This week, I talk to historian Grace Elizabeth Hale about how Athens, Georgia helped launch an indie music revolution with the B52s, REM, Pylon, and other bands, and the art and college scene that spawned them.

This week, I share a Miami Book Fair panel of poets with debut books: Tommye Blount, Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, & Joy Priest!

In this week’s episode, I talk with Julian Chambliss, Leslie Salas, Todd James Pierce, and Jeff Shuster about the legacy of Tron Legacy (2010) and Tron (1982) and Tron Uprising (2010) and many other things.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about the excellent new anthology, A Very German Christmas, from New Vessel Press.

TEXT DISCUSSED

On #448, Dr. Peniel E. Joseph and I discuss the careers of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X, and how examining them together reveals the complexities of both of their evolving understandings of American history and politics.

Candacy Taylor and I discuss her new book, Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America. We talk about how research can transform a project, and how our understanding of our family’s histories give us windows into understanding our nation’s history, including our own precarious, sometimes alarming moment in it. We also discuss how instrumental color-coded index cards can help us balance the complex work of presenting the long threads of history.

The fiction writer and veteran Phil Klay and I discuss finding the right form for a novel, war literature, the uplift of humor, and winning the National Book Award.

On this week's show, poet and scholar Audi Barnes and I discuss the essays and poetry of Audre Lorde.

On this week’s show, Jeff Shuster and I discuss Jordan Peele's Us, and a lot of other things, too.

On this week’s show, Jeff Shuster and I discuss Richard Stanley's recent film of H.P. Lovecraft's The Color Out of Space.

Photo by Leslie Salas.[/caption]

On this week’s show, Jeff Shuster and I discuss the genius of Richard Brake, the superior sound design of Rob Zombie’s films, the paradoxes of carnie victimhood, the nightmare underbelly of The Great Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, mere survival as an inadequate story-goal, likable characters, all while talking about Rob Zombie's overlooked brutal 2016 masterpiece, 31.

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On this week’s show, I talk with Jeff Shuster about Cosmos Panatos's 2018 classic horror film, Mandy, as part 1 of our series of discussions on horror films of the last decade.

Photo by Jon Rendell.

On this week’s show, I talk to Dmetri Kakmi about existentialism in horror, the performance of identity, the structure of memoir, and many other things.

On this week's show, I talk to novelist Chuck Palahniuk about The Invention of Sound, Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life after Which Everything Was Different, Adjustment Day, the 18-month rule, how to stay productive, how to keep invested in the work, the genius of Ira Levin, the value of mentors, and how to remix Invisible Monsters.

On this episode, I talk to writer Michael Wheaton about Alfonso Cuaron's 2006 film, Children of Men, while I wait in vain for my ears to stop ringing.

On this episode, I talk to poet Steve Davenport about poetry, collaboration, the body, and many other things.

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NOTES

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

On this episode, personal essayist Alex Miller and I talk about the intimate power of the personal essay, pitches, politics, and universities in NYC.

Essays by Alex Miller

• Read "When I Can't Progress in my Love Life, I Level Up in Video Games" over at The Washington Post.
• Read "Facing my Fear: I Was Always Scared of the Dark. Then PTSD Made it Even Worse" over at The Guardian.
• Read "Kanye Made Me Love Being Black. That's Why I Can't Vote for Him" over at The Independent.
• Read "Growing Up in the Shadow of Emmitt Till" over at The New York Daily News.

Photo by Carlie Hoffman.

On this episode, poet Ariel Francisco and I talk about Florida's wildness, Miami, Hollywood (Florida), multilingualism, Anna Nicole Smith, a sinking state, Jack Kerouac, FIU's MFA program, and many other important matters.

Episode 434 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).

On this episode, Nick Flynn and I talk about memoirs, boundaries, and getting the writing done.

Darin Strauss and I discuss the utility of outlines, the utility of abandoning outlines, love, pain, stream-of-consciousness, love, Lucille Ball, Fred Trump, Coney Island, the semiotic intimacy of television, and love.

This week, I talk to podcaster Kyle Eagle about music and everything.

In this week's show, Vanessa Blakeslee and I discuss two online pieces on the subject of sex writing, and the conversation roves from there.

In this week’s show, I talk to writer, musician, and producer Jared Silvia about the connections between music and writing, the history of synth-pop, and the role of randomness and patterns to experience.

Photo by Emily VanDerWerf.

In this week’s show, I talk to novelist and video essayist Lindsay Ellis about science fiction; the structure of novels; exploring character interiority; alien invasion narratives; Chomskyian linguistics; the joys of making academic arguments about pop culture outside the academy; Transformers; and author platforms.

Music by Modal Plane, used with permission.

In this week’s show, I talk to my friend David James Poissant about novel-writing, sex scenes, The X-Men, graphic art, focus, and many other things.

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s show, I talk to my friend, the philosopher Bruce Janz, about how to calm our monkey brains in the time of the pandemic, and what the pandemic can teach us about life before the pandemic.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Learn more about Queerbomb over at its Facebook page.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this week's show, I talk to my friend, the historian Scott Hoffman, about the evolution of Purdue's Outfest, Chicago Pride, Austin Pride, Queerbomb, Orlando pride, respectability politics, and other matters of interest.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

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!

TEXTS DISCUSSED

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.

TEXT DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, I talk with creative writer and Disney historian Todd James Pierce about the new Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction that let's guests cross into the screen of a cartoon experience.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In this bonus, mid-week episode of The Drunken Odyssey, the game-writing expert Michael Merriam and I read and discuss Escape from Fire Island, a lost classic from the 1990s. Somehow, we touch upon Dragon's Lair, The Canterbury Tales, Hamlet (naturally), He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, and The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

This week, my occasional co-host, Vanessa Blakeslee, and I discuss Douglas Glover's latest collection, The Erotics of Restraint: Essays on Literary Form. We explore his insights on time and plot construction, as seen the works of Alice Munro, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, and others.

This week I sit down with novelist and memoirist Paul Lisicky to discuss his new memoir, Later: My Life at The Edge of The World. We dive into the process of memory in writing memoir, the ways of poetically complicating how time works in narrative, and the influences that let him know what was possible to be at home in memoir. We also discuss his formative experiences living in Provincetown in the 1990s, and discovering queer identity during the times of the AIDS epidemic.

Paul Lisicky. Photo by Beowulf Sheehan.[/caption]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

This week, I speak to actor, show writer, and memoirist Ron Schneider about the show business life, theme park creativity, and learning to master new creative challenges.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

This week, I speak to fiction writer Shane Hinton about his poetic, spooky apocalyptic novel, Radio Dark.

Episode 408 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, my occasional co-host, Vanessa Blakeslee, and I discuss Paul Fussell's entertaining treatise, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System. While this is clearly not a craft book, a sociological understanding of the American class system can add layers to your characterization, or so John found when he discovered this gem back in the early 1990s. Paul Fussell (1924-2012) possessed a gorgeously sardonic wit when not hiding in academia.

Someday John will own a sailboat, and become truly, deeply, fatally lost, and happy.

This week, I talk to my friend and colleague Nathan Holic about his new novel that is a true epic of our hometown (Orlando), Bright Lights, Medium-Sized City.

Nathan Holic at an undisclosed location in Orlando, without a beer.

This is Nathan's 8th appearance on TDO!

This week, I talk to my friend and colleague Amy Watkins about becoming more systematic about submitting work, and about conceiving of book-length projects of poetry.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

• TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

This week, I talk to my friend Corwin Moore, who is a comic and comedy writer.

Our proposed topic of discussion was the greatness of Richard Pryor, which we cover at length in a conversation that took many turns.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

This week, I talk to my friend, and Orlando's poet laureate, Susan Lilley!

TEXT DISCUSSED

This week, I talk to two poets.

First, I speak with the joyous Jericho Brown about his complex relationship to poetic tradition, identity, and music. Frankly, I kept making tangents to music. Perhaps too many. But this was one of my favorite interviews from Miami Book Fair International.

Second, I speak with Richard Blanco about the poetry of we, and the importance of giving an audience an entertaining performance, and writing poetry that makes me cry in yet another of my favorite interviews from MBFI.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

This week, Vanessa Blakeslee and I assail more essays on the craft of literature, this time two by T.S. Eliot.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

"Hamlet and Its Problems" can be found here; "Tradition and the Individual Talent" can be found here.

This week, I offer another round of conversations from Miami Book Fair International, in which I talk to Steve Almond about his favorite novel, Stonerby John Williams,

plus I speak with poet Carolyn Forché about her memoir, All You Have Heard is True.

TEXTS DICSUSSED

This week, I talk to fiction writer Nathan Englander about the pressurized form of fictional worlds, giving the reader something worth their time and money, getting to the pain as soon as possible, continuing to learn about one's craft deep into one's career, Judaism in literature, and the wisdom of our friend Darin Strauss.

Nathan Englander and your humble host in The Confucius Institute at Miami Dade College.[/caption]

Books Discussed