Pub Crawl

In the latest episode of Pub Crawl, Ezra and Dan discuss words -- words they love, words they hate, new words, old words, and everything in between.

Dan and Ezra consider the short story's apparently waning popularity -- and, in contrast, Hollywood's appetite for short stories to turn into movies and TV. Then they discuss two stories by the master of the form, Anton Chekhov.

Dan and Ezra discuss punctuation. Really! After a brief history of the evolution of commas, periods and more, the Pub Crawl hosts consider the uses and abuses of punctuation. Mentions of "The Great Gatsby" in this episode: One. Mentions of AI: None. Disclaimer: No Oxcord commas were harmed in the making of this podcast.

With Dan at the point of doing final edits, proofreading and then book design, he wonders if it might be all right to use AI for his new novel. Dan and Ezra survey some of the dozens of AI tools that have sprung up to "help" writers, and wonder whether any use of AI at all is too much.

Dan and Ezra consider the merits of writing out detailed plot outlines vs. winging the first draft. Plus: Dan makes a shocking confession! It's evrything you would expect from Pub Crawl.

Do you have an idea that really pops? Really? Are you sure? In the latest episode of Pub Crawl, Dan and Ezra talk about ideas--the moment of inspiration--and how to judge if your idea is really enough to carry a full-length novel or screenplay. Plus, a discussion of originality and plagiarism--how confident are you that your idea is really your own?

Dan and Ezra discuss the art and science of rewriting. Is it really, as so many writers have claimed, all about chopping, trimming, and deleting extra words? Must every writerly flourish be uprooted? Or is there a gentler path?

Dan and Ezra dig into the hall-of-mirrors world of AI readers and reviewers. Ezra asks ChatGPT to create increasingly scathing reviews of his novels, and the bot obliges, even as it admits it hasn't actually read the work it's "reviewing."

Dan and Ezra discuss the concept of summer reading, beach reads and their own reading lists for this season. Somehow Dan brings Sean Connery into it, too. Plus: digressions about the disgusting products being advertised on Ezra's book pages on Amazon.

Dan and Ezra dig into the world's oldest and probably most popular topic: Sex. What restrictions do publishing platforms like KDP put on sexual content? (Hint: Bestiality is a no-no.) And what turns audiences on -- and off? Dan considers the outré limits of sexual content, including Lolita and Pepe le Pew. Trigger warning: Llama jokes are included in this podcast.

Dan and Ezra had planned for this episode to be about the complicated topic of sex and literature. But instead they end up gabbing about Ezra's new book, Handsome , which published on July 13 and is on sale everywhere. Department of corrections: In honor of Dan being in London, he broke out his James Mason imitation, which led Ezra to mangle the name of his favorite James Mason movie. The title is...

Dan and Ezra discuss the process of teaching--and learning--writing with University of Melbourne prof Liz Keyishian. Plus, book recommendations for Dan's summer travels.

Dan and Ezra discuss the apparent health benefits of reading and writing. Does that make reading and writing any more fun, though? Plus, Dan wonders about "main character energy."

Dan and Ezra consider the challenges of writing "as yourself," rather than as an invented character. Meanwhile, Ezra proves himself to be a thoughtful friend. Plus: Al Pacino and Keith Richards impressions.

Dan and Ezra discuss tips and tricks for writing compelling dialogue. It's not all he said/she said!

Oh, no! Are dads no longer reading dad books? Dan and Ezra check out the data on men's reading habits and reconsider their own bookshelves. What is the world coming to if dads aren't reading Civil War histories and biographies of Winston Churchill???

Dan and Ezra dig into two much-discussed novels: the word-of-mouth bestseller Theo of Golden, which famously began its life as a self-published book, and Transcription , a spikey metafiction sure to be shortlisted for major literary awards this year. Can our faithful hosts agree on anything about these two very different novels? And what, if anything, can writers and pubishers learn from their suc...

Drawing on his secret identity as a prize-winning writer of promos for TV, Dan leads a conversation about crafting blurbs for book covers.

In the wake of their conversation about plot and story, Dan and Ezra consider the question of character -- how important is character in fiction? And how do you go about creating memorable characters? Plus: a foray into the topic of marine mammals.

Does plot matter? Ezra is skeptical but Dan argues that plot absulutely does matter, and sketches out key elements of storytelling.

Dan and Ezra try to wrap their heads around AI detectors: How they work… and sometimes don’t work. The guys run some of their own prose through detectors, with surprising results.  Links: Adobe: Three key AI detection techniques https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/resources/how-do-ai-detectors-work.html Jane Friedman: AI and Publishing: FAQ for Writers https://janefriedman.com/ai-and-publishing-faq-for-...

Does there come a time when a writer is just too old to create? Is it time for Dan and Ezra to hang up their writer's berets and retire to the nearest wine bar? Links: Keith Sawyer's essay about creatity and age https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-creativity-a-young-persons-game/ Psychologist Dean Keith Simonton's articel in Scientific American on "creative trajectories" https://www.scientificam...

Dan and Ezra consider the truly unbelievable growth in the number of books published in 2025, and hypothesize that there is a single, highly prolific author is driving the increase. Then they turn to the question of Bisac codes, a tool for categorizing and organizing books by topic. Episode links: Publishers Weekly: Book Output Topped Four Million in 2025 https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-top...

Dan and Ezra dig into the implications of Amazon’s new search algorithm, the euphonious “A10,” and then welcome Christopher Ward, who brought out his new graphic novel, “The Hottest Fires of Hell,” as a self-published work. Data about graphic novel readers: https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/graphic-novels-broaden-their-appeal-lj240909 Amazon page for “The Hottest Fires of Hell” https://www.amaz...

Is writer's block a thing, really? Dan says yes. Ezra says hmmmmm-maaaaaybe, but probably not.