Episode 22: Jacqueline Dutton, 'Indigenous Futurism', and Utopianism and Place

In this bumper episode, we are joined by Jacqueline Dutton, a Professor in French Studies at the University of Melbourne, celebrate Matt's latest publication, and announce a competition!

Our conversation with Jacqueline covers a variety of topics, all of which are unified by a throughline of utopia(nism) and place. To begin, we chat about the dystopian qualities of Aboriginal author Alexis Wright's books Carpentaria (2006) and The Swan Book (2013), drawing on Jacqueline's chapter in Matt's book (more on that below), and discuss how and why the concept of utopia is problematic in Indigenous contexts. Our conversation then turns to the topic of utopia and place, including a location called Utopia in Australia and the utopian (or dystopian) elements of wine. In closing, Jacqueline shares how the concept of utopia differs across different cultural imaginaries, using examples from across Francophone and Japanese traditions.

You can find out more about Jacqueline on her University of Melbourne profile, and if you're interested in finding out more about the utopianism of wine, you can find Wine, Terroir and Utopia: Making New Worlds (2020) here.

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In the introduction, we celebrate Matt's latest book, Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature (2026), published by SUNY Press. Matt's book contains chapters written by several friends of the podcast, including Jacqueline's 'Indigenizing the Critical Dystopia: Alexis Wright's (Post)Apocalyptic Imaginaries in Carpentaria and The Swan Book'!

Would you like to win a copy of Wastelands and Wonderlands? Then enter our competition! To enter, you need to:

Comment on this episode (Spotify or Apple Podcasts), quote post our competition post on BlueSky, and / or repost with your thoughts on the competition post on Matt's LinkedIn account, writing:

• Letting us know what your favourite UADF episode is and why.
• Sharing something that you have read, watched, or listened to as a result of listening to the podcast.
• Bluesky and LinkedIn only: tagging a friend who might enjoy UADF!

You can enter the competition up to three times (once by commenting on this episode, once via Bluesky, and once via LinkedIn). Entries close on 23:45pm (UK time) on May 17th 2026, after which we will put all names into a hat, draw a winner, and announce who won in the introduction to our next episode!

Matt has also recently appeared on the A Meal of Thorns podcast, where he talks about Ernest Cline's Ready Player One (2011). You can listen on Spotify and Apple Music - after listening to this episode, of course!

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If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠utopiananddystopianfictions@gmail.com