Episodes
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Gods, Traditions, and Camel Mathematicians! Pratchett's Pyramids!
This week we're taking a look at one of Pratchett's early Discworld novels--a much thicker book than Equal Rites, Pyramids is an interesting and deeply funny book. Grab a copy here: https://a.co/d/4XmU4bp Check out our fiction at: (Justin) https://muppy.substack.com (Rudy)...
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Supes or Salads? Talkin' 'Bout Superman 2025!
Justin watched another awful superhero movie and we're gonna talk about it. This time, it's Superman 2025. Is that even the title? I don't know for sure. Do you like it when we take apart bad movies? Check out our backlog here: https://www.youtube.com/@muppyheingardt8597 Check out our fiction at:...
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Staring Side-Eyed at Yosuke's Strange World!
This week we're taking a short look at an obscure (in America) manga author and the first part of one of his series. Yosuke Takahashi is a classic horror manga artist in Japan, but he's barely known here! Fortunately, Justin found a random book in a used book store! It's creepy, weird, and fun!...
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Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo!
We're talking about the famed wilderness horror story "The Wendigo" this week! It's not quite as polished and poetic as "The Willows," but it still has some great atmosphere and well-built tension! Check it out here: https://algernonblackwood.org/Z-files/Wendigo.pdf Check out our fiction at:...
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Enjoying Some Pratchett! Talkin' 'Bout Equal Rites!
This week we're taking a look at the third book in the Discworld series, and it's also the first appearance of the great Granny Weatherwax! Get a copy here: https://a.co/d/0jDReD8 Check out our fiction at: (Justin) https://muppy.substack.com (Rudy)...
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In-Depth on the Seven of Hearts!
This week we're continuing our look at "The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar." We're going in-depth into perhaps the most unusual story in that book: Chapter 6, The Seven of Hearts. Read it here: https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-AKO-714 or listen to the free…
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Arsène Lupin's Greatest Escape!
This week we're jumping into "The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar." Specifically, we're taking a look at the first three chapters, that form an extended story about Lupin's capture by Ganimard, his imprisonment at Santé, and his eventual escape. Three great little...
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Crazy Train: A Look at Yokohama Station SF!
This week we're doing a review of a weird, imaginative, interesting Japanese novel! What if Yokohama Station in Japan was given the ability to rebuild and expand itself? The book has many different views of the lives of people living inside and outside of this weird, self-replicating train…
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When Writing Advice Goes Wrong!
This week we found a weird bit of "writing advice" that really isn't all that advisable. Checklists and absolute statements encourage you to think less, and that's practically never the direction you want to go when writing. Hopefully our breakdown of this particular stupid list will make you…
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One Last Bite at the Fricassee! Some Buried Caesar, Part 2 of 2
We're finishing up our look at the excellent Some Buried Caesar, by Rex Stout! We are still gonna be spoiling a lot, but we try our best to leave a little mystery at the end. Lots of discussion of the various funny parts in the second half of the book here, as well as a bit of examination of...
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A Bovine Mystery Masterpiece! Some Buried Caesar, Part 1 of 2
This week and next we'll be covering Rex Stout's sixth Nero Wolfe book, Some Buried Caesar. It's one of the longest Wolfe stories, and it's full of great characters, fun interactions, plausible mystery, and side-splitting comedy. We will be spoiling everything, but that doesn't matter because…
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Trigun Stampede Is an Abyssal Monstrosity (part 3 of 3)
We're concluding our coverage of the worst adaptation I (Rudy) has ever personally seen. Trigun Stampede really does seem to deliberately twist, distort, corrupt, and destroy everything that made the original interesting and good. Justin says it's as bad as what they did to Dr. Who. Listen as we...
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Trigun Stampede Is a Nightmarish Sham! (part 2 of 3)
Our examination of the horrendous Trigun Stampede continues! They made Knives stupid, and Wolfwood unsympathetic. They killed and violated all the subtle themes and interesting characters. And De Niro is still a Downer! It's half critique, half rant, and all hilarious! Check out our fiction at:...
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Trigun Stampede Is a Horrifying Travesty (Part 1 of 3!)
Full spoiler warnings are in effect here. If you haven't seen the original Trigun, you'll want to watch that first. Trigun Stampede... well, I would say don't watch it at all. This week we start our coverage of the writing and other elements of a TV show called "Trigun Stampede." It's a recent...
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Off on a (Vol)Comet! Talkin' 'bout a little-known Jules Verne book!
This week Rudy's yammering about a book by Jules Verne that he read, called "Off on a Comet." It was the first story featured in the first issue of the famed pulp sci-fi magazine, Amazing Stories! Off on a Comet was written after the Verne books you probably know about, and it seems like Verne…
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Smart Scripts and Soul Pain! The Wordy Pair Talks "Yes, Minister" Season 1!
This week we're covering the most insidious sitcom ever created in Britain, "Yes, Minister." It's a smart and hilarious look at how politics actually works, and yes, it does also make your soul hurt. Check out our fiction at: (Justin) https://muppy.substack.com (Rudy)...
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The Cimmerian Comics Are a Crazy Ride!
This week we're taking a look at the relatively recent (compared to the source texts) Cimmerian comic, volume 1. It covers two good ol' Conan stories: Queen of the Black Coast and Red Nails. Grab a copy here: https://a.co/d/cpQ2yR5 We cover Howard's works in a bit wider of a perspective, too, as...
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A Pixie Land Preview! Justin's Upcoming Book!
This week we're talking about Ebrelina in the Pixie Lands, Justin's main BIP (book-in-progress). Ebrelina Peril and friends are trapped in the Pixie Lands and they're looking for treasure. However, the Bone Witch has taken control of this strange world, and a confrontation is inevitable... since...
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What Indie Writers Can Learn from the VShojo IMPLOSION
We get around to it eventually, but this week's episode tries to connect the recent collapse of the VTuber agency VShojo with the perspective of writers wondering whether they should seek out a traditional publisher or stay indie. 40:37 Segue Attempt 1 46:37 Segue Attempt 2 49:32 Segue Attempt…
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Vampire Hunter D: Conclusion of the North Sea!
We're back for a look at the eighth novel in the Vampire Hunter D saga: The Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part 2! This one is chock-full of action and bizarreness, with a plot that has so much going on that it's hard to keep it all in order! Grab a copy here: https://a.co/d/9KLLpPN Check…
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Ranting about Mediocrity: Murderbots v. Replicants
This week we're talking about the pervasive mediocrity in modern sci-fi. All Systems Red is a multi-award winning piece of reasonably good--although uncreative--science fiction from 2017 which inspired Rudy to read a book he thought it was cribbing off of: Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of...
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Layered, Absurd Comedy: Talkin' Bout Nichijou, episode 1!
This week we're taking a look at the first episode of a very weird show. Based on the look of the show and its name, you might think it's just some slice of life sludge, but Nichijou is actually a very fun and well-written layered comedy that mixes the mundane with the insane, without the…
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Third Person Omniscient and Other Old People Tricks!
This week we're taking a humorous look at the somewhat recent phenomenon of young people complaining about third person perspectives in writing. So chill with us and learn the value of some old people tricks as we talk about different perspectives, their uses, and honing writing technique in...
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Making Fun of Awful Sci-Fi: Solaris!
We are looking at the famous (for some reason) "philosophical" science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem this week! What does "philosophical" mean? Apparently it means that none of the characters do anything sensible and the fundamental question the book asks is so simple that it doesn't even need…
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Questin' with the Vampire Lords! Novella Review
This week we're looking at Justin's novella that takes place after the events of The Good Guy. Tammy and Ursgelda are back, and they're thrown into another world where vampires are not at all the powerhouses they're used to seeing. Lots of comedy and analysis, and some fun tangents in this one!…
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Talkin' Bout Star Trek (the original series)
This week, we're springboarding off of my recent binge-watch of a good chunk of Star Trek (the original TV series). Despite some negative aspects, such as frequent repetition of some plot elements, the show does have quite a few interesting things to say. It sits halfway between the prolific pulp...
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C-c-c-Combobreaker! Weird Format Writing: Fighting Games?!
This week we're springboarding off of Justin's recent trip to the Combobreaker conference to talk about a weird writing format: super short character interaction vignettes and flash fiction narratives! Fighting games are a weird animal (Primal Rage 2 included), and you'd think writing for them is...
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Are you Being Sieved? Separating a Classic Sitcom from a Horrible Remake!
This week we're taking a look at "Are You Being Served?" In case you haven't heard of it, it is an extremely popular British sitcom that ran from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s. It was so popular that it had a film and a theater play, as well as a spin-off series! In 2006, it was ranked…
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Beautiful Animation, Bizarre Writing! Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust!
After our examination of the seventh book in the series last week, we decided to take a look at the second movie which came out in 2000, 15 years after the first one! This movie combines much of the action of the third book with something that was either made up for this movie, or was part of a...
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Mysterious D and the Journey to the North Sea!
This week, we're talking about a random book from the Vampire Hunter D series: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part One. It's got a bizarre fantasy/sci-fi setting with lots of backstabbing characters, mutants with crazy powers, and a ruined civilization of immortal vampires. Hideyuki Kikuchi...
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Pursuit of the Five-Star Review! Review and Author Perspective
This week, we're looking at Rudy's first full-length novel, Pursuit of the Heliotrope. We'll be talking about some of his influences, the techniques he developed while he was writing the book, and the ups and downs (especially the downs) of the "first novel" experience! editor's note: Couldn't…
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Find Time and Use It to Write! | Tips, Thoughts, and Perspectives
This week we're trying to see if we can shed any light on making time for writing. It seems like a common complaint: "If only I had the time..." However, we've got a few ideas and strategies, as well as just a few ways to re-organize or re-focus your thoughts to either find some more time to…
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A Dollar Short and A Day Late! Two Weird, Silly Stories!
Today we're looking at two books Justin wants to talk about. From their titles, you might guess they are related and we listed them in the wrong order! ...However, you would be wrong. Bizarrely wrong. Chill with us as we go through these two strange stories! Check out our other stuff at: (Justin)...
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Bizarre, Fun Sci-Fi! The Rackon!
Today we're talkin' 'bout Justin's first published full-size novel (which I somehow thought was his second), "The Rackon." It's a strange book with a great deal of dark humor. The "straight man" PoV character Country Kitchen has to constantly deal with the somewhat... off-putting antics of the...
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Skynet Fails 2.0! Grok, the Obsessive
Justin continues his adventures in AI ridiculousness with more questions and images from Grok, this time looking at one of his Alien Bangs stories and managing to befuddle the AI by suggesting that a person might do multiple things with his time! We also learn that Grok, despite its odd...
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Skynet Fails 1.0! Justin's Adventures with Grok!
This week we're spending a little time talking about Justin's recent adventures with the Grok AI system. He's tested its abilities to do a variety of different things, and in most ways has found it... wanting. Check out our other stuff at: (Justin) https://muppy.substack.com (Rudy)...
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Cow Launched -or- Attention to Detail!
We're a bit all over the place in this episode, but our core issue this week is attention to detail, why it matters, and how not to overdo it. As usual, we have our full set of diversions and tangents! If you want to see the two videos about Oblivion and Skyrim compared to Avowed, they are here:...
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Japanese Folklore Fun! -or- Uzumé: Our New Favorite Deity
A frantic and funny look at some basic Japanese folk stories, with our usual smattering of asides and diversions! Check out our fiction at: (Justin) https://muppy.substack.com (Rudy) https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com And follow us on Twitter at:...
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Analog Horror, Fast Food, and First World Problems
Today we're talking about analog horror, but before we get there we digress into fast food and the first world problem of having too many places to get it. An analog horror tasting menu for those interested: M'Rohoj https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq4k1KlDX7c Contingency...
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Works in Progress and General Techniques!
We're putting off our look at analog horror for one more week as we gather more information, so today we're going to talk about our current projects and digress into general writing and editing techniques! Rudy's Derelict Project series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPJLWCWF Justin's book The Good...
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Adventures in Roundworld! -or- "Throat Shenanigans"
Laryngitis is a hell of a drug, or something! We're back and this week we're talking about the book by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, and Jack Cohen: "The Science of Discworld!" It combines Pratchett's knack for worldbuilding (literally) and humor with layman-friendly scientific explanations by...
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The Derangement of the Phantom of the Opera!
This week we're looking at another classic of the gothic horror era: Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux. This one is a far cry from Stoker's Dracula, and hints at some of the stereotypical excesses of French literature, especially from this era. Stick with us as we try to figure out the…
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Massacre of Mankind! No, Not the Policy, the Book!
This week we're reviewing Stephen Baxter's "Massacre of Mankind." It's an official sequel to H.G. Wells's "War of the Worlds," but it was written around 2017! That means a lot of really obsolete ideas and concepts had to be revived to keep things consistent, and Baxter does a good job of...
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Pulp Sci-Fi Classics! The Lensman Series!
This series was not what we thought. Justin and I first heard the name "Lensman" because there was an anime movie--and then Justin found one of E.E. "Doc" Smith's books at a used bookseller! So, while my initial mental image was one of colorful costume-wearing superheroes (thanks anime), the…
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Comfortable Writing Environments... and... a Weird Technical Digression?
Today we're on a bit of a technical digression... Most writing is done on computers these days (obviously), so what do you need to make yourself comfortable and productive there? We talk a bit about different operating systems! Justin is trying a bunch of different environments. Rudy, on the…
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Subtle, Lush Worldbuilding in Rayman!
On the surface, Rayman is just another 2D platformer from the 1990s. However, in this episode, we dig into the subtle and detailed worldbuilding that creates a lush and varied setting for the game! The lesson here is that those little details make a difference. Telling a story with a complex plot...
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Judging Your Own Work: Is It Ready?
In this week's episode, we take a look at judging your own writing and trying to decide when you've polished enough. Aside from the jokes, we cover a few tests you can do to help determine whether something you're writing is not there yet, getting close, or ready for the big Publish button. Stay...
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Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Bait and Switch!
Today we're talking about the sequel to Beetlejuice, which, while retaining the name of the original, and some of the characters, did next to nothing to maintain the fun atmosphere of the original! It's another hilarious Half-Blind Review! (Because Rudy sure as hell hasn't seen the movie--neither...
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Attack of the Stupid Space Pizza!
Justin and I talk about the lackluster book "The Object: Hard Science Fiction." His incredulity as I describe some of the bizarre creative choices leads to a terrifying thought that I had not considered: Was the book written by AI? Probably not, but as we analyze some of the book's issues, it…
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Adaptations: Pros, Cons, and Tradeoffs!
In this week's episode, we're looking at a variety of adaptations, talking about their good points and bad points, and it's not just as simple as being accurate! After all, any creator might want to change up a few things in an adaptation for a perfectly good reason: to provide a surprise or two...