Margaret Atwood

So is it possible to have a more equitable society? Yes, says Iceland. Not that they don't have problems. It's not a utopia. I've been there several times, and what's always impressed me about it is the resources are fairly sparse. They don't have a lot of stuff to make stuff out of. But what they have, they use. So you can get baked seaweed jewelry there. Pretty interesting place.

So is it possible to have a more equitable society? Yes, says Iceland. Not that they don't have problems. It's not a utopia. I've been there several times, and what's always impressed me about it is the resources are fairly sparse. They don't have a lot of stuff to make stuff out of. But what they have, they use. So you can get baked seaweed jewelry there. Pretty interesting place.

Maybe only works so well because it's not huge.

Maybe only works so well because it's not huge.

It doesn't always work. So Scotland wasn't huge, but they're always having battles.

It doesn't always work. So Scotland wasn't huge, but they're always having battles.

Am I allowed to say Charlotte's Web? Absolutely. Okay, I'm saying Charlotte's Web about a spider who saves the life of a pig doomed for slaughter, interestingly enough, through words. So the spider manages to tell a story about the pig that makes him exceptional. Isn't that, it's a good use of words. So that, dare we delve into Lord of the Rings. Is that a children's book?

Am I allowed to say Charlotte's Web? Absolutely. Okay, I'm saying Charlotte's Web about a spider who saves the life of a pig doomed for slaughter, interestingly enough, through words. So the spider manages to tell a story about the pig that makes him exceptional. Isn't that, it's a good use of words. So that, dare we delve into Lord of the Rings. Is that a children's book?

If I say it is. It doesn't have sex in it, so maybe it's a children's book. Yeah, I got really interested in it because of my 19th century studies. It uses a lot of memes that occur earlier in 19th century fantasy. And the supernatural female tomb-dwelling figure in Rider-Haggard, she splits into two and becomes two supernatural female figures in Lord of the Rings.

If I say it is. It doesn't have sex in it, so maybe it's a children's book. Yeah, I got really interested in it because of my 19th century studies. It uses a lot of memes that occur earlier in 19th century fantasy. And the supernatural female tomb-dwelling figure in Rider-Haggard, she splits into two and becomes two supernatural female figures in Lord of the Rings.

One is a good supernatural figure called Galadriel. She has the very same forecasting water pool mirror that she has. And the other one becomes a carnivorous, evil, huge spider creature called Shelob. Anyway, a lot of the antecedents to Lord of the Rings are pretty interesting to me.

One is a good supernatural figure called Galadriel. She has the very same forecasting water pool mirror that she has. And the other one becomes a carnivorous, evil, huge spider creature called Shelob. Anyway, a lot of the antecedents to Lord of the Rings are pretty interesting to me.

And a pleasure to talk to you and good luck with everything that you're doing and also with the rest of your life.

And a pleasure to talk to you and good luck with everything that you're doing and also with the rest of your life.