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 Telephone Call” by Dorothy Parker. What can we learn from this intense interior monologue story? How does this nearly 100-year-old story still reflect mod…

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 Curtis Sittenfeld vs ChatGPT. What can we learn from this experiment in comparing a literary author with an AI-generated story? How would we critique the Cha…

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 Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado. What can we learn from this exploration of a familiar horror scenario? How can we expand on a common symbol in …

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 On this episode, we discuss “The Celestial Omnibus” by E. M. Forster (starts page 54). What can we learn from this literary version of a fairy-story? How does the story pit pedantry aga…

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 Complete” by Gabriel Smith. What can we learn from this story made up of semi-connected snippets? How can disconnected pieces of narrative connect with …

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 “Sour Milk Girls” by Erin Roberts. What can we learn from this story about damaged people? Can a story explore a broken character? How can we present backgro…

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 “An Outpost of Progress” by Joseph Conrad. What can we learn from this classic story? How can a story incorporate a “thesis statement”? Can we step back from…

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 Island of the Immortals” by Ursula K. Le Guin. What can we learn from this quick story that examines a philosophical question? How does perspective on t…

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 “Jeffty is Five” by Harlan Ellison. What can we learn from this nostalgic story? How does the ending wrap up the arc of the story? How can we tell which char…

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 “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner. What can we learn from this richly voiced story? How can we develop a stream-of-consciousness voice for 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 “Separating” by John Updike. What can we learn from this vivid and careful short story? Can we say anything about the voice of this story? How does 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 “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” by Isaac Asimov. What can we learn from this classic science fiction story? How can a single imagined technology inform a 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 Frog King” by Garth Greenwell. What can we learn from this quiet portrait of a human relationship? Is there conflict in this story? Does a story need [……

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 Destructors” by Graham Greene. What can we learn from this quick but complex story? How can group dynamics be quickly introduced in a story? How can 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 “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson. What can we learn from this deceptively simple story? What does it mean that a story’s ending should be surprising yet …

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 “Civil Peace” by Chinua Achebe. What can we learn from this own-voice story? How can a story use a refrain or leitmotif? How can a theme or exploration […]…

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 “Woman at Exhibition” by E. Lily Yu. What can we learn from this brief story? How can real-life, historical people be incorporated into speculative 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 “Car Crash While Hitchhiking” by Denis Johnson. What can we learn from this great little story? What is a writer’s “eye”? How does sentence structure help de…

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 “When Stars Collide” by Ottessa Moshfegh. What can we learn from this work of Flash Fiction? How do specific actions and details help define a character? 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 Dead” by James Joyce. What can we learn from the story T. S. Eliot called “one of the greatest short stories ever written”? What can we learn […]…

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 Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro. What can we learn from this story with an unexpected but inevitable ending? How does the structure function…

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 Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges. What can we learn from this work of Philosophical Fiction? How can a speculative story be built upon a philosoph…

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 “Drive My Car” by Haruki Murakami. What can we learn from this quietly contemplative story? What kind of structure can we find in a relatively structureless …

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 import…

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? Ho…

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,…

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 …

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 doe…

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 …

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 re…

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 c…

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…

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”…

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 …

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…

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 Curious Case of Benjamin Button” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What can we learn from this story built around the strange premise of aging in reverse? 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 “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor. What can we learn from this classic story from a great writer? How does its structure work? How are background an…