Hosts In The Shell
The podcast where Jon Richter and Matt Adcock, writers and cyberpunk fans, discuss the genre's greatest works, as well as interviewing other cyberpunk creators.
Episodes
73 episodes
The Ghost In The Shell (2026)
For full disclosure, although our podcast name is a pun on the title of this seminal manga and its myriad adaptations, we don't purport to be absolute experts - in truth, like everyone else we're just massive fans of the Mamoru Oshii anime vers...
An interview with Richard K Morgan, author of Altered Carbon! (Part 2)
Put on your best sleeve and join us for part 2 of our interview with the legendary Richard K Morgan, author of Altered Carbon as well as a HOST (see what we did there) of other brilliant books!In episode 2 we talk more about Richard's wo...
An interview with Richard K Morgan, author of Altered Carbon! (Part 1)
It isn't often you get to interview a person that meets the following criteria:i) Is a literary hero and writer of some of the best books everii) Is cyberpunk royaltyiii) Is a fascinating interviewee
Fallout (season 2)
The last time we talked about Fallout, we crammed in the entire video game series, some spinoffs, and of course the first season of the hugely popular Amazon Prime TV series!! This time we're focusing (ish) solely on season 2 of the latter, whi...
Philip K. Dick (with multi-award-winning cyberpunk author T R Napper)
Who could be more cyberpunk than the man who wrote Blade Runner (aka Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall (aka We Can Remember It For You Wholesale), Minority Report and a host of other revered books, short stories and future mov...
Robocop (the 2014 remake)
You've probably heard Jon talk about Robocop about five million times, because he loves the film so much he's probably seen it about that many times... but you'll rarely have heard him mention the largely forgotten 2014 remake, because until no...
An interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time and Shadows of the Apt
We are honoured and delighted to welcome another big-hitting literary guest to our humble show, this time celebrated British sci-fi and fantasy writer Adrian Tchaikovsky! Famed for writing about non-human intelligences, Adrian also makes some f...
Streets of Rage
Not cyberpunk?? Pffffffft we'll be the judges of that! And anyway, who can begrudge us an episode to enthuse about arguably the greatest beat-em-up of all time... just watch out for bin chickens!
An interview with Bruce Bethke, author of 'Cyberpunk' (and inventor of the word!)
The term 'legend' gets bandied about... but today's guest absolutely 100% meets the necessary criteria, having invented the word 'cyberpunk' as the title of his seminal 1980 short story!! We are honoured, delighted, starstruck and did we mentio...
Mad Max
The lads are back, this time to chat about George Miller's iconic Mad Max movies!! Get ready for a guzzoline-soaked race through a wasteland that's anything but MEDIOCRE!!!!!
An interview with Hugh Howey, creator of the Silo series
No daft puns this time: it's an interview with Hugh Howey, the phenomenally talented, staggeringly successful, and astoundingly likeable writer, known primarily for his smash hit Silo novels, which went from self-published short pieces to inter...
Short Circuit
Is this the least cyberpunk thing we've ever covered? Probably! Does it feature a loveable robot who inarguably embodies the true spirit of badass punk?? Possibly!! Is there one incredibly problematic aspect to these movies that the lads had co...
Cyberpunk villains (with Tim Standish)
The baddies are always the best characters... but which of cyberpunk's rogues' gallery deserve the title of all-time greatest? Tune in to hear the lads joined by brilliant writer Tim Standish, author of The Sterling Directive, as they attempt t...
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
In today's episode, Matt and Jon are chatting about Harlan Ellison's massively influential 1967 short story, as well as its 1995 video game adaptation! In a typically rambling chat, they're also debating the most evil AI of all time, as well as...
Elysium (with Phil Stitelmann)
Today's topic is another gem of a cyberpunk movie, Neill Blomkamp's Elysium, and today's guest is a gem of a cyberpunk writer, the prolific Phil Stitelmann! Tune in for a fascinating chat with a top creator, as well as Jon attempting a South Af...
Alien: Earth
If the lads had been able to think of a suitable pun, this podcast probably would have been named after Alien instead of Ghost In The Shell; that's how much they love this enduring, legendary, and admittedly patchy franchise. So it was with som...
Watch Dogs: Legion (with SD Miller)
Our first guest of the new season is the brilliant, talented, likeable, articulate and all-round ace SD Miller; alongside his excellent Nekonikon Punk novels, we'll be discussing a cyberpunk gem of a video game: Watch Dogs: Legion!We're ...
Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex
WE'RE BACK BAYBEHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Season 3 of Hosts In The Shell kicks off in style with our customary discussion of something related to Ghost In The Shell, this time the spin-off anime series Standalone Complex. Tune in for an amusing and ever...
Hosts In The Shell season 3: a shambolic cyber-trailer!
The boys are BACK BAYBEHHHHH!!!!! Season 3 is incoming and promises more frequent episodes, the usual scintillating chat, some guests we're frankly staggered we managed to trick into appearing, and this rubbish trailer!!! Looking forward to wag...
Season finale!! Ghost In The Shell (2017 live action movie)
Season two of Hosts In The Shell lurches, careens and, erm, clatters to the end of another rollercoaster run! It's just Matt and Jon to close it out, revisiting their main inspiration and beloved anime franchise to revisit and (sort of) reappra...
Hardware (bonus episode from the Dark Natter archives - the first time Jon and Matt met!)
As we hurtle like a malfunctioning hovercab towards our season finale, we thought it would be fun to dust off this 2021 recording: the first time Jon and Matt ever met! It was a guest appearance by Matt on Jon's other podcast, Dark Natter (wher...
Peruvian cyberpunk with Gustaffo Vargas
Those scoundrelly Hosts are joined by the far more wholesome, lovely, and massively talented cyber-graphic-novel-creator, Gustaffo Vargas, for a brilliant deep dive into the world of Peruvian cyberpunk! Tune in to find out how to modernise an a...
Nemesis
For those who haven't yet been introduced to this (ahem) masterpiece, Nemesis is the 1992 brainchild of legendary cyber-B-movie director Albert Pyun, and after you've watched it you'll be as incredulous as Jon that it spawned four sequels!! Tun...
The Matrix trilogy (with Keith Anthony Baird)
Despite covering The Matrix Resurrections way back at the start of this podcast's existence (before the cyberpsychosis had really kicked in), the Hosts have unbelievably never covered the original Matrix trilogy! Thankfully, brilliant multi-gen...