The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

In this week's show, I talk to my friend, the philosopher Bruce Janz, about how to calm our monkey brains in the time of the pandemic, and what the pandemic can teach us about life before the pandemic.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Learn more about Queerbomb over at its Facebook page.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this week's show, I talk to my friend, the historian Scott Hoffman, about the evolution of Purdue's Outfest, Chicago Pride, Austin Pride, Queerbomb, Orlando pride, respectability politics, and other matters of interest.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Photo by David Whitaker.

In this week's show, I talk to novelist Ronan Ryan about the dramatic uses of gallows humor, how loss teaches us about our priorities, how elusive reality is, and how to match style to story.

This week, my intern, Alexander Pate, and I discuss the Salisbury, NC protests that he has participated in, and discuss this point in history.

Heavy activity around a confederate statue with an angel.[/caption]

Episode 422 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that's your thing).

This week, Michael Merriam and I discuss the 2010 cult film, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and in this conversation we address the classic structure of film; the importance of the perfect flaw for a protagonist and antagonist; Joseph Campbell (naturally); the Bible; why Reality Bites bites; video games and the psychological logic of true boss fights; the abundance of super hero actors in this film; comic book adaptations; tropes in anime; and how comedies can house tales with deeply serious content, for those who can look past the jokes.

This week I talk with Disney historian Didier Ghez about the joys of research and forging one's own path as a historian.

This week I talk with comedian, actor, sourdough aficionado, and essay writer, Tom Papa!

TEXTS DISCUSSED

On this week's show, I speak with Mike Onorato, Vice President of Publicity at Smith Publicity, about how publicity works behind the scenes for writers, and how COVID-19 is affecting the books business.

Vanessa Blakeslee and I discuss the classic of comparative mythology, Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. While this is a work of scholarship not directly intended for creative writers, its lessons are of immense value to anyone writing adventure, fantasy, or science fiction. We reference Star Wars, The Matrix, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Bible, and Pinocchio, among other works, and mention the trials of academic discourse that are meant to be confused with the belly of the beast.