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 “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. What can we learn from this classic of speculative fiction? How does its cartoonishness impact its humanity? How important is it for fiction […]

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 Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu. What can we learn from this fanciful story? How does language help create the mood of the […]

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 Man Who Lost the Sea” by Theodore Sturgeon. What can we learn from this dreamlike science fiction story? How versatile and variable is point of view? 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 “And of Clay Are We Created” by Isabel Allende. What can we learn from this story based on real events? How does point of view help define the […]

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 “Spring in Fialta” by Vladimir Nabokov. What can we learn from Nabokov and his ability to capture moments? How can detailed moments build up a story? How can […]

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 Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu. What can we learn from this affecting story with a touch of magic to it? How can we use a bit 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 “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” by Tadeusz Borowski. What can we learn from this devastating account of prisoners at Auschwitz? How can a stark, simple […]

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 “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood. What can we learn from this playful bit of metafiction? How can we be playful and experimental when writing a story? How can […]

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 Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. What can we learn from this classic horror story? How much is needed to create the main effect of the […]

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 Eat Chicken Wings” by Kristen Arnett. What can we learn from this fun little piece? Are chicken wings a metaphor? Can a metaphor change through a […]

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 Frog Prince” by Robert Coover. What can we learn from this retelling of a classic fairy-tale trope? Should we take a story like this literally? What does […]

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 “Milkwishes” by Kristen Roupenian. What can we learn from this story that happens so much in the character’s thoughts? How can memories be the main focus of a […]

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 “Redemption” by John Gardner. What can we learn from this story based on true events from the author’s childhood? How important is it that depictions feel real? 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 “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri. What can we learn from this story with such a simple premise? How can memory inform a story? How does memory differ […]

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 Worshipful Society of Glovers” by Mary Robinette Kowal. What can we learn from this historical fantasy story? Do fantasy stories have a steep learning curve? How can […]

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 “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. What can we learn from this classic, straightforward story? How can immediacy drive a story? How can the story’s setting be […]

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 our one-hundredth episode, we discuss “The Lady with the Pet Dog” by Joyce Carol Oates. What can we learn from this retelling of Anton Chekhov’s story “The Lady with the Little Dog”? […]

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 “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl. What can we learn from this classic story? How versatile can a story’s point of view be? How can subtle shifts […]

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 Father” by Raymond Carver. What can we learn from this very short story? How much needs to be explained? How do we know where to end a […]

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 “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. What can we learn from this classic science-fiction story? What happens when a story is driven by plot over character? How does […]

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 “Incarnations of Burned Children” by David Foster Wallace. What can we learn from this work of flash fiction by a master writer? Does it matter what “really” happens […]

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 “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning” by Haruki Murakami. What can we learn from this simple tale? How can a story be driven by […]

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 Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Ernest Hemingway. What can we learn from a Hemingway story? How can we depict a character who isn’t experiencing reality as it really […]

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 “Dinosaur” by Bruce Holland Rogers. What can we learn from a 300-word piece of flash fiction? How does a story so short manage to depict an entire lifetime? […]

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 Venus Effect” by Violet Allen. What can we learn from this work of metafiction? How can metafictional elements help a story accomplish its effects? What function can […]