Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

Check out Cam's latest novel / audio drama here!

Our first Stark reunion is as fleeting as it is fruitful. Maggie chases the spoken and unspoken fear permeating this chapter, while Cam explores the uneasy comparisons between Robb's fledgling campaign and Robert Baratheon's legendary rebellion in the wake of the king's death and Ned's imprisonment.

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A behind-the-scenes exploration of Cam's latest audio drama / novel, Lemon Tarts in Space! In this interview, Maggie interviews Cam about the intricate mechanics of producing an audio drama, from finding the perfect take of each line to developing your instincts as an editor and the overwhelming, delicate work of volume leveling. This is the most daunting step of the creative process, where you have to find all the needles in the haystack and reassemble your initial vision inside someone else's ears.

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Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

00:00 Introduction: Post-Production

01:15 Mechanics & Mistakes

08:47 Part of the Creative Process

10:48 Finding the Final Draft

17:03 Trusting Your Instincts

18:31 Foley Work as Subtext

21:46 Fiction From Scratch

23:54 Recurring Problems

26:43 Endless Experimentation

28:14 Authenticity vs. Accuracy

30:51 Exit Interview

34:29 Closing Thoughts

Check out Cam's latest novel / audio drama here!

This is the episode we've been waiting to do since the very beginning of Second Breakfast. The Witch is our favorite film of all time, and today we're going to dig deep and find out why. Spoiler alert: it's a magical medley of the power of suggestion, curveball slasher structure, mutually assured destruction, and a beautifully binary / reversible theology.

Come for the cavalcade of theological grindstones, fresh observations, and echoes from throughout Robert Eggers' legendary filmography, stay for Maggie's absolutely blockbuster theory about the shattering of the ten commandments. And yes, there's a little Doctor Faustus thrown in for good measure, alongside some rumination on The Godfather and The Exorcist.

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Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

Woohoo! Cam's latest novel / audio drama (Lemon Tarts in Space!) is available right now, right here!

This is the first Targaryen checkpoint that looks to the past as much as it previews the future. Maggie tracks the theme of cross-pollination to find some surprising parallels between Dany and Sansa, and resolves her running theory of childhood and children's perspectives. Cam follows the narrowing of scope in this chapter and the broadening of sigils to become almost allegorical – Dany is starting to act like a dragon. We consider the explicit imagery of nostalgic wine being poisoned in terms of homecomings, scattered futures, and denied destinies.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

A behind-the-scenes exploration of Cam's latest audio drama / novel, Lemon Tarts in Space! In this interview, Maggie interviews Cam and Tristan about audio dramas, voice acting, foley work, and the act of directing.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

00:00 Introduction: Voice Actors

01:23 Casting Captain Arugula

04:42 Finding Duncan's Voice

08:35 Finding Frank's Voice

12:12 The Recording Process

20:24 Creative Evolution

25:14 Directing the Action

26:29 The Story Comes to Life

28:18 Doubling Decisions

30:14 Narrators as Characters

32:57 Theater Adjacent Acting

36:19 Finding the Problem's Voice

40:39 Closing Thoughts

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To prepare for Nosferatu, we're revisiting all of Robert Eggers' films. These are some of our favorite works of art of all time, so no pressure! We were lucky enough to see The Lighthouse in IMAX a few weeks ago, and it was a revelatory experience. Topics include: impressions five years later, Lovecraftian lust and homoerotic symbology, and a cascade of echoes leading us back through The Shining into Cam's beloved Doctor Faustus.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's stories

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

Woohoo! Cam's latest novel / audio drama (Lemon Tarts in Space!) is available right now, right here!

The breaking of the Stark fellowship has paid dividends for our discussions. This chapter is a thematic echo chamber of the last four chapters, and we're spotlighting eight of the most revealing echoes and distillations. After that, we'll zoom out to reconsider the impressionistic theology of Westeros and make a bold claim about the true god of this story.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

A behind-the-scenes exploration of Cam's latest audio drama / novel, Lemon Tarts in Space! In this interview, we break down the many wonders and miseries of the writing process.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

00:00 Introduction: Three Interviews

02:06 A Four Year Origin Story

08:39 A New / Old Genre

12:51 Light Science Fiction

17:43 Creative Limitations

23:34 The Writing Process

26:26 Musical Inspiration

30:03 Audio Drama Forever

37:15 Novelization & Adaptation

42:40 The Cancer Allegory

51:03 Art Imitates Life

56:54 Closing Thoughts

Get bonus episodes on Patreon!

The Shining is a Doctor Faustus retelling, but that's not the headline here. In this brand new theory, Cam argues that The Shining is a wholly unique restaging of Marlowe's original that expands the spotlight to not just focus on Jack Torrance as the current Faustus-analogue, but the legion of 'caretakers' that have come before him. In this framing, Mephisopheles stops being a singular character and instead expands to become the Overlook Hotel itself, a place for him to horde all of his ill-gotten souls.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's stories

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]

Woohoo! Cam's latest novel / audio drama (Lemon Tarts in Space!) is available right now, right here!

It's Episode 450, and the white walkers came back to celebrate. This action-packed chapter made us unusually reflective and contemplative. We're looking beyond the Wall only to find Dante's Purgatory looking back at us. The ranks of the narrative undead grow with every passing page. Arya, Benjen, Dany, and even the white walkers themselves have ascended into this messy and metaphysical realm. Cam thinks he's finally found the "moral of the story" (if there is one). Maggie examines the unexpected virtue of children's perspectives in an increasingly cruel world.

LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram

Feedback & Theories: [email protected]