Reflecting on 30 years of 'The Golden Compass' with Sir Philip Pullman
It’s been 30 years since Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass arrived on U.S. shores. The award-winning British fantasy classic tells the story of Lyra, a precocious and rebellious pre-adolescent girl who is abandoned to be raised as an orphan at Oxford University. Lyra’s world is populated by animal companions known as demons, a religious organization called the Magisterium and a mysterious substance called dust. Pullman’s novel spawned two trilogies, a movie, and a TV series. In today’s episode, the author speaks with Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan about how he developed the idea for Lyra, demons and Dust.
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It’s been 30 years since Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass arrived on U.S. shores. The award-winning British fantasy classic tells the story of Lyra, a precocious and rebellious pre-adolescent girl who is abandoned to be raised as an orphan at Oxford University. Lyra’s world is populated by animal companions known as demons, a religious organization called the Magisterium and a mysterious substance called dust. Pullman’s novel spawned two trilogies, a movie, and a TV series. In today’s episode, the author speaks with Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan about how he developed the idea for Lyra, demons and Dust.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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2026-05-14
12 min
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