Really True Fiction

For our 75th episode, we do a film that is sort of fiction? 2007's Into The Wild is a treasured film for both David and Luke. In this episode we talk about avoiding sanctimony, not jumping down others throats, camaraderie and hard work, the dichotomy of Los Angeles, homelessness, being hardwired for cross purposes, tragedy as emergent instead of super imposed, becoming a person worthy of others and the incredibleness that is Eddie Vedder. Hope you enjoy this episode in the big hard world. Neil Degrasse Tyson response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orCZUfnK1J0

A return to the wonderful and bizarre year of culture that was 1999. In this episode we are joined by my friend Danica Weager as a guest for our considerations on American Beauty: The greatest movie about nothing. We contemplate the slow sliding into personal hell that is unconscious living, finding meaning in life while still caring for others, vital masculinity, perfectionism/achievement, becoming what you pursue, the scourge of solipsism, worshipping others, the cult of self-help, and the deeper world of beauty behind the world.

Correction: Mena Suvari was born in 1979, not 1980.

Additional Spoilers:

Prisoner of Azkaban 34:10

Breaking Bad 37:25

Fight Club 38:06

The Hurt Locker 39:45

What a pain in the Arrakis! David and I want to say a big thank you to our guest Josiah Martinoski for this episode on the novel Dune. We dive into the Frank Herbert 1965 Sci/Fi classic. We talk about leadership, management, subterfuge, religion, competence, the macro vs micro world, and all the lore in between. Hope you enjoy it!

Additional Spoilers:

Monsters Inc - 1:03:12

The Island - 1:17:08

The Matrix - 1:17:24

Foundation - 1:18:50

Captain America: Civil War - 1:33:10

Terminator - 1:35:30

Black Panther - 1:37:05

Notes From Underground - 1:43:11

A very Merry Christmas to everyone! This has been an extremely difficult year, and we hope you all can find a meaningful way to spend these holidays. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy our take on the classic 1843 Christmas tale: A Christmas Carol. Additionally, we also recorded a bonus intro on our thoughts on the modern classic from 1965: Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. We talk about all things Christmas (and a few things Yuletide) in this. So grab your stockings and hot chocolate, and start looking forward to longer days! https://reallytruefiction.libsyn.com/

We return with the third book. In this episode, we are pleased to be joined by our friend Alex Wan as a guest. Alex is one of three cohosts (along with Luke and Billie, whom you can hear on episode 62) of the Nothing to Fear podcast. Alex joins us remotely to talk about the third Harry Potter novel The Prisoner of Azkaban (the darkest entry yet!).

In this episode we hit many topics including:

-Exposure to the bigger world as a crucial component of the heroes journey

- Being 13

- The elites getting their way when butthurt

- Sirius as being motivated by revenge (similar to Edmond Dantes) but changing his feelings to care when he is in Harry's presence - Harry as inspiration because of a harder path

- The Jesus archetype

- How you view people from your past

- The insufferability of being under the thumb of someone not worthy of you

- Respecting children by negotiating with them - earning being right

- Being an agent in your own life

- The importance of educators treating kids well and maintaining a high level of work

- The sadness of holding things against people they can't control

- Parents and voters standing up against administrations and bureaucracies

- Soul sucking vs. soul protecting

- Acting well because you can't predict all the effects

Additional Spoilers:

Lost 31:20

You can listen to Alex more (and Luke and Billie) on the Nothing to Fear podcast linked here: https://anchor.fm/nothingtofear

In this episode we conclude (for now) our thoughts on Hawkins, Indiana. We talk about Joyce, Hopper, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and stuff about the show and 80s culture in general. We discuss being committed to your own eyes and ears, having the strength of your own opinion, being pulled by the truth over self-interest, the importance of being able to triage, and being able to see into the lives of people. Hope you enjoy!

Here is the link to the Christopher Hitchens speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olefVguutfo

Additional Spoilers:

The Americans 6:45

Lost 1:15:03

We are back with our foray into Hawkins Indiana. We are starting with season one of the great nostalgic show! In this episode we talk about the kids of Hawkins (Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven) and all their travails. We talk about really listening when a person presents new information, being a young hero, the vitality of being a kid and not equivocating on ethical standards, the goofball facade, being a realist and nobly responding to the world after trauma. Hope you enjoy!

In this episode we dive into the second novel in the Harry Potter franchise: the nearly flawless Chamber of Secrets. In this episode we talk about initiating kindness, gossip, loneliness and betrayal, Enlightenment stuff, carrying on a vision, Harry's choice, rebirth, not being serious about reality, and intent vs. impact. Hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed reading this book.

Additional Spoilers:

True Detective 34:10

In this episode of Really True Fiction we talk about the 1951 Isaac Asimov novel Foundation. We discuss the Noble Lie vs. Noble Truth, Science as problem solving vs. ultimate truth, the tragic vs. utopian sense of life, and the importance of engaging with physical reality. We hope you enjoy!

Additional Spoilers:

The Social Network 23:50

The Matrix 28:18

Star Trek Beyond (major spoiler) 1:07:30

Watchmen 1:07:45

Breaking Bad Season 4 (major spoiler)

Death of Stalin 1:29:50

Our first bonus! In this episode we discuss the South Park Pandemic Special (but really this is another meditation on the corona virus and the lockdown). This episode is also a first in RTF's attempt at remote recording (Luke was in Alberta and David was in Ontario). David was not at a location with a decent microphone, which is why you will hear a discrepancy in audio quality between our voices. However, we plan on rectifying that for the next actual episode, so fear not!