John is joined by The Americans’ executive producer Stephen Schiff at a live Scriptnotes taping in New York! They discuss grounding an outrageous premise in character, suspension of disbelief, premium act breaks, and writing for a foreign language.

We also answer audience questions about New York writers rooms, expert consultants, expecting comparisons, first drafts, and how to write a period piece when history is full of spoilers.

Links:

* Stephen Schiff currently works on The Americans. Its final season premieres on March 28th.
* Thank you, McNally Jackson Independent Booksellers for hosting our live show!
* Google Ngram Viewer
* Bookstore staff recommendations, which led John to The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
* The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
* The USB drives!
* John August on Twitter
* Craig Mazin on Twitter
* John on Instagram
* Find past episodes
* Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.