5AM StoryTalk

SOPHIE HYDE — director of films such as ‘52 Tuesdays’, ‘Animals’, ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ — returns for a bonus episode to discuss a seminal artwork from her life – the iconic 1975 film THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW , which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. You can learn more about the film here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show This bonus episode was rel...

The Hunger Games , "The Handmaid’s Tale", Blade Runner , " Black Mirror", "The Walking Dead", Mad Max …. Today we’re going to be discussing the question: Did science-fiction help make our 21st century dystopia inevitable? But the question could just as easily be: When did we stop dreaming of a better future? The answers might be deeply connected, as I’ll posit. It’s going to be a provocative conve...

Today I'm joined by MIKE RICHARDSON , founder and CEO of Dark Horse Comics (Sin City, The Umbrella Academy, Hellboy), founder of the Things from Another World store chain, film/TV producer, and prolific comic book writer. He’s a legend in the comic book industry, not just for the iconic titles he’s published – but for how he revolutionized creators’ rights in a game previously rigged to only enric...

MIKE RICHARDSON — founder and CEO of Dark Horse Comics, owner of the Things from Another World store chain, film/TV producer, and prolific comic book writer — returns for a bonus episode to discuss a seminal artwork from his life – seminal piece of art from his life…albeit with a twist. He’s going to dive into THE ART OF FRANK FRAZETTA as well as his friendship with the artist — who is sometimes c...

Today I'm joined by Australian First Nations artist BLAK DOUGLAS to discuss his highly political art, censorship in the Australian arts with regard to speaking out about Palestine, and the legacy of colonization in Australia, his identity, and his work. Blak has won numerous major prizes, including the Archibald Prize (2022), and his paintings hang on most major museum walls in the country where h...

Australian First Nations artist BLAK DOUGLAS — one of the most fearless voices in the contemporary Australian art world – returns for a bonus episode to discuss a seminal artwork from his life – the 1966 AUSTRALIAN $1 BANKNOTE. The banknote featured a design that brazenly stole the bark paintings of Aboriginal artist David Malangi, which led to the first copyright case in which an Aboriginal artis...

Let’s reconsider the Prequel and Original STAR WARS trilogies through the lens of “ ANDOR” and what it has to say about the 21st century society, our blind devotion to ancient religions and their ideas of good and evil, and why the Jedi maybe (probably) had it coming. This is going to be a provocative conversation, but I believe we can better understand who we are as a culture and as individuals b...

Today I'm joined by British screenwriter JOE BARTON – creator of TV series such as ' Giri/Haji' , ' The Lazarus Project', 'Black Doves', and, most recently, 'Amadeus'. We’re going to dissect why I love his work so much – revealing creative DNA from Steven Spielberg to “The West Wing” . Joe and I discuss the following and much more: The creative and cultural influences on his work, examining how St...

JOE BARTON – creator of TV series such as 'Black Doves', 'Giri/Haji', 'The Lazarus Project', and the upcoming 'Amadeus' – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from his life: Curtis Hanson’s 2000 film WONDER BOYS, which was adapted from Michael Chabon’s 1995 novel of the same name. This bonus episode was released half a year earlier than it became available on Spotify. To get access to all bon...

I'm joined by epidemiologist DR. ANNE RIMOIN , who will be discussing her scientific work and art’s role in our relationship to disease, pandemic potential viruses like H151 (avian flu), and what if anything we learned from COVID. She’s a Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health where she is also the Gordon-Levin Endowed Chair in Infectious Diseases and Public Health...

DR. ANNE RIMOIN — professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health director of the university’s Center for Global and Immigrant Health – returns for some more 5AM StoryTalk. In this bonus episode, she discusses a foundational piece of art from her life: Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca’s song “E MOYO” from their 2014 album La Rumba SoYo. Anne has a unique relationship to the son...

Today we’re going to be discussing three game-changing lessons you can learn from interviewing others - both to enrich your writing and your life. This skill, which I developed as a freelance arts journalist for Village Voice Media amongst others, has directly impacted my screenwriting and fiction writing over the years. But it's also helped bring me closer to loved ones I was struggling to unders...

Welcome to 5AM StoryTalk ! I'm joined by screenwriter LIZ HANNAH whose script for The Post was so phenomenal it was sold and released in just 15 months - with Steven Spielberg as the director. Her credits also include the films Long Shot and Lee, TV series like "Mindhunter" , and co-creating “The Girl From Plainville” . Liz and I discuss the following (amongst many other things): Craft, craft, and...

Screenwriter LIZ HANNAH (The Post, Long Shot, Lee, co-creator “The Girl from Plainville”) – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from her life: David Bowie’s 1972 album THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS OF MARS . What can we learn about the creative process from this glam rock masterpiece? This bonus episode was released half a year earlier than it became available on Spotif...

Welcome to 5AM StoryTalk ! Today I'm joined by ERICA LEE (partner, Thunder Road Films; producer, the John Wick universe, Sicario , Monkey Man ) and BLYE PAGON FAUST (partner, Story Force Entertainment; Oscar-winning producer, Spotlight , Belly of the Beast , “LulaRich” ). They’re two of my favorite Hollywood, and I’ve asked them to discuss the state of the Hollywood film/TV industry – are they as...

Super producers ERICA LEE (partner, Thunder Road Films; producer, the John Wick universe) and BLYE PAGON FAUST (partner, Story Force Entertainment; Oscar-winning producer, 'Spotlight') return to discuss the THE FUTURE OF THE HOLLYWOOD FILM/TV INDUSTRY , how they know if a script is right for them in this turbulent business, screenwriting with AI – good or bad – and much, much more. There is so muc...

Today I'm joined by screenwriter, author, and ScriptNotes co-host JOHN AUGUST ( Go , Big Fish , Corpse Bride , Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , and many more). John is one of the most influential screenwriters of the 21st century, educating scores of people around the globe about the medium for 14 years now, so it is with no small sense of pride that I welcome him to my own podcast this week to...

JOHN AUGUST – screenwriter (Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Corpse Bride), author (the Arlo Finch fantasy series), and co-host of the podcast ScriptNotes – returns for some more 5AM StoryTalk. In this bonus episode, we discuss a favorite piece of art from his life: the pilot episode of “MODERN FAMILY” (2009), written by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. How does a TV series predicated on kindn...

Today we’re going to be discussing how I broke into the Hollywood film/TV industry and how I learned to trust myself in a business where nobody knows anything, but everybody insists they know everything. Put another way: I’m going to tell you about my first script sale, how it almost didn’t happen because of some questionable advice I received from my reps, and what the experience taught me about...

Welcome to 5AM StoryTalk! I'm joined by the brilliant AMBER TAMBLYN ("Joan of Arcadia", Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, "House", Paint It Black). Amber is an actress, writer-director, author and poet, Substacker, and activist who doesn’t sleep. You can learn more about her and her work at her website (link below), but you can also find links to what we discuss in the links list below. Oh, and b...

AMBER TAMBLYN – actress, writer-director, author and poet, Substacker, and activist – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from her life: Ridley Scott's fantasy film LEGEND (1985), written by William Hjortsberg and starring Tom Cruise. What does the film's “dance of shadows” as I call it, or the “seduction of darkness” I’ve seen others refer to it, reveal about her? This bonus episode was rel...

Welcome to 5AM StoryTalk! I'm joined by VERONICA SULLIVAN – the director of the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival. You can learn more about her extensive career in fiction, publishing, and the arts in general at her website (link below), but you can also find links to what we discuss in our artist-on-artist conversation in the links list below. A bonus episode with Veronica is available, too, in whi...

VERONICA SULLIVAN – director of the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival (May 8th – 11th) – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from her life: C.S. Lewis’s Narnia novel THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW (1955). How has this multiversal prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe mirror impacted fiction in the decades since its release? This bonus episode was released half a year earlier than it became av...

Today I'm joined by DR. KEVIN HAND, director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab’s Ocean World’s Lab and one of the scientists leading the hunt for life elsewhere in our solar system – especially on icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus. He’s a planetary scientist, an astrobiologist, and real-life adventure. His wonderful book, Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space , was published i...

DR. KEVIN PETER HAND – planetary scientist, astrobiologist, and director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab’s Ocean Worlds Lab – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from his life: Steven Spielberg’s classic science-fiction film CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977). This bonus episode was released half a year earlier than it became available on Spotify. To get access to all bonus episodes li...