Stories Are Soul Food

This episode starts with a discussion of woke adaptations and ends with a discussion of the unavoidability of fiction in shaping your life. Would Nate be fine with having "woke" elements in a major adaptation of his films? His answer might surprise you. You'll hear war stories about ancestor worship in Hello Ninja (the show), the importance of a team with different strengths, and more war stories from the movie industry. Then they turn their attention to a claim from a pastor that "No work of fiction should ever change our worldview. As a Christian, my worldview is shaped by Scripture alone." Turns out, the Bible is full of stories, and (cue the Grey Havens opening music) -- STORIES ARE SOUL FOOD. How you handle the stories of the Bible will determine how you handle your own life stories. Try to get away from modernist thinking and start thinking like Solomon: add instead of remove. The episode ends with a strong endorsement of a life of imagination.#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #HelloNinja #Netflix #imagination #metaphors #ScriptureAlone #WorldviewOfStories

Would you say Shawshank Redemption is "a movie with a happy ending"? Years ago as a young husband, that's what Brian picked to watch when his wife made a request for just such a film with a happy ending. (Spoiler: Shawshank Redemption was not the kind of movie she had meant.) For this momentous 145th episode, and the first ever LAMPC pick WITH CLIPS FROM THE MOVIE INCLUDED IN THE EPISODE (go watch it on Canon+, people), the guys discuss a movie this film that was a box-office failure upon release, and has since climbed into the upper echelons of film conversations. Brian asks Nate about its popular appeal. Nate surmises why it flopped upon release, and makes suggestions for improving that release (if given a time machine). Brian fails at describing Andy Dufresne's character flaw. Nate avoids talking about Stephen King, who wrote the original story. They discuss how Christians interpret movies wrong (Andy giving the 12 prisoners beer on the roof is the Last Supper) and how atheists do the same thing (Zihuatanejo is a Nietzschean paradise beyond guilt and innocence!).  Enjoy! #LAMPC #LookAtMovingPicturesClub #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #ShawshankRedemption

Prepare yourself for the Dune-versation! (Sorry.) The guys liked Dune 2 and Denis Villeneuve proved that he "got" what made Dune great. But of course, the fun of a movie discussion is often in what you hate: Brian really disliked pouty Zendaya and the northern "modernist" Fremen. But Nate says there was nothing wrong with Chani's character that couldn't be fixed (and in fact, an amazing character might exist on the cutting room floor). If only Paul had chosen to implicate Chani in his decision to become Lisan al-Gaib, instead of relying on the deus ex machina of her saving him! They discuss scenes that were great (opening scene), scenes that fell flat (Feyd Ratha fight), prophecies, and everything in between (Frank Herbert's obsession with peyote and Lawrence of Arabia). The guys also announce the next LAMPC (Shawshank Redemption), how the Boys in a Boat movie was fine on its own but really disappointing if you had read the book, and how we live in a place where airplanes have their wheels fall off mid-flight. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Dune #Dune2 #Zendaya #Chani #FrankHerbert #LisanAlGaib #Stilgar

In this episode you'll get to hear Nate sing (!) the unofficial English national anthem "Jerusalem"... but there's lots more: In England 1924, the sport of "sprinting" is in tension between faith and secularism, amateurism and the pros, and the nation versus world. Chariots of Fire is a tale of two athletes making their mark in this moment, and the SASF guys discuss this classic sports film. First thing to note is that Eric Liddell is actually not fulfilling the role of the protagonist in this story. It's Harold Abrahams's character arc that resolves -- putting Liddell in the role of "side" character. Second thing to note is that Harold's conversion is what allows his character to resolve -- although Brian brings up a rabbit who views Harold as a villain for just that reason. The guys discuss the iconic music, adaptations that aren't strictly accurate, Scipio Africanus Mussabini, what an emotionally sabotaging villain Eric Liddell's sister was and how he didn't respond to her correctly, Eric's faithfulness up to his death in a Japanese internment camp, and much more. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #LAMPC #LookAtMovingPicturesClub #ChariotsOfFire #EricLiddell #HaroldAbrahams #England #Blake

As regular listeners know, Nate is a high school basketball coach, and for the first half of this episode he updates the SASF crowd with all travail his team has gone through -- the worst having to do with lies being told about his guys. This leads to valuable lessons for these young men, and has amply demonstrated their theme for the season, which Nate has taken from Romans 5: Hardship is not glory in itself, but great glory only comes through hardship. After this the guys move on to a discussion of comedy. Brian suggests Nate doesn't use humor in his fiction-- Nate is very displeased. An enjoyable discussion follows as the guys move on to critiquing Marvel. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Comedy #Basketball #Coaching

Did you think we were dead? Brian apologizes for the long break between episodes and Nate does not. They then open the new year with a banger about being boring. Let's face it... most of us don't live what could be called "interesting" lives. We don't travel extensively, kill and then circumcise dead Philistines, explore new continents, build spaceships -- and yet, perhaps the most commonly given piece of SASF advice is BE AN INTERESTING CHARACTER. Are we all failing to live like King David, like Cyrus Smith, like Huck Finn? The answer is actually yes. The guys dig into the discussion of what it means to be interesting. And it starts with being interested. #MostInterestingManintheWorld #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Characters #Fiction #parenting #insects #RiotAndtheDance

What should parents do if their six-year-old son wants to dress up like one of the most murderous bad guys, Darth Vader? It's fine -- and the key lies in a weakness in the story itself: Luke is a vanilla protagonist (at least until he gets his own robot hand). 2D good guys aren't inspiring to your kids? Why should they be? That's most often a problem with the story itself...because, after all, stories are soul food. The bigger issue would be if you had a son who wasn't at all interested in swinging a light saber and saying "koooh-prrrrh." Of course, there are some checks and balances to this process, especially as your kids get older. You'll hear plenty more on this topic as the guys spend a pleasant hour not discussing Les Mis. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #DarthVader #StarWars #MerryChristmas #NDWilson #PaintItBlack #vanilla #2DCharacters

Brian reads the hate-mail after SASF fired a few shots at Les Miserables. For some reason, Les Mis has become untouchable: one guy wrote that critics like Brian and Nate "will miss God's grace, for they do not have the capacity to receive it." Always willing to hear criticism themselves, the SASF guys take the opportunity to dive into Les Mis on a much deeper level, and eviscerate it in its own words. Not to overstate things, but Les Mis is teaching you to rely solely on your emotions. The vehicle for it is a heart-forward story, full of sentimental schlock and holy victimhood, and you need to inoculate yourself against its appeal. Only then can you enjoy the parts that are catchy and enjoyable (the songs, Valjean's forgiveness).  After all, it's okay for you to enjoy things... once you can see where they're messing with you. The guys also perform a SASF emergency surgery on Les Miserables to determine what changes could make it good -- and they settle on Valjean being actively on the side of the government's troops. Imagine what could have been... #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #LesMiserables #InoculationStation #MerryChristmas #NDWilson #VictorHugo #LesMis #hatemail #LesMisIsLying

As longtime fans may remember, it's a Christmas tradition here at the SASF headquarters to take the worst Bible Stories and turn them into Christmas fodder... because that's what they are: they are the dark before the Light came down at Bethlehem two thousand and twenty-seven years ago. Today Nate chooses the tragedy of Onan and weaves it into the Advent story. We hope this SASF episode will help you read the Old Testament better. Merry Christmas! #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Onan #DarkChristmasStories #MerryChristmas #TheLightCameDown #MessianicLine

Christmas is coming, so as a gift Brian lights the fuse and Nate destroys Dickens and Les Miserables. But first, the guys discuss whether “It’s a Wonderful Life” mishandles George Bailey’s depression -- does the movie pat him on the back and tell him what a good boy he is, when it should be handling his sin more roughly? (The answer is the movie handled it well). However, to be fair, Nate then sets off on a tirade against the more saccharine elements of the movie, which leads into a natural discussion of Charles Dickens’ strengths and weaknesses from “Tale of Two Cities” to “David Copperfield” and “A Christmas Carol.” Turns out, despite his characters, his work is mostly weaknesses -- could Brian edit them to be better in a editions titled “Dickens But Good” (trademark?). The guys review the truism that Tiny Tim is a really odious character, and then move on to Victor Hugo, concluding this fantastic Advent episode with a demolition of Les Miserables the musical, including its approach to justice and sacrifice, its deification of victims, and its catchiness. If Stories Are Soul Food podcast had to diagnose the disease that most evangelicals have, SASF would say they’re sick with the idea that victimhood is holy.#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #LesMiserable #ItsAWonderfulLife #CharlesDickens #AChristmasCarol #TaleOfTwoCities #DavidCopperfield #LesMiserables #VictorHugo #MerryChristmas

Were you, like Nate and Brian, somewhat scarred by Watership Down -- and loved it because of that fact? Stories Are Soul Food welcomes on Joe Sutphin, the illustrator whose stellar pen & ink drawings you might recognize from Little Pilgrim's Progress, Word of Mouse, and the Wingfeather Saga. Joe's neverending project for the past five years, though, has been a full-length graphic novel adaptation of Watership Down, Richard Adams' fantastic rabbit epic. With Watership Down, Joe went crazy with all the colors of the English downs -- and turns out, that's a lot of green, plus a gazillion gnats (and a huge team to help him). The guys discuss what makes Watership Down a classic, what Joe is doing next, how to avoid burnout as an illustrator, and much more. Plus, a special offer: If you want to order a copy of Watership Down for Christmas, you can now get an exclusive limited SASF edition: Each copy ordered from Canon Press will come with an exclusive Stories Are Soul Food bookplate signed by the illustrator himself. Limited to 200 only, so order now. https://canonpress.com/products/water...

The guys open this episode with a brutal question: how do you deal with a family member who claims they're trans? The discussion wends its way into how to love that family member, and how to protect your own family at the same time. And that doesn't involved being "nice" to sin. The bulk of the episode is about sports -- specifically girls in sports, and that noisy redpilled group who think girls shouldn't play any (to be clear, this is dumb). Brian also pushes Nate on the so-called tension between academics and physical education, and Herodotus's truism that soft lands breed soft men. Nate makes the controversial claim that he learned more on the field than in the classroom. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Herodotus #GirlsSports #Coaching

The nice part about living in Moscow, ID is that you get pickled in conflict, meaning you start to become immune to troubles that stress other people out. And it's key that you teach your kids to be comfortable being different -- and being seen as disagreeable. A great way to do that is through -- cue the Gray Havens theme music -- stooooooooories (they are soul food, after all). Brian corners Nate for a discussion of some key stories for parenting: when do you decide to work with someone you disagree with, and when do you decide to throw down? As a Protestant, how do you work with Romanists -- and vice versa? The guys discuss misbehaving in college -- Nate has been thrown out of three classrooms and the stories are juicy.  They also discuss the dangers of being fearful parents, and the dangers of presumptive parents. An all-around great episode. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #NDWilson #MoscowID #Conflict #College

Have you ever thought about how difficult it would be to make a movie about child trafficking that anybody would watch? Alejandro Monteverde, director of the hit indie film "Sound of Freedom," thought of little else for the past five years as he searched for the right partners. The SASF guys talk with Alejandro to hear how -- far beyond the $20 million-dollar movie he hoped it would be -- "Sound of Freedom" because a summer blockbuster, now on track for $300 million. They also get Monteverde's explanation of how he made Light a character in a dark movie, how he fought to make it "feel" like theater instead of reality, how he went through four composers before he found one who could make Sound a character too, how a "divine moment" made the end of the movie perfect, and much more. You'll also get a sneak peek at the director magic behind Monteverde's upcoming new film, Cabrini (2024), how reflections become a symbol for immigrants, and the tension between a director's artistic ego and the project itself. #SoundofFreedom #Monteverde #Cabrini #SASF #storiesaresoulfood #NDWilson #AlejandroMonteverde #BrianKohl

A dozen years ago, Nate had lunch, in Jerusalem, with a Palestinian, an Arab, and an Israeli. The three locals all agreed that Israel wouldn't exist in ten years as a nation state -- and the Palestinian said it was because he wanted every f-ing Israeli to die. Tune in to hear the rest of the story as the SASF guys discuss this bleak development in current world history, as well as the US's part in it and a brief foray into the role of empire. In typical SASF style, the guys blend two disparate topics: after the discussion of Hamas's murder of innocents, they affix a discussion of why the original Star Wars trilogy worked so well -- and almost everything in the franchise afterwards hasn't. #Israel #Hamas #Palestine #StarWars #GeorgeLucas #antisemitism #Jerusalem

The weather is turning, you're too happy it's fall, you want to read about the world falling apart -- it's DYSTOPIA TIME! The guys counter the autumnal desire for falling leaves and scented candles with a discussion of the wintry novel "Forbidden Child," a brand-new adventure story by Gwen Newell. Gwen comes on the show to discuss the years of writing and editing that finally resulted in this exciting new story: "Forbidden Child" takes place aboard the last piece of America in a flooded world, which is a huge cruise liner called "The Mothership" ruled with the loving, iron hand of the Godmother. The novel follows 13-year-old Piper Pascal, one of the Godmother's most dedicated child spies, who accidentally finds the most illegal thing in the world: a baby. Once she finds this "illegal organism," Piper has to decide whether to turn the baby or try to hide it aboard the ship.  non-stop action story ensues. Also in this episode: Nate and Brian get into a pitched battle over the difference between post-apocalyptic sci-fi and dystopian sci-fi. Brian declares victory. Gwen also talks about how much her research into North Korea and Stalinist Russia influenced this cheerful tale (just the right amount). Pre-order Gwen's new book at canonballbooks.com to get free shipping. #ForbiddenChild #NDWilson #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #GwenNewell #dystopia #postapocalypse #scifi      

Secular media is enthralled with exvangelicals... those former evangelicals who post some variation of "I've just been asking a lot of questions lately, and I've realized that organized religion doesn't have all the answers." Of course, turns out that "unanswered question" is usually the Problem of Evil... and every last Christian has had to answer the P.O.E. since the time of Adam. But investigating apostasy is helpful for other reasons as well, and Brian asks Nate about the storylines for such characters -- Jon Ward, Joshua Harris, Derek Webb, Glennon Doyle, and others being recent tragic examples. Turns out evil does not present a logical problem for Christians -- but it does present an emotional one. And the truth is, when you're clinging to sin, no matter how large, you've only got two choices: drop it and come to Jesus, or clutch it tight and try to remove your tender conscience from the Holy Spirit. And that's the exvangelical problem in a nutshell. #StoriesAreSoulFood #SASF #NDWilson #Exvangelicals #Evangelicals #Christians #ProblemOfEvil #POE #apostasy #repentandbelieve #JesusChrist #JoshuaHarris #DerekWebb #EnlightenMe #RachelMartin #JonWard #GlennonDoyle

Is it a bad thing to be a black sheep? The answer used to be yes (a horde of shrieking Disney movies to the contrary). But after the 2020 shutdowns, our world has gone mad, and the SASF guys think every kid needs to learn how to be a black sheep. What does that look like? Be a sheep who's out of step with the status quo; willing to joyfully devote your life to working, worshipping, and having a family, no matter how many people say boo. To further this goal, the SASF pod welcomes illustrator Forrest Dickison, who just finished drawing your kids' new favorite character, Blah Blah Black Sheep. Blah Blah is a lamb who can't baa (he "blaaahs" instead), and the rest of the flock does not appreciate his boundless energy, curiosity, and desire to fight. Will Blah Blah's aunts realize too late that SOMEBODY needs to able to fight coyotes? (Blah Blah Black Sheep releases this October in a new rhyming children's book written by N.D. Wilson and published by Canonball Books). The Stories Are Soul Food podcast wants kids to distinguish between the "Rebels Without a Cause" and the healthy, happy black sheep -- because the world needs more of the real kind. You also get to add the phrase "Chestertonian Outlaw" to your vocabulary, and hear a discussion of Starlink, Papua New Guinea, and Forrest being an insufferable artist (it's his job). Stock up on the Blah Blah preorder special at blahblahkids.com. #StoriesAreSoulFood #SASF #NDWilson #ForrestDickison #BlahBlahBlackSheep #BlahBlah #BeABlackSheep #BlackSheep #CanonballBooks

What happens when an audience doesn't "get it"? That's ultimately the director's fault. Nate argues there are two kinds of directors: the ones who care what the audience thinks, and the ones who put the art of a pedestal and don't. Spielberg's an example of the first, and Nolan's an example of the second. This is true for authors as well, mutatis mutandis.  But Brian pushes back a bit, as the SASF pod has been known to tell critics they don't get it and it's THEIR fault. Brian asks Nate how he thinks through people who didn't "get" his nonfiction books -- when its their fault, when it isn't, and when it doesn't matter if they get it (sorry, boomers -- Notes from the Tilt-a-whirl wasn't written for you). #StoriesAreSoulFood #SASF#NotesfromtheTilt #DeathbyLiving #NDWilson #ChristopherNolan #Spielberg

The key moment from this podcast is when Brian investigates a short story idea of Nate's with a provocative title (Heather would prefer it not to be written). This is all in the context of discussing Flannery O'Connor's "dark grace." It turns out the guys have never discussed short stories, so prepare for an extravaganza on O'Connor, Hemingway, O. Henry, and more. A key question is "why are short stories dead as a genre?" They also get into specifics about how the best short fabulists write, which short stories could make feature films, and some key moments in favorite O'Connor stories -- and why her novels are poor. Also, Nate puts down a rumor that he would name "The Chestnut King" "The Conker King" were he British. #StoriesAreSoulFood #SASF #FlanneryOConnor #darkgrace #OConnor #shortstories #Hemingway #NDWilson