The Cat in the Prat (The Unadulterated Cat)

Episode 22 - released, by pure coincidence, on International Cat Day - features Elizabeth, Ben and resident Pratcat Asimov for a look at one of Pratchett's oddest books: 1989's humorous examination of all things feline, The Unadulterated Cat. Cats these days just aren't a patch on the ones you used to get: untameable aloof outdoor beasts who are more likely to trap you in a neighbours' house with a broken leg (long story) than to sit nicely on your lap and purr. The Campaign for Real Cats has had enough of modern, "fizzy keg" cats, with their bows and bells and posing. This is the Campaign's guide to identifying, understanding and appreciating honest-to-Bastet real cats. Pratchett teams up with cartoonist and illustrator Gray Jolliffe to give us a tongue-firm-in-furry-cheek guide to the world of cats in one of his rare non-fiction works. It's the kind of thing you buy the cat lover in your life for Christmas, full of chapters detailing the types of cats, their names, the games they play and "advice" on how to deal with them. Are you a cat lover? Did this ring true for you? We'd love to hear from you - and to hear your cat stories, and any real cats you've identified in fiction! Use the hashtag #Pratchat22 on social media to join the conversation. In September we return to the Discworld - and its most real of cats, Greebo - as we head to the opera for Maskerade, the 1994 book which brings the witches to Ankh-Morpork! Our guest will be teacher and opera singer Myf Coghill. We'd love your questions - send them to us via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat23. And as mentioned in this episode, we'll soon be releasing our first bonus episode just for subscribers! All bonus episodes will be available to anyone who subscribes, so if you're interested, jump over to our Support Us page for details. Show Notes and Errata: Asimov lives with Liz and is our resident "Pratcat". He was previously audible in the background of episode 10, We're Gonna Need a Bigger Broomstick, and episode 18, Sundog Gazillionaire. You can follow his adventures on Instagram at @asimovthecat.Best-selling humorous cat books include How to Tell if Your Cat is Planning to Kill You, several volumes dedicated to Internet sensations Grumpy Cat and the LOLcats of I Can Has Cheezburger?, and other books that draw on similar themes to The Unadulterated Cat, including Cats Are the Worst and Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed.Eric Ernest Jolliffe - the wrong Jolliffe - was an Australian cartoonist and illustrator who led an adventurous life, including work all over Australia and serving as a camouflage officer with the RAAF in World War II. He is best remembered for his magazine and newspaper strips Saltbush Bill and Sandy Blight, and his own magazine, Jolliffe's Outback.Gray Jolliffe's anthropomorphic penis character, Wicked Willie, was the star of both a series of comic books and also a straight-to-video series of animated shorts directed by Australian Bob Godfrey, best remembered for his work on the children's animated series Roobarb and Henry's Cat.Real Men Don't Eat Quiche is a satire of masculinity, originally subtitled "A Guidebook to All That Is Traditionally Masculine". It was written in 1982 by American humorist and screenwriter Bruce Feirstein and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year. Localised adaptations were subsequently written for the UK and Australia, the latter by Australian playwright and author Alex Buzo. Nathan W. Pyle's strange planet series of comics about aliens trying to understand life on Earth is available at his web site, nathanwpyle.art, and on his Instagram at @nathanwpyle. Pyle experienced some controversy in April 2019 over an old tweet, but his cartoons remain a delightful commentary on the absurdities of our world. Both the cat name cartoon and the vibrating cat cartoon are still on Instagram.Operant conditioning is a form of learning where a behaviour becomes more or less frequent because of posi...