No Story Is Sacred

In this episode we hung out in the same room on the Saturday night of Readercon back in July!

Content warnings for strong language and clinking glasses

We reference or spoil: It Follows, Shirley Jackson Awards, Disclave, monster cereals, Hello From the Magic Tavern, Cocktail, Flaming Moe (The Simpsons), “AI: The Good Parts” (Readercon 33), “DDOS” (Readercon 32), Clarkesworld (blog post about spam submissions), Codecrafters, “First there was SkyKnit. Now there’s HAT3000“, CARP robot, What are AI chatbots actually doing when they ‘hallucinate’? Here’s why experts don’t like the term, Homer fading meme, Grandpa leaving meme, “AI: The Bad Parts” (Readercon 33), Bad Blood, The Circle of Magic, Jurassic Park, “Action Scenes” panel (Readercon 33), “I Don’t Know Why I’m On This Panel” (Readercon 33), “Responses to Omelas” (Readercon 33), “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin, Strange New Worlds episode “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach”, “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J. Kim, “Live Narration” (Readercon 33), John Mulaney “horse loose in the hospital“, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (as read by Danielle Cohen), Star Trek Discovery, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto, “They’re Made Out of Corn“, “They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson, “DEMON FIGHTER SUCKS” by Katherine Crighton, “Archaeology in Reality and Speculative Fiction” (Readercon 33), “What to Do With Your 15 Minutes of Fame” (Readercon 33), Viable Paradise, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Mitchell and Webb “Rebecca” sketch, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Odds Bodkin’s The Odyssey, Hades II, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Dracula by Bram Stoker, The City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter, Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, The Rake and Reformer by Mary Jo Putney, Thunder and Roses by Mary Jo Putney, “sweet” romances, Brian David Gilbert’s “I wasted 3 weeks of my life finding Castlevania’s hottest monster“, “Battle of the Academy” (Readercon 33)

Brendan is performing improv with his group Select Start at the Arcade Comedy Theater! Keep up with Kat on their website!

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we chat up and talk about what we’ve been reading and watching recently.

Content warnings for strong language.

We reference or spoil: Worcester Polytechnical Institute‘s IMGD program, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell, No Story is Sacred episode “Writ of Attachment”, Taylor Swift, Swifties, Select Start instagram and Eras tour ad pics, Neil Gaiman‘s bluesky verification how-to, Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Reacher (tv), Rob Liefield’s Captain America, Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald Mageworlds series, Bullet Train (movie), Desperado, Shrek Bad Bunny SNL sketch, Mr and Mrs Smith (tv), Star Trek television universe (particularly Strange New Worlds, Discovery, The Original Series episode “Conscience of the King“, and Voyager episodes “Tuvix“, “The Thaw“, “Bride of Chaotica“, “Learning Curve“, “Macrocosm“, “Fair Haven“, and “Threshold“), Marvel Cinematic Universe (particularly Loki and WandaVision), Once Upon a Time, Lucifer (tv), Folger’s home for the holidays commercial, AO3 (Archive of Our Own), George Santos baby news, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Hhbomberguy’s “Plagiarism and You(tube)”, Hbomberguy’s “Vaccines and Autism: A Measured Response”, Brian Deer’s The Doctor Who Fooled the World, 1600s household manuals, Libertarian Walks into a Bear, BBC production Going Postal, No Story is Sacred space ace detective episodes (“A Body in the Void”, “The Orphaned Light”, “A Night in the Orbital Museum”, and “Dead Man’s Hand”)

Brendan is performing improv with his group Select Start at the Arcade Comedy Theater. 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we discuss the fake show Blow the Man Down.

Content warnings for strong language, unreality (episode focuses on creation/discussion of media in an alternate reality), and references to child death (historical pirate John King).

We reference or spoil: Our Flag Means Death seasons 1 and 2, No Story Is Sacred episode “Our Flag Means Death”, Blow the Man Down (television show referenced as part of alternate reality game of the same name; link goes to an “official” season 2 trailer), Javid Denkins (tumblr account), Stede Bonnet, Edward Teach, Olivier Lavasseur, Sam Bellamy, the golden age of piracy, Snapewives, What We Do In the Shadows (tv show), NSIS: “Wheel of Tropes”, Rule of Three, one of the BTMD rat memes, alternate reality game (ARG), a photograph of the TV Guide from the alternate reality where BTMD exists, “Blow the Man Down” (alternate universe Our Flag Means Death fanfic), tumblr user turq8‘s spreadsheet of collected BTMD information, “blow the man down / btmd” fanfiction collection on Archive of Our Own, NSIS: “Oracle@Sci-Fi”, Zheng Yi Sao, Goody Hallet (Witch of Wellfleet), “Witch of the Westmoreland” by Stan Rogers, The Haunting of Bly Manor, What We Do In the Shadows (movie), the Whydah Gally pirate wreck, Save the Cat, Kick the Dog, Leslie Fish‘s “Banned from Argo“, Doctor Who, X/1999, Wreck-It Ralph, pirate plot generator, crossing the line ceremonies, Javid Denkins interview, man-vs-man / man-vs-self / man-vs-nature arguments, rat kings, Charles Dickens‘s Oliver Twist, Anachronistic Orphanage, TV Tropes, Tough Guide to Fantasyland, bishie sparkle, sex pollen, William Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, WandaVision, Ship of Theseus, A Fish Called Wanda, The Prestige, NSIS: “A Body in the Void”, NSIS: “My Best Frenemy”, NSIS: “Prestibitchitation”

Kat’s teaching writing again this fall; find out more on their website. They’ll also be presenting at Fan Studies North America in October. Brendan is performing improv with his group Select Start at the Arcade Comedy Theater. 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

After a long hiatus that we totally planned and wasn’t us failing to successfully arrange the schedules of four adults with lives, we return with an episode discussing an original story idea by Alex! Another in his series of Space Ace Detective stories.

Content warnings for strong language, bad casino puns, a passing reference to grief, bad New England accents, and us loudly talking about how we’re in season two now and that’s why we were on such a long hiatus.

We reference or spoil: No Story is Sacred episode “George of the Jungle”, Tarzan, general heist tropes, “Shots!” by LMAFO, “Banned from Argo” by Leslie Fish, No Story is Sacred episode “A Body in the Void”, Prosopagnosia, No Story is Sacred episode “Presibitchitation”, 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Superfight, No Story is Sacred episode “The Orphaned Light”, Mystic Seaport, No Story is Sacred episode “Night at the Orbital Museum”, Max Headroom, “Sometime Around Midnight” by The Airborne Toxic Event, The Emu War, Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn, Saw, 2001: A Space Odyssey, ChatGPT, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Rec, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Sailor Moon, The three-body problem (math), The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin, two body problem, Good Will Hunting, Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, play fair mystery, Ocean’s Eleven, Steven Soderbergh, Cowboy Bebop, Penn and Teller, electromagnetic pulse, The Magic Castle, hand of glory, Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes, and Readercon.

Kat’s teaching writing again this fall; find out more on their website. 

Brendan is performing improv with his group Select Start at the Arcade Comedy Theater. 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we discuss the 1997 film George of the Jungle. You can stream it on Disney+, or rent it on Amazon or YouTube.

Content warnings for strong language, discussion of abusive relationships, unhealthy eating, toxic masculinity, randomly insulting the name “Brandon”, and Pippin insisting that George is her babygirl

We reference or spoil: the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jane Goodall, parody movies such as Epic Movie, capuchin monkey, Into the Woods, Brendan Fraser, Hugh Jackman, how Hugh Jackman is presented on men vs. women’s magazines, Disney’s Tarzan, the idea of Disney priming audiences for upcoming movies before they’re announced,  “Dela” by Johnny Clegg, Armani clothes, Clueless, Air Jordans, The Lion King, “My Way” song, Jonah Hill’s advice to Channing Tatum about how to act in a comedy, “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze” song, Eat, Pray, Love, Nicholas Sparks, and the Star Trek episodes “Ship in a Bottle”, “Wolf in the Fold”, and “A Piece of the Action”

Also check out Kat’s The Minor Hours and Small Thoughts Magazine and Bren’s Select Start improv shows benefiting Arcade Comedy Theater. Also, we’ll all be at Boskone 60 this month! Come say hi if you’ll be there!

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we discuss the 2001 film Ocean’s Eleven. You can rent it from Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes.

Content warnings for strong language, casual crime, discussions of the patriarchy, being mean to Kat right off the bat, and Kat taking that as a challenge

We reference or spoil: Ocean’s 11 (1960), Bernie Mac, cockney rhyming slang, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Elvis music (specifically “A Little Less Conversation”), X-Files episode “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space”, Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, Party of Five, That 70’s Show, That 90’s Show, That 80’s Show, Pacific Rim, Friends, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Glass Onion, Grand Theft Auto, Persona 5, ADHD, “Sexy Lamp” test, John Mulaney’s Ocean’s Eleven bit, She’s All That, “You construct intricate rituals which allow you to touch the skin of other men”, “The ‘Feminized Society’ Myth”, Our Flag Means Death, Taskmaster New Zealand “best stolen thing”, Leverage, tarot, Dune by Frank Herbert, Critical Role, No Story is Sacred episode “A Space Heist”, NSIS episode “A Body in the Void”, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Terry Pratchett’s Making Money and Hogfather, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Ocean’s Eight, and The Muppets

Also check out Kat’s The Minor Hours and Small Thoughts Magazine and Bren’s Select Start improv shows benefiting Arcade Comedy Theater. Also, we’ll all be at Boskone 60 this month! Come say hi if you’ll be there!

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we discuss the upcoming video game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Content warnings for strong language, mentions of borderline beastiality (between a human and a humanoid fish), time travel, and theorizing with absolutely no information.

We reference or spoil: The Legend of Zelda franchise as a whole, Howl’s Moving Castle, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Angel the Series episode “Dead End”, Steven Universe “Here Comes a Thought”, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, the ouroboros, The Princess Bride, The Shape of Water, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Once More with Feeling”, and Ancient Aliens

Also check out Kat’s The Minor Hours and Small Thoughts Magazine and Bren’s Select Start improv shows benefiting Arcade Comedy Theater. Knight’s Wyrd by our parents Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald comes out August 22rd.

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we once again play a game of our own devising called “Wheel of Tropes.” We use random TV Tropes, entries from Diana Wynne Jones‘s The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, a tarot card deck, and crayon colors. 

Content warnings for strong language, references to eugenics, too many references to “eyes”, and Kat steamrolling over everyone because they’re being precious about their process.

We reference or spoil: blorbos from our shows, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Firefly, Tenacious D, The Muppets (2011), Star Trek, Stephen King‘s Carrie, “Dungeon Worm” Yu-Gi-Oh! card, Dune, Beetlejuice, Tremors, Holes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Arthurian legend, Wheel of Tropes 6, Trope: Psychic Powers, “Burst Breath” Yu-Gi-Oh! card, the loneliest whale in the world, John Mulaney’s Kid Gorgeous, “A Bowl of Mac and Cheese“, and Edward Gorey‘s The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel

Also check out Kat’s The Minor Hours and Small Thoughts Magazine and Bren’s Select Start improv shows benefiting Arcade Comedy Theater. 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  
The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we discuss the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984. You can stream it on HBO Max or rent it from Amazon or YouTube.

Content warnings for strong language, Lack of consent, bodyswap, bodily autonomy, discussion of depression and suicidal ideation, and a special guest appearance by Jasper the dog.

We reference or spoil: Into the Woods (musical), Schitt’s Creek, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, spiders georg meme, Fuller House, The Legend of Zelda, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Back to the Future, The Princess Bride, Wonder Woman (2017 movie), incluing (Jo Walton), Parks and Recreation, Ghost (1990 movie), “What Are the Rules?” by Terry Rossio of Wordplayer, “The Task” by Terry Rossio of Wordplayer, Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, Saturday Night Live, The Good Place, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl, Chekhov’s Gun, Wonder Woman (1970s TV show), Lynda Carter’s twitter, Goncharov, Captain Marvel (movie), Superman (DCEU), The Witcher (tv show), Batman the Animated Series, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, Mannequin (1987 movie), Warhammer (future movie), Thor: Love and Thunder, Fight Club (1999 movie), the overall DC cinematic universe, Black Mirror episode “Hang the DJ“, A-ha‘s “Take On Me” music video,  and so many 80s songs .

Also check out Kat’s The Minor Hours and Small Thoughts Magazine and Bren’s Select Start improv shows benefiting Arcade Comedy Theater. Kat also appeared in the Apex Magazine 2021 anthology livestream! 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.  

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

In this episode we talk about an original story idea by Alex. It involves robots and AI! 

Content warnings for strong language, robots, the problem of machine learning and algorithms, catholicism, Kat really having no idea how video game genre conventions work, and Kat and Pippin being in the same room.

We reference or spoil: The Prestige (movie and book), No Story is Sacred episode “Cabin in the Woods”, Empire Records, The Carpenters “Close to You“, The Mitchells vs the Machines, “behold a man!”, Castlevania, Mean Girls, Mur Lafferty‘s Six Wakes, Passengers, Portal, RPG Maker, Ib, John Mulaney‘s The Comeback Kid, “there was only one bed“, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” by Ambrose Bierce, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, No Story is Sacred episode “Dog”, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya “Endless Eight” storyline, Untitled Goose Game, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Eternal Darkness, “one of us lies, one of us tells the truth“, An Inspector Calls (2015), Harlan Ellison‘s “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream“, Um Actually, The Road to El Dorado, Undertale, The Good Place, Alice and Bob Facebook chatbots, Stella Gibbons‘s Cold Comfort Farm, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ghostbusters, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode “Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad”, Katherine Crighton‘s “Sing in Me, Muse“, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Once More With Feeling“, Sir James Frazer‘s The Golden Bough, TVTropes, Diana Wynne Jones‘s The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land, Doki-Doki Literature Club, Gravity Falls episode “Soos and the Real Girl“, “Walk on Water” (TVTropes), Resident Evil (movies), Resident Evil (video game), Galaxy Quest, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Also check out Kat’s The Minor Hours and Small Thoughts Magazine and Bren’s Select Start improv shows benefiting Arcade Comedy Theater. 

In addition, Kat is going to be part of an author roundtable talk for Apex Magazine on December 13th and is teaching Assabet Community Education classes in Spring 2023 (“Writing Short Fiction” “Writing Novels” “Practical Publishing”), and Brendan is doing an improv show at the Arcade Comedy Theatre in Pittsburgh PA 7:30 PM December 17th!

The transcript will be available soon on nostoryissacred.com.

Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and, if you’re so inclined, contribute to our Patreon.