Photo by David Whitaker.

In this week's show, I talk to novelist Ronan Ryan about the dramatic uses of gallows humor, how loss teaches us about our priorities, how elusive reality is, and how to match style to story.

This week, my intern, Alexander Pate, and I discuss the Salisbury, NC protests that he has participated in, and discuss this point in history.

Heavy activity around a confederate statue with an angel.[/caption]

Episode 422 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

This week, Michael Merriam and I discuss the 2010 cult film, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and in this conversation we address the classic structure of film; the importance of the perfect flaw for a protagonist and antagonist; Joseph Campbell (naturally); the Bible; why Reality Bites bites; video games and the psychological logic of true boss fights; the abundance of super hero actors in this film; comic book adaptations; tropes in anime; and how comedies can house tales with deeply serious content, for those who can look past the jokes.

This week I talk with Disney historian Didier Ghez about the joys of research and forging one's own path as a historian.

This week I talk with comedian, actor, sourdough aficionado, and essay writer, Tom Papa!

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On this week's show, I speak with Mike Onorato, Vice President of Publicity at Smith Publicity, about how publicity works behind the scenes for writers, and how COVID-19 is affecting the books business.

Vanessa Blakeslee and I discuss the classic of comparative mythology, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. While this is a work of scholarship not directly intended for creative writers, its lessons are of immense value to anyone writing adventure, fantasy, or science fiction. We reference Star Wars, The Matrix, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Bible, and Pinocchio, among other works, and mention the trials of academic discourse that are meant to be confused with the belly of the beast.

This week I talk with the novelist Jason Z. Morris about structuring a novel, learning the confidence to write a novel, how the peer review process in science helps in receiving creative writing criticism, and the fun, diverse conversations to be had at the faculty cafeteria at Fordham at Lincoln Center.

This week I talk with the poet Kimiko Hahn about the mysteriousness of objects, the mourning involved in memory, the strange penchant of Dr. Chevalier Quixote Jackson, and discovering the scheme of a book of poetry.

This week I talk with poet EmilyBrandtabout her new book Falsehood by After Hours Press. We delve into her personal connection with the poems and her growth from taking a poetry class as a one-off to her experience in NYU's MFA program to published poet.We also discuss the effect her students have had on her writing and her life, which range from high school students to veterans of the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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