In today's episode, a physical book purist steps into the wide world of e-books, embracing a technology that's finally come of age, and the mental health benefits of reclaiming time from social media and doomscrolling.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA, with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, Culturate Magazine, Borderline Tales, and elsewhere.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by Amaksi via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Help us make the third season of our sci-fi audio drama by making a pledge at https://ko-fi.com/obscurestudios. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: https://jweberle.com/2025/08/20/embracing-the-ereader/

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In today's episode, voice actor William C. McDonald narrates Jonny's newest short story, "If Your Subconscious Thoughts Were Leaked by Cognivast, You Could Be Entitled to Payment From a Class Action Lawsuit," a cautionary tale about big tech and data privacy. Plus, a bonus trailer for "The Adventures of Captain Radio." You can support our third season by making a pledge at https://ko-fi.com/obscurestudios.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, Culturate Magazine, Borderline Tales, and elsewhere.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by Ueful Pix, Back_Drop, and Tunetank via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: https://jweberle.com/2025/07/01/one-thought-and-its-done/

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In 1940, with 88% of Americans opposed to getting involved in WWII, Charlie Chaplin embarked on his most ambitious, most controversial film. The result was The Great Dictator, a movie that wears its antifascist politics on its sleeve. In today's episode, we dive into the 4-minute speech that nudged the course of history.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, Culturate Magazine, Borderline Tales, and elsewhere.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by The Mountain via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript and more information about the film that I couldn't squeeze into the episode: https://jweberle.com/2025/04/23/the-barber-and-the-tyrant/

If you'd like to learn more, check out Danny Boyd's brilliant video essay on the filmmaking choices that make The Great Dictator resonate 85 years later: https://youtu.be/7HSIWfPTSMM?si=DmJklaHpykgVcZqF

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In today's episode, I share my latest short story, "Night Watch, 1916," which was published this spring in Culterate Magazine Issue 3. It is read by award-winning voice actor Erika Sanderson.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, and elsewhere. You can learn more about Erika at erikasanderson.com.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by SoulProdMusic and Clavier via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: https://jweberle.com/2025/04/10/new-short-story-night-watch-1916/

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Welcome to Season 5 of Dispatches! In this episode, we discuss Juneteenth, the legacy of slavery in America, and my effort to diversify the books I read.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, and elsewhere.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by folk_acoustic_music and Sonican via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: https://jweberle.com/2022/06/19/decolonizing-my-bookshelf/

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In this episode, a look inside my chaotic but surprisingly effective writing process as a send-off to Season 4 of Dispatches. I'll be back this summer with new episodes about writing, travel, and the creative process. In the meantime, please rate, review, and share with a friend!

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, and elsewhere.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by Chillmore and Koi via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: https://jweberle.com/2025/03/19/late-nights-and-stolen-moments-inside-my-writing-process/

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In this episode, I reflect on the dark political moment in the United States and the responsibility writers and artists have to stand up to authoritarianism. And we'll talk about what kinds of stories can inspire change at this moment in history.

CW: U.S. politics

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, and elsewhere. You can find more of his writing and subscribe to his monthly email newsletter at jweberle.com. I'll also be reading at Creative Colloquy's 11th Anniversary Open Mic on Monday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the New Frontier Lounge in Tacoma. I hope to see you there!

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by SoulProdMusic from via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: http://jweberle.com/2025/03/05/resistance-writers/

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In this episode, I talk about why J.K. Rowling and George Lucas were wrong to continually revise and reinvent their fictional worlds. These two stories are cautionary tales not only about criticism and knowing when to quit, but also about the nature of stories themselves. If you love a piece of art, you have to let it go.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, and elsewhere. You can find more of his writing and subscribe to his monthly email newsletter at jweberle.com.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by GregorQuendel from via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: http://jweberle.com/2025/01/15/stories-belong-to-everyone-why-j-k-rowling-and-george-lucas-are-wrong/

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In this episode, a little writing advice for the New Year about writing first lines. The first line gets a lot of attention, from "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" to "It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." But we must remember that the real writing happens in rewrites—so you have to bite the bullet and start writing. Along the way, I give some minor spoilers for the movie "Throw Momma From the Train" starring Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito.

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can find more of his writing and subscribe to his monthly email newsletter at jweberle.com.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music from via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!

Transcript: http://jweberle.com/2012/08/01/staring-down-a-blank-page/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My film and audio production company, Obscure Studios, is 20 years old this month. To celebrate, I sat down with my friend and co-conspirator William C. McDonald to discuss our early filmmaking efforts, the agony of burning DVDs, our pivot to podcasts, and where we’re headed next. We’re also releasing a bonus video episode, which includes my extended conversation with Will and archival footage from the Obscure Studios vault.

• Watch the video podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n6FKbAKRQo

• Buy Obscure Studios merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/obscurestudios

• Buy us a cup of coffee on KoFi: https://ko-fi.com/obscurestudios

• Learn more about William C. McDonald: https://williamcmcdonald.wixsite.com/williammcdonald

Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can find more of his writing and subscribe to his monthly email newsletter at jweberle.com. Learn more about Obscure Studios at obscurestudios.net.

Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music from Pixabay. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.