Launch into the new year with the best ideas learned from the stories of 2025. I've gone through 70+ lessons that I took from the stories of the last 12 months and picked the 8 that I think are the most powerful for you to apply in your life.

Listen, and then go forth and conquer the year.

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Ho, Ho, Ho! here's a little holiday treat for you. In classic BTMC fashion, I took my lesson as serious as a car accident and found much more depth to the moral of this children's story than you may think was possible.

Was the Grinch truly a meany, or just misinformed on what happiness looked like?

Enjoy!

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On this show, I cover the greatest ficton ever written, but my larger goal is to get you to start looking at ALL stories as tools to understand how to live a better life.So I got two of the most prolific readers I know, "Alex & Books", and Dylan O'Sullivan) to sit down and discuss the unique strengths of both Fictional stories and Non-Fictional stories to help you on your way to becoming a Protagonist.Special Thanks to O'Shaughnessy Ventures (OSV) for hosting this panel discussion.Edited by: Dilan Garcia Lopez (@brutal_dilan)--GET THE FREE NEWSLETTER: "THE SCHOOL OF PROTAGONISM"Substack: ⁠⁠⁠https://substack.com/@schoolofprotagonism⁠⁠⁠FOLLOW BTMC FOR MORE GREAT CONTENT:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/becomingmain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/becomingmain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Pride and Prejudice is a masterclass in how confidently we can be wrong about people.

The story of two people who mistake their first impressions for objective truth, until the story forces them to confront who the other person really is.

This episode digs into Austen’s brilliance at showing how believing you have infallible judgment isn’t wisdom...it’s a trap.

Most of the art used in this episode is from Hugh Thomson's 1894 illustrated edition of the book.

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Disney did you dirty.

Because you probably think Arthur becoming king was as easy as pulling the sword from the stone. But the actual myth is way more complicated (and therefore, realistic?).

Before Camelot, before the round table, there was just a boy who didn't know what he was destined to be, and with no idea the struggle he would have to survive in order to claim his crown.

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"Man is not truly one, but truly two."

It's one of the most famous gothic horror novellas, and it all started when Robert Louis Stevenson had a nightmare so vivid that his wife had to wake him because of his screams.

The story that dares to ask the question: Is man good, evil, or both?

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Edgar. Allen. Poe.
The Master of Macabre. The tortured genius whose own life was almost as dark as the stories he wrote. Today, we dive into one of his most iconic tales, The Tell-Tale Heart.
This story is disturbing. It is horrifying. And we're still going to find takeaways that we can apply in our own lives, so jump in and let's get started.

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The curse has plagued their family for hundreds of years. A spectral hound that preys only on those of the Baskerville name. Is Sherlock Holmes up against his most clever foe yet, or maybe...the devil himself?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 60 detective stories featuring Sherlock Holmes. The man who has turned into one of the most globally loved (and replicated) characters ever created. Dive into the world of Holmes with what is the most Halloween-season-worthy mystery he was asked to solve.

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Take in every detail, don't let a moment go unnoticed. One day it may all be a memory...

From master short story sci-fi writer Ted Chiang, today we're exploring the inspiration behind the movie Arrival, 'Story of Your Life'.

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You're humming the theme song in your head even as you read this, aren't you?
Welcome to Jurassic Park! The wonderfully terrifying world created by the master of techno/science thrillers, Michael Crichton. The book goes deeper and darker than the popular movie into the side effects and unintended consequences of messing with nature. So, hop on in, we're going on a park tour.

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