Hey podcasters, the gremlin in the 2ser machine struck again, which means that last week’s podcast – the one about traveling with books and Shakespeare’s wife – didn’t go to air. So that’s our radio episode this week. Which means we’ve got a spot in the podcast schedule for another favourite from the archives. We hope you enjoy it and we’ll be back to regular programming next week.  

Humans are 'make-believe animals', British essayist William Hazlitt said. We are never so truly ourselves as when we are acting a part, he thought. This week we’re celebrating the power of make-believe. We’ll meet Glenn Fowler and Christopher Smythe, the real funnymen behind a fictitous old codger who successfully spoofed many of this country’s most reputable newspapers. And writer Chris Womersley is along to tell us a story about the bittersweet power of make-believe.

Glenn Fowler, Christopher Smythe and Gareth Malone, Dear Editor: The Collected Letters of Oscar Brittle, UNSW Press - interviewed by Nija Dalal

Chris Womersley, 'The Possibility of Water', Aviva Tuffield (ed), New Australian Stories, Scribe - produced by Benedict Taylor