FYIZ

Bekah Eaton is back for another round of book chatter, and this time we’re trying not to say the word “interesting” so much! It’s very unsuccessful. Even so, we manage to wrap up our discussion of Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin, dig into the squirrelly metaphysics and absurdism of There Is No Antimemetics Division, and extol the virtues of recent reads like Chuck Tingle’s Lucky Day, George Saunders’s Vigil, and Mona Awad’s Bunny! It all concludes with a few favorite or not-so-favorite book-to-film adaptation picks.

Welcome to the first episode of another monthly sub-series here on the FYIZ feed, a free-range chat with filmmaker and podcaster Bob Rose called Not Great, Bob. Each installment will focus on comedy or movies or culture or social media or whatever we find most delightful or irritating or both. This time we're taking a long look at SNL UK. What happens when a 50-year-old late-night institution attempts to stake new ground with a spinoff across the pond? We have thoughts and we're not afraid to share them.  We also go on a few tangents along the way. Listen and enjoy! And be sure to share feedback or suggest topics at [email protected].

We're kicking off a fresh batch of FYIZ episodes with something new: a monthly check-in with Bekah Eaton where we discuss the books we've just finished reading, the books we're reading now, and the books we plan to read next. So, in other words it's the coolest thing in the world that anyone could listen to. Featured in this installment: Watership Down! Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin! A lengthy breakdown of J.M. Barrie's Peter & Wendy! And more!

This emergency podcast exists purely because the first season of Alien: Earth ended and there was too much to talk about. Thankfully Bekah and Jonathan Eaton heeded the call and brought their own torrents of thoughts. Topics include the creepiness of Peter Pan, eerily intelligent alien life, and the nature of consciousness itself. We pretty much sort it out.

Longtime musician/current Jungian Depth Coach Orenda Fink's emotional and acerbically witty memoir, The Witch's Daughter—all about her fraught connection with her troubled mother and how that relationship affected her life—is a must-read for anyone interested in what it takes to emerge from a toxic family situation with your identity intact. In this soul-searching conversation, Orenda opens up about the experience of sharing her story, from the structuring of the book itself to the way that her process of self-discovery fed into to a midlife career pivot. Don't miss this one!

This is an exciting one! Multimedia artist Landis Expandis sheds some light on the inspirations and irritations that led to Landis Harry Larry's brand new glitch-pop EP, FKIN WITH STUFF, out now on Big Curve Music.

In this FYIZ Halloween special—which is actually the lost, final episode of SKEERT - A Real Horror Show—beloved guests Bekah Eaton, Jonathan Eaton, and Chris Zaleski pop over to read some spooky stories from a scary collection for kids published in 1980, The Haunted Planet (By DJ Arneson). Hang out with us... IF YOU DARE!

Friend of the show Polly Schattel is back to talk about her darkly comic novella 8:59:29 (Trepidatio Publishing), and we dig into every aspect, from the origins of the idea to the narrative implications. Along the way we ponder whether characters need to be likable (short answer:no), extol the virtues of novellas as a form, and find out what Polly’s working on next. It’s a nerdily analytical and story-obsessed chat, and it pairs well with your favorite morning beverage. For the sake of all humanity, listen! And find all things Polly at pollyschattel.com. 

Find John on Instagram and Twitter @giannidubya!

This episode is an epilogue to Saul Searching, the Better Call Saul (BCS) recap podcast that ended last year (along with the show, which only makes sense). Now that the whole six-season run of BCS is up on Netflix, it's a good time to binge, whether for the first time or as a repeat play. Thus it's also a good time to share this long conversation, recorded last year, that digs into the entirety of the series—psycho-analyzing all the characters, tracing themes and recurring gags, and celebrating the innovative filmmaking and powerful performances on display. Filmmaker and musician Chance Shirley is the only man both cool-headed and chatty enough to co-pilot this steamboat full of tangents, so thank gosh he agreed to it. Follow Chance on Twitter: @notevenchance. Follow John on Twitter and Instagram: @giannidubya.

Prolific author Jeff VanderMeer (The Ambergris Trilogy, Area X, Borne, Hummingbird Salamander) has a knack for creating engrossing and immersive scenarios that straddle the line between a world that is palpably our own and someplace entirely other. In this freewheeling conversation, he discusses his environmental work, his writing habits, and how even his boldest literary experiments are rooted in truth of character.