The Coode Street Podcast (www.coodestreetpodcast.com) is co-hosted by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe and is produced by Coode Street Productions. The podcast debuted in May 2010 and has released 261 episodes up to 31 December 2015. Each episode features interviews and discussion about science fiction and fantasy, often with major figures in the science fiction field. Episodes are published weekly, with a hiatus over the Christmas period. The podcast has been nominated for the Hugo Award (three times), the British Science Fiction Award, and the Ditmar Award (four times).

Listenership for the Coode Street Podcast grew for the fifth consecutive year in 2015, with a total of 48 full-length episodes and three mini-episodes published during the year, up from 42 full-length episodes in 2013 and 2014. The listenership for the podcast increased by 52.1% over the previous year, with a total of 133,501 downloads (episode plays) during the year. Average listenership for individual episodes increased by 33.1% (from 2081 in 2014 to 2781) in 2015. This can be considered to be the average size of the listening audience. Interest in the podcast also increased, with feed hits growing by 44% to 1,148,322 across the year.

Guests that appeared on the podcast during 2015 included Adam Roberts, Aliette de Bodard, Alisa Krasnostein, Bill Schafer, Cecelia Holland, Charlie Jane Anders, Cheryl Morgan, Chris Brown, Deborah Biancotti, Eileen Gunn, Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe, Guy Gavriel Kay, Harlan Ellison, Ian McDonald, Ian Mond, James Bradley, James Morrow, Jim Minz, Joe Abercrombie, Joe Monti, John Clute, John Scalzi, Karin Tidbeck, Kelly Link, Ken Liu, Kim Stanley Robinson, KJ Parker, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Linda Nagata, Liza Trombi, Margo Lanagan, Michael Swanwick, Nina Allan, Nisi Shawl, Pamela Sargent, Paolo Bacigalupi, Paul Kincaid, Samuel R Delany, Scott Westerfeld, Sean Williams, Sean Wright, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Suzy McKee Charnas, Tehani Wessely, William Gibson, and Zen Cho.

Highlights for the year included trialling syndicating the podcast with Tor.com. Episodes were published on the Sunday of each week on Coode Street, and then republished on Tor.com on Tuesdays. This trial ran from February to November, concluding with Episode 256. Listenership for the podcast via Tor.com is not included in the statistics in this summary, and the Coode Street Podcast will not be offered via Tor.com in 2016. We would like to thank Tor.com and Irene Gallo for partnering with us during the year and hope we can find other opportunities to work together in future.

During the year we presented the first ever interview with World Fantasy Award winning writer K.J. Parker, and helped reveal Parker as a pseudonym for British writer Tom Holt. The episode was published April 21, 2015. Other highlights included talking to Ian McDonald about Luna, William Gibson about The Peripheral, Samuel R. Delany, Harlan Ellson and Kim Stanley Robinson. We also regularly featured Locus editor Liza Trombi on the podcast, discussing forthcoming books.

The most popular episodes of the year were:

1. Episode 245: Ian McDonald and Luna (3,333)
2. Episode 246: Aliette de Bodard and The House of Shattered Wings (2,756)
3. Episode 230: K J Parker and the history of a writer (2,672)
4. Episode 253: SF Lectures, The Martian and more (2,637)
5. Episode 238: Kim Stanley Robinson and Aurora (2,634)
6. Episode 242: Time runs out for the Hugos and more (2,619)
7. Episode 207: Kameron Hurley (2,508)
8. Episode 236: On books to look for… (2,398)
9. Episode 250: Forthcoming books with Liza Trombi (2,388)
10. Episode 231: Ian Mond, James Bradley and the 2015 Hugo Novel Shortlist (2,298)

The Coode Street Podcast will resume in January 2016.

Having just recorded the Coode Street Year in Review episode with Gary, Paul Kincaid, and Adam Roberts (more possibly to come), my mind turned to the coming year: 2016. Magazines and anthologies are already falling in to my inbox, as are advance copies of some novels and collections. I’m also getting whispers about how good (or not) some particular books might be.

I confess that I have over the years become a skittish and easily distractible reader. One negative whisper about a book and I’m already re-assigning my ridiculous short and overburdened reading time to something else. Without naming names, I’ve already read one book by a long-time favourite that disappointed and have been mostly put off reading a book by another. And thinking about the major books of 2015 – books like Aurora, Europe at Midnight, Clade, The Water Knife, Luna, and others – I began to think that 2016 was probably going to be a weak year following what I think was a very strong one.

So I thought I’d put together quick list of books I want to read next year. I already knew I wasn’t going to read certain titles, and I always have a lot of books fall onto lists as the year unfolds, but I wondered if I could scrape together a worthwhile list of books I wanted to read. It proved surprisingly, and happily, easy to compile. I didn’t overthink this list. I didn’t do a lot of research. I just worked from memory and one or two lists I have lying around. Suddenly there was substantial space opera here, a great debut there, some old favourites in epic fantasy, and a handful of great collections.

You never know what a reading year is going to be like till it’s done. There will be surprises. There will be unexpected brilliance. There will also be eagerly anticipated books that turn out to be turkeys, but this list makes me pretty happy. With these books coming, and with others sure to show up, I’m looking forward to it. (PS: If you’re a publicist and would like to send me any of these, that would be swell).

1. Sharp Ends, Joe Abercrombie
   Joe’s writing some of the best short fantasy fiction out there, and is one of the very few writers doing anything interesting with classic Leiber-influenced fantasy at short lengths. Essential.
2. Hwarhath Stories, Eleanor Arnason
   This collection should have come out a decade ago. Pithy, perceptive sociological SF from a great writer.
3. Company Town, Madeline Ashby
   I feel like I’ve been waiting for this one for years. I love Madeline’s work and it’ll be fascinating to see her first post-series novel.
4. A Natural History of Hell, Jeffrey Ford
   A new collection from Ford is a celebration and a treat.
5. The Stars Are Legion, Kameron Hurley
   Hurley adds space opera to her bibliography in a book that should be pithy and strange.
6. Europe in Winter, Dave Hutchinson
   The best SF series to come out of the UK in a decade draws to a close on the icy streets of a bleak near-future Europe.
7. Children of Earth and Sky, Guy Gavriel Kay
   The single book I’m looking forward to the most in 2016 from one of the best novelists we have.
8. Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee
   The debut novel from Lee, a brilliant short story writer, builds on her short work and looks to be one of the books of the year.
9. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Ken Liu
   The most awaited short story collection of the past decade, and sure not to disappoint. Also essential.
10. The Corporation Wars 1: Dissidence, Ken Macleod
    New space opera from the greatest libertarian socialist in the field.  Can’t wait!
11. Into Everywhere, Paul McAuley
    The second Jackaroo novel. Enough said. And America? Pay attention! This guy is good and the first book was brilliant.
12. The Locomotive’s Graveyard, Ian McDonald
    A new novella from McDonald. Always great stuff, and will tide us over until Luna 2.
13. Kingfisher, Patricia McKillip
    McKillip’s first new fantasy novel in five years.  I’ve read everything she’s written and wouldn’t miss it.
14. The Last Days of New Paris, China Mieville
    I love China’s work. I love the title. I’m in!
15. The Art of Starving, Sam J. Miller
    Miller had an outstanding year with short fiction in 2015. His debut, a YA novel, is due in 2016. I wouldn’t miss it.
16. Summerland, Hannu Rajaniemi
    A major novel about defeating death.  Hannu’s The Quantum Thief was a great book. I’m convinced.
17. Everfair, Nisi Shawl
    Nisi Shawl’s debut novel, I believe. Steampunk and stuff. I have loved her short fiction and wouldn’t miss this.
18. Vigil, Angela Slatter
    Having told Angela that I thought her story “Brisneyland by Night” should be a novel, she went and wrote it. Can’t wait!
19. The Last Mortal Bond, Brian Staveley
    I’ve read the reast of the series. Epic fantasy fun.
20. Central Station, Lavie Tidhar
    This is one my top 5  for the year.  I’ve read the individual stories, but have been impatiently waiting for the book for a while. It’s one of those braided mega-narrative kind of novel thingies, but it’s SF and weird and interesting. What’s not to love?
21. Crosstalk, Connie Willis
    New Connie. Frankly, the last one sucked a bit. So did Passage,  but she’s too smart and funny and readable not to give another shot.

And that’s it. I will read others. Definitely. None of these may end up on my best of the year list (though I would be surprised), but they all look worth chasing.  What new books are you looking forward to in 2016?