Why Is This Good?

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 fictional world? […]

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 inevitable? 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 “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? How can 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 “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 develop 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 “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 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 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? How […]