Stories Are Soul Food Canon Press

Nate and Brian invite Forrest Dickison on to make sure he takes first place as SASF'S Most Invited Guest. But really they want to discuss Forrest's debut picture book, Crispin's Rainy Day, a story about a boy who wants to join a crew of pirate frogs -- but only if he can escape from his little sister first. The book is a perfect chocolate chip story with stunning illustrations -- meant to be enjoyed as a family -- but it has a contentious depiction of gender roles reflected in the relationship between Crispin and his sister Rose. "Contentious" means "traditional" in this case -- Rose wields delicious slices of cake and is completely uninterested in swords. The discussion of the heroic feminine leads naturally into a discussion of Miyazaki's latest feature film, The Boy and the Heron, with some amazing female characters of its own and bold narrative choices (man-eating parakeets, anyone?). Forrest calls it a masterpiece; Brian wanted it to be better. You'll have to listen to the episode to find out what Nate thought. If you're an NC Wyeth fan, you'll also get some recognition in this episode. Visit crispinsrainyday.com for more.

How do we, the members of a rotting democracy, read the story of the botched assassination of President Trump? God put a few more minutes back on the clock when DT turned his head to look at that immigration chart. Not only did we get a key character moment from Trump -- courage after being shot cannot be faked -- but we also got even bigger helpings of legacy news spin cycles flailing and bureaucratic incompetence. There have been at least three other assassination attempts in a millennial's lifetime (Reagan, Bush grenade, Clinton Cessna), but this is the first one to happen in an age of social media. And the photo op alone has tanked Democrat plans for the DNC. Also, we never would have gotten that moment with a competent Secret Service (or a male Secret Service agent). Nate tells us when to admit that you'll never know the complete truth (and why that's okay), and how to avoid becoming a Trump Apostle while still praying fervently that he'll win (Nate makes his claims about the election this November into the camera). Brian asks about the Deep State and Good Paranoia, and Nate wants our country to turn its attention to the Deepest State: public schools. But what the guys want you to take away from this episode is how to read this moment as a Christian -- Trump is AN answer, but the not THE answer. And you need to turn your attention back to the task that matters right now: build build build.

This week Brian has abandoned Nate to attend the birth of his daughter, so Nate strikes back by having two of his own daughters on the pod instead. The discussion begins with what books the girls, Lucy and Ameera, are reading, and why Lucy hates detective novels and green food.  Lucy is moved to love, though, when the trope of "unsung heroes" is introduced.  Nate pursues this line, getting his daughters to articulate exactly why praise-less sacrifice is such a stirring concept.  Frodo finally gets the love that he has been missing both from the hobbits of the shire and the audience of the Peter Jackson's movies.  This episode touches down on all sorts of authors, ranging from the obligatory Tolkien (All Hail!) to Terry Pratchett to Jane Austen, Agatha Christy, and (who else?) C.S. Lewis.  It wouldn't be a SASF episode though if Nate didn't sneak in some comments at the end about behaving like the kind of character you want to be and ...  which episode number are we on anyway?


















 
















 

Today's Stories Are Soul Food episode covers two new dystopian tales, a book and a show. The book is Leif Enger's "I Cheerfully Refuse", which Brian cheerfully despised for Leif's overly luminous characters and bass-playing giant protagonist. The show is Amazon Prime's "Fallout," which Nate skipped his way through, watching the innocence of the virginal protagonist be stripped from her episode by episode through violence, immorality, and (apparently) cannibalism. Nate talks about how the show's potential was ruined because the director, Jonathan Nolan, had only one trick: take innocence and corrupt it. Beyond that, the show never gets beyond the video game logic which bounds it. Brian asks why the destruction of the innocent seems to be the theme of most postapocalyptic fiction, and the guys talk their way through Margaret Atwood, The Road, Mad Max, and other tales of scientific dystopia. Why do we love such stories? Brian answers that it's because our lives are so easy. Listen to the episode to see if Nate agrees...

#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Books #Movies #NDWilson #JonathanNolan #Fallout #AmazonPrime #ICheerfullyRefuse #LeifEnger #DystopianSciFi #Postapocalypse  #Innocence

If you're a crippled Eskimo girl, would the best story you could ever read have a crippled Eskimo girl as the hero? Many book publishers and movie studios today would say YES. (The part they don't say is that the only reason they don't make more movies about Eskimos on crutches is because that demographic doesn't sell enough tickets.) Another way to ask this question: Do stories appeal because the main character represents you? Or do they appeal because you connect with the main character? Here's the takeaway: Representation is pointless; connection is the holy grail of storytelling. And the confusion of "representation" and "connection" is behind much of our worst woke storytelling today. Nate doesn't connect with a "father of five" on screen  because he himself feels represented as a father of five -- there needs to be some human connection, some shared feeling or experience, if you want a character to resonate with the audience. The SASF guys discuss the difference between, say, the generic heroine of Princess Diaries versus Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. And then they get into a discussion of character archetypes, and how, in storytelling as in a restaurant, you can have all the ingredients of a great burger and still end up with a terrible burger. You also get to hear Nate hate on Shakespeare's tragedies while Brian tries to defend them, and hear which Shakespeare play Nate has adapted into a high-school rom-com.

#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Books #Movies #NDWilson #Shakespeare #PrincessDiaries #wokestorytelling

Nate talks about his ability to sense changes in the weather, and proceeds to roast Brian for his opinions on prologues. But that's not the occasion for this wandering episode: If you're a regular SASF listener, you'll know that the guys are big proponents of filtering films for family movie night (they recommend ClearPlay and VidAngel both). But what about books? When do books cross the line, and what should you do about it? Brian and Nate discuss this question. They kick things off, though, with a discussion on prologues -- turns out Brian hates them and Nate has written them, so stay tuned for the drama.

#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Filters #Books #Movies #NDWilson #prologues