what is presented as a utopia turns out to be a vision of dystopia. Utopias are often mis-characterised as places of perfection and, therefore, as static worlds where nothing ever changes and people are pacified. A real utopia, however, would be a dynamic world."

In the debut episode, Mr Leggatt and Knight interview Raffaella Baccolini, a professor of American literature and gender studies at the University of Bologna, discussing her interpretation of "utopia".

They also delve into her fondness for Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale and her recent analyses of Ursula K Le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas and N K Jemisin's The Ones Who Stay and Fight.

The second episode features Dr Daniel Varndell, a senior lecturer in the department of English and creative writing at the University of Winchester, discussing the interplay between utopia and film.

A number of the experts scheduled to be interviewed on the podcast have contributed essays to an upcoming collection titled Wastelands and Wonderlands: Essays on Utopian and Dystopian Film and Literature, edited by Mr Leggatt.

This collection is set to be published by SUNY Press next year.

Mr Leggatt has also penned a monograph for Liverpool University Press, titled Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, which is slated for release in 2025/26.

The podcast hosts, Mr Leggatt and Mr Knight, first connected on Twitter, now X, and previously collaborated on a video for Mr Knight's YouTube channel discussing dystopia.

Listeners can follow the Utopian and Dystopian Fictions podcast via Spotify or reach out for more information via email at utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com.

The University of Winchester offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research study options across a range of subjects within health and wellbeing; sport; humanities and social sciences; business management; digital technologies; law; education and teacher training, and the arts.