69 - Ewan Morrison - Utopias and Dystopias

To follow Ewan’s work: https://www.ewanmorrison.com/ His 2012 collection, Tales from the Mall, can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Mall-Ewan-Morrison/dp/1908885017 His 2019 novel, Nina X, can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nina-X-Ewan-Morrison/dp/0708899013 His 2013 book Close Your Eyes can be found here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/109/1091019/close-your-eyes/9780099565758.html His 2005 collection The Last Book You Read can be round here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Book-You-Read/dp/1845020480 Watch the 2015 film version of Ewan’s novel, Swung, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmcvLt5BOmU Ewan on utopian communities: https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/26/why-we-join-cults/ https://areomagazine.com/2018/03/08/why-utopian-communities-fail/ https://areomagazine.com/2020/08/27/why-we-must-walk-away-from-omelas-the-problem-with-utopias/ Follow Ewan on Twitter: @mrewanmorrison Some of the Other References Emma Donoghue, Room (2010) Will Storr, Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us (2017) Thomas More, Utopia (1516); Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (1915); William Morris, News from Nowhere (1890); H.G. Wells, A Modern Utopia (1905); Ursula K. Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (1975); Leila (2019, Netflix); Sacred Games (2019, Netflix); Lois Lowry, The Giver (1993); The Maze Runner (2014); Smithereen (2020) Timestamps 1:57 Ewan reads from Nina X 3:48 Nina X, the novel. How we treat former cult victims, especially children. 11:58 Ewan’s personal experiences of utopian communities, cults and alternative lifestyles. 17:58 Competitive puritanism, taboos on feedback 24:41 Self-improvement and narcissism 26:26 Attitudes towards children in utopian communities 32:31 The distrust of individualism and its emotional impacts (Patrons only) 40:08 The alienations of modern life 46:25 Tricking ourselves into authenticity and doing versus having done 54:15 Shopping malls 59:25 Ewan’s experiences as a swinger and the novel Swung. 1:09:36 Dystopias and utopias in fiction and politics