We’re more than half way through February and 2026 is largely looking like a similar version of 2025 but on shit-steroids, with the usual players doing their things. Any hope that the situation(s) around the world may improve are in the toilet. I suppose it was a vain hope, and there’s nothing wrong with having a positive outlook, but as a wise man once said, “a shit-leopard doesn’t change its spots.”

Breakfast in the Ruins Podcast

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Entropic State Report 16th February 2026
Just now

My dear Patrons, bemused onlookers and distracted passers-by,

We’re more than half way through February and 2026 is largely looking like a similar version of 2025 but on shit-steroids, with the usual players doing their things. Any hope that the situation(s) around the world may improve are in the toilet. I suppose it was a vain hope, and there’s nothing wrong with having a positive outlook, but as a wise man once said, “a shit-leopard doesn’t change its spots.”


Fortunately, we have fun things to say and do and we’ve had a fairly productive January and February so far, in spite of certain issues or, perhaps, because of them. We’ve kept a decent episode release pace and we still have two in the bank (watch out for a new episode this week). Furthermore, the venue for Rolling in the Ruins, our Moorcockian RPG get-together in June, is now booked. I’m absolutely delighted that people have an appetite for this, so much so that we’re going with two dates. Magic!

I’ll be looking for GM submissions in March so I can get the games locked in on WarHorn, so watch this space.

As you can see above, we already have a banner, I have the mugs designed and ready to go… and even t-shirts will be available for those that like a wearable souvenir of their events.

It’s all very exciting.

And so is the coming podcast itinerary!

Up next, THE ROBOT BRAINS! This was a recommendation from Cold War academic and games designer Malcolm Craig. We had a great time with it.

Then, Warlord of the Air Part Two. Spoiler – there will be a Part Three.

That accounts for the shows we have in the can, but pending recordings will return us to the worlds of Shaun Hutson’s Slugs, Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane, conclude our coverage of The Ice Schooner, get fucked up with The Opimun General and make our first ever foray into the urban horror of Ramsey Campbell with The Doll Who Ate His Mother, one of my most prized of the books I got from Pops back in the 80s.

That should keep us busy for a while and, undoubtedly, some other things will cross our eyelines in the meantime.

Thats about it for this report, but more details will emerge on Rolling in the Ruins as they develop. For now, I can confirm the dates as June 6th and June 20th. The venue will be The Ginger Goose in Bradford. Until I get it in WarHorn, if you want to attend either or both of those dates then do drop me a line and I’ll pop you on my spreadsheet. The same applies if you have any questions about the event.

Take care out there folks.

Death Angel’s Shadow Part One

Dave is back in Derry & Toms as we finally turn our attention to Karl Edward Wagner and his towering dark fantasy anti-hero… Kane!

We’ve been talking about doing some KEW for a while now, so what better time than a grim, miserable Yorkshire winter to tackle a chilly werewolf whodunnit. The story, Reflections for the Winter of My Soul, is the first of three in the collection Death Angel’s Shadow, and we’ll be back at some point in the future to look at the other two.

As KEW also wrote an Elric/Kane crossover story called The Gothic Touch, we took a look at that too.

Dave’s band SÖNUS will release the first single from their new album on 14th February – Pagan Woman – and in the meantime you can join the countdown to the video and pre-save the single.

New album Planes of Torment will follow in May and we’ll keep you up to date on that too.

Gamifying the Multiverse – Moorcock & RPGs Part IX

We’re talking RPGs again, this time in the company of Tanya Floaker (Mum Chums, Lo! Thy Dread Empire, Solstice, Be Seeing You, a|state).

Along the way we’ll get into Tanya’s history with Moorcock and genre fiction, gaming in Thatcher’s Scotland, first steps into game design and the pending launch of their new Kickstarter for The Thunder Perfect Mind, launching 1st February 2026. If you’re interested in reading more, and even getting a hold of early drafts, check out Tanya’s itch.io page.

We’ll also look into what Tanya would do around the gamification of Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse, the 12-part comic series. I like it. I like it a lot.

In addition, friend of the show and long-standing patron Randall Gatlin calls in to talk about all of this Moorcock malarkey and reveals what may possibly be the coolest interaction with Mike and Linda I’ve yet come across.

Join us!

The New Worlds Fair

Joe Banks braves the radioactive zone to join me on the Ferris Wheel and discuss the 1975 album by Michael Moorcock and The Deep Fix – The New Worlds Fair – the 50th anniversary edition of which is now available via thinklikeakey.com.

Joe’s latest book – ROCK and ROLE: The Visionary Songs of Peter Hammill and Van der Graaf Generator – is available now, as is his prior book – Hawkwind: Days of the Underground: Radical Escapism in the Age of Paranoia.

The Jade Man’s Eyes

Derek AKA Imrryr joins me in Derry and Toms as we take a look at the Elric tale, The Jade Man’s Eyes. Initially published in 1973 in Flashing Swords 2 and as a standalone novella by Unicorn Press, this story would later be heavily revised and repackaged as part of the fix-up novel The Sailor on the Seas of Fate.

So plenty to look at, including unpronounceable names and this story’s key place in Elric lore.

Check out Derek’s music in their guise as Imrryr over on Ampwall and Bandcamp and pre-order their upcoming release Carver 4 Mission Report.

The Warlord of the Air – Part One

We’re back… we’ve crawled out of the ruins of our Christmas and New Year bottles to witness the fantastic world of 1973 through the eyes of Oswald Bastable.

Robert MacMillan is my co-pilot for this journey as we have to look up what things are and marvel over Moorcock’s invention of a genre that these days seems largely about gluing cogs to pith helmets, tea duels and “chap-hop”.

OR IS IT?

I don’t know tbh.

But Bastable’s journey from dependable Man of Empire to temporal adventurer starts here.

JOIN US!

Birthday Special 2025

Another year, another Birthday Special… our sixth!

It’s Mike’s birthday… it’s Phil’s birthday… it’s the podcast’s official state birthday… so what better than a silly, hastily assembled drunken quiz?

A chance for Loz to close the gap on Phil’s epic quiz streak as well as to introduce a wild card in the shape of a third contestant!

OK, fine. This wasn’t the actual intent, but best laid plans and all that. Also, Simon Perrins drops in to elaborate on his frankly incontestable assertion regarding a British cultural icon and their place in the Multiverse.

Simon is also responsible for the magnificent art for this episode, which is a pretty big clue if you’re British and over a certain age.

MOOOOR COCK-COCK-COCK refrain is from The Dewey Decibel System by BlöödHag 

BEHOLD… The Carousel of Doom… or joy (luck dependent)

The Ice Schooner – Part One

Miles is back in Derry & Toms as we tackle another 60s Moorcock classic… The Ice Schooner. Lots to talk about here, and some pearls to clutch too, as we visit one of Mike’s sweatiest rime-encrusted tales that, one way or another, remind us of our hometowns.

And we talk about Doctor Who and Star Trek a bit too.

JOIN US!

(and listen to the Casual Trek Podcast)

Ice Schooner art by Simon Perrins.

Halloween Special 2025 – SLUGS by Shaun Hutson

As voted for by our dear patrons, the subject for this year’s Halloween Special is SLUGS!

Shaun Hutson’s breakthrough best seller has been on the poll list for three or four years, but 2025 was its year. So, join Graham, Phil and me as we evaluate Shaun Hutson’s entry into that classic and most pulpy of British horror traditions, the Killer Critter novel. Also, we mull over whether four clefts are just too many, and get disappointed by our initially impressive socialist hero’s basic levels of competence.

Image by Simon Perrins!