In this episode we dive into the fabulous 2016 film Arrival; directed by Denis Villenueve and based on a short story by Ted Chiang. In this episode we discuss the contextual nature of language, seeing the big picture, education and learning, fractal reality, the importance of failure, the importance of excellence, foresight, choosing the hard path, and having an existential meta awareness of death all the time. I am stoked because, for the first time in three years, David is back on the show! Thanks for listening!

Big thanks to Graham King for joining me on episode 90!

In this episode we chat about the great film Boogie Nights (1997) by Paul Thomas Anderson. In this episode we wrangle with notions of:

• The essence of Faustian bargain being that you don't even ask for what you really want, and the isolation that comes with not knowing what you want
• The importance of apologies
• Exploitation
• The desire to make something good
• The state of film and quality films
• Stigma
• Plucking knowledge and art from the teeth of taboo and custom
• Surrogate parental instincts
• Flattery from insecurity
• Great films giving homage to other great films
• The mindblowing cinema that is Boogie Nights

Additional Spoiler: Magnolia - 8:20

Thank you everyone for listening to the show. Please feel free to leave a rating and review!

Welcome to a bonus episode of Really True Fiction. Those with a keen eye will have noticed that our last two episodes were on 1984 and Brave New World. So, for a bonus, Dan and I do a bit of a compare and contrast between them; seeing as they are both very famous and of a similar ouevre. In this bonus episode we talk about:

1984 being a better novel, sociopathic vs. beaurocratic evil, what is a more realistic villainy, the ennui of BNW, 1984 as a society that has actually been achieved in history, media/art/culture portrayals as more accurate in BNW, 1984 as more insightful on the manipulation of language, the different takes on hedonism, speaking as indecipherable from thinking, blasphemy, and which world we find more bleak.

Thanks for listening to this mini-adventure into classic dystopia!

Welcome to part two of our double bill on famous dystopia! In this episode Dan Holder and I delve into the 1931 novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. While disecting Huxley's vision of a dys(u?)topia, we chat about:

• How this should've been an essay
• Is this even dystopia?
• Boring mantra and cliches; and how they are the death of thought
• The passing of fads vs art
• Hedonistic "happiness"
• Ignorance of what you might want
• Biological manipulation
• Side effects of technology
• External vs Internal reasons for doing things
• Chestertons fence
• Scientific "arrogance"
• The ego when it is asked to elaborate on a conviction
• Disagreeability in thinkers

There is also spoilers for the movie Gattica at 40:05.

This episode was a blast, talk soon!

In this episode my friend Dan Holder and I dive into maybe the most referenced/least read book ever: 1984. In this episode we chat about Orwell's favourite pub, paying attention to the little things in life and how thought crime makes us lose those things, how Winston is attracted to all the little things that will get him in trouble with the Party, post truth and how word manipulation unmoors us from ourselves, how Totalitarianism gets right to the deepest part of being human, class structure, joining in on a mass feeling, and how the mind must be destroyed and re-made for true tyranny to take hold.

This was a lot of fun, I hope you enjoy it!

Finally, we made it. I was very grateful to once again be joined by Dan Holder, Lydia Rollinson and Graham King to finish off the Harry Potter books. In this last instalment of the series we talk about:

Students becoming more excellent than their teachers, changing your opinion of someone because they can change, believing in the cause, accepting help from others, leaving your safe havens for the bigger world, not hurting those who don't deserve it, being an inspiring figure, how emotions can blind you to other things that are going on, Voldemort's downfall being Harry's strengths, how tyranny is bad for everyone, upper party is the only beneficiary, opportunities costs when people of talent work on propaganda, how the journey can have sucky parts, getting the better of your low moments, feeling hurt and despair, Promethean vs. Hero, what it feels like when your crush isn't into you, deciding the right thing to do, kindness as compound interest, and seeing old friends.

Thank you to everyone who listens to this episode, this series, and this podcast. What a trip to Hogwarts it has been. See you at the next episode!

Welcome to the first foursome for Really True Fiction! A big thanks to Dan, Lydia and Graham for joining me to chat about the (best?) sixth Harry Potter book. In our conversation we cover such ground as:

Relationships as status vs feeling, the monster in the chest, Ginny's subtle art of not giving a fuck, being blinded by bias, humanized villains, evil downstream of fear, what happens when you refuse a tyrant, Malfoy starting in pride, standing up to optics and propaganda, scapegoating, solving problems as the actual best form of PR, navigating popularity, navigating management, Dumbledore's patience, and how women might not get along.

Thanks again for listening!

Jump on the Hogwart's Express! We are going to back school!

I'm very pleased to be joined by Dan Holder (who joined me on the Master and Commander episode) and Lydia Rollinson to talk about the fifth Harry Potter book. It was a total blast to have two Brits on to talk about a very British, as well as very archetypal, story.

Talking about Order of the Phoenix we discuss the clash between Harry Potter and Evangelical Christianity in the 90s, avoiding hard problems, anxiety in regards to bureaucracies, Harry's blindspots, what it would be like to see your memories like a movie, adopting multiple perspectives, paternal/maternalism, moral philosophy, adults apologizing to children and many more topics. Thanks so much for listening to Really True Fiction!

Additional spoilers:

The Farewell - 1:21:20