Good Scribes Only

By Daniel Breyer, Jeremy StreichSociety & Culture Arts Books History Philosophy

Good Scribes Only episodes

February 06, 2023 #13 - Inside Good Scribes - Greed in Jane Smiley's Good Faith 💸
In this mini-episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore takeaways, tips, and how Jane Smiley’s, Good Faith relates to everyday life.
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Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility. In this episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore Greed and Charity in Jane Smiley’s, Good Faith.
Oftentimes, fiction books can take us out of life’s everyday tangles and help us see reality with new eyes. To further explore your own relationship with Greed and Generosity, look no further than Good Faith. We hope you enjoy
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17 min
February 02, 2023 #12 - Jane Smiley - Good Faith
Episode Cheat Sheet
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Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility. In this episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore Greed and Charity in Jane Smiley’s, Good Faith.
Oftentimes, fiction books can take us out of life’s everyday tangles and help us see reality with new eyes. To further explore your own relationship with Greed and Generosity, look no further than Good Faith. We hope you enjoy
More Good Scribes Only Content
Episode Notes
0-5 min — Initial thoughts on Good Faith 5-11 min — Actor Castings
10-15 min — Plot Summary
15-20 min — Dissecting the characters
20-25 min — On writing: creating nuanced characters and outlining
25-28 min — Romances in the novel
28-35 min — The power of fiction
35-40 min — Greed and the American dream
40-45 min — What is the state of greed today? (crypto) 45-50 min — The climax
50-55 min — How ‘literary’ is this book? 55-60 min — Problems with this book
60-65 min — Final thoughts on the novel
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1 hr 6 min
January 26, 2023 #11 - Graham Greene - Power and Glory
Episode Summary
Power and Glory Cheat Sheet
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Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility. In this episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore Pride and Humility in Graham Greene's most prolific work, Power and Glory.
Oftentimes, fiction provides a clearer view of reality than life itself. Power and Glory is no exception. Join in and explore your own Pride and Humility with Jeremy and Daniel in this episode of Good Scribes Only.
0-5 min — Intro and Actor Casting
5-10 min — Initial thoughts and historical background
10-15 min — Main character: the whiskey priest
15-20 min — Is it about Pride?
20-22 min — Dan calling Jeremy on his bullsh**
22-25 min — On writing: creating dynamic characters
25-29 min — Hope and the duality of man 29-35 min — The climax
35-40 min — Is a post-religious society actually better? 40-44 min — Would people read this book today?
44-46 min — On writing: a striking literary device
46-50 min — What is Pride fundamentally?
50-55 min — The power of community
55-60 min — Our final feelings on the novel
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1 hr 2 min
January 10, 2023 2022 in Review
In our final episode of the season, we discuss our favorite books of 2022, a few movies that stood out, plus our favorite moments of season one—often the (copious) occasions when Jeremy gets himself canceled. As far as books go, none of you will be surprised to hear how many Daniel read this year, but you might not have expected his favorite. And, as always, you'll get an appearance from one of our dogs, the true MVPs. We hope you enjoy!
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32 min
November 21, 2022 #10 Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
We're back with another towering work from one of the most noteworthy names in modern literature. *Midnight's Children,* published in 1981, is considered the seminal work from Indian-British writer, Salman Rushdie. The novel is what some describe as magical realism, though Rushdie prefers self describes as a "Surrealist" author. In the novel we follow one narrator and protagonist, Saleem Sinai, through the turbulent years of India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is rich postcolonial, postmodern, self-reflexive work which strives to preserve history by way of story, rather than facts and data. The novel not only won the Booker prize for fiction in 1981 but was dubbed "Best of the Bookers" twelve years later. If you appreciate Jose Luis Borges, Neil Gaiman, surrealist/magical realism, or high-literature you will likely enjoy this tome. Don't let our meandering conversation steer you wrong — this one is a must read. We hope you enjoy ✌️
*Episode Notes*
0:00 - Intro and Casting
3:00 - Our lack of historical perspective for India and Pakistan
5:00 - On surrealism and Salman Rushdie’s masterclass
7:30 - Significance and historicity of Midnight’s Children
11:30 - Comparable books and Plot Summary
15:00 - Motifs and Plot Summary
25:00 - On Saleem’s Family and other Characters
29:00 - Saleem’s reliability as a narrator
33:00 - Shiva as a character and myth
38:00 - Nature and nurture in the novel
42:00 - The multi-genre nature of the novel
43:45 - Multi-culturality of India
48:30 - Wholeness and fragmentation
51:00 - Religion and conflict in the novel
56:00 - The beauty of fiction versus facts
58:00 - Closing sequence
1:01:00 - On Memory as a theme
1:06:00 - History and Rushdie’s main thesis
1:11:00 - Literary style of the novel
1:15:00 - Overall thoughts on the book
1:21:00 - Self reflexive art Website
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1 hr 27 min
October 28, 2022 #9 - Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
In episode 10, we discuss Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein. This early 19th century novel is one of the most widely read books of all time. Daughter of a novelist and philosopher, it's no surprise that Shelley's first book is stupendous; however, as we discuss in the episode, Shelley's Promethean tale, Frankenstein, was not always so well received. In this episode we discuss: feminism, race, ambition, alienation, motherhood, and more. Thanks for listening. And enjoy✌️

02:00 — Casting Frankenstein the Movie

05:30 — Initial thoughts of Frankenstein

10:50— Plot Summary

20:50— Shelley on Ambition, Alienation, Revenge, and Human Nature

25:50— Female Characters

31:20— Mary Shelley’s Life

37:30 — Race in Frankenstein

44:40— Alienation and Loneliness

46:20 — Favorite passages
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48 min
September 30, 2022 #8 - James Baldwin - Another Country
In this episode we discuss the legendary African American novelist James Baldwin's third novel, "Another Country." Set primarily in Greenwich Village and Harlem, New York City, in the late 1950s, the novel portrays rubs against many taboos of the time such as bisexuality, interracial romance and extramarital affairs. Beyond sexuality, the novel is a diatribe on what it's like to be an artist in New York City and beyond. We cast our absurdly high-budget movie and then dive into Baldwin's world - touching everything we probably shouldn't ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening Website
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1 hr 33 min
September 09, 2022 #7 Fyodor Dostoevsky - Notes From Underground
Welcome back for another episode of Good Scribes Only. Today we're discussing Fyodor Dostoevsky's legendary novella, *Notes from Underground*. The story is split in two parts: 1) a rambling memoir-style philosophical treatise from the book's main lead "Underground Man," and 2) a short but hilarious and incisive glimpse into the Underground Man's personal life. Dostoevsky is known as one of Russia's great bards having written other classics such as *Crime and Punishment* and *The Brothers Karzamov.* If you appreciate existential fiction and classic literature, you are in for quite a right with this 115 page story.
This innovative novella is bizarre on loads of levels, and we enjoyed every minute of it. We hope you will too. ✌️
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1 hr 12 min
July 29, 2022 #6 Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club
Welcome back to another episode of Good Scribes Only. Today we'll be speaking about Amy Tan's award winning novel, The Joy Luck Club. The bookcontains sixteen interconnected stories about conflicts between Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-raised daughters. Tan herself is the daughter of two Chinese immigrants and has discussed how her own personal journey was absorbed by several characters in the work. It's a novel which challenges the reader (and the foolish podcasters who choose to discuss it) with balancing a wide range of characters and stories, and to appreciate the nuance brought on when two starkly different cultures collide. If you find it hard to keep the names straight, you can take solace in the fact that we probably butchered them in the first place. Otherwise, we hope you enjoy Good Scribes Only's take on the Joy Luck Club ✌️ Website
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1 hr 1 min
June 27, 2022 Mid-Season Break
Five episodes down, five more to go. Website
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1 min

About Good Scribes Only

From the publisher's feed

Good Scribes Only is a podcast featuring a novelist + venture investor (Daniel Breyer) and a novelist + founder (Jeremy Streich), who share an enthusiasm for literature. From classics to sci-fi, moderns to ancient philosophy, your hosts will ramble and banter about it all—particularly the topics they have no business discussing.