From Pulp Fiction to Literary Gems

Join host Rick Outzen in this literary edition of “(We Don’t) Color On the Dog” as he sits down with David Earle, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences and Humanities at UWF, for a fascinating deep dive into the world of pulp magazines. Discover how these cheap, disposable working-class publications from the 1890s-1950s became the unlikely birthplace of modern American genres—from hard-boiled detective fiction to science fiction.Earle reveals how authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler perfected the art of terse, snappy dialogue in magazines like Black Mask, creating the DNA for everything from film noir to Hemingway’s prose style. Learn about the urban tropes that defined American detective fiction, the surprising etymology of words like “gunsel,” and how Hollywood mined these publications for story ideas that would define cinema.The conversation traces a literary lineage from Tarzan and Doc Savage to The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep, showing how disposable entertainment evolved into high art. Plus, hear about an upcoming panel featuring three Pensacola crime writers discussing the local mystery writing scene.Perfect for fans of detective fiction, literary history, and anyone curious about how popular culture shapes serious literature.