PODCAST · society
Really True Fiction
by Luke Mason and David Parker
Really True Fiction is a podcast scouring famous works of fiction to swim through the real life lessons, thoughts, wisdoms, insights and ideas therein.
Episodes
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Bonus - The Liberal Soul
Liberal souls are people who are genuinely curious and interested in the world, they find vanity boring, and they live to see themselves and others flourish existentially in their finite time on the planet. I have written a book! It is called The Liberal Soul, and it is available now for…
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Ep. 91 - The Spirit of Science - (Arrival)
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...
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Ep. 90 - Bright Eyed And Bushy Tailed - (Boogie Nights)
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...
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Bonus - The Hardest Thing To Predict Is The Future - (1984 vs. Brave New World)
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...
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Ep. 89 - May The Ford Be With You - (Brave New World)
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...
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Ep. 88 - Hegel's Wet Dream - (1984)
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…
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Ep. 87 - Taming The Darkness Within - (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows)
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...
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Ep. 86 - That's Totally My Book - (Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince)
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…
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Ep. 85 - Kafka's Wet Dream - (Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix)
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…
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Ep. 84 - Spiral Of Uncertainty - (The Orphan Master's Son)
For this episode of Really True Fiction I am pleased to have Stuart Kaija and Graham King on as guests to discuss the 2013 novel The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (winner of the Pulitzer prize). I had never heard of this book before it being introduced to me for this episode and I thorougly...
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Ep. 83 - Two Weevils - (Master & Commander)
Welcome back! In the first new episode in over a year, I was very happy and enlightened with sit down and chat with my friend Dan Holder. When I asked Dan what story he would be most interested in talking about for RTF he quickly replied Master and Commander. As I learned, Master and Commander is…
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Ep. 82 - What Did I Do? - (The Trial)
In this episode we are discussing Franz Kafka's The Trial; written in 1914 but not published until 1925. This is an incredible and seminal work in modern literature and should be read by everyone. In this episode we talk about: - The style of a story that puts the audience in touch with the...
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Ep. 81 - Hats Off To Conformity - (This Side Of Paradise)
Welcome to our second foray into the world of F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this episode we discuss his first novel This Side Of Paradise. We talk about: - How it might feel to have peers die on mass, Eros and Thanatos, egoism vs. narrcacism, the resentment of educated people towards those who make…
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Ep. 80 - Bull In A Hedge Maze - (The Shining)
For this eigthieth episode of RTF I am pleased to be joined by Alex Cormier to talk about the Kubrick film The Shining. Alex and I co-host a radio show called Full Spectrum Cinema, and you can find the link for that posted below. In this episode we discuss: - Stephen Kings horror is better shown…
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RTF Update
A update minisode for RTF. This is all about why there haven't been as many new episodes and what the future will be. Part of the reason are the new creative projects David and I have embarked on. Please see links for those projects. The Canadian Story https://www.thecanadianstory.com/ The…
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Ep. 79 - Icarus Revived - (It's A Wonderful Life)
Welcome to our only tradition at RTF: a Christmas episode. For our third foray into traditional Christmas tales we tackle the Frank Capra classic It's A Wonderful Life. Additionally, as per our prerogative of doing a classic cartoon as well, we wax our thoughts on the Frosty the Snowman…
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Ep. 78 - In Need Of A Good Mealiorism - (The Three Body Problem)
Thanks for joining us into our first foray in Chinese Sci Fi. The Three Body Problem is a 2005 novel by Cixin Liu. It is the first part of a trilogy; which we will do eventually. This novel is partially about the three body problem in physics, and partially about many other things. Some of the...
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Ep. 77 - What The Fudge Man!? - (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire)
Welcome back once again to the fourth installment in the Harry Potter franchise. We all grow up a bit with this one. In this episode we talk about things existent and varied such as: the first time you travel and being to get over some of your inborn solipsism, the uncomfortability in knowing...
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Bonus 2: Bene And The Gesserits - (Dune 2021 Film)
Welcome to a very special bonus episode of Really True Fiction. This bonus is a follow up to episode 73 where we talked about the novel Dune. With the release of the massive Denis Villeneuve film last month, we got the gang back together to give our thoughts on the movie as well as a few more…
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Ep. 76 - What's A Meta For Anyway? - (The Matrix)
We're back baby! After a lengthy hiatus we are super pumped to be bring you a new episode of Really True Fiction. In honour of the fact that The Matrix 4 is coming out this December, and also of the fact that this movie is just made for RTF, we are doing the 1999 film The Matrix. In this episode…
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Ep. 20 - Prometheus - The OG Liberal Soul
This episode is a little bit more personal than most of the previous solo ones. In this episode, I discuss the Greek myth of Prometheus. I subsequently talk about my concept of a Promethean and how they relate to the liberal soul. After, I relay a few honorable mentions, plus my top five...
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Ep. 19 - Movies As Great Art - (With Alex Cormier)
Welcome back to another episode of The Liberal Soul. For todays episode I was happy to be joined by Alex Cormier. Alex and I cohost a show on local radio called Full Spectrum Cinema; and in every episode we choose a movie and talk about it for an hour. Naturally, Alex seemed like a perfect guest...
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Ep. 18 - Pragmatically Speaking
In this episode I give a very introductory opening to the idea of Pragmatism; the first American philosophy. I have come to think about Pragmatism and it's relationship to Liberalism by its adherence to reality and practical, real world effects. For this introduction, I discuss some of the…
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Ep. 17 - All Downhill From Here (With Russ Fountain and Eric Wahn)
I was pleased to be joined by some friends from high school, Russ Fountain and Eric Wahn, to discuss their love and affinity for all things mountain biking. We talk about how they first came to love mountain biking, some of the influences on that passion, the love/hate relationships they have…
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Ep. 16 - The Open Society And Its Enemies - Pt. 4
Here is the conclusion of my four part series on the book The Open Society And Its Enemies by Karl Popper. This episode finishes up Popper's observations on Marx as well as his general overview on how we should best think about history. In this episode I discuss Popper's thoughts on: - How upon...
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Ep. 15 - The Open Society And Its Enemies Pt. 3
*Mild spoilers for season two of House of Cards in this episode* Welcome to part three of a four part series on the book The Open Society And Its Enemies by Karl Popper. If you haven't listened to the first two parts yet I would highly recommend that you do, as the book builds through the parts…
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Ep. 14 - May The Force Be With You (With Alex Wan and Billie Schultz)
Just a couple of rebels sitting around trying to take down the Empire. In this episode of The Liberal Soul I am so pleased to be joined by my wonderful friends Alex Wan and Billie Schultz. The three of us also do the Nothing To Fear podcast where every week we watch a scary movie and talk about…
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Ep. 13 - The Open Society And Its Enemies Pt. 2
This episode is part two of a four part series on the book The Open Society And Its Enemies by Karl Popper. Please listen to episode one before this as it will give context for this episode. In this episode I discuss: - Plato's formulation about who should rule is a useless question - rather we...
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Ep. 12 - My Orwell Life
First episode on George Orwell. My guest for this episode is my great friend Danica Weager. We take as our launchpad the Orwell essay Politics and the English Language. It's been a goal of this podcast to also talk about language and how we use it. Orwell is the perfect writer in this regard. In...
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Ep. 11 - The Open Society And Its Enemies - Pt. 1
Welcome to part one of a four part mini-series on the book The Open Society And Its Enemies by Karl Popper. This book is a Promethean level of fresh air intellectually when it comes to understanding how a free society can operate; and what are the kind of mentalities that are opposed to that.…
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Ep.10 - The Righteous Mind
Welcome to double digits of The Liberal Soul! For today's episode I will be talking about Jonathon Haidt's book from 2012: The Righteous Mind (Why good people are divided by politics and religion). I wanted to do this episode to draw in some moral psychology into political and religious…
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Ep. 9 - Self-Reliance
In this solo episode I talk about the 1841 essay Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This essay had a profound effect on my life when I first read it, and I still go back to it every year or so for inspiration. Emerson talks about the psychological importance of non-conformity, of trusting your...
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Ep. 8 - May You Ever Hear The Music (With Zach Gerber)
In this episode of The Liberal Soul, I speak with musician, sound engineer, and my cousin Zach Gerber. Zach lives in Ontario and has been involved professionally in music for the last decade. Zach is a touring musician with the Canadian band Walk Off The Earth, so he has lots of great stories…
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Ep.7 - Individualism Vs. Egoism
In this episode of The Liberal Soul I take a little detour down a Karl Popper path and discuss a section from his book The Open Society And Its Enemies. There is an incredible section of that book where Popper dissects the difference between individualism and egoism; and how Plato conflated them...
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Ep. 6 - The Beautiful Game (With David Harris)
Annyeong! In this episode of The Liberal Soul I talk to my good friend David Harris. David lives in England and we met each other while living in Gwangju, South Korea. It was a real pleasure having Dave on the podcast; he is a ton of fun to talk to. We spend most of this episode talking about...
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Ep. 5 - A Thousand Small Sanities - Pt. 2
This episode is the second in a two-parter talking about the book A Thousand Small Sanities by Adam Gopnik. In part two, I'll be talking about Gopnik's observations of why the Right and Left politically dislike liberals. Some of the things I talk about are: - Liberals and Conservatives having...
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Ep. 4 - Losing Our Religion (With Cole Kander)
In this episode of The Liberal Soul I talk with my friend Cole Kander. I wanted to talk to Cole because he and I have had a very similar life trajectory. We were both born and raised in a very Protestant house and church culture, and we both have decided that kind of life isn't for us. I know…
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Ep. 3 A Thousand Small Sanities - Part 1
This episode of The Liberal Soul is part one of a two part reflection on the 2019 book A Thousand Small Sanities by Adam Gopnik. I have mentioned this book a couple times in the first couple episodes, so I wanted to give it its due here. This book was the proximate impetus for this podcast as I...
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2. On Liberty (With David Parker)
Hello RTF listeners. Here is the second episode from my new podcast The Liberal Soul. For the second episode of The Liberal Soul I'm very pleased to be joined by my cousin and cohost of our other podcast Really True Fiction: David Parker. In this episode, David and I chat about the seminal and...
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You've Found The Liberal Soul
Hey RTF Listeners! I recently started a new podcast called The Liberal Soul. This is the first episode and I'm including it on this show because it was directly inspired by many things David and I talked about on RTF. This podcast is going to be about what it's like to be a person open to the…
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Ep. 75 - American Troubadours - (Into The Wild)
For our 75th episode, we do a film that is sort of fiction? 2007's Into The Wild is a treasured film for both David and Luke. In this episode we talk about avoiding sanctimony, not jumping down others throats, camaraderie and hard work, the dichotomy of Los Angeles, homelessness, being hardwired...
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Ep. 74 - Inattention Unto Death - (American Beauty)
A return to the wonderful and bizarre year of culture that was 1999. In this episode we are joined by my friend Danica Weager as a guest for our considerations on American Beauty: The greatest movie about nothing. We contemplate the slow sliding into personal hell that is unconscious living,...
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Ep. 73 - Space Witches - (Dune)
What a pain in the Arrakis! David and I want to say a big thank you to our guest Josiah Martinoski for this episode on the novel Dune. We dive into the Frank Herbert 1965 Sci/Fi classic. We talk about leadership, management, subterfuge, religion, competence, the macro vs micro world, and all the...
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Ep. 72 - God Bless Us, Every One! - (A Christmas Carol)
A very Merry Christmas to everyone! This has been an extremely difficult year, and we hope you all can find a meaningful way to spend these holidays. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy our take on the classic 1843 Christmas tale: A Christmas Carol. Additionally, we also recorded a bonus intro on...
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Ep. 71 - A Patronus Chorus - (Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban)
We return with the third book. In this episode, we are pleased to be joined by our friend Alex Wan as a guest. Alex is one of three cohosts (along with Luke and Billie, whom you can hear on episode 62) of the Nothing to Fear podcast. Alex joins us remotely to talk about the third Harry Potter…
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Ep. 70 - Perspective On The Fly - (Stranger Things Season One - Pt. 2)
In this episode we conclude (for now) our thoughts on Hawkins, Indiana. We talk about Joyce, Hopper, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and stuff about the show and 80s culture in general. We discuss being committed to your own eyes and ears, having the strength of your own opinion, being pulled by the truth...
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Ep. 69 - Human First - (Stranger Things Season One - Pt. 1)
We are back with our foray into Hawkins Indiana. We are starting with season one of the great nostalgic show! In this episode we talk about the kids of Hawkins (Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven) and all their travails. We talk about really listening when a person presents new information…
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Ep. 68 - Almost Perfect - (Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets)
In this episode we dive into the second novel in the Harry Potter franchise: the nearly flawless Chamber of Secrets. In this episode we talk about initiating kindness, gossip, loneliness and betrayal, Enlightenment stuff, carrying on a vision, Harry's choice, rebirth, not being serious about...
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Ep. 67 - Tragedy Vs. Utopia - (Foundation)
In this episode of Really True Fiction we talk about the 1951 Isaac Asimov novel Foundation. We discuss the Noble Lie vs. Noble Truth, Science as problem solving vs. ultimate truth, the tragic vs. utopian sense of life, and the importance of engaging with physical reality. We hope you enjoy!...
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Bonus 1: Common Decency & Existential Despair - (South Park Pandemic Special)
Our first bonus! In this episode we discuss the South Park Pandemic Special (but really this is another meditation on the corona virus and the lockdown). This episode is also a first in RTF's attempt at remote recording (Luke was in Alberta and David was in Ontario). David was not at a location...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Really True Fiction is a podcast scouring famous works of fiction to swim through the real life lessons, thoughts, wisdoms, insights and ideas therein.
HOSTED BY
Luke Mason and David Parker
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Really True Fiction have?
Really True Fiction currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Really True Fiction about?
Really True Fiction is a podcast scouring famous works of fiction to swim through the real life lessons, thoughts, wisdoms, insights and ideas therein.
How often does Really True Fiction release new episodes?
Really True Fiction has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Really True Fiction?
You can listen to Really True Fiction on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Really True Fiction?
Really True Fiction is created and hosted by Luke Mason and David Parker.
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