Why Is This Good?

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Two Words” by Isabel Allende, originally “Dos Palabras”. What can we learn from this story translated from Spanish? How can we use our writing eye in descriptions? How […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Piano Teacher’s Pupil” by William Trevor. What can we learn from this short, well-crafted story? How can backstory help build the present moment? How can we establish […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin. What can we learn from another great story from a master of speculative fiction? How can we portray unusual experiences that […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury. What can we learn from this story of dangerous technology? How can a mystery drive a story? How can a future-looking story remain […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “How to Be an Other Woman” by Lorrie Moore. (Read First Section and Second Section.) What can we learn from this mock self-help instructional story? How are emotional […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson. What can we learn from this psychological thriller? How can anxiety drive a story? How can the prose and details create and […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What can we learn from this story? How can fiction subtly reveal character motives? How can we use a slippery point of […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Martyr” by Mary Gordon. What can we learn from this story of a character trying to remember and understand their brother? How does foreshadowing structure the unfolding […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Visit of Charity” by Eudora Welty. What can we learn from this story about lonely people? How can distinct characters help develop a theme from several directions? […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick. What can we learn from this classic work of science fiction? How can a story keep redefining […]