Method and Madness

In which we go deep into the life of John Williams: oil booms, abandonment, tall tales about WW2, booze, women, and three “perfect” novels. In this clip, I get into the influence of Yvor Winters’ odd brand of classicism on one of the 20th Century’s greatest novelists. Get access to the full episode at madmethodpod.com/subscribe

Clark Ashton Smith was a poet once called “The Last of the Great Romantics".” But he is more remembered as one of the three most significant writers of pulp mainstay Weird Tales. H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith who was perhaps even stranger in his vision than either of them. “The Nameless Offspring” first appeared in Strange Tales in 1932. A tale of family secrets, a haunt...

Matt Fresta and  Matthew Sini  of the  Getting Lit Podcast  join me to talk about the history of their show, niche literary podcasting, the Australian scene, Sini’s provocative statement that there is no such thing as an atheist fiction writer, and much, much more. Matt Sini’s substack pieces mentioned: No Atheists in Plotholes Current Thing Writing Killed the Literary Journal...

The ever-insightful Paul Heron joins me t o figure out if History is in fact over, what Fukuyama meant by posing the question, cycles of history, nostalgia for the future, and much much more. Subscribe to Some Private Diagonal and check out Pau l’s work at Café Américain

BUTCHER'S CROSSING by John Williams is an unassuming masterpiece. The writer Lake Markham (LO SIENTO) joined me to talk about what makes this book special. We get into the meaning of the Western, the ideas and images that drive this book, buffalo, what Williams has to say about America and Transcendentalism, and some of the things that writers can learn from this potent little volume. BUY LO SIENT...

David Simmons  is a genre unto himself. We talk about his unsettling novel ERADICATOR--a white-knuckle book that is part AMERICAN PSYCHO, part THE FLY, and all Simmons. We also get into his upcoming short story collection FETTY ON THE SWITCHES, his creative process, why Baltimore is such rich terrain for fiction, and much, much more. This will be on the free feed next week. David’s linktree P...

The dynamic poet Tom Will has yet another modern classic. His new collection, RHYMES out now on  Farthest Heaven  , a unique exploration of poetic form is the new poetry you need. We talk about the history of the roundel and other poetic forms, the potency of poetry in the age of the algorithm, and much more. Pre-order RHYMES from Farthest Heaven Tom on twitter

Grant Wamack  is the author and tarot reader. His most recent book is THE SCARECROWS WILL WATCH OVER US, a folk horror thriller about cat people lust-demons stalking a farm in Wisconsin...and the occult practices that have warded them off for years. We also talked about tarot, bigfoot and other cryptids, and Grant’s time working for a psychic hotline. Grant’s twitter Buy SCARECROWS and Grant’...

Explorations of the labyrinths hidden below the cult classic hoodoo novel MUMBO JUMBO by Ishmael Reed. Talking the real Book of Thoth and the secrets smuggled into the modern day through the Corpus Hermeticum, the identity of Moses, the real deal about Voodoo, and much, much more.

"The Open Boat" is a short story by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900). First published in 1898, it was based on Crane's experience of surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Florida earlier that year while traveling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent. Crane was stranded at sea for thirty hours when his ship, the SS Commodore , sank after hitting a sandbar. He and three other men w...

[PREVIEW} Down into the labyrinth of THE STRONGHOLD: the curious history of NYRB Classics, theories of literary time, the significance of the barbarian, the dream of Great Tartaria, and much more. Subscribe for full access to this episode, the growing Madness archive, and early access to all guest episodes. .

The legendary Ken Layne joins me to talk about how he found the desert, what’s going on with UFOs, our Eldritch Republic, the role of the folklorist, and much, much more. Follow Ken.

The ever-insightful Jack BC joined me to discuss a paradoxical little masterpiece: THE STRONGHOLD by Dino Buzzati. To some, better known as THE TARTARIAN STEPPE. It’s a homage to Kafka, a beautiful bit of existentialism, and a torturous confrontation with the nature of time in the lives we live. Check out Jack on his great podcast BOOKCLUB FROM HELL .

Iain Ryan is the author of 8 books. His latest, THE CASINO, is a pulse-pounding crime story about police corruption in Queensland in the 1980s. He joined me to talk about the writing of this book, his overall Gold Coast Quartet--of which this book is just one part, the uneasy appeal of the 1980s, and much, much more. Buy THE CASINO Follow Iain

Matt Cardin is the author or editor of 12 books and ranks among the very finest of contemporary writers of Weird fiction and cosmic horror, as well as one of the most consistently interesting contributors to substack. His most recent book, WRITING AT THE WELLSPRING , is a spiritual guide for creative work and a manual for cultivating your relationship with your own daemon muse.

Author and podcaster Frank Kidd joined me to discuss his page-turning Western/frontier novel MEDICINE WOMAN ( winner of Ian Barr’s Indie of the Year 2025 ), what makes a genre, why the Western still matters, and what makes America Weird. Buy MEDICINE WOMAN . Follow Frank on twitter.

A preview of the MADNESS presentation on Cormac McCarthy’s THE CROSSING. Here talking about the very, very strange relationship between man, wolf, and the other world. For access to the full thing, subscribe via substack or patreon. latest book: CROWBAR

UTTER GOODNESS is UTTERly GOOD. The writer  Audrey Lee  joined me to talk about her exciting new collection of short stories, out now via  Farthest Heaven , comprehending America, STONER, and the state of confessional writing. Buy UTTER GOODNESS

The incredible writer Andrew Edwards joined me to talk about Cormac McCarthy’s oft-overlooked masterpiece THE CROSSING. We get technical on McCarthy’s high style, Crossings of all sorts, the spiritual bond of brothers, and what it means to say that the world is but a tale. Buy Andrew’s latest book: CROWBAR

The first 3 chapters of my new book THE EARTHEN DARK for your listening pleasure. Get a copy of the book: bradkellyesque.com . SPECIAL DEAL: In 2026, if you sign up for a yearly paid subscription to Method and Madness (via substack or patreon), and provide a US postal address, you’ll get a special signed copy of THE EARTHEN DARK, along with two hand-edited manuscript pages of early drafts, and a o...

A peek behind the paywall. In this episode, I go in depth on Ellroy’s stylistic forebears, play a little Glass Bead Game between AMERICAN TABLOID and very different book, give the quick and very dirty history of CONFIDENTIAL MAGAZINE, and go full-on true crime telling the ‘real’ story of Chuck Rogers.

In this clip from the full episode, I dive into the career of Hugh Everett III, a brilliant physicist who developed the groundbreaking Many Worlds Interpretation—and ushered in the algorithmic age with classified work for shadowy government entities.

Anthony Metivier is known as the magnetic memory master. Using time-tested techniques he has not only taught himself to memorize large quantities of complicated information, but he’s gained a reputation for being among the very best teachers of memory practice. Now, he’s written his second novel in the Decline series, a bold detective saga that puts these memory methods in praxis and takes the rea...

Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic 1836 story, first appearing in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, later re-published in TWICE-TOLD TALES.

Andrew Edwards , the author of what just might be the best novel of 2025, joins me to talk conspiracy, LSD, the interior journey of writing, the 1980s, literary gnosticism, the quantification of everything, and, of course, his certified banger CROWBAR. Buy Crowbar