Welcome to Rite Gud. The podcast that helps you write good. I’m RS Benedict.
We’ve been putting out this podcast for five years now, and it has been quite a ride. I’ve been genuinely surprised by the outsized response we’ve gotten. We’ve made a lot of friends and a lot of enemies. We’ve triggered multiple tempests in multiple teapots, without even meaning to. We’ve been a part of changing the conversation in speculative fiction, and giving dissatisfied writers room to express dissent. We’ve been a part of the formation of some exciting publications: Blood Knife, Seize the Press, and, most recently, Typebar.
But lately, it has been a struggle to meet our deadlines. I’ve been looking forward to each next episode with less energy, and more of a sense of panic. I feel like I’ve said everything I can say about the fetid cesspool that is the sci-fi/fantasy scene. Everyone who called us nazis over the squeecore episode has gone on to defend a prominent sci-fi magazine’s acceptance of a short story by an actual neo-nazi. Everyone who called us predators for making fun of fanfiction is currently defending–or at least trying very hard not to talk about–Neil Gaiman. The machine chugs on as it ever did, the same old bullshit and the same old problems and the same old people and the same old excuses. It’s like a Cybertruck. There is no fixing it. Just make sure you’re too far away to catch any shrapnel when the thing finally explodes.
Lately, I’ve been focusing on writing a big beefy novel, and I’ve been publishing in the non-fiction realm, and that has been a breath of fresh air. It didn’t hit me how toxic SFF was until I worked outside of it with non-fiction editors at places like the New Haven Independent and Fangoria–established publications with a sense of professionalism. It has been wonderful, and I’m a lot happier for it.
Right now, I have a lot going on in my life–professionally, creatively, and personally. I have a lot of projects I’d like to work on. All of that work takes a lot of time and energy, and I find I have less and less to give to the podcast. Matt, our producer, has stepped up to take on the lion’s share of editing lately, and I really appreciate that–I could not have done this without him. But even with Matt’s immense work, I feel like I’m being pulled in too many directions at once.
Right now, I’m going through an exhausting but wonderful process of redefining myself. I’ve come to realize that I’ve spent too much of my life trying to live up to other people’s expectations of me–either trying to meet those expectations, or trying too hard to rebel against them. But really, the healthiest thing for me is to ignore them. That’s hard to do when you have to release content to a regular audience, especially when an online audience is shaped by algorithms, and performative social media clout-chasing, and all of the other weird facets of internet culture. And I’m not blaming our regular listeners for that. I appreciate your support, and I’m genuinely really happy that there are people who care about what I have to say. But I’m going through a lot right now, and it’s something I’d prefer to handle privately.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our podcast these past few years. We hope we’ve inspired and energized you. We hope we’ve sparked a conversation and made it safer for people to speak their minds. We hope we’ve played some role in changing things, at least a little. And we hope those of you listening will keep the ball rolling.
Thank you for supporting us. Now and forever, keep writing good.
About Rite Gud: R. S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
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