About Of Monsters: A Speculative Podcast with Nicole Shawan Junior
Of Monsters: A Speculative Podcast with Nicole Shawan Junior is a series of intimate conversations about the passageways, portals, and personal journeys traversed by real-life speculative fiction masterminds and the characters they pen.
Naseem Jamnia: Of Colonial Supremacy & Second Worlds
In episode eight, the final ep of the season, Nicole kicks it with Markowitz Award–winning and Astounding Award-nominated author Naseem Jamnia (they/them). Naseem writes speculative fiction for adults, teens, and kids. Their adult fantasy novella The Bruising of Qilwa was nominated for the Crawford, Locus, and World Fantasy awards, and they contributed to the YA horror anthology The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power. A Persian-Chicagoan, former neuroscientist, and curre...
25 Nov 2025
Zin E. Rocklyn: Of Mothers & the Monstrous
In episode seven, Nicole kicks it with Zin E. Rocklyn, a horror and dark fantasy author of Trinidadian descent hailing from Jersey City, NJ. A contributor to several anthologies, Zin's creative nonfiction essay, "My Genre Makes a Monster of Me," was published in Uncanny Magazine’s Hugo Award-winning Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction issue, and her debut novella, Flowers for the Sea, earned the Shirley Jackson Award. Nicole and Zin explore the complexities of vulnerability, m...
2 Apr 2025
DJ Ben Ha Meen: Of Third Ward & the World
In episode six, Nicole chops it up with DJ Ben Ha Meen. DJ Ben Ha Meen is a native of Third Ward, Texas. He is an alumnus of Howard University, where he studied film and television. Ben Ha Meen is the co-creator of the graphic novel Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze (Penguin Randomhouse). and a self-published author of the children's book The World Is Yours. A world-renowned DJ and music producer, a WGA screenwriter (American Gods), and a pioneering podcaster (FORALLNERDSSHOW, The Combat Jack Show). ...
18 Mar 2025
Erika T. Wurth: Of Creepy Dolls, Culture, & Craft
In episode five, Nicole chats with Erika T. Wurth. Erika's novel, WHITE HORSE, is a New York Times Editors Pick, a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, an Indie Next List Book of the Month, and a Target Book of the Month. She is both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow, and Kenyon faculty. She’s published in Buzzfeed and The Writer’s Chronicle and is a narrative artist for the Meow Wolf Denver installation. She is an urban Native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent. She’s a professor of creative writing ...
11 Mar 2025
Silvia Park: Of Robots, Fascism, & Future Representation
In episode four, Nicole chats with Luminous author Silvia Park. Silvia grew up in Seoul and split their time between Korea and America. They received a BA from Columbia and MFA from NYU, in addition to completing the Clarion Workshop in 2018. Their short fiction has been published in Black Warrior Review, Joyland, Reactor, and reprinted in the 2019 Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Luminous is their first novel. In this conversation, Silvia discusses the complexities of launching her...
25 Feb 2025
José Pablo Iriarte: Of Miami, Art, and Craft
In episode three, Nicole kicks the willie with José Pablo Iriarte, a nonbinary Cuban-American writer, high school math teacher, and parent of two. Their fiction has been finalist for the Nebula, Hugo, Locus and Sturgeon Awards, longlisted for the Otherwise Award, and reprinted in various Year's Best compilations. Their debut novel, BENNY RAMÍREZ AND THE NEARLY DEPARTED was published in 2024 by Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House. Their follow up, AJ TORRES AND THE TREASU...
19 Feb 2025
Rivers Solomon: Of Hauntings & Other Spirits
In episode two, Nicole chops it up with the award-winning author of speculative and literary fiction, Rivers Solomon. Rivers writes about life in the margins, where they're much at home. Their work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. They are the author of An Unkindness of Ghosts, The Deep, Sorrowland, and Model Home. A refugee of the transatlantic slave trade, Solomon was born on Turtle Island. The...
11 Feb 2025
Ibi Zoboi: Of Women Who Become Monsters Because of the World's Monstrosities
For the very first Of Monsters Podcast ep, Nicole kicks it with Ibi Zoboi, the New York Times Bestselling author of books for children and teens, including American Street, Pride, and the Walter Award and LA Times Book Prize-winning Punching the Air, co-written with Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam. Ibi is the winner of the 2024 CSK Author Award for Nigeria Jones. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America and has written Okoye to the Peopl...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 31 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
32
Social presence
91
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact Of Monsters: A Speculative Podcast with Nicole Shawan Junior
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